How does Veeky Forums wash their car?

I’ve just got myself a reasonably high end car and I’m trying to decide how I should care for it.

Should car washes be actively avoided? I hear they scratch your paint.

What’s best for the overall life and look of the paintwork?

Foamer, bag of micro fiber cloths, microfiber wash mit, soap of choice, wet the whole car down and was panel by panel drying at you work.

And go panel by panel *

>Pressure washer + Foam cannon
>Microfiber cloths and mitt
>2 dedicated buckets and grit guards


I rinse, foam cannon, wash with a mitt, then rinse again.

Start from top to bottom. Don't be a fucking idiot and scrub your wheels then your bodywork. That will end up scratching the shit out of your bodywork.

foamers are a massive meme
spoken to several detailers about them
they are just a waste of money

Thats why you have a separate mitt or sponge for the wheels.

>Presoak the entire vehicle removing any heavy particles before any rubbing occurs.
>Soap it up with the two bucket method one panel at a time and rinse, use decent soap.
>Clay bar it every few washes to remove minute particles depending on how much driving it sees.
>Wash again with two bucket method.
>Wipe car dry and apply decent wax.

Rate my washing loadout.
Car is S2000 btw

yeah but it looks fukken neat i mean who doesn't like foam

Use a hose no soap, focus on getting shit off the undercarriage
>t. Truck owner

I avoid car washes. Heard a few horror stories and that they can damage the paintwork.

I hand wash it. Rinse it down and use autoglym to was it using a mitt. Any heavy amount of dirt/mud/grit i carefully sponge off and thrn continue with mitt.
Got an alloy wheel brush which I use with a sponge also.
Once I've cleaned it all, I rinse it down. Wait until it's dry then you can polish your car.

What should you use instead?

I follow ChrisFix guidelines for deep cleaning.

I don't wash my car unless heavy salty winter. Washing your car makes it rust quicker.

Post your S2000

Mazda owner detected.

I really don't see anything wrong with the touchless pressurized automatic car wash at my local Shell station. For $8 they even throw on some RainX which helps keep mud off my car for up to 2wks.

They're wrong, it loosens the dirt and debris before you start rubbing with mitt. I foam my car then rinse off then foam one more time for me to scrub

>carnauba wax
Into the trash

Had 2006 or so S350.

Didn't give a flying fuck about paint so I just used local gas station car wash or self service.

Couple of years later when I was selling car I paid something like 200€ for professional touchup and paint was flawless.

So stop worrying and making your life harder than it should be. If you're so anal about paint get professional polish and vax once a year.

Problem is people don't know which products to use, with a good sealant you only have to reapply ever 4-6 months for keeping paint flawless

>303
Fuck you reminded me, I need to get more 303 Aerospace and some clay lube.

I use
Purple Meguiars wash in warm water bucket
Tons of microfiber cloths for washing, separate set for wheels/tires
Separate cold rinse bucket
Mother's clay kit/lube for if I need to clay it
Hose water for wash down
California silicone squeegee to dry
Separate microfibers to dry detail areas
Klasse wax and sealant
Interior is windows with windex/cinch and microfiber
Wipe dust off of all surfaces with microfiber, and sweep
303 Aerospace protectant on two microfiber cloths (one wet one dry) over all interior bits, and any plastic on the outside of the car as a final touch.

Bout how my washes go.

Show-foam is a meme, good snowfoam shouldn't dwell on the car but instead should be removing as much surface dirt as possible.

My setup
>Auto Finesse Avalanche
>Autosmart Smart Wheels diluted 1:5, Vikan soft brush
>Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds II and CG Bear Claw mitt
>Krystal Kleen Detailing glass cleaner (high alcohol content prevents smudging)
>CG VRP for trim and tyres
>Sonax BSD detailing spray
>CG Cherry Wet Wax once a month
>Menzerna Powerlock once every 4-5 months
>Poorboys Wheel Sealant every 2 months

I prefer 303 over VRP but I got a great deal on a trade size bottle. Using a Nilfisk C130 pressure washer, and a DAS6 v2 with Hexlogic pads for polishing/applying sealant. My car never gets worse than a few light grazes or swirl marks so I use Scholl Concepts S20 one-step.

Have cuhrayzee paint swirls on my red sports car, worth polishing by hand?

I do mine the unorthodox way, and i get the same results as those guys who have 6 diff. microfiber towel.
1) Get 2 buckets 1 for water 1 for soapy, Meguiars gold class, or 2-1 wash n wax (yellow bottle).
2) mix soap with water 2 parts to 5, and spray down the car
3) appy soap panel by panel and move along the car, make sure you are in shade or weak sunlight so the soap doesn't dry, then let the soap rest for a min.
4) Spray the car down hard, don't bother with pressure washers they suck.
5) Grab 2 dry towels use one at a time. Use one till it gets wet, then use the other to dry. If you see any water stains pass over it with the wet and then quickly with the dry towel.

ps. again don't wash a car in direct sunlight, and the best time is like 3-5pm depending on the season where the sun is weak.

