Cleaning between Full Washes

[spewking]

What is your routine for cleaning the exterior between full washes?

I have used detail spray and have used waterless wash spray and wipe approaches when the car has gotten just slightly dirty and dusty for periods between washes. I am in a stretch of 10 days with no rain right now so my daily driver is just getting slightly dusty.

Do you guys have any specific tips or routines? Do you prefer detail spray or a waterless wash? Do you have a specific approach for the front bumper to get rid of the heavier accumulation of bugs and dirt?

Thanks.

[Paul A.]

I usually don't touch it until i do my weekly wash. I know what you mean about wanting to get rid of mid week dust but if its bad enough i'll do an ONR wash or maybe hit it with my foam gun and a rinse without using a mitt. And only then i do it if it rained bad or i drove it through a dirtier than normal route etc. I usually live with the light dust or light accumulation between washes. I also understand what you're saying about a non rainy period. In our case down here in FL we get, at times, very aggressive rains that sort of power wash the crud off. But then you drive through all the crap flinging off other vehicles and their tires. The worst are construction trucks! No rain is good in a way for me but again, i know what you mean about dry dust and dirt.

I use my windshield as a gauge for whats on the cars paint. When my windshileld looks cruddier than normal mid or late week i think about maybe a rinseless wash or a foam and rinse. I figure, whats on my windshield is also covering my paint.

On my black car I keep the "touches" to a minimum.

[Mask]

Agreed with Puckman ^^
Hose for light dirt and power wash for heavy dirt.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

Tell me about the car.
Is it a daily driver or garage-queen show-car?

The daily driver will collect more dirt, grime, road tar, dead bugs and bird droppings because it's exposed more. The Garage Queen may just collect dust.

Either way, here is something I've used even way before rinseless wash technology (going back to late 80's), but now have adapted the technique to more current standards and products.

2 Bucket Method (2BM), both with grit guards and a soft wash mitt. One bucket with a dilution of your favorite NR wash solution, and the other with just clear water. I'n the past I've done this method using just water. Saturate the mitt, starting from the top down. This method is best early morning or in the evening.

Then use a high grade plush MF, like Griot's Garage Speed Shine Micro Fiber Cloths, Griots Speed Shine Cloths, Griots Garage Microfiber Towels (http://www.autogeek.net/griots-speed-shine-microfiber.html) as your dry towel. Prime your dry MF with a mist of QD or NR from a spray bottle to dry the car. Then follow up with your favorite QD and a soft plush Cobra MF gold.
Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towels 6 Pack (http://www.autogeek.net/gold-plush-jr-towel-6.html)

Use the black all purpose MF & spray bottle of QD or NR to do the wheels and door jambs.
Microfiber Wheel Detailing Towel, wheel buffing towel, all wheel towel, utility towel, shop towel (http://www.autogeek.net/microfiber-wheel-towel.html)

It may take you longer than a quick spray and wipe, but it will look good.

This is after the method i just outlined... Proof is in the pudding:
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j5/Mustang030308/Mobile%20Uploads/My%20Mustang%20D114/625A7DD1-9072-49A0-8456-A3A12ACA1008_zpsqjvw5mjk.jpg (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Mustang030308/media/Mobile%20Uploads/My%20Mustang%20D114/625A7DD1-9072-49A0-8456-A3A12ACA1008_zpsqjvw5mjk.jpg.html)

Oh, and I can keep the roof down when using this method. And yes, those are the dry towels hanging on the head rest, and no, they didn't cause any harm.

[SeanChav]

I am personally very fond of waterless washing....I use UWW+ at least once a week in between washes.... I sometimes even skip a weekly wash depending how dirty the car gets from my 86 mile daily work commute....I use a lot more towels this way but it's just cool to see the car nice and clean and shiny just from using a couple spray bottles

[mannichine]

Puckman--when you go the route of foam gun/rinse, do you just let the vehicle air-dry then? Even windows? If so, do you struggle with water spotting?

paul_g--how long does your prescribed process usually take you on that Mustang?

[Paul A.]

Puckman--when you go the route of foam gun/rinse, do you just let the vehicle air-dry then? Even windows? If so, do you struggle with water spotting?

No, i use the drip method and remove as much water as possible before gently using my WWMF towels to fully dry. Then blow out all cracks, crevices, emblems etc. and final towel dry.

By not using a wash mitt to the soapy surfaces and simply rinsing it after a slight dwell period i have removed any friction passes with the wash mitt and dirt. I still "touch" the paint when i dry but never get any marring as a result.

[PA DETAILER]

I also do not touch it. I give it a full wash/interior on the weekend.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

paul_g--how long does your prescribed process usually take you on that Mustang?

Less than an hour.

[mannichine]

No, i use the drip method and remove as much water as possible before gently using my WWMF towels to fully dry. Then blow out all cracks, crevices, emblems etc. and final towel dry.

By not using a wash mitt to the soapy surfaces and simply rinsing it after a slight dwell period i have removed any friction passes with the wash mitt and dirt. I still "touch" the paint when i dry but never get any marring as a result.


