CleanGSR Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 (edited) 'm going to go through the steps of how to wash your car using the "2 bucket method". This is a sure way to prevent swirling your paint through the washing process. A foam gun is another safe method, but more expensive and more timely IMO. 1. Fill 1 bucket with 2 gallons of Rinse Water (no soap) 2. Fill a 2nd bucket with 2 gallons of water/soap solution (your choice of car wash soap) Let me explain the logic on this real quick. Using 1 bucket, every time you wipe a dirty panel and re-dip into your soap solution, you're putting that grime into your soap solution. As you go through the wash, your soap solution will get contaminated and you'll be spreading grit and grime on your car's finish. By adding a second rinse bucket you can rinse your mit after each pass on the car, before dipping it into the soapy bucket, thus keeping the grime out of your clean soap solution. So..... 3. Wet down the entire car 4. Dip your wash mit in soap solution and make one swipe on a panel. 5. Flip the mit to the other side and you can make a second pass 6. Dip the mit into rinse bucket a couple of times and ring out 7. Dip the mit into your soap solution bucket 8. Repeat 3 through 7 until finished with the car 9. Rinse your car completely 10. (neat trick here)..... Turn off the water, spray out excess water, remove the nozzle so it's straight running water...turn on the water. Now run just straight running water over the car, from the top down. The water will sheet off and leave you very little to dry (this step only works if you have a good wax/sealant on the car). 11. Dry using 1 of two methods. First is a good Microfiber Waffle Weave drying towel. These hold a lot of water and won't scratch the finish. Dry lightly with no pressure on the paint. There are good Microfiber drying towels that are not waffle weave, but they seem to trap dirt and grime more than a waffle weave. Second option is to use a leaf blower. If you use a leaf blower, then step 12 is a requirement as the leaf blower will blow off the water, but some minerals will be left behind that need to be wiped up. From here on out is completely optional (unless you blow dry) 11. Quick Detail the car with your favorite Quick Detailer and Microfiber detailing rag. I've used Megs. Last Touch (order only product) and it works great but lately I'm using FK1-425. This stuff is ridiculously slick and has anti-static properties that keep your car from attracting dust (it's not a dust repellent, it just cancels the attration of dust that you get with most carnuba waxes. FK1-425 is really slick to and you can order it from www.fk1usa.com in a gallon size for around $30. That's really cheap if you add it up. Don't forget your windows, wheels, tires, and wheel wells. Spray down your wheel wells with tire wet to get them looking new again. I think that covers my basic washing process using the 2 bucket method. Any questions, feel free to ask. This process, start to finish takes me about 45 minutes now that I'm used to it, so it's not much longer than a conventional wash. Edited May 21, 2008 by CleanGSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Nice. This shtuff should be stickied for us dark-colored car having members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I could have sworn I'd posted this before, but couldn't find it and it wasn't in the FAQ section of the I/E section. Maybe CRG7 can add it in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I never saw it, then again I'm a friggin newb. But, good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koffeeDC2 Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 well hung i have a Question for you. What would you use to restore color back to my del sol being milano red and the neglect from previous owner the hood top and trunk are faded pretty bad, ive waxed it with meguiars cleaner wax but its just not bringing back the color or shine. i can get pics if you need to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Pics would help. You'll probably need to machine polish it. Go browse on autopia.org and you'll learn everything you need to know to restore it yourself. The good buffer to get is the Porter Cable 7424 or 7336. That machine with the right combo of pads and polishes, can bring it back great. Just browse autopia and you'll find out exactly what is needed, but it will cost you about $250 in equipment/pads/polishes to get everything you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TS John Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I guess if you can't afford two buckets you could always spray your sponge after each wipe-down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90IntegraC1 Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 What about prep work? wheel wells (all purpose) bug and tar sponge (netted w/ all purpose or solvent) on front bumper or side skirts etc steel wool the windows w/ foam cleaner (do only once) a car will look horrible if the wheel wells are dirty and if there's bug/tar/road paint that didn't come off w/ the wash mit.....just some observations. Pressure washer is a good thing to have as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Don't forget your windows, wheels, tires, and wheel wells. Spray down your wheel wells with tire wet to get them looking new again. I covered all that Dan. There's no science in how to properly clean the wheel