Ok so I was told to make a thread about this just to see the response. So here goes.

When you wash your cars by hand, what do you do with the rags afterwards?

Would you use your car washing rag to wash windows or anything else in your house?

Why?

 

lol .. this could be interesting ..

- I don't use rags .. you shouldn't either. you need to use something with a lot of nap, to prevent the dirt already on the surface from causing scratching and swirling. that is the same reason you should never use your wash mitts for anything else.

- I use lamb's wool and chenille wash mitts

- I wash my lambs wool in the washing machine, just like my MF towels.

- I rinse out my chenille mitts, and hang them up to dry. they get used twice, then thrown away. once on the lower body .. next time on the wheels, then they hit the trash.

 

I do not use rags to wash my car, but sponge, then, a chamois or synthetic absorber to dry everything up, then, if you are pretty picky, use a good window cleaner with a clean and soft piece of cloth later on.

 

I don't wash my car by hand, I can't. I'm in an apartment and don't have a hose, I use a car wash. Besides my car is full of scratches and dings now from people opening their car doors into mine, someone even dripped paint on my drivers door and it looked like they tried to wipe it off, (just made it worse). So my car needs a paint job anyways.

 

I use a microfiber wash mitt that looks like it has neon green dreadlocks and I only use it to wash the car. It gets washed out after every use.

Apartment living sucks when you're trying to take care of a car.

 

From a PM I sent to a member asking for washing tips:


Here is my wash routine:
2 Lamb's Wool Mitts - The real lamb's wool, not the synthetic crap. I get mine at Target or Walmart (though I hate Walmart on general principle).
2 buckets, one with clean water, the other with water/car wash soap.
Hose with a shower spray nozzle

Wet down the entire car. Start with the wheels, tires, wheel wells and under carriage. Dunk the wash mitt in the soapy water, then wipe an area. Dunk the mitt in the clean water and agitate it, to knock the dirt and crap off. Dunk back in the soapy water and move onto the next section. Rinse often. Once you've done all four wheels, the bottoms of all your valances and the wheel wells, dump out both buckets and refill, then switch to the other wash mitt.

Here's why: brake dust is actually nothing more than small metal shavings. When you get that on your mitt, chances are good it's going back against your paint. The clean water bucket helps keep the soapy water clean of crap. When you've done all four wheels and the under carriage (the dirtiest parts of your car), there will be lots of sediment in the bottom of the clean water bucket. The more often you dunk the mitt in there, the more chances of picking up trash. The reason I use a lamb's wool wash mitt is because the depth of the "fingers" - called "nap" in towel terms - is long enough to keep the crap from the edges of the fingers, where they can do more damage to your paint.

Once you've got clean water and a fresh mitt, repeat the above procedure for the rest of the car. I start at the roof and move down from there. When you're done washing everything, take the nozzle off the hose and do one final rinse with a strong jet of water. Let the water "sheet" off, as this will help reduce water spots.

Where do water spots come from? The spots are actually mineral deposits that are suspended in your water. Once the water evaporates, you're left with the minerals (usually iron).

Drying: I use two large waffle weave towels, like this one (offered by one of our sponsors): http://www.brilexsolutions.com/stwawe24x36.html
The object of drying is not to rub the water off. The nap of the towel should wick the water away from the car. Fold the towel up into a small, manageable rectanlge. If you have loose "tails", you'll have more chance of water spots. Re-fold often, to keep a relatively dry surface to the paint. Drying is where I see MOST people cause swirl marks. It's very tempting to use the towel to rub out a spot the wash process might have missed. Don't do this. It will result in swirl marks.


-Mike

 

2 bucket method, one with water and another with soap. Wash your wheels first with a quality wheel brush or separate mitt JUST for your wheels. Hose you car down with a strong flow to remove as much dust/grit as possible. Wash the car from top to bottom, never bottom to top. Use quality mitts, rinse often and keep them clean. Rinse off the car with a low to medium flow of water and dry it up. Absorber works great.

 

Thats pretty much what I do to

 

People are going to hate me for this, but I use a pressure washer. Pre-soak, soap, rinse, spot free rinse. Dry it off there with an Absorber synthetic chamois, drive home, polish the wheels, dry anywhere that has dripped, take a blower to my tail lights to stop them from draining on my bumper, polish the tips, dry the door sills, inside windows etc. And thats my normal washing procedure, I'll wax once a month and get the car buffed and Zaino'd every 6 months. It looks really good to me.

 

i sew the rags up together and make shirts

jp. everyone in here pretty much covered it. i use my old towels to clean up around the house, or to apply shoe polish, or to clean up the mess after i rub ur...i mean nothing

 

Me too! Wee! We're hated!

 

I use a microfiber sponge for the body and windows, and a Meguiar's wheel brush for the wheels. I just rinse them out when I'm done and let them air dry.

 

Does anyone use a water blade?

 

+1

 

I use a cotton applicator pad to clean my wheels and then it gets rinsed and set aside. I wash my hands to make sure there is no brake dust on them as they are usually dirty after cleaning out the cotton pad.

Then I use a white 100% cotton towel a la Zaino method to wash the car. Certain fabrics can be too coarse and cause minor scratching on the paint surface. So just select your wash pad or towel carefully. Rinse the towel and bucket afterwards and the towel goes into a bin with the other used towels. They get washed when there are enough in the bin and folded neatly on the car care shelf. My car towels look nicer than my actual house towels until they have a bunch of washes on them, then they are a little gray. But I do not use them for anything else other than washing the cars. Don't want to contaminate them with anything that could inadvertently scratch or damage the finish.

Dry with an absorber and admire the shine!!

I too have some door dings and stone chips all over the front end, but when the car is clean you don't notice them as much. That stuff happens when you drive your car. So wash it and be proud of your ride. My college roommate and I used to take our carwash stuff up to the local do it yourself quarter place and go through the motions there as we did not have a hose to use either. You just make do with what you have available. It will still look nice.

 

I've tried it, but didn't really like it. It "skipped" a lot, which I ended up having to go over with a damp towel anyway.


-Mike

 

oooh thats terrible, yeah i have a bunch of dings in my car to but for me its still worth hand washing it i just like to spend a little time on the car each week whether im working on it or washing it, it helps you to appreciate the car more i think. but yeah no rags on my car, i use the chenelle mits to was and the silicone "california water blade" to wisk the water off, it works great.
john

 

how about the silicone blade i have been told that they will not damage the paint. what are some opinions?

 

look a little further down the page, and you will find this:


https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detailing/634412-does-anyone-use-dry-your-car.html

 

you guys sure are thorough lol