Damon
King Kong
In this guide I will explain how best to care for your car during a regular wash regime.
Washing represents the most hazardous process for your cars paintwork. Using a sponge is just about the worst thing you can do to your car. Believe it or not, whilst cleaning your pride and joy you are probably inflicting the worst damage it has experienced!
We will cover the basic equipment you’ll need and how to get the best finish without inflicting damage to your car.
What you will need:
Wheel brush
Wheel Cleaner
Three buckets (clear plastic if possible)
Wash mitt – 2 preferably
Car shampoo
Drying Towel – 2 or 3 preferably
Preparation
Where possible try not to wash your car in strong sunlight. Early morning or late afternoon is best. This will help stop the water drying too quickly on the car and leaving water marks which require washing off again. If it is hot and drying too quickly you will need to wash and dry your car in sections.
If possible use a jetwash to prepare the car for washing. Don’t get the nozzle too close to the car, and don’t dry and blast any stubborn bugs or bird muck off, these will respond better to soaking. If you are washing a cabriolet don’t be tempted to wash the fabric with the jetwash. If you don’t have access to a jetwash, use a hose and focus on soaking the car.
Don’t use a sponge
Although widely used a sponge is the worst thing you can use to clean your car. If you think of the grit that is sitting on your paintwork, then placing a flat sponge on top of it there is no where for the grit to go. It doesn’t ‘soak’ into the sponge; you just move it off the paintwork and into the water solution. But in doing this you first have to move the grit, and it is this movement that caused the swirling you see in the paintwork.
To mitigate against this you should use a Wash Mitt. Wash Mitts come in two materials, Lambswool or Microfibre. The basic principle that the pile in a wash mitt allows the grit to be moved away from the surface. The depth of the pile encourages the grit to be absorbed into the mitt rather than just moved across the surface. It isn’t a guaranteed to eliminate swirling, but it is the best way to wash your car.
Two bucket method
This is the most important part of keeping your car in the best possible condition.
Get two buckets of water ready. One wash, one rinse. The wash bucket is the one to put the car shampoo in. Contary to popular belief bubbles are not what your looking for. Lubracy is the key, to get this add the shampoo when the bucket is one third full, then use the hose to mix it in whilst filling the bucket. Warm water helps too.
The second bucket is plain water.
The technique is as follows:
Dip wash mitt in washing bucket.
Wash a section of the car.
Squeeze out wash mitt
Dip in rinsing bucket
Squeeze out wash mitt
Then dip wash mitt in washing bucket and repeat
Change the rinsing water at least once. In the winter, keep an eye on the water in each bucket and change as soon as it discolours and/or contaminants show.
Right then onto how to wash the car……
Wheels first
You need to get the worst of the grime away from the car first, so it’s the wheels first.
Use a wheel cleaner product. There are two types of cleaner, acidic and citrus.
Products like Autoglym Wheel Cleaner and Wonder Wheels are very acidic and should be avoided. I once had a set of alloys replaced on a new car when I knew it was because I was using Wonder Wheels the damage occurred, but the dealership didn’t know that
I recommend using a more PH balanced product like Chemical Guys Premium Blue Rim & Wheel Cleaner or Sonus Rim Bright Alloy Wheel Cleaner.
The alternative is to use a citrus based cleaner. These are completely safe and extremely effective at removing brake dust. My recommendation is Virisol. Made by Clover Chemicals it is a trade degreaser mainly used by commercial cleaning companies. It is incredibly good value for money, 5 ltrs costing approx £8 plus delivery. I get mine from www.olympiccleaning.co.uk . Be aware, Virisol strips wax, so keep it off the paintwork.
You will need a good wheel brush. It has been difficult to find one that reaches inside the wheel so I recommend the Meguiars Wheel Spoke Brush.
Agitate the brake dust/dirt then jet wash off and leave to dry.
Basic principles
You are working from ‘cleanest’ area of the car, to the dirtiest last.
Refreshing water and washing surfaces at every opportunity to avoid inflicting defects.
Be as gentle as possible, no scrubbing.
Wash in 'straight' lines, not circles.
