Here's my old generic car wash post.
92 TripleBlack's cleaning tipsMostly from other corvette owners)
-Wash car with car wash. Always wet down panel before soaping up. Water is the lube that keeps grit from scratching your paint.
Use real car wash. Dish soap and other soaps remove wax. Use a sheepskin mitt or other sheepskin cleaning instrument. The shag wisks away dirt into the fibers so you don't scratch as you would with a sponge.
-Rinse using a hose on medium without the nozzle. The car will dry itself much more rapidly than with a nozzle. if you do this, the water doesn't spray, so you don't have all the small dropplets all over the car.
-Dry with 100% domestic cotton towels, not the crap they sell in the autoshops. You can also use "The Absorber" which is what I do. Just rinse it on a regular basis so it doesn't keep any remaning grit on it scratching paint. Don't use a blower. It will put dust onto the car which will then scratch when you wax it.
-Wax using a good carnuba wax. This is a very hard wax and will last. Don't use polish. Polish will remove what is there and won't build layers.
If waxing for the first time, do it at least twice. Then wax say every 1-2 months, more if it is hot or there are lots of polutants in the air such as dust, pollen, road salt, etc. Use again the same cotton towels to take off wax. Leftover ones from drying are good. For wax, I use Zaino Bros. if I am going to put an inital layer on or if it is my vette or infiiniti as they are black and need the best wax. The mada gets a spray on when drying wax from Eagle one. Easier to put on, it doesn't last long. But I use it every time I wash so its good enough. You could get tennis elbow waxing a mada the traditional way.
-Windows- Don't use Windex. It has ammonia which will discolor window tint. Use a glass cleaner like glass perfect or Stoners to clean. Wipe side to side on the window on the outside, top to bottom on the inside. If you see a streak, you will know if it is inside or outside.
-Bugs- I power wash first and then use car wash to kill these. If you have wax on , you will be fine. Dryer sheets are supposed to help removing them. Some people put Pam cooking spray on the front also to fight bugs. Don't use those pads. Instant paint scratches.
-Tires-Use a UV tire protectant. Armor-all and other silicon based products will magnifiy the sun and promote dryrot. They also attract dust and are hard to remove.
-Interior- Use approved stuff, not armor-all. See tires for reasons. Most plastic panels will clean with just water. Use some good interior cleaner on plastic that won't clean with water like Meguires. For carpet, I vaccumn but I will also use my Hoover home carpet shampoo machine for spots. For leather, a good leather cleaner works well to preserve. I use Meguires leather wipes for ease of use.
-Wheels Wax them like you do the other paint. This will make the brake dust come off easy. Don't use the same applicators you use on the paint. Wheels are dirty and will get them really dirty quick. Use the old ones on the wheels rinsing frequently. I power wash them and it kills most of the dirt right off the bat.
Claybars-Use the claybar if you are cleaning a car without wax. If you keep up the wax, you will never need one. Clay bars are good but they wear out the paint much more rapidly than just proper maintainence.
Don't forget to clean the door sills, inner tire wells, and engine compartment. I power wash all these.
To add to your post, make sure the mitt is sheepskin. Sheepskin pulls dirt and grit into the fibers, so it doesn't scratch. Other things like sponges do not do this.
Drying blades are OK, but I like the Absorber. Just make sure you rinse it out often to keep it clean. I would not get a leaf blower. It will blow dust onto the wet car. Air from a compressed air hose that is filtered works well.
Haven't heard the Microfiber term. Most vette guys will only use domestic cotton towels. Many cotton towels or cotton rags contain synthetic materials, which in turn will scratch. I'll check it out but cotton works well. Remember, you should have it clean by this time.
Orbitals? Nothing like a machine to get swirls into paint. Me with a buffer-> :machinegu Hand do everything.
Klasse looks like a decent product. Remember, it is a polish, not a wax. You will note, later in the post they say use a good wax.
I'd say to use the Zaino system. Better overall results for Black than the Klasse/Meguires combo.
Good overall post. For extensive posts on car care from the most anal retentive crowd I know, go to the www.corvetteforum.com and look through some of their posts. They have some real wack jobs over there.
