Washing questions

[MaximumMD]

Hey Guys,

I have a question for everyone... How long does it take to wash your car? It seems like it takes forever for me and that it's slowing me down. I spray the whole car down, wash a section at a time and rinse the car down. I use the two bucket method. I try to keep the car from air drying, but by the time I get one side done the other side has started to dry already! I try to keep spraying the car down to keep it wet but it dosen't seem to be helping much. Any ideas to make it faster? It takes about an hour from filling up the buckets to putting everything away. Is that about average or am I just way slow?

[Metajames]

It takes me about a hour including drying all the jambs and cleanup. ONR washes go a bit quicker.

[A4 1.8tqm]

:iagree:

An hour isn't out of the question for a full two bucket wash. If you haven't tried ONR or DP Rinseless, do so! :xyxthumbs:

My method for two bucket washes (w/o Pressure washer and Foam Cannon) is as follows:

1- Prepare washing supplies.

2- Rinse car with a strong spray of water.

3- Start washing with the horizontal surfaces first, the hood, roof and trunk lid. Both sides of the car (you don't want to do one whole side of the car at a time. Because your mits and rinse/wash water get dirty from the lower area's, then you bring it to the other side and start at the top... It's just bad technique IMO).

4- Rinse.

5- Wash the glass around the whole car.

6- Rinse (if necessary, I usually just continue washing).

7- Wash "waist level" around the car, the top half of the doors, 1/4 panels and trunk face.

8- Rinse

9- Wash "knee level" and below.

10- Rinse and dry

Ohp, I do wheels first, with separate bucket/supplies. Almost forgot about those. :)

:xyxthumbs:

[MaximumMD]

Well I'm glad I'm just not super slow. Thanks for the advice about not doing the one side at a time. I know you should wash the wheels first, but how can you do it with out getting water spots on it.So I'm up in the air with cleaning the tires first or last. Hard choice, but it makes sense to do it first so I'll go with that.

[Rob T]

An hour is definitely about right. As Metajames said, I can do ONR washes a bit faster than that though.

[Rsurfer]

Hey Guys,

I have a question for everyone... How long does it take to wash your car? It seems like it takes forever for me and that it's slowing me down. I spray the whole car down, wash a section at a time and rinse the car down. I use the two bucket method. I try to keep the car from air drying, but by the time I get one side done the other side has started to dry already! I try to keep spraying the car down to keep it wet but it dosen't seem to be helping much. Any ideas to make it faster? It takes about an hour from filling up the buckets to putting everything away. Is that about average or am I just way slow?
Are you drying with water (flood method)?

[MaximumMD]

I'm not drying with the flood method. I use a pressure washer, which doesn't do that very well. I was thinking about getting one of those water blades. Are those any good?

[Metajames]

I'm not drying with the flood method. I use a pressure washer, which doesn't do that very well. I was thinking about getting one of those water blades. Are those any good?

I try to avoid the waterblade. It is fine if used gently and correctly but any small piece of debris that was missed or was stuck to the paintwork will get caught and dragged across the paint.

When I am done rinsing with the pressure washer I disconnect the hose and gently sheet water off the surface of the car before drying.

[Rsurfer]

I'm not drying with the flood method. I use a pressure washer, which doesn't do that very well. I was thinking about getting one of those water blades. Are those any good?
I would get a leaf blower before using a water blade.

[MaximumMD]

I always worried about dragging dirt across, it seems like a risky business

[A4 1.8tqm]

IMO the Water Blade is great... for windows! :)

I also like it when wetsanding, to remove the "slurry".

[Kean]

....Autogeek sells a soft water and sediment filtration kit that can help with your spotting issue. It won't eliminate them but it will make them less likely and for those that do appear, they will be softer and easier to wipe away as you dry. ....when drying a car traditionally, I will typically use a QD or something like Duragloss Aquawax during the process.

In my case, I use a combination of soft water filtration (the same kit I mentioned above) and a DI (deionized water) system for the final rinse (the CRSpotless DIC-20 to be exact). This allows me to blow dry the car and leave it virtually spot free.

[Mike Phillips]

Moved to Detailing 101

The How To forum is for "how-to articles", not for how-to questions...


:xyxthumbs: