Cleaning the car

[Genegenie]

I was once told in assending order of car cleaning:

1. brick + metal builder's bucket of gravel.
2. block of wood + old bucket of sand.
3. old sponge + water & window cleaner's bucket of washing up liquid.
4. new 'baby soft' sponge / micro fibre mitt, proper car wash products + at least 2 new buckets of clean water.

5. Professional detailer.

For the record monthly, or when necessary, I use a microfibre mitt + ArmorAll Wash & Wax to wash then rinse using 2 quite new buckets, wipe dry with Autocraft Drying Mate microfibre cloth (like a mega -super soft chamois) and apply Mer polish every 6 months or so. The car is only clean for seemingly 5 minutes but dirt, tar, bird droppings, etc don't stick. My cleaning gear were presents but it's logical to spend at least £20 on quality car cleaning products to clean £15k - £20k cars that people obviously think a lot of, else we wouldn't post about them on the forum....

 

[RedTSI]

Mine got its first wash this weekend. Previous cars have gone through carwashes, but spending three times as much to have a new car has made me decide to do things differently, in an effort to keep it as perfect as possible.

I researched what was involved in washing a car properly, learned about two buckets, wool mitts etc. Looked up the price of Karcher pressure-washers. I'm in a ground floor flat, to get water I would have to run a hosepipe through the flat from the kitchen, which would be a bit of a hassle. Don't fancy standing outside to wash the car in winter.

Googled hand-washes near me and decided on the one below. Not the closest, but part of a business with several outlets and with a brand image to maintain. Took car there on Saturday, a basic exterior wash included wiping door shuts cost £9 and the result was perfect. The £9 wash was far better value than the £6 automatic washes I used to take my older/cheaper cars through.

http://www.americancarwash.co.uk/

 

[Gerry]

It's a handy service RedTsi but they charge double normal London prices.

 

[marvin1]

It's a handy service RedTsi but they charge double normal London prices.

Hmmmm, I wonder just how much water is used to wash a car? If I was desperate I'd use them or their ilk but would rather do it myself. However I realise that car valeting farmed out to others is popular.

 

[salmon]

Yes, agreed.
Wonderful stuff!

I wouldn't want to use it on a particularly dirty car either, as you need more water than this method provides in order to float the grime up and away.
But otherwise, it's a great quick method especially in the off season.
Gives the car a bit of a repellent quality feel as well.

I just tried their spray wax as well after reading some wonderful reviews.
Worked great, and a cinch to apply.
Really leaves the car feeling slick

Hi ElectricEye, will need to give the spray wax a go. I have tried looking for it but all I can locate is ONR wash and wax - no spray wax, unless you are referring to the same thing?

 

[salmon]

RedTSI - perhaps you should consider the optimum no rinse wash method. But like mentioned above by Electriceye and myself, only used when the car is slightly dirty rather than full of dirt.