Cleaning your pride and joy

shortyjpo · January 23, 2005

I was washing my truck yesterday and I was less than happy with the results. I love the color black but it is such a pain to get really clean. Any way, I had washed my truck and there still seemed to be a film on the truck that did not wash off. As I began washing her again and trying to figure out how long I actually wanted to spend cleaning on her, I began to wonder how everyone here took care of their paint. If you have any plugs for your favorite product or a time saver for cleaning your ride. I have my favorite methods and cleaners, but I would like to see what everone else has to say.

airbalancer · January 23, 2005

I wait until the temp is above freezing that should be in a couple of month.

My green truck is now salt grey

Mighty HD · January 23, 2005

Time and tempature are of no concern to me when it comes to cleaning my vehicles.

I have spent up to 10 hours one time on a wax job on the car. I even washed the truck a few times when it was in the 40's here (thats cold for a florida cracker)

Whatever it takes!

mcreyaufmiller · January 23, 2005

Same here. The film you are seeing may be micro scratches. There are several products that can be used to get rid of this. There is another thread on here that has all of the information you are looking for.

100R1 · January 23, 2005

Water spotting was driving me nuts, I live in the sunny south and have no shade to wash & dry vehicles. I try to avoid mid day sun (& heat), the vehicles dry by the sun before I can dry with towels.

I bought a "whole house" filter from home depot added a couple of adapters to attach to Garden Hose Thread (GHT) and "qucik" connectors. When I was cars I pop the filter between the valve/bib and the gardern hose.

The filter helps to remove mineral deposits in the water (similar to the Mr clean product sold)

I also use as little car soap as possible (I find car soap does reduce spotting) and I also add a little bit of vinegar to the bucket of soapy water, This also helps to reduce spotting even more.

I run water over the vehicle the whole time I wash to try & keep the whole vehicle wet ubtil I'm readey to dry.

I bought a few extra large 100% cotton bath towels to dry with (note 100% cotton is prefered over cotton / polyester blends to reduce scratching)

I wash & dry in long strokes going in the same direction length wise of vehicle. Avoid "circular" motion (even when waxing) to reduce "swirls" in the paint.

I also bought a WHITE color vehicle, lot cooler to wash & dry in the sun. I hate washing by dark burgendy Jeep as the heat/sun bakes the water on before I can dry., Really tees me off Blood pressure goes up every time I wash it.

My Yukon is easier to wash & dry than the Jeep even though the Yukon is larger. Wonder which one gets washed more often!

99silveradoz71 · January 24, 2005

Some good posts here so far. Keeping the paint cool is important. I use 100% cotton towels as well. As for products, Meguiars Gold Class or NXT washes have kept me happy. I also use their waxes, and find that the truck cleans up nice and easy with a few coats on it. I haven't had a chance to wash the truck up lately due to the snow though:(

MSUChevyMan · January 24, 2005

Here's my two cents...

I just use a general car washing liquid that I bought at Walmart. It's fairly cheap and seems to clean pretty well. I like to do it all by hand, so I use one of those cotton covered sponges(can't think of the name) and use a lot of soap. I usually do one quarter of the vehicle and rinse that section before moving on to the next. I try to do it on a cloudy day or in the shade and make sure I keep some water sprinkled on the already washed parts if it is drying. Once I've washed it all I use 'The Absorber' chamois and go over every square inch of the body and dry it by hand making sure there isn't a single water spot. This is when it gets tough for me because I'm very anal retentive about getting all water spots. So I usually spend an extra 30-60 min getting all the drips from door handles, mirrors, toneau cover etc. which is a PAIN. A couple times a year I give it a good wax job with an electric buffer. That makes the job a lot quicker. I also do each rim by hand with some paper towel and a bottle of wheel cleaner, get each tire with some tire cleaner, and clean my toneau cover with vinyl cleaner. In addition to that, I clean all the metal on the inside of the doors with a damp papertowel. And the way I see it, if you want perfection, it's going to take awhile. I usually spend 2-3 hours washing it, but when it's done, it is spotless. And I love it that way. My sig picture was taken right after a wax job and cleaning.

az'03Silverado · January 24, 2005

I use the $5.00 touch-less wash at Chevron. Then I do the windows with EagleOne no-amonia window cleaner ('cuz of the tint film). If I wash the truck at home (rarely) I do it at first light in the morning (due to the hot Phoenix temps) and I use my California Water Blade to dry it quickly. Works great. I use a sheep-skin chamois to do the final drying where the blade won't reach. Nothing special. I also wax it from time to time with Mother's spray-on wax and a polishing cloth. The only problem with that is that it attracts dust (plenty of that in Phoenix).

