Dimitri-

iTrader: (10)

So does college living =(

2002 Trans Am

I wash my car with S.O.S pads. Instead of using water I use sand and gravel. Works really well at getting brid droppings and paint off.

DUSTYWS6

I use a two bucket system combined with the Mr. Clean Auto Wash. I rinse off a section, spray the mr clean soap on the section. Then I take my wool mitt from the soapy water bucket and wipe the section using paralled motion, not swirling action. I put the mitt in the clean water bucket and rub the dirt out of it briefly. I'll spray the section with Mr. Clean soap again and then use the purified water rinse from the Mr. Clean AutoDry. It's a lengthy process, but I don't get water spots and rarely have enough scratches where I have to bust out the Porter Cable. My car's black so it's special needs.

The Mr. Clean AutoDry is the way to go with a dark colored car. The less you have to touch it, the less chance you take to get scrathes and swirls. With the AutoDry, I don't have to touch the car to dry it, so I'm not taking the chance that I pick up a dirt spot that I missed washing and rubbing it into the paint and scratching it.

PedroDePackas

iTrader: (1)

How do you like the soap you use witht the AutoDry? I didn't care too much for it. It always left a wierd film on the windows and I had to clean them afterwards with a window cleaner anyway. I also didn't like the soap sprayer thing, I felt it didn't spray enough soap and a lot of it just slid right of the car. I then stopped using the sprayer and poured the soap in a bucket of water, and washed the car in the more conventional method and rinsed it off with the filtered water. I've also read that the soap strips the wax off the car. I can't vouch for this since the car hadn't been waxed in a while. I now use a different soap all together but still use the water filter.

The Trans Am Kid

All my rags have different uses and I make sure not too cross the jobs.

BlackLM7

The most important thing when I was looking for an apartment was a car wash area with a hose to hand wash my truck. I didn't really care about anything else, LOL. I am the ONLY person who washes my truck. Automated car washes (scratch-o-matics) are banned from my truck. I use 2 buckets to wash. One is used for the tires/wheels, wheel wells, and the engine compartment. The other bucket is used for the body. I use a wool mitt on the body and an older, retired mitt for the tires/wheels, etc with Turtle Wax Zip Wax car soap. Rinse from top to bottom and wash 1 area at a time and rinse in between areas. I go in this order: roof (rinse), hood (rinse), doors and windows (rinse), windshield and back window (rinse), entire driver's side (rinse), entire passenger side (rinse), tailgate (rinse), grille (rinse). Rinse everything and dry with the Absorber. Every 3 months I give my truck a good coat of Meguiars Gold Class.

Gipraw

iTrader: (10)

If you are using Meg's gold class .. I would recommend more than once every three months.. Gold class has an awesome looking finish, but is way down the list of carnubas when talking about durability .. imo ..

thecarolinakid~98ss

Whats the point of this thread she said she doesn't even wash her car

DUSTYWS6

The soap is a little on the weak side, that's the main reason I also use a bucket of soapy water to wipe down the car. I'm not convinced that the AutoDry soap has enough suds to lubricate the surface enough to prevent scratches. Fortunately it's never left any film on the car, maybe that's an issue that depends on the hardness of your water. I primarily use the AutoDry for the filtered water to avoid water spots. Maybe one of these days I'll just buy a few gallons of distilled water and see if I can use them to rinse the car. Between the cost of the AutoDry Soap and Filters, it may be cheaper to buy two or three gallons of distilled water.

PedroDePackas

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I've been thinking of buying DI water as well, the filters can get a little pricey. They don't last all that long, sometimes you get one that doesn't work that well, and if you use a different soap the car won't dry completely spot free.

Camaro Girl

I wash my car. Right now I use the car wash cause I live in an apartment. When I had a house I would use a hose with a bucket and a sponge. (new one every time) If your not going to post how you wash your car then don't bother posting at all. I don't want any wasted space on my thread.

FLA02TA

iTrader: (5)

I do almost the same thing. I have well-water at home that STINKS on the outside house, but is filtered twice inside.

I take it to the drive-in bay wash. It's almost touchless. I use the brush stage and that's all that hits the car other than water/detergents.

The triple-poly shine and wax is pretty amazing. For the longest time I used to skimp and race the timer and only wash. I'd then wax by hand.

Now I use the 3x poly and wax and by the time I hit the spot free rinse stage, it's beading off nicely. I take the long way home and let it air dry. When I get home I use a microfiber to get the remaining drops off, polish my rims and use tire shine. If the windows need it, I'll get them.

Last stage is interior detailing and vacuuming.

Total cost - 5-6$. I'm getting good at it and each time I do it, it takes me less time

On an a-side, I found a neat product at Autozone by Black Magic, that has a gel and sponge to do the tires. No more slop all over my rims and panels. It works quite well. They had 3 left and were clearance for some reason at $1.98 a piece. I bought all three. I have yet to see if it stains my tires brown like the non-satin foams I was using a while back.

2000blackta

iTrader: (16)

I also use the 2 bucket method with lambswool mit.

Am I the only one who uses a leaf blower to dry the car? It works awesome, just use a microfiber waffle weave towel to get the little drops once you are done with the blower.

thecarolinakid~98ss

its funny to see useless threads that really shouldnt warrent much of a response get huge responses from everyone because a girl posted it

try using newspaper on windows it works the best for some reason

Camaro Girl

I groom dogs and my old boss would use the High Velocity dryer to dry her car off... LOL. She'd also use it to blow the snow off her car too. It took care of the snow and the ice on the windows. It works great.

Jason26

iTrader: (7)

its always good idea to use two buckets one for washing one for rinsing. i to use the lambs wool mit. if your going to use towels or rags make sure they are lint free so you wont have little pieces of lint all over your freshly washed car