How do you clean your truck?

[luckybob]

In the past I have always done a combination of the drive through car wash and doing it in the driveway. I would typically wash with dish soap and use armor-all or something like that for the interior. This is the first new truck I have purchased and first truck/car with leather seating (and dash). I was wondering what everyone's take on proper cleaning entails.

 

The car wash place I took my old truck and wife's car too offers free service for 2014 vehicles, but I am leery of running my truck through such a setup(unfounded, perhaps, but those things are sketchy sometimes). The carpets I am not concerned with as a pass with the shop vac should eliminate the dirt on the floors, but what should I be using on the perforated leather seats and the leather dash?

 

Also I just got tinting on the windows (20% all around) and was wondering if it requires special care or if Windex will work.

 

I want to keep my baby clean and want to do it in a way to preserve the newness. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[soltys]

A. Don't you dish soap on you car. It' eats away at the wax that's already there and eventually will harm the clear coat.

B. Don use windex on your tinted window. The ammonia in the windex will destroy the tinting film. Use either a weak vinegar/water mixture if you have oil marks or other marks (dog nose prints) that you have to clean from the window. What else works is the cleaners that you would use on your TV's / computer screens.

 

I've found in my years of cleaning, you get what you pay for. Good quality waxes are a little pricey but the results are worth it.

[Brews02ws6]

+1 all of the above.

 

I can't imagine having to clean the inside of windows very often, except for the pesky passenger/dog side. I make it a point to not touch them when tinted.

[sw1tched]

Just make sure your Windex or generic window cleaner is ammonia free (It will say on the bottle.. most brands make an ammonia free version) and you can use it on the window tint.

I use whatever car wash detergent I find at the auto parts store for the exterior. It comes in a gallon jug.

[Newm]

I enjoy detailing my cars and trucks and my number one rule is never chamois/dry or touch your paint until after you have hand washed it. Meaning never just run to a self service car wash to spray it off and dry afterwards. Despite how it looks it is not 100% clean and if you go straight to drying it all your doing is smearing dirt around on your clear coat. Which IMO is the #1 cause of swirls in paint. (I would also advise against going through those automatic car washes for the reason listed above)

 

My method....

Self service car wash to blast off the major junk (bugs, mud, etc)

Drive home and hand wash with a automotive specific soap (never use dish soap) washing from the top down and have a separate bucket and sponge to do your wheels if you chose to wash those.

Dry with a good microfiber towel.

 

Follow that and polish and wax/paint seal a couple times a year and I can almost guarantee clean swirl free paint.

 

Have fun!

[thewhitestallion]

honestly you dong need any soap to wash your vehicle. best way to do it is to just use a microfiber towel and everytime you clean a section spray the towl off to get all the dirt that you just wiped off the paint off the towel rinse the area and continue on. that will ensure that you do not put any light scratches that will show after time, especially if you have a dark colored vehicle. now do i do this on my truck, no not really because it's a truck. yes i keep it clean but im not too worried about that, and my truck is white.

 

do not use armoral. it is alcohol based and it dries out all the plastic and/or rubber. it will speed up cracking your plastics (it makes the plastic brittle) and it will speed up the dry rotting of your tires if you keep tires past 2 years.

 

like stated above quality products goes a long way when cleaning a vehicle.

[Sooperdave]

People still wash there vehicles with the above method?? LOL

 

My quick wash method is utilizing 3 towels(1 is a hand mit but all are microfiber) and the nearest spray car wash that works really well. I say well meaning when switching from soap to rinse it must completely switch! Anyways, I soap down the truck thoroughly and completely and then soap the 2 microfiber towels and mitt. I wash the mid to upper section(above door side moulding) with the super soft microfiber mitt only. I then wash the bottom(below moulding) and step boards with 2nd towel and then 3rd towel on the wheels. Finally, a really good rinse with sprayer then off to the house for a high speed air dry(when possible). Finish with a chamois dry followed by clean windows inside/out with Adams glass cleaner and then shine up the tires. If I did a wash at my house it would involve a similar method just using hose and Adams car wash soap with a two bucket system. One bucket for topside and one for bottom. I do sometimes follow up with Adams quick sealant in between polishing jobs.

 

Note** DO NOT EVER USE THE DAMN BRUSH AT THE CAR WASH!

[beetle]

I simply use plain water, and I use my leaf blower to blast the majority of water off before towel drying, all the door jambs and under the hood also get wiped down.