MrQuadrasteer · January 24, 2005

Man... I almost afraid to answer. I'm anal about washing my trucks, too.

Keeping everything wet and cool during the whole job is something I do, too. Takes three times as much water, but oh well. I use Meguirer's NXT car wash (try it- it's awesome) and some semi-hi-dollar lambs wool mitt. Panel by panel wash, whole vehicle rinse (told ya it takes a lot of water !!). I use an Absorber to dry (that thing's awesome, too).

I always wash the inner fenders and door jambs and pop the hood and tailgate and get those jambs (or whatever they're called). That, of course, has it's own mitt and brushes. I'll pull the wheels every third or fourth wash and clean those inside.

What I did do this weekend, which I do 2, maybe 3 times a year, is pull the wheels and clean the suspension, shocks, frame, springs, control arms, etc., and of course, the Quadrasteer unit !! Truck looks pretty much new underneath . Douse it all with Armorall when I'm done and BAMM!!!!, it's bitchen !!

But nowhere near worth the effort . Dunno if I'll ever do it again like this. What a major pain in the butt.... But, when you start with a brand new truck, it really is pretty easy to keep it relatively clean underneath.

I haven't waxed the new truck yet, but figure it'll take 3~4 hours. But I'm gonna clay bar it first, probably 4~5 hours. I've done that to previous vehicles and it is SOOOOO worth the effort. Use Mother's Cali Gold clay bar- STAY AWAY FROM CLAY MAGIC !!!! That stuff sux. Meguirer's is good bar, too.

Did I mention I'm anal about washing my truck ?!!!!?

Any questions ?!!!!?

smokeydoge

burgundyz71 · January 24, 2005

I too am a lambswool mitt user, I really like Murphy's Oil Soap for washing and I dry with an Absorber, works great. With my burgundy truck the best wax as far as shine that I have used happens to be Insulator Wax but come spring I'm gonna give it a shot of Zaino and see how that works.

Yukon04 · January 24, 2005

Shorty - Some good advise here, however I did not see any black trucks in any of the responses (could of missed it). I have a black Yukon and was born with a curse...I too spend a lot of time washing everything. With vehicles in the family that span the entire spectrum, washing "things" is a science in our family. The key to black cars is the ability to keep it wet while washing and to remove impurities from the rinse water. The wash water is not as critical.

The filter idea to remove impurities and "hard" things like iron is a must. The Mr. Clean uses a Pur brand filter, however you can spit more fluid than this thing allows through the filter. Plus, making your own as recommended in this thread will be cheaper. It is a must.

Do not use any type of towel, chamois, etc on your paint. It will scratch. Some will say "no it doesn't if you do this ......." They are lying or just don't know they are scratching. If you rub anything against the paint, it is scratching. Using the filter, the water that evaporates will not leave residue and there is no need to "dry" your vehicle with towels,chamois, etc.

If your vehicle is a little older, then rub it out. Use high quality 3M cleaners and polishers. Not the kind Bubba at the Maaco down the street recommends. This removes any particles that are "not part of your original paint" This includes sap droplets, bug guts (yes I said bug guts, it is one of the hardest to remove), etc..

Wax. Wax. Wax. The more the better. Use a high quality wax, not the kind Gomer at the corner auto parts store is recommending either. Meguire's Gold is OK that is available widespread.

You should not have too many other problems if you follow this. I perform these steps and my black truck has no visible paint imperfections in sunlight, artificial light, or UV light.

Test for all the fabric/chamois users that wonder if it is scratching your paint - pull your vehicle into an enclosed area with no sunlight (i.e. building/garage with no windows). Take a shop light that emits incandenscent or flourescent light and go over the surface of your vehicle from about 4 in away....you will be horrified.

