As the title states, what's your wash method?
I feel like I care more about my paint than I do life itself haha!

All joking aside, I try to do everything I possibly can to protect and prolong the look of my car. I'm wondering if i'm the only one.....?

 

Try the Automotive Detailing forum. Lots of info there.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...detailing-122/

 

Waxy soap and water. Microfiber wash mit, and Chemical Guys D40 wet wax n wipe with high absorbant microfiber towels to dry.

 

Love washing the RC and I've gone to lots of extra trouble to keep it looking good.

1) Full hood/front fenders/mirrors with chip shield
2) Ceramic Pro Coated entire vehicle

But still....the small lip inside each wheel well, especially since mine is white, shows small chips/scuffs/marks that I just cannot undo..

 

Man, I really hate washing the RC!
However, I do enjoy detailing it though. I had the ceramic coating done as well. Absolutely love it. It makes washing the car much more tolerable.

Chris

 

Filmed the inside of my wheel well, preventing rock chips

 

Okay I know this is going to sound somewhat bizarre but here goes on how I maintain my RC-F. BTW it works and I have challenged multiple detail guys to find where or if I am scratching the car and they cannot:

1) I always have my cars first done with Ceramic Pro (have all swirl marks and imperfections buffed out). I have Ceramic Pro applied to everything I can (paint, windows, wheels, brakes calipers, etc…)

2) I do not wash the car with water…only if it rains or after a long road trip and the car gets really dirty. If so then I will run it through a “brushless” car wash to just get the major dirt and road grime off…then I go home and do the following:

3) I simply wipe the car down every two to three days (takes about an hour) with instant detailer. I use microfiber large waffle towels to wipe the dirt areas as follows:

a. I spray and wipe a small section at a time…for instance ½ the hood at a time

b. I spray the waffle towel with detailer also before wiping

c. I wipe mainly in the direction of the lines of the car

d. I flip the rag if I see it getting dirty or in areas where I know it will get dirty (rear bumper, etc…)

e. I then use a totally dry waffle towel to then polish the instant detailer.


I know this might not be the normal way to go about things but two things lend themselves to this method as follows:

1) I live in AZ and it hardly ever rains…300 days of sunshine a year

2) I kind of look at these two to three hours a week as cheap therapy…LOL But seriously I just go into the garage and put on some background music and away I go. I also like that I am always driving a very clean car! It makes me happy!

I have been doing this method now for about 10 years (many different cars) since a buddy of mine turned me on to the “blue towels”. This method does take a very unique towel that you cannot usually find in a store. They are basically large pocket (waffle type) microfiber towels. The large pockets along with the instant detailer will pick up the small dirt and not scratch the car but you have to pay attention. I have never seen these towels in a store and I now buy mine from The Rag Company. You can wash these towels in your household washer (as I still have a few from 8 years ago) but you CANNOT dry them in the dryer. You have to hang dry them and let them dry on their own. Here in AZ that usually only takes about an hour

 

Wow. Besides the products you're using. that sounds spot on with my method.
No joke. I just washed my car, but only because I took it across the country.

otherwise, micros and detailers. No scratches no swirls. I have cquartz on my car as well.
We are a rare breed...

Chris

 

