Detailing Your Vehicle

...I'm curious what folks do after driving in the rain... assuming garage coverage at home/work, anyone towel-down the whole car after a thorough rainfall soaking? I'm talking when the car is dripping wet when you pull in, not say, caught in the rain while driving an hour ago, and now wind-dried and streaky when you get home. (And of course, this is assuming it isn't splattered with wet mud, or otherwise needing a true washing, etc., when you pull into the garage.)

I just washed mine 3 nights ago, and then got caught in a sudden downpour while out on errands at lunch today. Back in the office garage, I got out the chamois/drying cloth and wiped the whole car down... couldn't stand the thought of dried water spots all over, when my carwash wasn't 96 hours old just yet!

Of course, it will probably be sprinkling in time for the commute home in 90 minutes... I'd probably towel it down again at home, if it is soaked. (I don't have a hose connection at either the home or office garage, so this towelling down would only really strike me when the car is essentially clean already, just very wet.)

 

my husband and i are both getting new cars. we were looking into getting waterless washes for our cars. i have seen information on eco touch. has anyone had experience with this product, or any other waterless car product and how does it work? i mean, if your car is really dirty what do you do? are these products for those with just 'dusty' cars...?

 

Never touched my car drying it....

I have used the wash and filtered water system by mr clean and it works...I began with it because of the hard water in Florida ..but I watch it dry without and I mean without spots!!!!

 

Zaino here baby! smmmmoooth!

Rain runs off clean. The neighborhood cat also slid off trying to jump on the hood! went away unhappy!

 

If you can keep up on it, just pull it up in the drive way and let water run down the panels, roof, hood etc..then dry it good. You want to wash away any crude that was in the air/rain so it won't etch your paint bad if it is allowed to dry. I have 4 really bad waterspots that will not come off on my roof(black car) because of lazyness after it rained out here, and when our sun kicks in here in neveda it only takes 1 min to dry those puddles...and if left over night forget about it! Will need to buff sometime to remove it. Vinegar will get some water spot's off. Anyway just rinse the car, and dry it after it rains, or do a full wash..whatever you have time for.

keep a bottle of quick detailer in your car also, mothers brand or meguiars are easily found in most stores...this stuff is awesome on fairly clean paint, dont rub if it is really dusty though. This can remove water spot, etc right after it has encountered your car.

 

I just got my Prius professionally detailed after 20 months. Looks really clean inside, almost like when it was new.

 

Oh no! Don't ever use dishwashing soap on a car. It removes and strips wax, and also gets the finish too clean for the health of the car. There's a lot more to it, but I don't remember it off hand. Google it!

 

Ah, actually the article suggested using vinegar on a sponge, applying it to an area, waiting exactly one minute, and rinsing it off. That should remove all the wax, then you can use the clay bar (lubricated with a little bit of the regular polish.. I think) and then polish,... wax blah blah. haha I'm watching all the videos. They have been pretty excellent. (the Adams stuff.)

 

I've got a 5 month old black Prius. It's been washed a couple of times in a car wash ( maybe a mistake ). I've washed it several times myself with a soft mitt, Turtle Was car wash in the bucket and the microfibre towels to dry off. I bought some Turtle Wax liquid clay and ICE liquid polish and did the whole car last weekend. It came out looking good but this morning I noticed curved scratches on the hood in the reflection from the garage light. I must have put those in washing the car. I've looked at the Adams videos and read some of the posts here but am I describing swirl marks. How do I remove them? Am I better off getting a Zaino or Adams starter set? Will one of there clay bars remove these marks or do I need a orbital polisher like what is shown in the Adams videos? Or is this the nature of a black finishe ( my first black car).

Thanks for any advice.

Kelvin

 

KJR,

In your case I would get the Zaino Z5 product which fills in swirl marks. Remember to use up and down motions on the vertical surfaces and forward and back motions on the horizontal surfaces due to light refraction tricks. No circular motions. Clay removes impurities in the clearcoat/paint, it does not address swirl marks.

1st - Use Dawn hand/dishwashing liquid, which is alkaline, to remove wax and contaminates. Water the car down prior to washing with Dawn. Rinse throughly. (Don't use Dawn on a regular basis).
2nd - Claybar the vehicle using your favorite claybar. Zaino and Meguiar is okay, among others. Use plenty of wipe and shine, detail spray or even more soapy suds with the clay. Check the area with the back of your finger or even a woman's sheer stocking for anything left that needs more work.
3rd - Supposed to wash the car again, but I don't, I wipe and shine as I go, no clay marks.
4th - Don't use microfiber towels, they can scratch. Use 100% cotton white new towels (Canon, Feldspar, etc). No towels that have been washed with or dried with fabric softner.
5th - Don't use an orbital polisher without the previous steps and I wouldn't use one without heaps of experience, I've seen the damage an inexperienced user can do.
6th - Use either Zaino All-In-One or the Z2pro, Z6, ZFX system or the polish you prefer.
The deal is: preparation of the surface is KEY. Light pressure, whether orbital or hand gives the best results.

The Zaino system is a bit confusing, their website says "You need this, and that, unless you add this or that, and don't forget this other stuff too" Whew, not even the questions and answers help much.
I think I had to read it 3 times before I understood what I needed from Zaino.
This weekend I will be applying Zaino for the first time.
Wish me success.

ZC1

 

$145 (interior and exterior). It is a lot of money, but the car really needed it. They shampooed the seats and all.

 

NONSENSE. Orbital polishers don't require any special skills and cannot harm your paint. Anyone can use one.

It's rotary polishers that require skill. Orbital polishers just wiggle a free-spinning pad in little circles (orbits). A rotary actually spins, and the velocity of the pad at the outer edge is fast enough and can get hot enough to burn paint right through to the bare metal if you don't know what you're doing. Those tiny little orbits made by an orbital polisher - there isn't enough velocity there to even break down a lot of polishes, let alone harm your paint.

 

I stand corrected!

I'd forgotten the name and had meant the rotary polisher.

Thanks for the heads up.

ZC1

 

I've read others on this site and others post that microfiber towels are the way to go. I use two to dry. One in the right hand to get the water off and the other on the left hand to dry. I'll swap out the right hand towel more often. I dry the car in the shade of the garage.

Zaino products are confusing. Z this and Z that. I've written a list of products that most use
Z7 Wash
Z18 Clay
Z5 + ZFX
Z2 + ZFX
Z8
ZCS
Z-AIO

Confusing but the steps I need to do are to
Wash
Clay
Touch up scratch marks and swirls
Wax
Polish

I'll generate a list of products for each step.

What about the Adams products. No one seems to talk about those much.

Thanks for the replies.

Kelvin