washing and waxing

[eddy]

I have been using armour -all car wash and mothers paste wax/cleaner and the yaris looks new well I have only had the yaris since july 18 but have washed it AND waxed it a lot. have used these products on all my cars

[Kaotic Lazagna]

That's cool. I'd recommend Meguiar's Gold Class wash. You also don't need to wax your car every time you wash it tho.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Here are some tips for washing your car (this is what I do).

When washing your car, wash from the top down, meaning start with the roof, rear and front windows, trunk, and hood. Then work on the sides, rear bumper, and finish with the front bumper. At the same time, wash panel by panel, not everything at once. In between each panel, clean off the wash mitt, which should be long hair/strands, not short. Long hair/strand wash mitt because it disperses the dirt so you're not wiping it across your paint, scratching the finish. Panel by panel to let yourself wash off the mitt, and to prevent the soap from drying. Also, in between each panel, I rinse the entire car (from the washed areas to the dirty areas) to prevent water spots.

Now, washing technique. Most people use circular/swirl motions when soaping their cars. Bad move. This will create that "web effect" as seen with the circular fine scratches. Instead, use linear strokes. This will prevent those "webs". I've been asked if I repainted my car since the person did not see the webs. hahaha.

For drying, do not use a rag or something similar. I use the Absorber. Any detailer approved chamois should suffice tho. I also dry in a linear stroke. If you notice any black marks on your chamois, try not to use that area anymore since it is dirt. You wouldn't want to scrape that across your paint.

Other tips:

1. Wash your car early in the morning before the sun is up in full. Over here in the States, 6-7 am is a good time.
2. When waxing, wax in a cool, shaded area. I wax sections at a time, i.e. roof, trunk, hood, half of the side, the next half, etc. That means, applying the wax to the section, wait until it dries up, then buff off.
3. Use quality, name brand products. I recommend Meguiar's and Mother's products. For the car wash soap, I recommend Meguiar's Gold Class Wash. It provides a really nice clean, and a very shiny reflection while bringing out the vibrance of the paint color. I have not seen any polish at my local stores, but once I see Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish, I'll be getting it. Again, polish is for more vibrance/shine/gloss look. For wax, I recommend, liquid Mother's California Gold carnauba wax. I like the finish it produces, and is pretty easy to use. I do not like spray on or paste wax. The finish when I used them on my friends' cars (that's what they had), I didn't like the finish nor its ease of use (the lack of). For clay bars, go with either Mother's or Meguiar's and use their detailer spray, respectively. Do not use plain water when clay barring your car. When you do clay bar, make sure you also wax after.

[eddy]

I maybe nuts but not crazy!!! no I do not wax it every time. only once a month and not the whole car every time

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Oh, hahaha. My bad.

[counterfiend]

Its completely alright to wax in direct sunlight. Its the temperature of the paint that effects how fast it drys or how hard it is to take off. Often in the cooler months you want to put the car out in some sunlight to warm the paint up, so that the wax dries completely and a bit faster.
And wax wise, all the OTC stuff is good for short periods of times. In Texas none of them last more then a month, have to hunt down some stuff that lasts longer in the Texas heat. Megs #16 or Colanite both last amazingly long, even in Texas about 5-6 months depending on how you wash the car and if you garage it or sits in the elements all day.

If your not worried about it being a show car, then just use what your comfortable with. Just make sure you always use clean towels, and sponges or whatever you decide to use.

If your more worried about paint swirls and what not then you could go even farther. You can do whats called the 2 bucket method. Or the 2 bucket method with Grit Guard
Bucket #1 Soapy water
Bucket #2 Clean water w/ grit guard in the bottom.
You get the soapy water from bucket #1, wash the area you want to wash, then you scrub the sponge or whatever against the grit guard in the bottom of bucket #2, ringing it out to get the clean water out, then back to bucket #1.
This will greatly reduce the amount of contaminants that you carry over on the sponge.
And for soap, a good rule to go by, 1oz of soap per gallon of water at least.
The soap is there as a lubricant and a cleaner.

[tomato]

I like the 2 buckets idea! What's Grit Guard?

[counterfiend]

http://www.gritgaurd.com/

it basically goes in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket (like from home depot)
it has slats that go to the bottom (about 2" tall total) and it lets the dirt fall through to the bottom, and the slats that go all the way down keep it from recirculating back up onto the mit.

[tomato]

I'll check it out, thanks!

[RevoluScion]

have you tried smartwax products?

[tomato]

Oh, I just got it...

RevoluScion, are you advertising? Beware that this forum doesn't like unauthorized advertising. You're new, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, but now you know, so, careful, there!

[RevoluScion]

^not advertising just asking....my club uses it so i want to see if you've used it before cuz i use the wash and honestly it doesn't leave like the dry spots you know.... o well i guess i wont comment.

[tomato]

^ I understand. It's just that you posted 6 or 7 posts about "smartwax" so I was wondering :)

No problem, Enjoy the forum

[severous01]

strip wax and stuff off with dawn or other detergent

clean thoroughly, with detergent....clean again to make sure

dry with chami or 'sham-wow' lol....any way

wax with eagle one nano-wax.







2 weeks later wash with nano-wax wash, and if it's still a little off i spray nano-wax instant wax....and it's clear that it's clean. putting anything on the hood or roof and it'll slide right off.

[YarisSedan]

Just so you know most waxes contain a mild cleaner abrasive unless it is a pure carnuaba wax. So it is possible to overwax your car.

[counterfiend]

It is possible to over wax a car yes. But depending on how you clean your car regularly, and the environment you keep your car in, it could be necessary to wax a car every few weeks or every month.
Example: You give your car one good wash every month, but take your car through a touchless car wash once a week. Touchless car wash's use harsh chemicals to get the grime off, since they dont touch your car, stripping more wax off then a normal wash would.
Example: Harsh road conditions, Winter weather, salty roads. Break down wax quicker then not as harsh winters and roads that dont need to be salted.
Example: Super hot summers. Living in Texas, most over the counter wax's last anywhere from 3 weeks - 2 months. thats WITH proper washing and care.

All this stuff changes if the car is garaged, how you wash the car, so on so forth.
If you take care of your car, use the right products and dont use harsh chemicals on the paint unless you choose to, yes, you can over wax your car by doing it that way. But for most people its ok to use the Spray wax between wax's. That spray wax lasts about a week anyway.


BTW, Tomato, get the grit guard yet? Will save your life.

[carmine]

yall should use ICE by turtle wax its pretty much amazing

[DandiDani]

i do use it and i love it. we have to buy the spray about every four weeks bcuz my husband uses it so much.