Tips for maintaining a black car

[Mike Phillips]

Tips for maintaining a black car


As the author of hundreds of article on car care in general and paint polishing specifically and also an instructor teaching detailing classes for over 25 years as well as a professional detailer that has buffed out more swirled out cars than I can count or remember, I completely understand the issues that pertain to maintaining a nice looking finish on a black or dark colored car.

I also understand the attraction people have to black and dark colored cars as their color of choice because dark colors are sometimes the perfect color to showcase the body lines and styling of a lot of vehicles.

The issue with black and dark colored paints always comes down to how maintain the finish to keep it swirl and scratch free.


Modern paints scratch easily
One factor that cannot be easily overcome is the fact that modern clearcoat paints while harder than old school single stage lacquers and enamels used on cars before 1980 are scratch-sensitive.

This means that even though they are harder they still scratch easily. And because they tend to be harder it's more difficult and time consumer to remove swirls and scratches. Also, because they scratch easy, you must use high quality compounds and polishes anytime you compound or polish the paint. Cheap or inexpensive compounds and polishes may remove one set of scratches but they will then leave their own scratch pattern behind in the paint. Kind of a one step forward, one step back.


More information

Clearcoats are Scratch-Sensitive


Tips for maintaining a black or dark colored car

Here are some tips that my experience has shown me will give you the edge when it comes to maintaining a vehicle with a black or dark colored finish.


Automatic car washes
FIRST and for most, NEVER take your car to any automatic car wash that uses,

1. Spinning brushes
2. Swinging soft cloths

The problem with both these types of automatic car washes are you have physical contact between the paint on your car and either the spinning brushes or the swinging soft cloths and it is the spinning or back-and-forth mopping action of the soft cloths that put scratches into your car's paint.


Accumulated dirt and road grime
Besides the materials used for these types of automatic car washes not being soft enough to prevent scratching it is the dirt they accumulate from cars washed before you take you car through the wash that gets rubbed against your car's paint that inflicts the scratches.

You never know how dirty the car was that goes through the car wash before your car and if it was covered with heavy dirt and even mud this is a sure fire recipe for a paint disaster to your car.



Touchless car washes
Touchless car washes are a much saver option for preventing swirls and scratches from being put into your car's finish. The way the touchless car wash works is they spray a strong chemical cleaning agent onto the paint that softens the bond of any dirt or road film and then blast the car with high pressure water to flush the car clean. While a much better choice than any type of automatic car wash where something touches the paint the cleaning agents used can strip off any previously applied wax protection.

A good option if you want to use a touchless car wash is to maintain your car's finish with a detergent resistant wax, synthetic paint sealant or paint coating.




100% Hand Car Washes
A traditional hand car wash can seem like a safe option but the problem with having someone hand washing you car includes,

1. Are they careful when they move the wash mitt over the paint.

There's the right way to hand wash a car and the wrong way to hand wash a car and without proper training and a strong incentive to do the job right you're putting your car's paint at risk to let someone else hand wash it.

2. Is the wash mitt clean, soft and in good shape?
There's a HUGE difference between a brand new, high quality wash mitt being used on your car and a wash mitt that's been used for months, possibly years. There's also the HUGE risk that the wash mitt was used on dirty car before it's used on your car and what are the odds 100 percent of all dirt was removed from the mitt before it was taken to your car's paint.

Not to mention... it's real easy to drop a wash mitt on the ground and then simply pick it up and keep on washing with it.

You also have to consider the people working at most hand car washes will probably be using their wash mitt to wash all areas of the cars before your car including the lowest portions of a vehicle that accumulate the most dirt like lower body panels, under the front and rear bumpers not to mention cleaning wheels and tires where metallic particles from brake dust can accumulate onto a wash mitt.

The idea of using a 100 percent hand car wash can be a noble idea but in my book it's a recipe for swirls and scratches.

The reality of the 100% Hand Car Wash







Free dealership car washes
In my entire life and career in the car detailing industry I have never heard of a single instance where a person didn't get new swirls and scratches in their car's paint when it was washed for free at a car dealership.

Car dealerships are all about herding people into a cubicle where the closer closes the sale and writes up the sales invoice. For the most part, anything having to do with car detailing and car washing provided by any car dealership is a recipe for swirls and scratches in your car's paint.

I don't blame the people doing the washing and detailing as these tend to be good, hard working people. It's the owners and managers that are responsible because they don't offer training to their employees or quality tools and products. The underlying reason there is no support for the people that do the work is because the people in charge simply don't care and in most case they don't know the difference between a squirrel or a swirl.

The difference between a swirl and squirrel

For clarification...

