Your Car Wash Routine

[The Critic]

My car gets driven a lot-- and on highways with lots of bugs. Therefore, I wash my car at least weekly to protect the paint and the clear bra.

I am curious as to what your car wash procedure is. Mine is a bit odd, since I live in an apartment with my own garage, but I don't have a water connection on site.

Here's what I do on a weekly basis:

1) Drive to the local coin-op car wash, pay $2.75 for 4 min. I first pressure wash the entire car with the soap solution, then use the high pressure rinse function to get the car as clean as possible.

2) Drive back to my garage, mix 2-3 ounces of Optimum No Rinse into 3 gallons of hot water and wash the entire car with a freshly laundered sheepskin mitt. I then dry the car with a waffle weave towel that is rinsed and wrung dry frequently.

3) I apply a thin layer of XPEL paint protection film sealant onto the areas of the car with the clear bra. This stuff gives the clear bra a very hard and slick surface so that bugs cannot stain it. I let the XPEL sealant dry while I finish working on the rest of the car.

4) While the sealant on the clear bra is curing, I apply spray-on wax onto the other panels of the car, clean the interior windows as needed, and check/top-off the vehicles fluids and adjust tire pressure. Then I go back and buff the sealant off the film.

This routine takes me about 90 minutes weekly, sometimes less. I apply a normal coat of sealant every 3-4 weeks when I'm home and also vacuum the car at that time. I clay and compound/polish only on an as-needed basis.

What's your routine?

 

[chubbs1]

I am a weekly washer too. I usually pick two of my vehicles and wash them. I Use a bunch of different soaps but I have found the Eagle One Wash and Wax is the sudsiest (is that a word?). Anyway I live in the blazing FL sun so I wax the hood, top and trunk whenever I wash the car with Collinite Paste or Insulator wax or both depending how ambitious I feel that day. I spray wax the sides.

I use the two bucket method.

 

[Colt45ws]

Drive through the local touchless once a week or so. I am a lazy person. The paint does not look that great anyway, so why go though the trouble of labor.

 

[hypervish]

In the winter I go through a touch less wash every week, usually Fridays. Unless there's a snow storm of course!

In the summer, fall, or spring... LOL I wash the cars by hand once every other week. I use various products.

 

[mmab]

I use a coin operated car wash every week, 5$ for 30 min (unlike yours). I try to do it very early in the morning on days I decide to wax so that I can use the bay for waxing before others come in. This way I reduce the possibility of scratches on the paint. In the winter I wash it whenever the weather makes it possible.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
My car gets driven a lot-- and on highways with lots of bugs. Therefore, I wash my car at least weekly to protect the paint and the clear bra.

I am curious as to what your car wash procedure is. Mine is a bit odd, since I live in an apartment with my own garage, but I don't have a water connection on site.

Here's what I do on a weekly basis:

1) Drive to the local coin-op car wash, pay $2.75 for 4 min. I first pressure wash the entire car with the soap solution, then use the high pressure rinse function to get the car as clean as possible.

2) Drive back to my garage, mix 2-3 ounces of Optimum No Rinse into 3 gallons of hot water and wash the entire car with a freshly laundered sheepskin mitt. I then dry the car with a waffle weave towel that is rinsed and wrung dry frequently.

3) I apply a thin layer of XPEL paint protection film sealant onto the areas of the car with the clear bra. This stuff gives the clear bra a very hard and slick surface so that bugs cannot stain it. I let the XPEL sealant dry while I finish working on the rest of the car.

4) While the sealant on the clear bra is curing, I apply spray-on wax onto the other panels of the car, clean the interior windows as needed, and check/top-off the vehicles fluids and adjust tire pressure. Then I go back and buff the sealant off the film.

This routine takes me about 90 minutes weekly, sometimes less. I apply a normal coat of sealant every 3-4 weeks when I'm home and also vacuum the car at that time. I clay and compound/polish only on an as-needed basis.

What's your routine?


When you have a house and an outdoor water faucet you will not have time for this, as too many other things to do. If you have kids, forget about waxing your car until the kids are 18, as you will have a negative amount of time available.

 

[GMBoy]

I prefer the tradition 2 bucket hand wash using whatever car wash soap is cheapest. I've used them all from $2 a jug to $25 a 16oz bottle and they all work just the same.

Coin up car washes are a waste of money unless you have a lot of crud to blast off. Otherwise you are just racing time to wash and you never want to use that brush on your paint. So, by just spraying the car you don't get all the dirt - you have to wash with a mitt to get all the dirt so I don't see any benefit from wasting money there....unless your car is clean and just dusty then you can spray it down and wipe it afterwards with a spray detailer.

I also use a spray detailer or a spray wax when I wash as it does extend the wax protection already on the car. I also wash my vehicles weekly, sometimes more.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I have a girl that comes in once a week.

 

[4x4chevydude]

I use the disocunt gas and get a wash with it in the winter, I try and do my own in the summer but time is sometimes against me so then I usually go to the 3.00 wash down the street or buy cheaper gas and a car wash...I try and keep it clean. I need to wax it more often but in the year I owned it I gave it a wax once after last winter and now I am planning on throwing some on before this one.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^hahaha^^ lucky you!

