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Hand wash. using a good car wash/soap
Use 2 buckets keep them full.
(rinse and wash)
Keep your wash mit,rag, sponge clean by frequently ringing it out and rinse it, then into the wash.
Change the wash bucket at least once during the washing process.
Keeping it full, this will allow any dirt to fall to the bottom and not be picked back up as you wash.
Then clay-bar it once a year.
It's east to do and the results are well worth it.
Then wax, be it a good carnauba wax or some hy-tech wax, polish.
I'd wash it more often than twice a year. Mine get washed 1-2 times a month, depending on how much they're driven and under what conditions.
Clay bar it now, to remove paint contaminants, before you wash it. A buddy bought a new Maxima a couple years ago, and we clay barred it about a month after he bought it. The difference was obvious, and the paint where we clayed it was like glass, whereas the other side was rough. It took less than two hours to do the whole car, and we were taking our time, beer breaks, look breaks, etc. I've done my car in less than an hour.
I'd wash it more often than twice a year. Mine get washed 1-2 times a month, depending on how much they're driven and under what conditions.
Clay bar it now, to remove paint contaminants, before you wash it. A buddy bought a new Maxima a couple years ago, and we clay barred it about a month after he bought it. The difference was obvious, and the paint where we clayed it was like glass, whereas the other side was rough. It took less than two hours to do the whole car, and we were taking our time, beer breaks, look breaks, etc. I've done my car in less than an hour.
Whatever you do wash it before the clay bar or you will scratch the heck out of it.
Washing removes the loose dirt the clay bar will remove the contaminates that are stuck to the paint.
]Steps
1. Clean and wash your car with high quality soap removing as much dirt as possible. When washing pay close attention to the front panels of the car as this is where most of the overspray, bugs, tar etc... Will be.
2. Dry your vehicle with a 100% cotton terry cloth.
3. In order for you to appreciate and understand what detailing clay does, get a sandwich bag and place it over your hand and gentle rub the front end of your car. You will feel all of the embedded pollution and overspray. The purpose of the bag is to magnify the dirt to the touch.
4. Get your detailing clay and clay lubricant or soapy water and gently rub the area your are trying to clean in a circular motion. Then place the sandwich bag over your hand and rub the same area, you will now see all of the dirt, tar, overspray has been lifted
Fallow the directions.http://www.meguiars.com/faq/Image9.jpg (broken link)
1. Make sure you have a shaded area to work and your paint surface is cool to the touch. Direct sunlight can cause you car wash soap to dry too fast or soften the painted surface allowing for scratches to occur.
2. Prepare your two 5 gallon buckets. Fill one half way with your car wash solution and the other three quarters full with plain rinse water. Go ahead and place your mitt or pad in the soapy bucket, this allows it to saturate and soften before you begin using.
3. Rinse the vehicle thoroughly. Using a garden hose with an adjustable spray nozzle, thoroughly rinse your car starting at the top and working your way down. Pre-rinsing is an important step and should not be skipped.
4. Dunk your wash mitt into the soapy car wash solution and gently glide the mitt over the vehicle. Be sure to start at the top and work your way down. This is important to prevent transferring dirt from the grimier lower areas up to the rest of the vehicle. DO NOT SCRUB. Allow the soap solution to do it's job.
5. Dunk your wash mitt vigorously into the clean water rinse bucket. This cleans the mitt and removes any dirt and contaminants that were removed from the vehicle's surface.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 around the entire vehicle and then rinse thoroughly.
Last edited by snofarmer; 09-20-2011 at 10:11 AM..
Not sure why I posted that. A car should definitely be washed before clay barring. I think I meant to say "clay it before it's waxed". Yeah, that's it.
Do what the guy above said. But when you wash it before the clay bar. Use DAWN as it gets all the old wax off and removes any oil sustances from the paint. But never use DAWN to wash your car after waxing. Use a soap that will not hurt that wax which can be found at any auto parts store along with all the waxes, clay bars, scratch polishes.
Just youtube waxing and you'll get a number of videos going through the whole process.
Once you've put on wax/sealer/protectant or whatever final product you're going to use, washing it can be as simple as a high pressure hose and plain water, or a DIY car wash for a couple bucks. With good protectant, very little will stick to the paint. For my bi-weekly washes, I spray some wheel cleaner on the wheels, then do a wand wash at the DIY car wash, and rinse everything off thoroughly. This is good enough for most of what I do with the car. If I'm going to a meet, track, or on a date, I may handwash to get every scuff off.
Last edited by vmaxnc; 09-20-2011 at 01:37 PM..
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