I need to wash my car already! Any reccomendations

That is really bad advise. First of all they do use soap... and secondly... high pressure water can remove paint (if high enough).

I have seen touchless car washes that do better than those with brushes... and vice versa. The guy at the gas station doesn't know what he is talking about.

/Jim

 

Hey.. priusenvy... 2 questions since you do detailing: I assume you are usually messing with a good finish before you even start.

1. how bad is a bid a dawn dishwashing detergent on a car?. I've always used that.... "sure gets glasses clean!" :lol:

2. Do you think alot of the scratches incurred on cars could be from letting them get very dirty and then when you wash all that dirt off, the dirt does the scratching?.. or more the polish one uses?... or both?

thanks...

 

Windstrings,

My understanding is that Dawn is very popular on an initial wash because it will remove all of the existing wax from the car. Then you would use a different soap between waxing since you would want the wax to persist.

/Jim

 

"The temparture is 23 here. It's ok to wash my car at that tempature?"

If this is in degrees F then you'll have a hard time washing with ice...
;-)

 

She is in Wisconsin in Winter. 23C = 73F . . . obviously she is talking fahrenheit.

 

kinda warm for mid january though! i was expecting much colder when we got back up that way.

 

ah.. interesting.. I didn't know it did that... but I have always used silicone.. I don't know if it trys to strip that or not...

I would like a product like silicone, even though I have not noticed it scratching per se, I don't want to either..... on a brand new really nice finish... I may notice it so I want to avoid that.

 

Dawn is fine if you want to strip the wax off your car. But it's too harsh to use as a regular car wash shampoo. It will strip wax in a single wash, and will reduce the longevity of sealant much faster than a milder detergent.

Meguiar's Gold Class, and other premium car shampoos have high lubricity. Your wash mitt will just glide over the finish of your car. Most people think high lubricity is a desireable property in a car wash shampoo.

From Zaino's web site:

I've never put a swirl in any of my cars, so I don't have a lot of direct experience with creating them. There was one incident when I was a teenager involving my father's new Mercedes-Benz that is best forgotten though...he was not happy with me!

I think swirls have three main sources:

1) Automatic car washes
2) Poorly applied, or misapplied abrasive cleaners (polish, cleaner-wax, swirl removers)
3) Improper washing technique

Using two buckets, high-lubricity car wash shampoo, and following proper wash procedures should eliminate #3.

 

so how do auto car washes create swirls? i've only washed the car in an auto wash 3 times, but i'm curious about that.

 

"She is in Wisconsin in Winter. 23C = 73F . . . obviously she is talking fahrenheit. "

Not so obvious to me... national news is reporting temps 30 degrees (F) above normal in some parts of the upper midwest; over 50 in Chicago, for example.

Are you saying it is obvious that someone would want to wash their car in 23F weather? Wearing a bikini?

 

you clearly have not spent a winter in WI... :lol:

there are people who wear shorts all winter, even when it's -20s F. they hot tub in the freezing weather. and i'm sure you've heard of the polar plunge. people don't admit that it's cold up there

 

it's good for an excuse to take a day off work though, since noone else is going anywhere. we have the streets to ourselves too :lol:

you neglected to mention that they also shut things down when the temp is cold enough that it might snow.

and that when it does snow, and people are at work, they all decide to go home at once and cause an 18 hour traffic jam. <_<

sorry, southerners and people from other warm places. it's just pretty funny to us northerners. :lol:

 

We had 6 inches a few weeks(MN)ago and everyone showed up for their doctor's visit and school was open, not even delayed. When I lived in NJ it would have shut down the state for a couple of days.

 

We also can drive when there's LOTS of snow. Not like some states that get 1/2" and shut down the whole town .

You exaggerate.

It only takes 1/10" and LA shuts down, news shows proclaiming "STORMWATCH 2006!!!"

 

Deeper snow protects you better from the ice.