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

[Mike Phillips]

Finally got this one done....


Questions? Comments? Feedback?


I'll try to share this on my facebook page but my guess is there's way too much content.

[RobertJ34]

Great write up, Mike. Incredibly in depth and informative. Love the visuals as well.

[Mike Phillips]

Great write up, Mike. Incredibly in depth and informative. Love the visuals as well.

Thank you Robert.

Taking all the pictures with one hand while doing the work with the other hand is kind of a pain. But I really do get asked how to correctly take care of a coated car all the time so I really needed this article to e-mail to people.

I thought about calling this

The Mike Phillips Method


Because it's kind of like the Gary Dean Method for using a Rinseless Wash but that's usually a bunch of silliness.


I plan to make a video sharing what I wrote here but I'm waiting for my new wireless mics to get here. My guess is this car is already dirty again so I'll probably just have it back for the video. This Maserati belongs to my good friend Dominic, who also owns La Forchetta Restaurant, the BEST Italian restaurant in all of Florida. Love taking care of Dominic because Dominic takes care of me.


Thanks for reading and for the nice comment

[Desertnate]

I noticed the final rinse wasn't a "flooding" style.

On a coated car, I've found by flooding the surfaces the water sheets right off and often leaves little to no water on the surface. At that point drying is mostly blotting up the few water drops which remain. The only place water really stays is the roof and possibly parts of the hood based on how flat they might be.

[boosteddub69]

Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed write up Mike.

This is what separates this forum from everyone else.

[Mike Phillips]

I noticed the final rinse wasn't a "flooding" style.

That's a good technique and a good tip. Thanks for adding. Just need some pictures. I'll include when I make the video to go with this article.

At some point I simply have to stop having fun and finish a job. I didn't track how many hours I had into set-up, doing the work, processing all the pictures, (takes more work to make a picture magically show up on a forum, a trained monkey can post a picture to FB), and then all the time it took to "write" the article and also create color coded hyperlinks to all the products I showcased, but I'll guess a "few" hours.






Besides that - what did you think of the "technique" that is avoiding the risk of scratching the coating/paint by only using one towel per panel?

[Desertnate]

I thought I learned the flood rinse idea from you, Mike, that was the only reason I brought it up. My comment wasn't meant as a critique, just an observation.

I think the one towel per pannel is a great idea for those who can dedicate a good sized stash of quality towels to nothing but washing (SUVs or trucks could take a lot of towels) and it seems to be a way to greatly reduce the potential of any contaminates marring the surface during the wash. There is no need for a second rinse bucket or a grit guard.

[Bill D]

I think the one towel per pannel is a great idea for those who can dedicate a good sized stash of quality towels to nothing but washing (SUVs or trucks could take a lot of towels) and it seems to be a way to greatly reduce the potential of any contaminates marring the surface during the wash. There is no need for a second rinse bucket or a grit guard.

The same holds true for multiple mitts. I guess mitts,towels,take your pick.

[Mike Phillips]

I thought I learned the flood rinse idea from you, Mike, that was the only reason I brought it up. My comment wasn't meant as a critique, just an observation.

No harm taken and no harm meant. Once you pointed the "water flow technique" I felt kind of dumb I didn't think of it? But - Ive never been one to use that technique. I agree it works good for paint with "something' on it but I'm usually too lazy to do it and after investing so much time into washing a car (I seem to wash a lot of cars), I just want to move on. So my natural reflect course of action is to simply gram some Guzzler waffle weave towels and dry my project car off.

Since you brought it up - I think the person that did the best job of demonstrating the water flow technique for drying a car is Richard Lin over at ShowCarDetailing.com - he used a "picture" like a Tea or Water picture and could clear a hood off lickity-split. I think it was the ability to control water flow precisely simply by tipping the picture or un-tipping the picture.

I think the one towel per panel is a great idea for those who can dedicate a good sized stash of quality towels to nothing but washing (SUVs or trucks could take a lot of towels) and it seems to be a way to greatly reduce the potential of any contaminates marring the surface during the wash.

There is no need for a second rinse bucket or a grit guard.

I agree.

I don't normally enjoy doing these types of mundane projects for articles but at some point, after getting asked a question over and over again instead of answering over and over, I do my best to write an article so I can then just share the link.

I also know from talking to other detailers, they get asked how to take care of their work also. So in an attempt to kill as many birds with one stone, (sorry PETA - just a cliche), I did this article.

I've already sent the link to at least 3 people and I'm sure I'll be sharing with even more people moving into the future.

All this and.... I don't really even like washing other people's cars.

[Mike Phillips]

The same holds true for multiple mitts.

I guess mitts, towels, take your pick.

I believe a person could use multiple mitts but I think it would cost more, (to purchase mitts compared to towels), and most mitts will be a lot more difficult and time-consuming to inspect both visually and tactically.

My goal when I came up with this idea was to find a way I could Bubba-Proof the process so the average person, (with possibly zero skill and/or experience), could read the article, reflect on either how much time, energy, work they invested into coating their car or how much they paid someone else to coat their car and NOW they need to take on the responsibility of "maintaining" the coating and the first part of maintaining is washing ins some manner.

To this point, (the "some manner" point), I also just wrote this article for people that want to clean and maintain their freshly coated car but don't WASH their car.

How to maintain a Coated Garage Queen by Mike Phillips



All this just to help others to clean without scratching a coated car - often times people I will never meet.