This is a Squirrel



These are Swirls





IMPORTANT

It's normal and in most cases a part of the purchase of most new vehicles to take your car to the dealership where you purchased your car for regular maintenance procedures like having the oil changed.

As a courtesy service, most dealerships will also wash your car while it's in for service. Here's a tip....

DON'T LET THE DEALERSHIP WASH YOUR CAR!

I cannot count how many times someone has taken their new car or truck to the dealership to have it serviced only to have the dealership car wash or in-house detailer completely swirl-out the paint.

Here's the deal though... it's a standard procedure at most dealerships, like a knee-jerk reaction. They don't even look to see if your car needs washing they wash them all and when they do they put swirls and scratches into the paint and it all comes back to lack of training of tier staff and poor quality washing tools and products.

The ONLY way to stop the dealership from washing your car is to be proactive and be very firm in DEMANDING that they don't wash or touch the exterior of your car in any way. If you're not upfront and firm about this you're going to be sorry.

Read my article here and follow the tips I recommend to stop the dealership from wrecking your car's paint.


DON'T WASH CAR !!!!!!!!!!!








Car washes by mobile or brick-and-mortar detail shops
This option is also risky because whether or not you get a quality/safe car wash comes down to the person or shop doing the washing and whether or not they care to do a good job and are equipped to do a good job.

I've seen mobile detailer washing cars in store parking lots using wash mitts that look like they are as old as and as worn out as the parking lot the detailer is standing on. Let's not even talk about their technique.

I also know guys that treat a car like a diamond and get show car results when they wash a car. The difference comes down to their knowledge of proper tools and techniques and as simple as it may sound... whether they care or not to do a good job.

A true professional detailer, be they mobile or in a shop, will now their value and charge accordingly. They will also be able to explain in detail how they wash a car as well as how they detail a car. Chances are really good they share their work and the products they use on their website, Facebook page or on a forum like the one you're reading right now.



Owner performed car washes
The last option to getting the car clean is doing it yourself. This is in my opinion the best option if you're willing to take ownership of the car washing process. To wash a car correctly you need,

1. A little knowledge of correct car washing techniques.
2. High quality products like your car wash solution.
3. High quality car washing tools.

In the below post I'll share the techniques and tools to wash a car carefully.

[Mike Phillips]

Tips and techniques for the average car owner

I know some of you reading this don't want car detailing to become your new hobby or full time job. Below are some tips that are in keeping with the philosophy I teach in my detailing classes called the KISS system.


KISS = Keep it Simple Simon


By this I mean below are some tips and techniques that will help you to more safely wash your car to prevent inflicting swirls and scratches into hte aint without turing the car washing process into rocket science.


Water sprayer


A good water sprayer offers two features,

1. Jet blast
2. Shower spray

Jet blast
You use the jet blast setting to blast off loose dirt so you don't have to rub it against the paint with your wash mitt. By removing any abrasive dirt particles off the car at the beginning of the waxh you reduce the potential for scratching the paint throughout the rest of the process.


Shower spray
The shower spray setting provides a wide footprint of gentle flowing water that flushes off dirt and soap suds faster than trying to chase them off with the jet blast setting. You do a better job faster while conserving water. This is true for body panels, grills, tires and wheels.







Microfiber Chenille Wash Miit
There are dozens of wash mitts, sponges and brushes on the market and most brand name products work well. To keep it simple the type I prefer is called a microfiber chenille wash mitt but because it looks like it has strange alien caterpillers attached to it I call it the Alien Wash Mitt.

Soft and gentle
This wash mitt uses microfiber which is microscopic fibers of polyester and polyamide which doesn't mean much to most people except they know microfiber car detrailing products tend to be soft and gentle to the paint and that IS the important feature of this wash mitt but only as long as you keep it clean and un-contaminated. So avoid dropping it on the ground.


Short nap
The fiber nap that makes up the fingers on this mitt are short and plush so not only is it soft and gentle the short nap is a lot less likely to attract and trap abrasive particles into in versus anyting whith a long nap or fiber lenght.

Rinses free
AFter washing a body panel and then dunking your wash mitt into a bucket of water when you swish the mitt around while it's submerged because of the separateion of the micforiber fingers and the short nap dirt particles readily release off the mitt and into the water.

Durable
Well at least the versions we sell here at Autogeek.com are durable. By this I mean you can and should toss them into the washing machine and then wash and dry them to keep them clean and safe for the next time you wash your car and ours won't fall apart. The cheapie microfiber chenille wash mitts you see pretty much at any store look like ours but after a wash or two they fall apart. There is no savings to be had when you buy the cheap versions.