Washing
Roof first
Side windows leave front and rear (depending on body shape, if it’s a coupe or saloon you can wash them at this point)
Bonnet
Wings and doors top three quarters only, both sides.
Change wash mitt.
Door/boot jams (if needed)
Windscreen and rear screen (if not done)
Headlights, grill and front bumper
Wings and doors bottom quarter, both sides, do not do under sills
Rear bumper
Under sills
Rinsing
You can use the Jetwash to remove most of the water, but you should finish using an open hose to sheet water over the car as this will provide the best method of removing any remaining grit/dirt.
You will need to use more water than you normally use, have you ever seen the oiliness left in the water when drying off the car? More is better here.
Drying
In the similar way to the sponge the traditional chamois is a potential source of defects. Professional detailers have long since abandoned the chamois and moved to microfibre drying towels. The highest rated towel in the detailing community is the Sonus Der Wunder Drying Towel. One of these towel will dry a complete car with little wringing out, they are amazing.
I use three towels, one for paintwork, one for door shuts and one for engine bay (if detailed) and wheels.
Using the microfibre drying towel, pat or drag gently over the car.
Top down, follow the same sequence as the washing routine.
Then open doors and do door jams with a second towel
Then if you have previously cleaned the engine bay, wipe it down with the third towel and finish with drying the wheels.
You are done! The car is finished.
The most important thing is you’ve done it in the safest possible way and kept your car in the best condition possible.
Shopping
Megs Wheel Brush
Wheel cleaner
3 clear buckets, B&Q
Shampoo
Wash mitt
Sonus drying towel x 2/3
I would recommend getting all of the above from www.cleanyourcar.co.uk
Tim Horner is the proprietor, his reputation in the detailing profession is second to none, and he gives a discount to PureGT members (see the business referrals forum http://www.puregt.com/Forum/upload/forumdisplay.php?f=13 )
Care of your washing gear
Rinse wheel brushes and hang dry
Wash mitt, wash by hand and spin before hang dry
Drying towels, periodic machine wash at 30C, at a minimum run under running tap and spin before drying on radiator.
I hope this guide helps you understand how best to wash your car, please ask any questions you want
In later guides I will cover how best to finish your car once you've got it this clean
Washing represents the most hazardous process for your cars paintwork. Using a sponge is just about the worst thing you can do to your car. Believe it or not, whilst cleaning your pride and joy you are probably inflicting the worst damage it has experienced!
We will cover the basic equipment you’ll need and how to get the best finish without inflicting damage to your car.
What you will need:
Wheel brush
Wheel Cleaner
Three buckets (clear plastic if possible)
Wash mitt – 2 preferably
Car shampoo
Drying Towel – 2 or 3 preferably
Preparation
Where possible try not to wash your car in strong sunlight. Early morning or late afternoon is best. This will help stop the water drying too quickly on the car and leaving water marks which require washing off again. If it is hot and drying too quickly you will need to wash and dry your car in sections.
If possible use a jetwash to prepare the car for washing. Don’t get the nozzle too close to the car, and don’t dry and blast any stubborn bugs or bird muck off, these will respond better to soaking. If you are washing a cabriolet don’t be tempted to wash the fabric with the jetwash. If you don’t have access to a jetwash, use a hose and focus on soaking the car.
Don’t use a sponge
Although widely used a sponge is the worst thing you can use to clean your car. If you think of the grit that is sitting on your paintwork, then placing a flat sponge on top of it there is no where for the grit to go. It doesn’t ‘soak’ into the sponge; you just move it off the paintwork and into the water solution. But in doing this you first have to move the grit, and it is this movement that caused the swirling you see in the paintwork.
To mitigate against this you should use a Wash Mitt. Wash Mitts come in two materials, Lambswool or Microfibre. The basic principle that the pile in a wash mitt allows the grit to be moved away from the surface. The depth of the pile encourages the grit to be absorbed into the mitt rather than just moved across the surface. It isn’t a guaranteed to eliminate swirling, but it is the best way to wash your car.
Two bucket method
This is the most important part of keeping your car in the best possible condition.
Get two buckets of water ready. One wash, one rinse. The wash bucket is the one to put the car shampoo in. Contary to popular belief bubbles are not what your looking for. Lubracy is the key, to get this add the shampoo when the bucket is one third full, then use the hose to mix it in whilst filling the bucket. Warm water helps too.