[Silverado4x4]

Soft car wash brush with a 4ft handle with auto soap then hose it off and dry with the absorber. NEVER USE DISH SOAP.

[bdbake01]

Dude, back away from the truck! Seriously, never do any of that to your truck again!

 

With one possible exception. The dishwashing liquid (Dawn being my favorite) is perfectly fine to use from time to time, maybe say twice a year, IF you are deep cleaning and intentionally trying to remove any old wax/polish/etc. and get down to just virgin paint. For this, it's acceptable and even recommended. Any other time, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

 

Armorall? Throw it away along with the Windex.

 

Find a polish system (NOT a wax) that you're happy with and start there. Wash the truck with Dawn, thoroughly, then clay the surface, wash again w/ Dawn, and now you have a properly prepared surface to begin your polish.

 

I am a huge Zaino fan. This stuff is awesome, and very few other products even come remotely close. No it's not cheap. But then again, neither was this truck.

 

Properly apply the polish, and then maintain with a polish safe wash. DO NOT dry wipe or "wash only with water". One purpose of a car wash is to lubricate the surface and encapsulate any foreign particles to prevent scratches. Think about it. You have dirt on the truck, you have a dry towel, you wipe dirt off with dry towel...you just took tons of extremely small and very sharp objects and scraped them down your paint. Not a good idea. Use a proper wash such as Zaino Z7 and you're good.

 

Then, after and ONLY after the grime has been removed, then dry with a 100% terrycloth towel (high quality, pay more than a dollar), or chamois or an absorber-like product. I prefer the latter.

 

If you ever drop a towel/rag/etc on the ground, it DOES NOT touch the paint again until it has been thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly washed. Period.

 

Seats. Good leather cleaner and conditioner system (Z9/Z10). Don't over clean or over condition. Either is bad. No, it doesn't really need that much.

 

Windows, Stoner products are great. Use anything ammonia based, and your beautiful tint job will look like a purple Wal-Mart special disaster in short order.

 

 

[bdbake01]

Oh, and car washes are medieval automobile torture devices.

[RyanbabZ71]

I have been traumatized.

 

 

Ryan

[355HP Z71]

I am very particular on how I wash my truck . I use 3 buckets ( one for the wheels ... Soap bucket and a rinse) . I use grit guards in the soap and rinse buckets . Grit guards keep the dirt on the bottom of buckets which will help prevent swirl marks . Never use the same bucket for your wheels and paint. The brake dust from wheels will scratch your paint . When done washing I always use clean microfiber towels to dry . I wash my towels often and put a small amount of vinegar in the rinse water to soften them up . I like using the clay bar before I put my sealant on . ( I use rejex sealant) . The clay bar makes your paint smooth as glass and takes off the embedded dirt and deposits from the clear coat . Last but not least I never go to a car wash with brushes !! Very important especially if you have a dark color truck !! IMO

[TJay74]

Personally I take mine to car wash, 90% of the time it is clean enough that the soap and rinse cycle at the car wash work fine, plus the high pressure works better at getting bug splats off. If the truck was rained on I take a MF mitt there and have the wife spray the panel and I wash it with the mitt, then rinse the mitt and proceed to the next panel.

 

For drying I got away from chamois years ago, I only use MF drying towels now. Autogeek.com is a great place to get your towels.

 

As said only use Dawn a couple of times a year. That process would be dawn wash, dry, clay bar, polish (if needed) and then a good carnauba wax. I use Adams products, but Zaino is good and Meguires makes some decent products.

 

As far as windows goes, I use a product called Clear Glass (black bottle) that I get at Lowes. It doesn't streak, is tinted window safe. I use a MF towel with this as well as it has less of a chance of streaking. As far as the inside windows go I only wipe them clean with a dry MF towel once every often. I don't smoke so mine stay pretty clean, this just clears the foggy haze from them.

 

As far as the seats go, the leather GM uses has a top coat sealer on it, so leather conditioners wont do much. They just sit on top of the top coat and the get rubbed off onto your clothes. I use the Adams leather/interior cleaner and just wipe mine down once a month along with the dash. I don't use any products on my dash, I don't like the shine, those products tend to attract dust and it really doesn't need anything. Meguires makes a good interior cleaner as well.

[MMC]

http://www.detailersdomain.com/

 

http://www.adamspolishes.com/

 

http://www.zainostore.com/

 

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