Hold lots of suds
This just means when you dunk the mitt inot a bucket of soapy water it will hold a lot of soapy water solution and that's what you want a mitt to do when washing body panels on your car.

Mike's tip...
On Autogeek.com there's an option to purchase a 3-pack of these wash mitts and this is what I strongly recommend if you have a black car or any car with a nice finish you want to protect.

Why 3 mitts?
So we can sell you more mitts? No that's the knee jerk assumption of a cynic but that's not how we roll at Autogeek. Also if you look up my posting history of answering questions on this forum or any forum you'll also see my track record or posting history is one of honesty and accuracy in my answers, not deception for the sake of a sale.

First: You save money when you buy the three pack so that save you money.

Second: Wash mitts wear out. Buy ordering 3 you have back-ups ready to put into use.

Third: If you drop your mitt and no longer trust it to rub against your car's black paint you again have a back-up. No waiting for you order or driving to the store where all you can buy is the cheapie versions.

Fourth: You should never use your best qualtiy mitt to wash wheels, tires, fender lips, front and rear bumpers or the backs of a vehicle. These areas tend to have the highest accumulation of dirt and oily road film and in the case of the wheels metal particles from the brake pads and rotors.

As you use your best wash mitt at some point in time as it wears out you break out a new wash mitt for body panels and delegate the old wash mitt to these dirtier areas. Aain the goal is to NOT inflict scratches into the major body panels of a black car.

Two bucket wash system with Grit Guard Inserts
The two bucket wash sysmtem is ingenous as well as simple. You have two 5-gallon wash buckets and in one bucket you have your soapy car wash solution and in the other bucket you have clean rinse water.

The idea being to start by dunking your wash mitt into the soapy water bucket to gather up some soapy water and suds and then wash a panel or a portion of a body panel.

Next you dunk the wash mitt into the clean water bucket and swish the mitt around to allow any dirt removed off the car to release into this bucket. Then you lift the mitt out, wring out a little of the clean water and you're ready to dunk your wash mitt back into the soapy water bucket to repeat the process.

By taking the extrea step to release dirt removed off the car into a secondary bucket you reduce the potential to put swirls and scratches into your black car's paint.

Grit Guard Inserats
Here's where you can take the two bucket wash system to a higher level. Insert a Grit Guard Insert into the bottom of both buckets. The way the Grit Guard Insert works is it elevates a plactic grill 2 inches off the bottom of the bucket. The effect this has is after dirt particles have been released off your wash mitt they can sink to the bottom of the bucket where they are trapped under the plastic grill. The vanes that elevate the grill 2 inches off the bottom of the bucket also act to prevent the water on the bottom of the bucket from swirling around when your swishing your wash mitt thus keeping any accumulted dirt particles trapped on the bottom of the bucket.



Making the buckets roll
If your lazy like me, here's how you can avoid lifting and carrying a 5 gallon bucket of water around the car as you work your way around the car washing the various body panels and also avoid walking from the car to the buckets over and over again and that's to place the buckets into bucket dollies.

Now you can roll the buckets around the car so they are next to you each step of the process.


Really getting lazy...
The bucket dollies are great! Once you use them you'll always use them. But what if there was a way to roll both buckets around the car at the same time? Now that would be nice wouldn't it? Well you can. Back in 2006, because I was lazy I called up Doug Lamb on the phone and asked him if there was any way he could connect the two bucket dollies together and in about a week he sent me out a piece of diamond plate aluminum with some strategically placed holes enabling me to attach the plate between two bucket dollies and hold them in place using the caster wheels. Simple to do and works great.


Here's one more tip... water identification stickers.
Say what? That's right, a sticker for each bucket to identify what's in the bucket. You see once you rinse your wash mitt off in the clean water bucket a couple of times there will be enough residual soap suds floating on top of the water that it makes it hard to identify which bucket had the soapy water and which bucket had the clean water. The stickers eliminate the problem and make identifying which bucket is which quick and easy.


Car wash soap
Last but least you need and want a high quality car wash soap. I've met so many people in my life that say,

I just use plain water

And hey, if that works for you go for it but here's the nitty gritty dealio... a quality car wash soap not only includes chemicals that loosen and break the hold of oily road film off the body panels of your car's exterior but they also provide LUBRICATION which enables the wash mitt to glide over the surface instead of grind over the surface.

It's really that simple. Using a quality car wash soap also called a car wash shampoo will do a better job of cleaning your car and make the washing process safer to the paint. Don't be one of those people trapped into the mindest that by only using plain water you're somehow doing your car a favor becaue you're not.