I also enjoy washing my cars.
My goal in washing is obviously to get the car clean, but doing it by touching the paint as little as possible - everything revolves around that main goal for the exterior. I'll freely admit I'm anal about my cars, but my wife is very understanding and lets me indulge. She knows it's a happy place for me.
This might get a little long....
Both of my cars have Xpel PPF and Gyeon ceramic coating, so I don't need to wax, but I'm particular about washing. I use a combination of products, mostly from Adam's Polishes, Griot's Garage, Chemical Guys and Gyeon.
With either of my cars, I only wash in the early morning or later afternoon, so the sun doesn't heat up the car's surface, to reduce water and soap from drying too fast and causing spots, etc.
I start with the wheels, which get rinsed with a pressure washer first to get the loose brake dust and dirt off, then they get sprayed with Adam's Wheel Cleaner and left for a few minutes so the cleaner can do its thing. After sitting a few minutes, they are scrubbed with wheel brushes and microfibers using Chemical Guys Mr. Pink shampoo to get off any other brake dust/road grime. (Ceramic coating on the wheels helps with this.)
After the wheels are done, the entire car gets a pressure wash with plain water to get off the loose dirt and dust. That is followed by a foam cannon to cover the entire car with a thick layer of Adam's Car Shampoo. While that dwells, and softens and lifts any dirt, I fill my wash and rinse buckets (using a Grit Guard in each). The wash bucket gets either Adam's Car Shampoo or Chemical Guys Mr. Pink. I use a combination of lamb's wool and microfiber pads to actually wash the car - but only with the weight of the wet pad - never 'scrubbing' and only in straight, back and forth motions (not circles) to reduce swirl marks. Also, one pad is only used for the lower body (where there is potentially more dirt) and another pad is used for the upper portions - all to further reduce the chance of swirls and scratches. This is the only time during the wash I will physically touch the paint.
After that, the car is liberally sprayed with clean water from a pressure washer to get all of the soap off. I then change water supply to the pressure washer to a deionized water supply (via a CR Spotless DIW-20 water deionization system) and completely rinse the car again. This final rinse with deionized water (which is pure H2O) greatly reduces the chance of water spots from the hard water we have here in Colorado.
The car is then immediately pulled into the garage.
I use a Metrovac, Master Blaster Revolution to blow dry the car. Again, the goal is to touch the paint as little as possible.
Once the exterior is clean and dry, I move to the interior. I use either Adam's Leather & Interior Cleaner or Griot's Leather Care, followed by Adam's Leather Conditioner to clean and condition all the leather. When the alcantara of the headliners or steering wheels needs cleaning, I usually only use a very slightly damp microfiber towel, immediately followed by a dry microfiber towel - and then a toothbrush to 'fluff' the alcantara fibers again.
Interior trim, which in the case of my cars, is either painted the color of the exterior of the car or is carbon fiber, gets dusted with a small California Duster.
Once the interior is done, I move to the engine compartment. I usually only need to use a damp microfiber towel to wipe dust off of things.
I occasionally use Adam's In & Out spray on a microfiber to condition any rubber seals.
The last step is to use Gyeon Q2 Tire to give the sidewalls of the tires a nice matte finish.
So that's my wash process for *my* cars - but the Bronco will be my *wife's* daily and our family vehicle to get out into the wilderness. I honestly don't know if the Bronco will get the same treatment as described above. It will get regularly cleaned (I'm very interested in trying a 'wash out interior'), but if there are some water spots or the engine isn't perfectly clean, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. The Bronco will be a bit more of a rough-and-tumble car for us rather than a beauty queen - and my wife has a different definition of 'car wash' than I do - so we'll have to see how it goes
My goal in washing is obviously to get the car clean, but doing it by touching the paint as little as possible - everything revolves around that main goal for the exterior. I'll freely admit I'm anal about my cars, but my wife is very understanding and lets me indulge. She knows it's a happy place for me.
This might get a little long....
Both of my cars have Xpel PPF and Gyeon ceramic coating, so I don't need to wax, but I'm particular about washing. I use a combination of products, mostly from Adam's Polishes, Griot's Garage, Chemical Guys and Gyeon.
With either of my cars, I only wash in the early morning or later afternoon, so the sun doesn't heat up the car's surface, to reduce water and soap from drying too fast and causing spots, etc.
I start with the wheels, which get rinsed with a pressure washer first to get the loose brake dust and dirt off, then they get sprayed with Adam's Wheel Cleaner and left for a few minutes so the cleaner can do its thing. After sitting a few minutes, they are scrubbed with wheel brushes and microfibers using Chemical Guys Mr. Pink shampoo to get off any other brake dust/road grime. (Ceramic coating on the wheels helps with this.)
After the wheels are done, the entire car gets a pressure wash with plain water to get off the loose dirt and dust. That is followed by a foam cannon to cover the entire car with a thick layer of Adam's Car Shampoo. While that dwells, and softens and lifts any dirt, I fill my wash and rinse buckets (using a Grit Guard in each). The wash bucket gets either Adam's Car Shampoo or Chemical Guys Mr. Pink. I use a combination of lamb's wool and microfiber pads to actually wash the car - but only with the weight of the wet pad - never 'scrubbing' and only in straight, back and forth motions (not circles) to reduce swirl marks. Also, one pad is only used for the lower body (where there is potentially more dirt) and another pad is used for the upper portions - all to further reduce the chance of swirls and scratches. This is the only time during the wash I will physically touch the paint.
After that, the car is liberally sprayed with clean water from a pressure washer to get all of the soap off. I then change water supply to the pressure washer to a deionized water supply (via a CR Spotless DIW-20 water deionization system) and completely rinse the car again. This final rinse with deionized water (which is pure H2O) greatly reduces the chance of water spots from the hard water we have here in Colorado.
The car is then immediately pulled into the garage.
I use a Metrovac, Master Blaster Revolution to blow dry the car. Again, the goal is to touch the paint as little as possible.
Once the exterior is clean and dry, I move to the interior. I use either Adam's Leather & Interior Cleaner or Griot's Leather Care, followed by Adam's Leather Conditioner to clean and condition all the leather. When the alcantara of the headliners or steering wheels needs cleaning, I usually only use a very slightly damp microfiber towel, immediately followed by a dry microfiber towel - and then a toothbrush to 'fluff' the alcantara fibers again.
Interior trim, which in the case of my cars, is either painted the color of the exterior of the car or is carbon fiber, gets dusted with a small California Duster.
Once the interior is done, I move to the engine compartment. I usually only need to use a damp microfiber towel to wipe dust off of things.
I occasionally use Adam's In & Out spray on a microfiber to condition any rubber seals.
The last step is to use Gyeon Q2 Tire to give the sidewalls of the tires a nice matte finish.
So that's my wash process for *my* cars - but the Bronco will be my *wife's* daily and our family vehicle to get out into the wilderness. I honestly don't know if the Bronco will get the same treatment as described above. It will get regularly cleaned (I'm very interested in trying a 'wash out interior'), but if there are some water spots or the engine isn't perfectly clean, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. The Bronco will be a bit more of a rough-and-tumble car for us rather than a beauty queen - and my wife has a different definition of 'car wash' than I do - so we'll have to see how it goes
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