The Right Place.

 

If you wash your car on a regular basis, enjoy keeping it clean and neat then pick a place where you can do your thing and place that is comfortable for you. Perhaps in the back of the house, under the shade of the old oak tree (since most automotive products that are sold recommend not using in the sun) Pick a time when perhaps: the kids are at school, everybody else is having supper, when the spouse takes the kids to the mall, etc.. Now all that's left is turn on the juke box and tune to your favorite tunes. If your not really into all of the above ideology than you can just pick a spot closest to the water hose.

The Right Equipment

Now that you got your spot picked out, make sure you've got a hold of the right equipment. You just spent 28 grand (or more ) on that new car, and you gonna skimp and just use any rag or sponge? ........... Hey!... you don't skimp when it comes to toilet paper do you? Well I guess you could,.......... but let me recommend the following:

Get a hold of quality wash brush, mitt, soft wash rag (facial quality), bucket, hose nozzle, and a small sponge.

Incase You Didn't Know

Every time you rub something against your car run the risk of abrading the finish coat that covers the color coat. Softer cleaning equipment like mitts and rags are more gentle but don't have the muscle to clean your car fast. Cheap brushes are fast and aggressive cleaners but the fiberglass strands if not treated can scratch the finish.

What I observed about rags, sponges and mitts is that the fibers mat down when you press on them. They form what I call pockets or loops which generally aren't a problem, however if you get one speck of sand or hard dirt trapped in one of these holding areas and unknowingly continue to wash with it, you will be putting put a nice scratch on the finish. How noticeable will the scratch be? Well it can range from microscopic to downright nasty, depending on how hard you pressed down on the finish and how hard the speck is.

What I observed about a quality automotive brush, is that dirt particles tend not to get trapped in the fibers as easily (something like a steel ball as it passes through the pins on a pinball table) providing your not using excessive force.

What I Use

When I want to baby my truck!

This sheepskin polish and wash mitt is what I use when my puppy is slightly soiled with no dirt or mud crusts. It is so soft that when you first get one you'll think it's to nice to use for a wash rag.

When I want to get some work done!

As I said before in the page preceding, if I got to do some dirty work let me do it fast and effectively. The tool below for most of us will be the tool of choice. It's fast because it's got a handle, it reaches most areas that we can't by using our arm alone, it's also fast because we don't have to bend down as far to reach the wash bucket or to reach the lower panels of our vehicles.

The all around brush

especially good for the curved parts of your vehicle.

I use this one brush the majority of times when my truck is downright dirty. It helps power off the dirt fast (especially on the lower side & bottom panels) and is relatively safe to the gel coat finish.

Now the brush I recommend is not your ordinary "scrub your front porch down" type. Today's automotive cleaning brushes are designed to be more gentle to your auto's finish.

If you going to get one brush this is the one to get. If I'm in a hurry I just use this brush and won't bother with the one below.

The Brush to use for the flat areas of your vehicle.

This brush is fast for the large and flatter areas of your vehicle but can't get into the curve areas that well or some areas at all. Also the plastic mount of the brush can scratch your finish (the edge radius might be sharp) when you use the brush at a certain angles. Tip: sand them down (finger nail file)or cover with large rubber band.

What's so special about these brushes? If you look closely you'll notice that end of each strand / filament is fragmented to even smaller pieces of it's original strand. It's somewhat soft to the touch, so it's going to be fairly gentle to you car's finish.

The Cleaner I've been using since I've purchased my Quad

is Zip wax car wash by Turtle Wax . With it's surfactants it's able to loosen most dirt with out being to harsh to the car's finish. It also supposedly applies a coat of something to the finish. In any case it's mild and works for me.

And the last item to consider is what goes on the end of the hose. Sure any hose nozzle will work. I tend to like the one below, you can turn it: on, off, shower, and jet with one hand. You don't have to put the brush down or pick the hose up, just switch hands.

Whatever cleaning tool you prefer or choose the key thing is to put it away clean. Rinse, inspect and let it dry in a clean area then put it away in a bag, or what I prefer to do is hang it up in the garage or basement closet. Check your brush, mitt, sponge or rag each time you bring it out or put it away for any thing that might have a chance to adhere to the fibers that can dry and harden, only to end up scratching the finish of you car later.

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By the way, my name is Nick, you can email me by clicking this => Mail