How to wash a coated car - The Gentle Approach for Washing a Car by Mike Phillips

[Nor Cal ZL1]

I have found Meguires D114 to be the best waterless/ rinseless product for coated cars. Everything else has left something behind that did not play well with coatings.

[Jomax]

Thank you. Just a simple article for a process that should be kept simple but effective.





Thanks Marc. Again, just a simple process for maintaining a coated car. Currently in the Wolfgang line there's no dedicated or specific spray-and-wipe maintenance product that also offers a synergistic chemical compatibility like there is in the Pinnacle Black Label line.

I think this is the weak link in all coating lines in that if the idea is to NOT apply something over the coating that defeats the features and benefits of the coating, then besides washing and thoroughly rinsing there's not much else you can use.

In the past I used the Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating on the wife's car and then after washing it I would use the PBL Detailer to remove any of the fine water spots that are left on the paint after drying and then either re-apply the Surface Coating or the Booster. Both restored that "Just Coated Look" that I really like our cars to have and also maintained the easy to wash, easy to dry and self-cleaning effect that makes me use a coating in the first place.





Great question.

Marc already did a good job of answering you but I'll add my 2 cents...



Years ago I learned about the least invasive way to dry your car from some guy that caused a huge wax war with the Zaino fans when he tested Zaino against Meguiar's Gold Class Wax on his black Porsche. (that's what I remember), the Zaino Fans took him to task and I think after some time he came around to seeing the Zaino light.

Besides the wax wars incident, I believe it was this guy that shared his technique for drying his black Porsche, which was to pat dry the car instead of wiping the paint. The big picture being that IF a person wanted to do everything they could do to be as careful as possible so as to not re-instill swirls and scratches into otherwise flawless paint then patting dry was a safer option than wiping dry.

As to your point, if the car is clean and the drying towel is clean and soft why would it matter if you patted the paint or wiped the paint? I think both are safe I just think one is more safe than the other.

If you really want to DRILL DOWN DEEP (and I can drill down as deep and usually deeper than anyone), when you wipe paint you create more friction against the surface than when you pat paint. So lets play my forum game for AR People of putting things in extremes.

Question: Does wiping paint add more protection to the paint?

Answer: No.

Question: What's the opposite of the word add?

Answer: Subtract.


So wiping paint is more aggressive to anything applied to the paint to protect it and make it look good than patting paint. Although coatings form a stronger bond to paint than car waxes and synthetic paint sealants, wiping them taken to the extreme would still be more aggressive than patting them.

Besides the topic or removing via wiping via physical contact with some sort of drying media, if you want to go even deeper lets talk about gloss and shine. Again, lets use the forum game for AR people of putting things into extremes.


Question: Does wiping paint add more gloss and shine?

Answer: No.

Question: What's the opposite of the word add?

Answer: Subtract.


So if a person has a freshly coated car and they are in absolute love with the high level of gloss and shine, i.e. the glassy look, then patting the paint dry will do more to preserve the high gloss finish than repeated wiping of the surface.


Of course for those of us that do "something to our car's paint often enough that longevity of any measure is a moot point then wiping is perfectly okay.


I'm not sure I can go any deeper than this but I think this is deeper than most people can go or think.








Patting takes more time and also takes more drying towels. One product that actually works really well for this is the Guzzler HD Waffle Weave Drying Towel. It has the same soft microfiber waffle weave outer material but also includes a water absorbing foam inter-core. So you place this towel flat on a surface, allow the water to migrate into the microfiber and then into the foam inter-core and presto... the water is gone and the surface is dry without wiping.



6 Pack Cobra Guzzler HD Waffle Weave Drying Towels, 16 x 24 inches

I always love your replies. You always FULLY answer the question in which I never have a need to ask "what if" questions in response. Thanks Mike!!

[tenblade2001]

thanks mike

[david b]

I always learn something new on this forum - never even considered this "pat dry" technique - I've got a ton of the waffle weave drying towels, including the bigger 20x40. Can't wait to give it a go. Thanks for the "how-to".

[Mike Phillips]

I always love your replies.

You always FULLY answer the question in which I never have a need to ask "what if" questions in response.

Thanks Mike!!

Thank you for the compliment. My writing style just somehow evolved via answering questions on forums. My dad alwasy taught me if a job is worth doing it's worth doing right the first time so when I write out answers or even articles I try make them as in-depth and as helpful as humanly possible. I know that's the kind of help I like to receive when I'm looking for information on a topic.

One of the most detailed articles I've written lately was the one on how to use a foam gun. Mostly because I went into very specific detail on the parts, how to set it up, how to fill it up and how to use it plus the big warning to avoid paying for a paint job.


How to use a foam gun by Mike Phillips







My very good friend Ken didn't read the article and thus didn't read the warning and launched his foam gun into his brand new Challenger Scatpack Shaker, which caused enough damage that he had to have the front driver's side fender repainted. I share the story here,


Pictures: 2016 Challenger Scatpack Shaker & 2016 Dodge Hellcat - Black Label Diamond Paint Coating

thanks mike

I always learn something new on this forum - never even considered this "pat dry" technique - I've got a ton of the waffle weave drying towels, including the bigger 20x40.

Can't wait to give it a go.

Thanks for the "how-to".

You're welcome and in keeping with my own best practice I have due credit where credit was due.

[rajon]

Mike,

Due to you linking this article in the thread I started I came home from work and had 45 minutes before dinner. I did a gentle two bucket wash, dried with my RedMax EBZ7500, stretched the car, wiped down the sills and had everything clean and back in the garage before dinner. Autogeek is seriously the Library of Congress for Automotive Detailing.

[rlmccarty2000]

It is also a great idea to point your pressure washer toward the ground first and not at the car. I pointed my pressure washer at my house and didn't have the nozzle locked into place (same as a foam gun) and it hit my house so hard it sounded like a rifle shot. I'm just glad I didn't point it at my son. Detailing can be a dangerous sport.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike,

Due to you linking this article in the thread I started I came home from work and had 45 minutes before dinner.

I did a gentle two bucket wash, dried with my RedMax EBZ7500, stretched the car, wiped down the sills and had everything clean and back in the garage before dinner.

That's great. It's so much better for the paint to be clean and it's a lot more fun to drive around a clean shiny car than a dirty one. It's been raining here solid since Monday and my truck is covered in road grime. I'll have to fit in a car wash tomorrow so she's clean before Cars & Coffee this Saturday.

Autogeek is seriously the Library of Congress for Automotive Detailing.

That's a powerful compliment but we'll take it!

[kevincwelch]

Mike, I don't see a bucket in any of your pictures and I see only one mitt. Are you using the shower sprayer to wash off your mitt? Or do you have a bucket for rinsing that we can't see or multiple wash mitts?

Sent via my mobile device...

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, I don't see a bucket in any of your pictures and I see only one mitt.

Are you using the shower sprayer to wash off your mitt?

Or do you have a bucket for rinsing that we can't see or multiple wash mitts?

Great question and for the recored, I cover this question in my 3-day detailing classes here at Autogeek and also covered it at the recent Indy CR Roadshow Class.

The answer is,

For my own cars I tend to just use the spray to spray off the wash mitt because our cars don't get very dirty.

Sometimes I DO bring out a bucket with the Grit Guard Washboard and scrub my mitt in-between panels to ensure the dirt removed off the car and onto the mitt is removed into the bucket before using the mitt to wash another panel.

The average human being would never understand the level of anal retentiveness we (we meaning both enthusiasts and pro detailers), go through simply to carefully wash a vehicle.