car wash

[LiLxKeNnY]

how do you guys wash your cars??? i usually hand wash my car, but yesterday i put it through the car wash. i wonder if i should have wash the undercarriage though???

[K20A3Si]

i usually wet the car down good...clean wheels.....wash car with a washing mit....then just rinse under car...then dry...and i will stop here.

[LiLxKeNnY]

some people told me that drive thru car washes r bad for cars

[K20A3Si]

yes....car wahses will scratch your car....the dirt from other cars gets caught in the washing flaps in car wash...which means it is rubbing into your paint..i dont even like touch free car washes...those use very powerful blowers that will inbed the dirt and sand into your car...i dont know i am very careful when it comes to washing my car...just rinse it with a myst and then wash then rinse full stream....thats what i do anyways and my pain tstill looks ok...hope this helps LiLxKeNnY.

[halos02Si]

if i take mine to the car wash, i make sure its by hand....where they wash it before it goes in.....and when it goes in, it just sprays water and blows air....i never put mine through the machines....gives the car too many scratches

but in the summer time i always wash my baby by hand. :D

[LiLxKeNnY]

i dont know if this is from the car wash, but my roof seemed to be scartched!!!! ... thats the last time i put my car thru that thing. ill stick to hand washin. now im kinda hurt

[halos02Si]

probably from those swinging brush's (look like dead bodies) that slap against your car to clean it

[Peking]

LiLxKeNnY we have a Car Care section :)

[shimmy_yaz]

Originally posted by Peking
LiLxKeNnY we have a Car Care section :)

LOL good ol Peking

Yeah I don't trust the drive thru car washes at all. IDuring the winter I take it to the local car wash and spray it down just to get some of the crap off but in the summer it gets a real good hand wash.

[rgGolf4]

Well, if you live in New England and you want a clean car in the winter, you have to use a car wash. I usually use the Lazer Wash which is a touchless, automated car wash. it does a decent enough job...i just go for the underbody wash...need to get the salt and sand off.

In the spring/summer, its a weekly hand wash/detail. I love detailing my car.

[Peking]

Originally posted by shimmy_yaz
LOL good ol Peking

Yeah I don't trust the drive thru car washes at all. IDuring the winter I take it to the local car wash and spray it down just to get some of the crap off but in the summer it gets a real good hand wash.

LOL, I also don't trust drive through car washes. However I do use those ones with the spray washes, that you do yourself. For quick washes between real good washes.

[super_si_45]

1-light mist on car, initial wetness (;))
2-hose down car
3-bucket and soap, hand mitten, gently rub down
4-rinse
5-bucket and soap, hand mitten, GOOD rub down very firm
6-rinse
7-wheel detail, firm rubdown
8-exhaust detail, undercarriege rubdown firm
9-wheel wells, firm rubdown
10-soap rubdown exterior again firm rubdown
11-entire rinse, bathe that puppy
12-pop hood, firm rubdown under hood
13-engine detial, detail rubdown firm
14-hose off *very carefully* engine and turbo, etc.
15-rinse EVERYTHING
16-get in car, start up, drive around block rreeaaallyyy fast
17-get back and begin drying
18-when drying DO NOT dry in circles, only long firm lines, circles=streaks

this is just a normal rundown quick wash, for "holy" washes as they have been come to be called, is a good ol' wax job, for shows, goats milk...........interior is a whole other story:D

remember, a car should be treated like ur woman ;)

[batboy02si]

i live near plymouth and they just installed this sweet wash that doesn't touch the car at all and it does a great job, especially with the salt that they put down around here.

[LiLxKeNnY]

more details on this no touch car wash

[Zigen5]

Yeah I was going to say that it depends on what kinda car wash you go through.. If I am in a hurry, I use the car wash. Which is touch free and just uses high pressure water to wash your car. But I usually do a good hand job.. :eek: ;)

Here another good question...
How often do you guys wax your car? I usually wax it once a month. But since its the winter, I just use the spray on wax...

