Will Dish Soap Eat Paint?

[Draw7Seven]

When I wash my 9 year old, economy compact sports car to get bird poop and tree sap off of it, I use dish soap. I use microfiber sponges that I've been using for over a year now and dropped on the ground multiple times only to rinse off, and I'm never consistent about wiping in circles vs. straight lines. Afterwards, I use wax out of a 9 dollar bottle that I found at AutoZone. And when I'm done, my 9 year old economy compact sports car looks better than 99% of the cars in my town of 90,000 people.

Sometimes perfection has to give way to practicality. I don't have 12 hours to spend on my car and I don't have more than about 40 dollars to drop on cleaning products. Dish soap is an excellent general detergent and it works a lot better in preserving the finish of a car than bird poop or tree sap do. While I can always appreciate a theoretical discussion on the perfect car wash and I can certainly appreciate the scientific method being used here to observe the effects on a car's finish, I think it's important to bear in mind that most of our audience (drivers of a car that hasn't been produced since 2005) probably isn't looking for a top of the line detail.

[mitchlikesbikes]

When I wash my 9 year old, economy compact sports car to get bird poop and tree sap off of it, I use dish soap. I use microfiber sponges that I've been using for over a year now and dropped on the ground multiple times only to rinse off, and I'm never consistent about wiping in circles vs. straight lines. Afterwards, I use wax out of a 9 dollar bottle that I found at AutoZone. And when I'm done, my 9 year old economy compact sports car looks better than 99% of the cars in my town of 90,000 people.

Sometimes perfection has to give way to practicality. I don't have 12 hours to spend on my car and I don't have more than about 40 dollars to drop on cleaning products. Dish soap is an excellent general detergent and it works a lot better in preserving the finish of a car than bird poop or tree sap do. While I can always appreciate a theoretical discussion on the perfect car wash and I can certainly appreciate the scientific method being used here to observe the effects on a car's finish, I think it's important to bear in mind that most of our audience (drivers of a car that hasn't been produced since 2005) probably isn't looking for a top of the line detail.

dish soap is fantastic ONLY if you follow it with wax or sealant (like you do).

i've also kinda fallen off the detailing bandwagon. clean enough to look good and function is good for me. no need for perfection. i don't build show cars :)