I have a bit different routine. First I spray the car with a neutral ph pre-treatment that I mix hot. Then I pressure wash it with HOT water at about 900 psi. I have access to unlimited hot water from my fleet trucks.

I then blow dry it with a leaf blower and wipe it dry with a fake chamois.

No scratches in my clear coat after almost 7 years.

 

[buster]

I rinse the car off very well, then wash it with a micro fiber cloth. I use a bit of mother's california gold soap. I dry with a large micro fiber towel and then hit it with Zaino Z6, because that is what I have on hand. I then clean the interior and engine. About 60-90 minutes.

 

[expat]

Once a year weather it needs it or not.
A clean pickup truck is pretentious.

 

[HTSS_TR]

My routine: Wake up on Saturday at around 8:00-8:15, wash face then put on blue jean and polo shirt, drive one of the cars to Fletcher Jones Motor Cars about 5 miles from home, enjoy free Starbucks coffees, 20-25 minutes later the car is readied to drive home, after grab a couple of free water bottles.

Once in a while, maybe 3-4 months or a little longer, applied Eagle1 wax as you dry after drove the car home from Fletcher Jones. Once a year detail interior with Lexol leather cares (cleaner and conditioner) and wash the engine with Castrol super clean engine degreaser.

 

[sciphi]

Twice a year I'll wash using 2 buckets and a good wash mitt, then dry with a fake chamois. Then I'll clay and put on sealant. A day later I'll wax, and call it good.

 

[FZ1]

Real simple. 2 bucket method. Start at the top and work down. Meguire's gold class car wash. I probably wash it 12 times a year. 2x per year I apply 3 coats of Meguire's gold class liquid wax. That's it!

 

[swirlparanoid]

im getting more and more into onr lately so i wont post my probably page long soap and water process. (this will probably be a page in itself) in my experience onr has caused no more marring/swirling then when id do a normal 2 bucket wash if its caused any (paint has some sliiight imperfections i never got out from polishing that will be addressed in the spring)

With onr i first take a look at the finish before i start and see if i feel it would be beneficial to take a trip to the self serve. i will always go to the self serve if...i have driven in the rain, any birds happened to drop nukes, bugs, or if it just looks like it could use it before i start

i first grab the little gallon bucket i keep especially for onr washes fill it up just a little over the gallon mark. then i put a little over 2 cap-fulls of onr into the water and swirl it around.

grab my spray bottle i keep for onr pre-treating and fill it up from the gallon bucket.

i don't use a mitt with onr i figure that constantly folding a quality microfiber towel (no tags) to a fresh side may be better than having a single mitt that only has 2 usable sides for onr to quickly embed dirt in. then find my adams waffle weave drying towels and place them on a clean surface nearby

starting the wash process i first pre-spray every inch of the panel i happen to be doing with the spray bottle with the onr solution in it. my reasoning for this is that in my experience if saturated enough when you wipe the towel/mitt across the panel a little 'wave' of water will form in front of the wash media possibly reducing swirling chances by first encapsulating some of the dirt before the towel contacts it verses wiping the wash media across the paint and not having the wave. may be no reason to do this but it makes me feel better

anyway then after thoroughly wiping the panel i place the towel back into the bucket grab the drying towels and gently wipe sometimes dab the water off and also using an electric leaf blower to get anything that got in cracks etc

then redo the process on the next panel

after im done with the paint for the wheels i also use onr and a variety on brushes ive accumulated, first i start by very thoroughly pre-spraying the wheel barrels, face, tires, and wheel wells and use my variety of brushes to thoroughly clean all the surfaces. then i dry the wheels/wheel wells with a leaf blower

so that's my wash process i wont even get into everything else, i will sometimes do that whole process every other day if im in the mood to do so, longest i wait is a week

 

[Malo83]

Wash weekly with Megs Gold Class soap and MF mitt, dry with leaf blower and MF waffle weave towel. I wax monthly and spray detail after every wash

 

[Scum_Frog]

Originally Posted By: hypervish
In the winter I go through a touch less wash every week, usually Fridays. Unless there's a snow storm of course!

In the summer, fall, or spring... LOL I wash the cars by hand once every other week. I use various products.


I follow the same routine for the most part.

 

[Drew99GT]

once a year when one of the local car washes has free washes, I oblige.

 

[double vanos]

I use Duragloss soap and a Wookie wash mit and a synthetic chamois. Detail door jambs and wash rubber floor mats which get dried with compressed air.

Use compressed air to blow all debris out from under the seats to where I can get to it. Wipe down interior and glass with microfiber towels lightly misted with distilled water. Treat interior rubber with 303 and apply Collinite leather wax to seats.

If just a quickie I use The Glosser wax infused towels to dress the paint and Eagle 1 trim treatment on all the ext black plastic. The wheels and tires are cleaned with Eagle 1 tire and wheel cleaner and the the wheels get shot with Armorall wheel protectant and the tires treated with Megs low gloss rubber and vinyl protectant.

Clayed twice a year and Insulator waxed twice a year as well .
Doing this to two F150 SuperCrew 4X4 pickups - keeps me out of the beer joints.....