[k20hatch]

I always hand wash and dry my car. Car washes scare me :confused:

[shimmy_yaz]

Originally posted by Zigen5
Here another good question...
How often do you guys wax your car? I usually wax it once a month. But since its the winter, I just use the spray on wax...


since its winter???????????????????????????

Location: Florida

please put down the crack pipe I repeat please put down the crack pipe

Boy it must be rough to not be able to wax the car in the 70 degree cold front :confused:

sorry I am just so sick of winter I needed to vent a little

[batboy02si]

its all automated. you pull up, it does its thing and you pull out with no drips and the car is spotless. maybe its because its brand new but man its sweet to get that salt of the car

[super_si_45]

there is absolutly, positivly, nothing, i repeat nothing, wrong with touchless drive thrus, well, at least the ones in texas anyways, u go to a pretty new, clean lookin one, nada, just a quick way to spot free ur car, the brush ones though will fuck ur shit up though, my only prob with touchless is this:

1-most only do spot free and no dry
2-the ones that do automated dry suck major ass drying and will have spots by the time u get home
3-i cant get through 85% them cause of that stupid ass pointless goddamn rail that my fuckin exhaust and undercarriege raped one time


oh, and fuck the cold ass weather, and this fuckin weeks all rain forecast (sorry needed to vent)

[BarracksSi]

I've found ONE style of automatic car wash that really did well getting a few pounds of highway-borne road salt off of my car. It was at a gas station, my car sat stationary, and a big arm with a bunch of nozzles went around the car. It wet the surface, sprayed soap everywhere, and rinsed with spot-free rinse water.

I opted for the service with no wax, since I had a good coat already and didn't want to screw around with some no-name stuff getting on top.

It seemed to work because of the sheer volume of water, not lots of pressure. It got all the little nooks & crannies cleaned out, and had sprayers for the underside.

Whenever I look at a gas station's car wash, I try to see if it's the same kind. Any other, and I don't bother.

Of course, normally, I wash & wax by hand anyway.

[Loudpedal]

During the winter I just hit the self-wash pressure washing places. I just washed my car yesterday, the first time in 4 months. Ouch. Looking forward to summer and hand washes in my own driveway.

[HondCivc91]

Washing my car is a religion to me ... just like people go to church every sunday, my car gets washed every saturday. And if it's raining, I go to the self-serve wash by me and close the bay doors :)

I've found Simple Green to be a great product for getting brake dust build-up off the wheels. It's kinda like an industrial grade cleaner with 2430 different purposes (environmentally safe). I spray that on the wheels along with windex on the windows. let that stuff set for 5 minutes and spray the whole car with water. Then I take a bucket of hot water with Meguiars Gold Class soap (generous portion - probably like 2-3 times more then what they reccomend). Put that on the car and rinse one section at a time. After the wash, I get my electric leaf blower and dry it :D And after that all terry cloths. Dry insides of doors then wheels... then put Tire Wet on the tires.

Detailing (once a month)Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish and Deep Crystal Wax, Trim and Bumper Detailer (I've got black bumpers).

Complete Care (once a year). In order. Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, Scratch X, Deep Crystal Polish, 2 coats of Deep Crystal Wax, Trim and Bumper Detailer.

Yep, so thats about it. Hey, did any one of you guys use the new Nxt Generation Tech Wax from Meguiars???? It's expensive but suppose to be the best! :D

Peace.

[toSi_orNot_toSi]

Originally posted by HondCivc91
After the wash, I get my electric leaf blower and dry it :D



lol... sorry but if I saw someone blowing there car... its not every day someone gives there car the "weed eatter treatment.

[super_si_45]

believe it or not bro, i would rather do that (i persoanlly use an air compressor) to dry my car, being it is black u wont have to worry about streaks at all :D

[LiLxKeNnY]

i feel really shitty for going thru a car wash now ... i will never go thru thos brushingdrive thru's .... im scared now ... my poor baby was voatdand i didnt even know

[CIVICBOOST]

I Hand wash & Dry my Si, its also my Saturday "Faith":D
Rinse, lather, Rinse, Dry.
I wax every other week...
Meguiars Showcar glaze followed by Meguiars High Tech Yellow #26.
I use Meguiars Swirl Remover once a year.

