What do you use...

[Sully008]

to get rid of caked on or dried dirt from the car? I used to clean and use the foam brush at the car wash to scrub down my black Taurus, but I don't want all the marks in the clearcoat this time. I didn't really care about the paint on the Taurus.

Does everyone use a cloth and hand scrub? The spray from the car wash isn't strong enough to blast all the dirt away. It's finally sunny and dry again and I'd really like to purty up the car this weekend.

[wchain]

OMG! You use a MACHINE to wash the car???
J/K. The MM will never see a coin op Car wash, Hand Wash with real Sheepskin mitt and dried with a synthetic Chamois.

I find that a good car wash soap and a good mitt will take most everything off that I need to come off. As far as mud and dirt, just use a hose and try to spray off most of the hard dried mud, that way when you wash you're not spreading the dirt.

Good luck. and yes, I have extra locking caps. :) Give me a call.

[423REED]

to get rid of caked on or dried dirt from the car? I used to clean and use the foam brush at the car wash to scrub down my black Taurus, but I don't want all the marks in the clearcoat this time. I didn't really care about the paint on the Taurus.

Does everyone use a cloth and hand scrub? The spray from the car wash isn't strong enough to blast all the dirt away. It's finally sunny and dry again and I'd really like to purty up the car this weekend.
HI MIKE!
When I wash my cars, I always use very hot water right off the sink in the house. I use a peanut sponge and a bristle brush for my tires. I use a plastic mesh pad for my windows, and if I have a particularly tenacious dirty spot on my paint, I'll softly use the bug pad to remove the dirty area. This always works very effectively. Remember, the hot water & car wash together will remove most all of the crap that gets on your paint, especially tree sap. I use soft, high qualty, 100% cotton bath sheets to dry my cars. I use one to soak off most of the water, and then use a couple others to finish dry the surface.

I don't wax my cars as much as I used to. Now I use alot of "Wipe And Shine" (Eagle One) spray on my cars whenever its most practical to do so. It cleans the surface and leaves a finish that resembles a freshly waxed car.

Whenever I wash my cars, I always lift the hood and wipe every area I can get to with a damp drying towel to remove any dust and dirt from the engine compartment. This isn't a flawless detailing process, but it does keep my engine compartment looking nice and relatively new. Occasionally I'll clean off the battery, etc. with baking powder mixed with water 50/50, with an old toothbrush.
Jim
______________________________ ___
2004 MARAUDER 300A - DTR
1994 TAURUS SHO - DK GREEN

[fastblackmerc]

OMG! You use a MACHINE to wash the car???
J/K. The MM will never see a coin op Car wash, Hand Wash with real Sheepskin mitt and dried with a synthetic Chamois.

I find that a good car wash soap and a good mitt will take most everything off that I need to come off. As far as mud and dirt, just use a hose and try to spray off most of the hard dried mud, that way when you wash you're not spreading the dirt.

Good luck. and yes, I have extra locking caps. :) Give me a call.
Always hand-wash with Mr. Clean Auto Dry..... IMHO only thing to use on a black car. No water spots, no hand drying....

[Sully008]

OMG! You use a MACHINE to wash the car???
J/K. The MM will never see a coin op Car wash, Hand Wash with real Sheepskin mitt and dried with a synthetic Chamois.

I find that a good car wash soap and a good mitt will take most everything off that I need to come off. As far as mud and dirt, just use a hose and try to spray off most of the hard dried mud, that way when you wash you're not spreading the dirt.

Good luck. and yes, I have extra locking caps. :) Give me a call.


Dude! Hope you're feeling better. The car washes here are the spray gun type. You put in a dollar and you pull the trigger. I've never ever used those garbage "touchless" ones. :D I'll give you a shout on the caps.

Looks like I'll be hand washing the MM as well as my XR. That's okay with me though.

I'm gonna look into the Mr. Clean thing as well. My brother wants to try it on his '05 Mustang GT.

[twolow]

I use the touchless car wash here (a very new and nice one) for keeping the car cleaner longer between hand washes.


I washed it almost a week back and yesterday the pollen had taken over the black paint so ran it through the touchless and now its back to clean again :cool:

There are a dozen horrible touchless car wash machines to every decent one though.

[Sully008]

I use the touchless car wash here (a very new and nice one) for keeping the car cleaner longer between hand washes.


I washed it almost a week back and yesterday the pollen had taken over the black paint so ran it through the touchless and now its back to clean again :cool:

There are a dozen horrible touchless car wash machines to every decent one though.

The one touchless carwash I had experience with was one that my girlfriend used to wash her car with. Didn't get all of the dirt off the windshield, or the sides of the car. I kinda like being in control of where and what I wash though! :D We've got a place called "The Chamois" here and it's an automated wash, and at the end you've got people drying and cleaning the interior/exterior. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like other people cleaning my stuff. They never get it right.

[Slowpoke]

just a random thought, but if traditional washing isnt removing the dirt... maybe it's not really dirt. Could be road tar or something like that. In that case you need an entirely different kind of cleaner.

[twolow]

The touchless car wash will not get the bugs off the windshield unless you run the wipers full blast till the rinse cycle starts. The soap, water, and wipers going gets all my bugs off and the rinse cycle cleans up where the wipers stop on the sides.

The really dug in bugs on the bumper will never come off in a touchless but I usually break down and wash the car by hand once a month and run it through the touchless any time between as needed.

[Sully008]

just a random thought, but if traditional washing isnt removing the dirt... maybe it's not really dirt. Could be road tar or something like that. In that case you need an entirely different kind of cleaner.

No, no Slowpoke. It's just dirt. But it the dirt that's been on the car for longer than a week because it's been too crappy out to clean the car, so you just leave it. I was just wondering if anybody used the foam brush at the car washes. I know that after some time, the brush will eventually leave scratches and scuffs in the clearcoat. I used it once on my newly painted XR at the time and it left some scratches. That was the last time I used it on that car. I don't want the same thing to happen to my MM.

[00 Aggie]

I use Zaino car wash, a nice sheepskin mit and for stubbonn stuff I use this brush--->http://www.autopia-carcare.com/oxo-17007.html

[Sully008]

I use Zaino car wash, a nice sheepskin mit and for stubbonn stuff I use this brush--->http://www.autopia-carcare.com/oxo-17007.html

Hmm...I might just order one of those. Thanks for the link!

[Donny Carlson]

And buy one of the lesser priced pressure washers. I bought one that has a soap attachment that sprays car wash soap de choice all over the car. Entire car is covered in soap suds, bucket with car wash and wash mitt, once over the entire car with mitt making sure to dunk mitt in bucket frequently. Switch to rotary soft brush fitting to once over the wheels. Then switch back to regular pressure fitting, rinse off all soap. Detach hose and drip rinse. Then fire up the leaf blower for drying.

Now clay, wax, whatever time allows.