Touchless wash: 2016 Camaro RS

[fightnews]

My car has never been polished yet. It gets its first polishing very soon (right before CamaroFest in July) and then I will have to buff off the polish obviously. I am going to use new towels for polish removal. Then I am going to use McKee's Hydro Blue for a no touch sealant, and try to touch it as little as possible until the next annual polishing. I will report how it goes.

Do you really think its that sensitive though or is more just precaution? I just find it hard to believe any paint is going to get scratch by a high gsm edge-less towel.

[Eldorado2k]

There comes a point where it can become paralysis by analysis...

Just go out there and get your car clean. I find it a bit funny how the times/vehicles I couldn't care less about scratching during a waterless wash turn out perfect just about everytime.. Yet the dang cars/times where I'm super hyper critical about towel management, etc. is when the stupidest things somehow wind up happening and Bam! Just like that you've somehow created a blunder you spent the whole time planning to prevent...


Think of it like the Superbowl.. The team that just goes out there and plays loose like they would any other game winds up outperforming the team who's over prepared for the whole world watching and the need to somehow be perfect instead of just doing what they know how to do... Peyton Manning choking comes to mind.

[Ernie Mccracken]

IM sorry but that is complete bs. If that was true you wouldnt even be able to detail a car because you would be scratching it taking the polish off going around in circles.

Polishing is literally grinding abrasives into the paint, though. And by the time you finish polishing, a new layer of (mostly invisible) dust/dirt will have already settled onto the paint just from what's in the ambient air. That's the nature of the beast.

Using good practices will minimize the amount of scratching, but ultimately we are still paddling upstream.

[KirkH]

Is it the company that sells rags? Thats the only other place ive found but the towels are great. I agree about the 70/30 but I find sometimes the lesser gsm is better depending on what im doing. I like to use the 365-420 gsm to buff things off the car like spray wax. I just feel like it does a better job getting the excess off.

I just ended up with some 75/25 around 400 gsm im probably going to use to remove polish.

Yes that one.

I like the big fat towels to remove polish, wax, etc. I like to have a lot to grab on to.

[KirkH]

Do you really think its that sensitive though or is more just precaution? I just find it hard to believe any paint is going to get scratch by a high gsm edge-less towel.

It's not the towel that scratches. It's the piece of hard material (twig, rock, tar, etc) that gets stuck in the towel that you don't notice.

This is just an experiment to see how feasible touchless washing is for one season (summer.)

[KirkH]

There comes a point where it can become paralysis by analysis...

Just go out there and get your car clean. I find it a bit funny how the times/vehicles I couldn't care less about scratching during a waterless wash turn out perfect just about everytime.. Yet the dang cars/times where I'm super hyper critical about towel management, etc. is when the stupidest things somehow wind up happening and Bam! Just like that you've somehow created a blunder you spent the whole time planning to prevent...


Think of it like the Superbowl.. The team that just goes out there and plays loose like they would any other game winds up outperforming the team who's over prepared for the whole world watching and the need to somehow be perfect instead of just doing what they know how to do... Peyton Manning choking comes to mind.

I am a mobile detailer, and my own car is kind of like my show piece, though its not a show car. I can't have swirls on it. While not a daily driver, its driven a lot.

Plus this is an experiment.