Never used the automatic crap, and my bodykit is incentive not to even want to. Now that I drove by one and looked inside and seen that rail/pipe thing:eek:
Heres a pic of a week I didnt wax
http://ep3boost.com/1a0d35e0.jpg

[SiR Medic]

Moving it "CAR CARE".


I got one scratched up stock rim from the time I went to a "touchless" car wash when I was desparate to remove some road salt. That was the last time I ever went to one.

[dofu]

touchless carwashes suck anyways... i couldnt go thru any machine for the longest time coz my drop was so low... and plus, hand washes come out lookin so much better... does anyone use a compressor to wash their cars? i hear its somewhat bad for the clearcoat, but damn... it works so good... if i didnt hear that its bad for the clearcoat, that would be the only way i wash my car

[batboy02si]

the one i go throught doesn't have a rail. you drive in, an display tells u when to stop, then an arm on a moving platform above does the rest.

[HondCivc91]

im not too sure about a compressor. i have one but never use it... i mean im sure its gotta get stuff off that handwashing doesnt, but i can also see it eating clearcoat/paint.

toSi - hey my leaf blower may be wierd and make the neighbors look but just like super_si said, it does prevent streaks. Plus it's kinda' easier... and faster no doubt.

[minileedxr]

Forreals, never go through those cheap and crappy gas station car washes. They mess up your paint. I wash and wax my car an average of once a month. Lots of people forget, but wash your car when it is cool/cold and in the shade. If you wash your car in the sun while it is hot, streaks are going to happen. Also, never wash your car with laundry detergent. Buy the soap for cars. Lightly wet your car entirely. Don't use no spray hose, just use the regular hose and wet your car. I wash my car one section at a time. First, the hood. Soap and scrub gently. Then wash off all the soap. Next the hood and front fenders, and wash off all the soap. Then the sides and finally the back. I don't like to leave the soap on too long because it will peel off the paint in the long run. By the way, use cold water with the soap. I hand dry with soft cloth towels.

[BarracksSi]

For quite a while, I was washing without a hose at all. I'd fill a bucket with soapy water (car wash detergent, of course) and use it to suds-up the car. Then, I'd dump it out, refill with clear water, and dump that all over the car to rinse, often with a second bucket's worth for good measure.

I was surprised at how quickly I could get a good wash. Plus, the water seemed to flow off the car better when it was just a big mass. Using a hose leaves all these droplets everywhere, and they take longer to dry to get it spot-free.

Since then, I've gotten myself a hose that I can keep in my apartment, and I've been able to do a better job of cleaning the underside (well, what I can reach) and the wheel wells. I'll probably go back to dumping a bucket of water for a final rinse, though.

[yellerep3]

dam what if i went through the car wash a few times, what should i do to make the paint better, should i just repaint it>?

[minileedxr]

Originally posted by yellerep3
dam what if i went through the car wash a few times, what should i do to make the paint better, should i just repaint it>?

No need to repaint your car if it still looks good. Don't worry too much about it. Whats done is done. Going through a car wash a few times is not goint to kill your paint; in the long run it will scratch it. Stop worrying about the past and worry more about the future. Stop going through car washes and hand wash your car, you'll feel better about it after your done too, trust me.

[super_si_45]

cant ague there, all im saying is not everyone has time to handwash, well, maybethey do, but not me, i only get the satisifed feelig when iv done a complete good, detailed handwash, ahhhh, nothin beats thatshit, after i run thru the auto, not too bad still have that good feeling of cleaness, just like i said, its not the auto (touchless) u nee to worry about, just drying it, especially if ur shit is black, it wil streak so horribly bad its nt even funny, and that sucks becuase the touchless i go to sure ass hell doesnt get every soec of water, so there is some spots, but again, all it comes down to is time, which all of mine os pretty much eaten now, police academy, 50 hours work, and a girlfriend so iv got shit for tie at the moment :(.....