wells (since you can't swirl a wheel lining), that's why I didn't waste time on it. I did give a good tip on how to dress them after cleaning to make them look like new. Also, if you wash your car regularly and always have a good wax job on the car, bugs will wipe off with no needed assistance. It's when they sit for a week or two that it gets hard. What prep work are you talking about as far as a car wash? There is no prep work unless you're talking about wheel wells and such....I covered that....and like I said prepping for bugs is not needed if you stay on top of things......tar is not an every time thing, so not covered in this basic wash how to. Steel wool on the windows is such overkill when doing a basic 2 bucket car wash, that I can't believe it was even mentioned in this thread. Again, this isn't a 2 hour guide to making your car ready for a show.....it's a guide to how to wash your car in less than an hour, make it look great, and not swirl your finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranny Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 its nice to have a high pressure sprayer to get all loose dirt off the car as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 32 Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Thanks for the tips hung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Just outta' curiosity.. If one's car has a poor wax job.. How would they go about drying it afterward without getting awful swirl marks before they go to wax it afterward? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 Drying it with a "drying" microfiber towel or I even use the good ol absorber, will not swirl your finish. Once your car is washed and rinsed at the end, there should be no dirt on the car to swirl the paint. You could also use a leaf blower to dry it, but that tends to blow up a lot of dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 (edited) Drying it with a "drying" microfiber towel or I even use the good ol absorber, will not swirl your finish. Once your car is washed and rinsed at the end, there should be no dirt on the car to swirl the paint. You could also use a leaf blower to dry it, but that tends to blow up a lot of dust. True, forgot about that. What would be a good way to wax it without and orbital buffer? .. Just good old elbow grease and patience? Edited February 10, 2007 by civic cee exx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranny Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 microfiber rags rock , i got a few. necessary tool for a good job really , when it comes to waxing or buffing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 You won't get any paint correction out of a wax whether you use a buffer or by hand, so you really don't need any elbow grease. Trying to correct the paint by hand is where you would need elbow grease......and you still wouldn't get too great of results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 microfiber rags rock , i got a few. necessary tool for a good job really , when it comes to waxing or buffing. I agree. Microfiber Rags are a godsend on glass, quick detailing and wax/polish removal. I still use good ol terry cloth's for all my dirty work though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 So basically just rub it in? I'm looking for something that'll have water beading off of the paint rather than it setting and giving me those water-spots i hate just oh-so-goddamn much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 Yeah, with wax, you just need to get it on the paint....don't rub hard, just get a nice thin coat on there. Let it haze and remove. With sealants, the longer you let it haze the better, with wax remove it as soon as it hazes or it will get difficult to remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Oh wow I'm dingy. So there IS a difference in sealant and wax. I assume I use both of them after the wash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90IntegraC1 Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 oh i figured this was a prep-wash-wax-show type deal, so sorry for that. steel wool isn't overkill if there's a lot of film on the windows if they haven't been cleaned correctly in over 3 or 4 months....and it only takes 5 minutes. we do it to all new cars and trade-in full details at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airjordan223 Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 the guy at the body shop where i worked on my car did the steel wool thing on the windows. at first i thought he was crazy, but it really cleans off all that crap that the windows pick up when working on a car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 steel wool ftw in the fight against love bugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CleanGSR Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 You don't need to apply both a sealant and a wax unless you really want to. They both do the same job (essentially), they just do it in slightly different ways (chemically). The only reason to use a sealant and wax both is to get the perfect look. You'll get no extra protection out of using both and a little extra durability, but not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben. Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 So neither is better of the two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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