Sorry to rain on the parade but theres no way to NOT get scratches on your paint unless you wrap it or but PPF. I am a novice detailer with a decent amount of experience and a very large stock of high end products. The best method to washing a car TO ME without a rinseless wash is with a pressure washer, foam cannon attachment, and a couple buckets and wash mitts IMO. You want to touch your car only when you have to. I use the pressure washer to get as much dirt off without touching the car (don't worry about chipping your paint, the pressure washer isn't strong enough to do that unless you purposely want it to) then I use a foam cannon with quality ph balanced soap (if the car is waxed or has a sealant). After that, I let the soap sit for a few minutes before rinsing the car off. I have a bucket with 1-2 gallons of water with 4-6 high quality wash mitts that have a "S" of the same soap on each side. I use the mitts in a straight line to prevent swirls and wash my car from top to bottom, finishing with the bottom half of each panel LAST as the bottom half of the car usually has the most dirt. Each side of the car gets 1-2 mitts depending on how dirty the car was, so you do your best to prevent dragging old dirt from the mitt around your car. After i'm done with a panel or mitt I toss it into an empty bucket so that the dirt on that mitt never sees my car EVER again. I then use the pressure washer one more time to rinse the car of anything left over. Then use a electric leaf blower to dry as much as I need to and use Carpro Echo diluted 1:15 as a quick detailer with 4-6 rag company waffle weave towels. Again, as i'm drying the car with the quick detailer and towels, i'm using straight lines and only using new sides of the towels. Remember you can fold a towel into 4s and use it 8 times without reusing 1 side. This process may seem a little extra but that's what I do. The problem with two bucket method with grit guards is that you use a mitt on your car and pray to god that you're getting the dirt off of that mitt and into that bucket before putting it back to your 80k car. I really really really doubt it's THAT effective. Does it prevent some swirls? Probably, but you're most likely reintroducing old dirt back onto your car and thats an equation for disaster. At the end of the day you're going to get scratches or swirls, the best you can do is prevent them as much as possible. Then when it's time, you can do some paint correction or paint enhancement. Just remember the process is very complex and a lot of people think they know what their doing when correcting paint, but sometimes they skip a few important steps during the prep phase and this really screws everything up at the end. I've seen guys pay good money for paint correction and the detailer forgot to prep correctly, clayed then used a one step sealant on paint that was clearly still contaminated and caused marring and the end result was not good. Everyone has their own method of doing what they do based on how much they care. So this is just MY method. Feel free to ask any questions...

 

my wash method:

I call my detailer, "Hey Luis, come wash the car"

 

I do not disagree with you!

Chris

 

I use this...makes it fun and faster.

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/foaming+sprayer.do

 

Below: Some products recommended by Detail BOSS
after front PPF and full car ceramic pro 9H coating that they applied. I now own all of these and
at least once a year have a ceramic pro sport coating applied by the 2 guys at
scottsdalecardetailing.com

Foam cannon
http://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductD...ctCode=EQP_300

Deionized Water for final rinse (use alone for dust off rinse then blow off)
https://crspotless.com/product/dic-2...olling-system/

Blower (never dry with any wiping if possible)
http://www.chemicalguys.com/Metro_Ma...m_p/mb-3cd.htm

During the 1st 4 months of ownership, I made the mistake of using the standard 2 bucket method (with dirt strainers) as well as a waterless wash technique between washes. This created too many spiderwebs due to surface wiping even when I tried to keep the wiping rags or soap mits very clean. The self healing paint did not completely heal these spider webs and after 4 months it was too bad for me to look at so I had to have 2 level correction and then sprung for the Ceramic Pro coating. Now the paint looks like new after 2 years of the foam lance, carful sponging off the soap, DI rinse and blow dry.

I was told to never use wax or quick detailer (that contains some wax) and not to clay bar. Wax reduced the hydroponic effect of the Ceramic Pro coating. For small areas (fingerprints or bird drops) I was instructed to use 50/50 H2O and alcohol only.

 

LOL...well you are entitled to your opinion just like every other professional detailer that has said the same thing to me and then inspected my car with a fine tooth comb to find no scratches or swirls. I think the confusion always comes from my description of the process as it is very high level but if you watched me do my method and saw the towels and results you would better understand...maybe??? As some have bought into it at that point and some have not? And I would be willing to admit that there could be an occasion where I might lightly scratch it but I would be scratching the Ceramic Pro which I have re-applied every two years and at that time they buff out any small imperfections.

"At the end of the day" (as I like to say) too each his own and this method just works for me but I do totally agree with your method if you are going to wash.

Here are a few pics of my car (I know hard to tell if it is scratched) but a month or so after ceramic pro applied and I have applied my method at least 10 times

 

Weekly/bi-monthly maintenance

• Depending on the filth index, pressure blast to get off top dirt. Foam cannon is also recommended.
• Always use clean mitts and and HIGH quality microfiber/waffle towels
• Mix some Optimum no-rinse in the wash bucket with your favorite soap (do not use detergent)
• Don't "swirl" the mitts when washing
• Use a leaf blower to reduce the amount of "towel touching"
• Finish off with instant detailer/sealer. Don't swirl.

Quarterly maintenance

• Clay bar to remove grit
• Plexus to clean/coat all interior/exterior plastics (headlights, taillights, etc..)
• 2 coats of your favorite wax

Yearly maintenance

• Polish with an orbital buffer and wax