Washing and Drying Thread

[funkee]

Hey all,

I figured I might start a thread where we can share tips for washing our vehicles. I have a black car, and washing it is a frequent project.

Things worth discussing: best car soaps, waxes, wheel and tire cleaners, drying techniques, swirl removers... etc

I towel dry my car, and it is a huge pain. It does leave swirl marks after many washes, but I can't stand those water spots. With a black car, I feel that I don't have many options. I use multiple towels to get it dry without leaving any water spots. I sometimes have to go back with a damp towel and re-do a few areas. Is there any kind of additive that we can use to avoid water sports and just give it a once over with a towel?

What really bugs me, is the amount of water that gets into the mirrors. I spend a long time getting the rest of the car spotless; but as soon as I start driving, the wind blows water out of the mirrors, which splashes my doors. Then I have to get a wet towel and clean those spots off. I've tried driving for a few miles with a small towel wrapped around each mirror, but I don't know if that is legal. And I can't find a way to get the water out from inside.

Cleaning my wheels is really tough. Parts of it are painted black, so I don't want to use any kind of brush. I've been looking for a microfiber wand that I can use to clean them, but I haven't found anything soft enough.



As far as wax goes, I recently tried this. Basically you spray it on while the car is wet, and it supposedly waxes the vehicle as you towel dry it. It's very convenient. The instructions say no more than 2-3 sprays per panel, which is actually quite little; so I don't know much protection this wax offers.



My tires are actually a lighter shade than my wheels. So in an effort to get a nice black color I tried Armor All Tire Foam. It seems to last a day or two, but quickly disappears.

[ozkidd]

You can buy a blower to dry the car. I found that easy drying it fast and it get to the tight spots. For the wheels you can use spray cleansers like the meguiars wheel cleaner. It takes the grime and grease out. Black is a hard color to keep spotless. GL with that. Waxing is recommended in a shaded area so the sun does not damage the paint with the wax on it.

[Blackmobile]

to get rid of the water in the mirrors, door handles, spoiler (if you have one), trunk etc, you can use a leaf blower or air compressor with an air gun attachment to blow all the air out of the crevices, then dry the car. if it's just the mirrors that's bugging you, you can cut small pieces of towel and stick them into the crack between the mirror and the cover to absorb the water, pull out the piece, wring it out and repeat until you think it's dry.

keeping our black cars is a pain, especially with the cheap nissan paint, i ended up with swirl marks very fast, lots of spider webbing. i bought some zaino but haven't had an opportunity to use it yet.

[AlexM.]

You should be using micro fiber towels. If you're not, you may be adding swirls and scratches. It's probably too late now, I made the same mistake lol. Hopefully you havent used the big soap brush at the car wash like I did.