I guess my concern with this method would be towel-drying with surface contaminants present, due to the fact that some may have been left behind from the no-touch wash stage.

Any reflections on that would be appreciated.

[pheerix]

I've only been doing waterless/rinseless for months mostly out of necessity (drought) but I've come to prefer it. I can do it in my garage any time of day, almost no mess on the floor, no water spots from water dripping from crevices and side mirrors. I probably have some micro marring but honestly I'd have to be up close with a swirl finder to notice. I'd rather have a clean car more often than having to go to a self wash bay and drag a bunch of tools with me.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/18/70e92f14e011cc24ee81327f11d5e19e.jpg

See any swirls? I don't. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/18/e7388e3f01b7d64f1695ed7d4e69cf01.jpg

[LSNAutoDetailing]

As Mike Phillips states,
At some point you have to touch the car.
By the word touch, I mean at some point someone has to run some type of wash media over all the exterior body panel surface

Using something like Megs D114 or other NR products, they have very high lubricity, so using it with a high quality AG Chinelle Wash Mitt in a 2BM with grit guards should not introduce any scratches.

Another method I've used on the Mustang shown before, when it just has dust, is my spray bottle with megs d114 and a few Cobra Gold Plush towels while in the garage. Spray it down liberally, prime the MF and wipe.

Yet another method is, if is just dusty, you could always fire up your air compressor and blow it off. I have a friend who has a fully restored to original 1965 Mustang. He states water never touches the car. He only blows the dust off before and after a car show. But then again, that car gets treated like a museum piece. They're meant to be driven, soiled, then cleaned again.

For my daily driver (not the Mustang), I do not do the NR washes, I wait and I give it a traditional aggressive wash every 5 or 6 weeks, and then HD Speed. The interior is near mint, so it's just a vacuum and pinnacle vinyl leather cleaning wipe down. In the New England winter, it will get run through the touchless laser car-wash, to get the salt, sand, de-icing chemicals and all the salty, sandy, snow and slush off the car. In New England, daily drivers take very harsh beatings during the winter months.

I just quoted a Honda CRV that has been trashed by snow removal. The stiff bristle brushes will do a number on paint. But it's also illegal in MA & NH to drive with snow on the vehicle. Location, climate conditions, drought, all play a part.

Everyone is going to have their own method and technique. That is why I started my post with
"Tell me about your car, is it a daily driver or garage queen".

[Mizzoutiger]

I never touch the car paint between washes unless I'm removing Florida's infamous love-bug splatter (which the acidic remnants will etch the paint if not removed within 6 hours) or the like (e.g., bird poo).

I agree with Ivan Rajic: "Quick Detailer Wipe-downs - This is one of the most poorly advertised processes and products within the detail industry. There are numerous quick detailers sold by a few different manufacturers that encourage car owners to simply spray on and wipe off for a great shine and some protection. What they don’t tell you is that along with the shine and protection come some swirl marks and scratches. Similarly to, but much worse than dusting, doing a quick detailer wipe down is a process where dirt and dust is basically pushed along and into the paint with a towel. As you can imagine, if there is a good amount of dust on the paint, especially if the paint is soft, one wipe with the quick detailer and towel will easily cause swirl marks. This is regularly done at car shows and concours events, so ironically the cars are being damaged while at the same time being displayed as great pieces of machinery. To avoid this I would simply recommend avoiding any quick detail wipe downs unless it’s just after a thorough wash or wax application, so basically after the paint is thoroughly cleaned. Otherwise, swirl marks are just about guaranteed during this process.

If you must do the quick detailer wipe-downs, I would highly advise first using Optimum No Rinse (ONR) as a quick detailer to clean the paint before using other quick detailers to get the extra shine and gloss. This recommendation is based on my experience with an old client, who had to do 4-5 of these wipe-downs on his black limousine every day! He did so in order to have a clean, shiny car for each client, but as you can imagine it resulted in polishing every couple months. Every time I saw the car it was covered with swirl marks as expected, so I recommended he switch from the product he was using to ONR. Next time I saw the car, after about 1.5 months of daily ONR wipe-downs, the amount of swirl marks was only about 50-60% of how it was originally when he wiped it down with the other product, so it definitely worked very, very well."

[pheerix]

Well I think a lot of it has to do with technique, materials used and time invested. Sure if you use some off the shelf QD, just lightly spritz not covering all the paint, then go to town in circles with heavy pressure with dollar store towels then yes you will mar the paint. However, use a good waterless wash solution and use a lot of product, use a lot of clean high quality MF towels and take your time and you can safely clean a lightly dirty car with no marring. This obviously excludes cars with caked on mud and heavy debris but like I've said I've been doing waterless for months now and haven't noticed any swirls at all.

[spewking]

Thanks everyone. Comments appreciated.

I do like the WW/RW idea and will experiment with some dilutions and see if I can minimize The introduction of swirls.