Wait a minute, I'm one of them. Dooh! :goteam:
92 TripleBlack's cleaning tipsMostly from other corvette owners)
-Wash car with car wash. Always wet down panel before soaping up. Water is the lube that keeps grit from scratching your paint.
Use real car wash. Dish soap and other soaps remove wax. Use a sheepskin mitt or other sheepskin cleaning instrument. The shag wisks away dirt into the fibers so you don't scratch as you would with a sponge.
-Rinse using a hose on medium without the nozzle. The car will dry itself much more rapidly than with a nozzle. if you do this, the water doesn't spray, so you don't have all the small dropplets all over the car.
-Dry with 100% domestic cotton towels, not the crap they sell in the autoshops. You can also use "The Absorber" which is what I do. Just rinse it on a regular basis so it doesn't keep any remaning grit on it scratching paint. Don't use a blower. It will put dust onto the car which will then scratch when you wax it.
-Wax using a good carnuba wax. This is a very hard wax and will last. Don't use polish. Polish will remove what is there and won't build layers.
If waxing for the first time, do it at least twice. Then wax say every 1-2 months, more if it is hot or there are lots of polutants in the air such as dust, pollen, road salt, etc. Use again the same cotton towels to take off wax. Leftover ones from drying are good. For wax, I use Zaino Bros. if I am going to put an inital layer on or if it is my vette or infiiniti as they are black and need the best wax. The mada gets a spray on when drying wax from Eagle one. Easier to put on, it doesn't last long. But I use it every time I wash so its good enough. You could get tennis elbow waxing a mada the traditional way.
-Windows- Don't use Windex. It has ammonia which will discolor window tint. Use a glass cleaner like glass perfect or Stoners to clean. Wipe side to side on the window on the outside, top to bottom on the inside. If you see a streak, you will know if it is inside or outside.
-Bugs- I power wash first and then use car wash to kill these. If you have wax on , you will be fine. Dryer sheets are supposed to help removing them. Some people put Pam cooking spray on the front also to fight bugs. Don't use those pads. Instant paint scratches.
-Tires-Use a UV tire protectant. Armor-all and other silicon based products will magnifiy the sun and promote dryrot. They also attract dust and are hard to remove.
-Interior- Use approved stuff, not armor-all. See tires for reasons. Most plastic panels will clean with just water. Use some good interior cleaner on plastic that won't clean with water like Meguires. For carpet, I vaccumn but I will also use my Hoover home carpet shampoo machine for spots. For leather, a good leather cleaner works well to preserve. I use Meguires leather wipes for ease of use.
-Wheels Wax them like you do the other paint. This will make the brake dust come off easy. Don't use the same applicators you use on the paint. Wheels are dirty and will get them really dirty quick. Use the old ones on the wheels rinsing frequently. I power wash them and it kills most of the dirt right off the bat.
Claybars-Use the claybar if you are cleaning a car without wax. If you keep up the wax, you will never need one. Clay bars are good but they wear out the paint much more rapidly than just proper maintainence.
Don't forget to clean the door sills, inner tire wells, and engine compartment. I power wash all these.
To add to your post, make sure the mitt is sheepskin. Sheepskin pulls dirt and grit into the fibers, so it doesn't scratch. Other things like sponges do not do this.
Drying blades are OK, but I like the Absorber. Just make sure you rinse it out often to keep it clean. I would not get a leaf blower. It will blow dust onto the wet car. Air from a compressed air hose that is filtered works well.
Haven't heard the Microfiber term. Most vette guys will only use domestic cotton towels. Many cotton towels or cotton rags contain synthetic materials, which in turn will scratch. I'll check it out but cotton works well. Remember, you should have it clean by this time.
Orbitals? Nothing like a machine to get swirls into paint. Me with a buffer-> :machinegu Hand do everything.
Klasse looks like a decent product. Remember, it is a polish, not a wax. You will note, later in the post they say use a good wax.
I'd say to use the Zaino system. Better overall results for Black than the Klasse/Meguires combo.
Good overall post. For extensive posts on car care from the most anal retentive crowd I know, go to the www.corvetteforum.com and look through some of their posts. They have some real wack jobs over there.
Wait a minute, I'm one of them. Dooh! :goteam:
