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  1. #11
    Super Member Shane731's Avatar
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    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    Just curious as to how many miles are on that Accord, since you said it was low mileage. My mom has a 2001 Honda Accord that is just hitting 40,000 miles.

    Shane
    2021 Honda Civic Hatchback EX Lunar Silver

  2. #12
    Super Member A.P.A.D.'s Avatar
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    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    Mike,

    Don't you change the water out when moving from wheels to paint? I always use separate buckets for the paint then i do for the wheels.

    Also, i have yet to use ironX, but added it to my cart. In the description it says not to spray it on bare metal or calibers, but to cover these surfaces up. is this correct in the AG description because i never see (including your pictorial) anyone cover up the calibers?

    I always enjoy reading your articles and looking at the enclosed pictures. Thanks for your time!

    Last time you saw me and my wife when we came down for training, my wife was pregnant. We have a 1 year old running around now. im ready to have her start helping me clean wheels! lol

  3. #13
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    [quote=Chris@Optimum;709172]

    Even if you can't break out the hose at home, you can:

    • Visit a self serve wash bay


    I did this just last week while on vacation. The hotel where are car was parked was home to some type of tree that was spewing out tree sap like nobody's business. I had just washed and waxed the car, so instead of letting the tree sap harden in the sun I took it to the local self serve car wash and $3.00 later all the tree sap was off the paint.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris@Optimum View Post

    I totally agree with Mike on doing wheels first regardless of regimen
    Just makes common sense to me. I'm confident all the authorities that state start at the top and work your way down and then wash the wheels and tires last probably aren't detailers or don't really understand how hard it is and what a paint in the rear it is to deal with water spots.



    Quote Originally Posted by CieraSL View Post

    Just curious as to how many miles are on that Accord, since you said it was low mileage.
    Don't know off hand but I'll check. Honda makes great cars. I'm a BBC guy through and through and pretty much only like trucks high enough they can't get door dings but it's hard to beat reliability and good gas mileage like you get from any Honda.



    Quote Originally Posted by A.P.A.D. View Post

    Mike,

    Don't you change the water out when moving from wheels to paint? I always use separate buckets for the paint then i do for the wheels.
    I didn't and don't use a bucket for washing the wheels if I have a source of free flowing water.

    • Turn water on.
    • Spray wheel with water.
    • Spray wheel and tire with wheel and tire cleaner.
    • Agitate wheel and tire with appropriate brushes.
    • Rinse wheel and tire.
    • Pad wheel dry.
    • Spray wheel with Iron X.
    • Scrub wheel with appropriate brush.
    • Rinse wheel and tire.
    • Move on to next wheel and tire.


    You can use a bucket with car wash soap and dip your brush into it and wash wheels and tires and of course I've done this in my live, it's an option but in the outline I wrote and in the procedures I used to get this Honda clean to apply Gtechniq products to last night in the studio I didn't.

    Good question though...


    Quote Originally Posted by A.P.A.D. View Post

    Also, i have yet to use ironX, but added it to my cart. In the description it says not to spray it on bare metal or calibers, but to cover these surfaces up. is this correct in the AG description because i never see (including your pictorial) anyone cover up the calibers?
    In order to cover the calipers and do a job that would actually protect them it seems like you would have to remove the wheels.

    I can't see people jacking up there cars, placing safety jack stands under them, removing the wheels and then covering their brake components.

    I'm really not sure how a person could cover their rotors, (that's bare metal), or rotors effectively without removing the wheels. So I just spray the wheels down and any product that gets on the rotors and calipers gets hosed off. I guess it is what it is?


    Quote Originally Posted by A.P.A.D. View Post

    I always enjoy reading your articles and looking at the enclosed pictures. Thanks for your time!
    Thank you for the nice compliment. I've never studied photography but I've taken a lot of pictures and learned how to frame up the shot, crop out the fluff and tell a story with pictures to help get "ideas" across to the reader.

    The goal is always to help others to duplicate same type of procedures.


    Quote Originally Posted by A.P.A.D. View Post
    Last time you saw me and my wife when we came down for training, my wife was pregnant. We have a 1 year old running around now. im ready to have her start helping me clean wheels! lol
    Congratulations!

    Been there, done that and raising your children will be the most important job you ever do...



  4. #14
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    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    Quote Originally Posted by CieraSL View Post
    Just curious as to how many miles are on that Accord, since you said it was low mileage. My mom has a 2001 Honda Accord that is just hitting 40,000 miles.

    That's about 3600 a year? Just detailed my Mom's '06 Accord, 18,600 miles, or 3100 a year

  5. #15
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek View Post


    Here's my approach,

    Wheels and tires first, then start at the top and work your way down.

    Now lets put a little twist to the age-old traditional approach and instead of starting at the top and working your way down, lets start at the bottom and then move to the top.

    Wash and rinse one wheel at a time. After washing and rinsing one wheel, move onto the next wheel and tire and occasionally re-rinse the previous wheel and tire because soap suds and wheel and tire cleaning chemicals have a way of re-appearing and pooling in voids due to gravity.

    Continue washing, rinsing and re-rinsing until you've washed all four wheels and tires.


    Now move to the top or highest point
    Now that the wheels and tires are clean and rinsed, grab your wash mitt and gather some car wash suds and start at the roof and begin working your way down as you wash.

    Divide the car you're washing up into sections or work panel by panel.

    After washing a section or a panel, immediately rinse that section or panel to remove loosened dirt and other abrasive particles and to prevent any soap suds from drying on the car.

    Continue this until you've worked your way from the top of the car to the bottom of the car washing the lowest body panels last as that's where the majority of the major dirt and road grime will accumulate.

    By washing the lowest panels last, you prevent cross-contamination and by this I mean removing abrasive dirt particles off the lower portions of the car and moving them in your wash mitt to the higher portions of the car where you could possibly instill heavier swirls and scratches.

    While you were washing and rinsing the car from top to bottom, you can occasionally give the wheels and tires a repeated blast of water to ensure any soapy water, wheel and tire cleaners, or even dirt particles that have flowed downward and pooled are continually rinsed clean.

    At the very end of the process, give the car a final rinse and then you're ready to dry the car, wheels and tires and at no point will there ever have been the potential for water to dry on anything and thus no risk of water spotting on any portion of the car.

    Plus, you won't have to repeat any steps.

    That's how I wash a car.


    But wait there's more...

    If you're the type that REALLY wants to be careful so as to not induce any swirls and scratches into the paint, then here's a tweaked version of the above just for you.


    Wash wheels and tires, then lowest body panels and then move to the top
    A twist on my approach outlined above for the most anal retentive people would be to,


    1. Wash wheels and tires first
    2. Wash lowest, dirtiest body panels
    3. Change out water and wash mitt and start at the top and work your way down



    By doing step #2 after washing and rinsing the wheels and tires, you've removed and reduced the potential to instill swirls and scratches into the upper body panels with gritty particles from the lower body panels BECAUSE you've removed the gritty dirt particles first.

    This is an extra step that will take more time so use this technique if appeals to you and time is not an issue. It's also a good technique for washing a car with a flawless, show car finish to start with.

    It is important however that after washing the lower panels that you do in fact change out the car wash solution in your bucket and switch to a clean, non-contaminated wash mitt.



    If you've never washed a car using the approach shared above, give it a try sometime, see if it works better for you or for the car. (It's all about the car by the way, not you).


    And here's another tip...


    Best darn tire cleaning brush I've ever used!



    Yep, the Porter Cable with a Cyclo brush mounted to it instead of the backing plate! Takes ALL the elbow grease out of getting old, slimy tire dressings off, blooming, (the brown residue that builds-up when antiozonants meet ozone in the air), and deteriorated dead rubber.



    Yep, the Porter Cable with a Cyclo brush mounted to it instead of the backing plate! Takes ALL the elbow grease out of getting old, slimy tire dressings off, blooming, (the brown residue that builds-up when antiozonants meet ozone in the air), and deteriorated dead rubber.








  6. #16
    Mike Phillips
    Guest

    Re: How to wash your car KISS style!

    Blast from the past....

    Info in the first post just as accurate today as when I wrote it.



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