How long does your maintenance wash take?

[Mike Phillips]

It’s really amazing how long the wheels take, but I’m glad I’m not alone.

I’ll give the article a read

I've "timed" myself. 15 minutes per rim and tire and that's "my" car. I keep the wheel barrels clean enough to eat off of. Also the backs of the spokes.


Here's the links to the two articles I referenced, good tools make cleaning wheels and tires easier and faster.

Must Have Wheel Cleaning Brushes that make cleaning wheels fast and easy







I like tire COATINGS but if I am going to use a dressing then I like water-based SO I CAN EASILY REMOVE IT and then I can easily replace it. Tires always look fresh this way.

Quick and easy tire detailing - Use a water-based all-in-one rubber & vinyl cleaner/conditioners instead of tire dressings







I also machine scrub and that makes a huge difference.

[DetailZeus]

2-3 hours from filling buckets to everything cleaned and put away. Depends on how involved I'm getting with the interior.

I used to do a "quick wash" which was basically just a pressure rinse + waterless wash wipedown, but these days I pretty much just leave it alone until I can do a proper wash.

I'm a stickler for wheels and barrels. I find a pressure washer is a big help along with good tools, a good wheel cleaner (when needed), and keeping the rim face sealed with just about anything.

Also I try to keep my bottles topped up; nothing is more annoying than having to stop in the middle of a wash to make a new dilution and refill.

[DetailZeus]

Me?

2 hours

This includes 1 hour for wheels and tires and that's assuming the wheels and tires are already in great or clean or well-maintained, or regularly maintained condition.

If the wheels have baked-on brake dust and road grime and the tires have years of crap dressing on them - then the wheels and tires will take longer.


See my articles on "must have wheel and tire cleaning brushes" and using water-based tire dressing instead of solvent based tire dressings.

Mike do you still use a foam gun for your maintenance washes or do you find yourself doing the "bucket of forest green towels" method more often?


How to safely wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips - Traditional Hose & Bucket Approach

[oneheadlite]

How do the rinseless washes work? Is it like a normal soap, but it doesn’t leave water spots?

Definitely worth doing some searching on Rinsless products/processes. Saves the time and hassle of setup/teardown for a full wash. They are their own washes, not a different method for standard soaps.

For ease of use/leave nothing behind (let the LSP do it's thing), I've been digging the Griot's Brilliant Finish Rinseless. I also like their Rinseless wash and wax for ease of use/final result. While I haven't tried some of the more popular ones (Ech20, etc); Wolfgang Uber Rinseless wasn't for me (attracted dust, looked good clean though), The ONR variants weren't top of my list, and McKee's N914 is good, I just have clicked with the Griot's ones.

Cliff's note version of the method I use (again, there are different methods) - Mix solution in bucket, fill spray bottle with mix also for "pretreating". Add stack of clean towels to bucket. Pretreat panel with sprayer to loosen dirt. Use towel from bucket, wrung out to just dripping, gently clean panel. Discard towel to laundry bucket. Dry. Again - please research and see what appeals to you.

I'm confident the wheel designers, OEM or aftermarket, do NOT consider how hard/easy they will be to clean when developing a design for wheels. Even some of the more simple designs seem to have some sort of lip or strange edge which collects brake dust and grime.

The (aftermarket) wheels on my wife's Q5 are the bane of my existence. They're BBS Y spoke style, but the have a lip Behind the spokes that means you have to go all in on wheel cleaning if you don't want them to look like garbage. As much as I don't like the speedmaster bristle brushes, I've been enlisting them to help get that area (flinging brake schmoo and soap to myself in the process...).


To the original topic - If you're looking to shorten your maintenance washes, one thing you might consider is looking at your efficiency during the process. I explain it to guys at my work - the reason it takes me less time to do a repair isn't because I'm mad-dashing around, it's because I have all the tools and supplies I need pre-staged and right at hand. That way I spend less time walking back and forth during the job.

Example: I'd recommend trying changing up your wash process and see if it helps.
Instead of 2 buckets, switch to one bucket with multiple wash media (Jayfro mentioned using a stack of Microfibers along the same line as you could with a rinseless wash, Eldorado2K was the first I remember seeing on here pitching the single bucket with a dozen wash mitts soaking and ready to go). Now you're not going back and forth between buckets, you simply use your chosen wash media until it's soiled, toss it in the laundry bucket, and grab a fresh clean one. The bucket follows you around, so you cut out a ton of (walking) steps and time. I most often use the inexpensive "Ultra Soft Microfiber Rinseless Wash Mitt" from the AG store, you can often get them for $6-7 bucks on sale.

On the extreme end of thinking about efficiency, I've heard professionals recommend setting up a camera and recording a time lapse video of yourself (This would be more for if you were doing it for a living). You'll find the full truth of how often you're walking from side to side of the car to grab a bottle/towel, checking your phone, etc.

[PA DETAILER]

Start with a quick interior. Floor liners. Dress plastics.
Clean wheels & tires.
Foam/hand wash.
Dry with MF towels and TWHS wet wax.
Dress tires.

South of 2 hours.

[WillSports3]

I vacuum the interior, rinseless wash the leather seats that have a coating on them. Soft brush to agitate nooks and crannies as well as cupholders and the like, then Optimum Protectant on all non-seats so the dash, any trim, plastics, etc. Clean windows inside. This is usually around 30 minutes.

I foam the exterior panel by panel with an IK foamer and rinseless wash, then I rinseless wash car. Wheels are coated so I'll foam and clean them last. Tires get a rinseless wash, I've got a relatively durable tire coating on it right now so I don't need to do too much. If it's really bad I'll use CarPro Eraser and wipe down the tire.
Nothing done to trim, all trim is coated.

I might toss on overcoat or Polish Angel if I'm bored.
Overall, an hour-ish per car?

[zmcnulty]

2 hours for me. Probably half of that time is spent on setting up and putting everything away.

I hear that. Wash in front, store everything in the basement at the back of the house. No garage. I have to make several trips to get everything to the front of the house before I can actually begin washing. Considering an outdoor storage container for the front to hold buckets and tools.

[acuRAS82]

I’ve gotten the setup and tear down of traditional washes into a process similar to a pit stop. About 45-mins to an hour for traditional wash if only washing and drying with drying aid or towel. Throw in air blowing and that’s another 5-10 minutes. These times assume I have a good LSP that doesn’t hold much dirt anyways.

Wheels, maintenance style takes about 5 mins per wheel.
Wheels thorough style (which I only do once a month or so), then replace 5 mins per wheel with 15-20.

I separate interior and exterior cleanings, since I can do interiors in my garage at night. So interior is excluded from my times.

[zmcnulty]

Great information. Thanks for such a thorough reply.

[zmcnulty]

Wheels, maintenance style takes about 5 mins per wheel.
Wheels thorough style (which I only do once a month or so), then replace 5 mins per wheel with 15-20.

What does a wheels maintenance wash look like, versus the deep clean?