And you thought you were picky...

71GMC_3/4T · January 24, 2005

I just washed and waxed my '03 Crew Cab this weekend.

I am VERY impressed with the Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax. It was around 13 bucks at wallymart. It goes on easy and buffs off very easy. The directions say not to get it on plastic, but I slopped a couple of times and you can't tell. The end result was simply awesome!! I read on the forum about this wax and gave it a try. When I was done, I threw away 3 other wax bottles I had! I also bought a couple of microfiber towels and was very impressed with them. One I used to dry the whole truck and never had to wring it out. The other one I used to buff the wax off. NO RESIDUE with this wax!!

Give it a try. Meguiars makes good stuff. Also try Hot Rims on the wheels, and the wash soap they sell, both also good stuff.

Hotwire · January 24, 2005

I use a huge cotton mitt and Eagle 1 car wash to wash it and Eagle 1 wet polish on my vehicles, goes on easy, comes off easy. The house has a regenerative water softener on it, so I am not so worried about water spots. I use a water sprint from napa or something called that, it's like the absorber, but I feel it works and wears better.

I use the little foam applicator when putting wax on, being sure to rinse it w/ water every 1/4 of the vehicle to wash out any impurities, then go over the vehicle w/ a low speed orbital buffer and cotton pads, then clean up whatever I missed by hand and doing a final quick buff w/ the orbital to get rid of the wax lines.

If you have a problem w/ rain spots on your windows, get duragloss nuglass and have plenty of elbow grease, it's like a rubbing compound for your windows and will make them baby butt smooth again, be sure to follow all that hard work w/ a beer and some rain-x to help keep them clean! Duragloss also makes a gold colored acid that will really clean your wheels if they are really bad. I would only use this sparingly on hard spots. To really get the gunk off, use the clear acid, but that is some super strong stuff and will cause damage if not used very quickly and rinsed off immediately, I use it when cleaning the inside of my rims whenever I get around to it.

When you wash the insides of your windows, use up and down strokes, it will minimize the streaks you see due to the sun's radiation. Something about the way the wavelength hits the earth, can't remember but it works!

Duragloss vinyl top and convertible dressing keeps my tonneau in great shape, they also have leather shampoo and conditioner I use on my steering wheel.

If you have don't really like to scrub your wheels that hard, I've found that armor all wheel cleaner does and awesome job, and to clean your rubbers I use westley's bleche white and a tupper ware floor scrub brush (works great on white letters).

I usually wash my vehicles as the sun is setting that way you get a beautiful view and don't have to worry about direct sunlight heating up your paint.

I use a small detail brush to clean out the little crevices in the dash and the vents to keep them looking clean.

I fell in love w/ armor all low gloss protectant, does anyone know of anything similar I can use instead of regular armor all? I hate the shine on my dash.

One other interior tip, if you have a 99+ vehicle, replace your cabin air filter!!!!!

Bruce03Silverado · January 24, 2005

www.zainostore.com

i don't need to do much to mine - just a quick wash with the zaion car wash and a spray of Z6 detail spray and my truck looks better than the day i bought it. Zaino will last a LONG time and my truck is an outdoor 24x7 daily driver and I have had many a comment on how I am able to keep it looking so good - the Zaino make it that easy.

rmembr3 · January 24, 2005

I first wash everything below the mouldings, wheels, tires, & wheel wells. I use only Meguiar's car wash soap, soft terry towels, & a brush for the tires & wheel wells.

I rinse those areas & the bucket. Then I rinse down the rest of the truck & start a fresh bucket of suds. I start at the top I work down, washing a section, & rinsing it right away.

I dry the truck with soft cotton towels only (no chamois or Absorber because if you pick-up some dirt you drag it all over your paint).

Before cleaning the interior, I use the shop vac to suck the extra water from the rubber moulding around the windows, the mirrors, & door handles. I rest it on my finger as not to scratch the paint. This extra step eliminates the unsightly water spots that happen when water works its way out the next time you drive.

I recommend using a clay cleaner (unbelievable) & Meguiar's Gold Class liquid wax 1-2 times per year.

My 2001 Z71 is black, 4+ years old, & looks good.