ChrisFix is gods gift to the car community

This is what I've heard suggested. Make sure you're in the shade or it's cloudy.
>Rinse entire car
>Soap/foam entire car
>Let sit for a couple of minutes
>Rinse entire car
>Soap and scrub individual panel/area (start with highest points, work down)
>Power wash individual panel/area
>Repeat around car
>Wipe car down with squeegee
>Dry car completely
>Wax entire car
>Buff entire car

You can throw a clay bar in there after the power wash, followed by another soap and scrub.

Tbh, my cars don't have great paint and so I'm not all that worried about protecting the paint so I do this:
>Get car wet
>Soap and scrub entire car using clean sponge
>Powerwash entire car
>Squeegee off water
>Drive around neighborhood to air dry car
>Cheap, quick wax job (literally just so I don't have to wash it as often)

I go because the Mexican guy who towel dries my car is pretty cool.

no. Machine polishing is the only thing that will effectively remove swirling. Hand polishing with abrasives is MORE aggressive than machine polishing, believe it or not, due to more uneven pressure.

Trips.
synthetic sealant master race reporting in.

Chris da God

I actually just washed one of my cars today. I use Meguires Gold to do the washing, and their tire foam for shining my tires. I also use Mothers California Gold clay bars about once every 3/4 months. Then I use an orbital waxer to apply and spread wax at that time as well. Of course I do wash in between the waxes as well.

>get professional polish and vax once a year.
Sorry, don't want my car getting autism.

i dont

I use a small electric power washer only capable of like 1600 psi or something, so it isn't really powerful enough to cause damage especially with the water being fanned out. I generally spray it down to remove any large dirt, do a light wash, spray it down again, clay bar it while it's still wet and add more water as needed, spray down again, wash again this time with a bit more attention to detail, dry it off, then wax it. After I've waxed it I shine the tires.

>pay $6 for cheapest drive thru carwash
>at the end tip the nog $2 to armourall the tires

Wash once a week - yourself by hand. Use mothers pure carnuba wax 4 times a year.

It rains sometimes.

second meguiars soap

>mall car parking are free
>unofficial 1€ refugee tax to the local negro to not have my car keyed

>respray car
>afraid to wash it

>foam cannon
>two buckets with grit guards and microfibre wash mitt
>dry with microfibre towels
>303 protectant on plastics
>meguiars ultimate wax

>spray cars for a living
>wash them before returning to customer

Bucket of water
Dishwashing detergent
Big ass sponge
Hose
>ez

Completely oblivious dumbass here.
I wash with turtle wash/wax (using two bucket method and microfiber wash mit), dry with a silicone squeegee and a microfiber. Alloy safe cleaner and brush on wheels. 303 on the plastics.
I am all the sudden realizing I should probably be waxing my car. Is this true, and if so what is the cheapest and most effective way to do it by hand. I am looking to do it more for protection than looks if that requires a different approach. pls help an user out

>Washing your car makes it rust quicker
You come that your car isn't already dust from the rain alone?

Follow AMMO NYC and CHEMICAL GUYS
Both good sources,

>soapy water
>bikini whores

> Pre-rinse with hosepipe
> Sponge with hot water, using wash/wax car shampoo, rinsing sponge every few swipes
> Sponge wipe for the wheels to get into the little gaps
> Rinse off with hosepipe
> Polish with chamois leather or microfiber cloth

No scrubbing required, except to get mud out of my bike's radiator.

Nissan, ahctualy.
You imply I don't keep it in a heated garage when not driving it?

i piss on it, pour some absinthe over that and rub it down with an old leather glove and sit on the roof smoking cigarettes for an hour
no-one will steal my car when it smells worse than a mexican foood joint

Slav detected.

When it's nice and warm out: I use Adams Polishes (really like their Detail Spray & Car Shampoo) and Chemical Guys (really like their Jet Seal) products. Both are great, but I will be trying out AMMO NYC stuff starting in the spring. I usually take like 2-3 hours for a full detail. But I normally wash it once a week and that takes like 1 hour.

When it's shit outside: I take it to my local touch free car wash. Yeah its not the best but its really my only option to take off the road salt that gets on it. Then I'll bring it back home and use glass cleaners and other detailing products to finish it off.

No you're implying that water makes cars rust, which is not true it's oxygen.

I use my windshield washers occasionally and otherwise simply wait for rain.