The second bucket is plain water.
The technique is as follows:
Dip wash mitt in washing bucket.
Wash a section of the car.
Squeeze out wash mitt
Dip in rinsing bucket
Squeeze out wash mitt
Then dip wash mitt in washing bucket and repeat
Change the rinsing water at least once. In the winter, keep an eye on the water in each bucket and change as soon as it discolours and/or contaminants show.
Right then onto how to wash the car……
Wheels first
You need to get the worst of the grime away from the car first, so it’s the wheels first.
Use a wheel cleaner product. There are two types of cleaner, acidic and citrus.
Products like Autoglym Wheel Cleaner and Wonder Wheels are very acidic and should be avoided. I once had a set of alloys replaced on a new car when I knew it was because I was using Wonder Wheels the damage occurred, but the dealership didn’t know that
I recommend using a more PH balanced product like Chemical Guys Premium Blue Rim & Wheel Cleaner or Sonus Rim Bright Alloy Wheel Cleaner.
The alternative is to use a citrus based cleaner. These are completely safe and extremely effective at removing brake dust. My recommendation is Virisol. Made by Clover Chemicals it is a trade degreaser mainly used by commercial cleaning companies. It is incredibly good value for money, 5 ltrs costing approx £8 plus delivery. I get mine from www.olympiccleaning.co.uk . Be aware, Virisol strips wax, so keep it off the paintwork.
You will need a good wheel brush. It has been difficult to find one that reaches inside the wheel so I recommend the Meguiars Wheel Spoke Brush.
Agitate the brake dust/dirt then jet wash off and leave to dry.
Basic principles
You are working from ‘cleanest’ area of the car, to the dirtiest last.
Refreshing water and washing surfaces at every opportunity to avoid inflicting defects.
Be as gentle as possible, no scrubbing.
Wash in 'straight' lines, not circles.
Washing
Roof first
Side windows leave front and rear (depending on body shape, if it’s a coupe or saloon you can wash them at this point)
Bonnet
Wings and doors top three quarters only, both sides.
Change wash mitt.
Door/boot jams (if needed)
Windscreen and rear screen (if not done)
Headlights, grill and front bumper
Wings and doors bottom quarter, both sides, do not do under sills
Rear bumper
Under sills
Rinsing
You can use the Jetwash to remove most of the water, but you should finish using an open hose to sheet water over the car as this will provide the best method of removing any remaining grit/dirt.
You will need to use more water than you normally use, have you ever seen the oiliness left in the water when drying off the car? More is better here.
Drying
In the similar way to the sponge the traditional chamois is a potential source of defects. Professional detailers have long since abandoned the chamois and moved to microfibre drying towels. The highest rated towel in the detailing community is the Sonus Der Wunder Drying Towel. One of these towel will dry a complete car with little wringing out, they are amazing.
I use three towels, one for paintwork, one for door shuts and one for engine bay (if detailed) and wheels.
Using the microfibre drying towel, pat or drag gently over the car.
Top down, follow the same sequence as the washing routine.
Then open doors and do door jams with a second towel
Then if you have previously cleaned the engine bay, wipe it down with the third towel and finish with drying the wheels.
You are done! The car is finished.
The most important thing is you’ve done it in the safest possible way and kept your car in the best condition possible.
Shopping
Megs Wheel Brush
Wheel cleaner
3 clear buckets, B&Q
Shampoo
Wash mitt
Sonus drying towel x 2/3
I would recommend getting all of the above from www.cleanyourcar.co.uk
Tim Horner is the proprietor, his reputation in the detailing profession is second to none, and he gives a discount to PureGT members (see the business referrals forum http://www.puregt.com/Forum/upload/forumdisplay.php?f=13 )
Care of your washing gear
Rinse wheel brushes and hang dry
Wash mitt, wash by hand and spin before hang dry
Drying towels, periodic machine wash at 30C, at a minimum run under running tap and spin before drying on radiator.
I hope this guide helps you understand how best to wash your car, please ask any questions you want
In later guides I will cover how best to finish your car once you've got it this clean
Last edited:
ut )
