So I did a little research and decided I am going to wash my own car... bought all the right materials etc to prevent clear coat scratches and what not...

Car looked beautiful in the shade and I could not find a single flaw on it, was so happy I washed and detailed it myself and it looked great!

WRONG!

I walk out to my car at night after work and the parking lot lights shine on the windows and black glass pano top , which now have the most uneven pattern of streaking and soap scum looking residue!! I am like WTF? I take out my detail rag immediately and wipe down off the light condensation on the windows and glass, spend about 20 mins getting it all looking perfect again, scratch my head as to how it even happened, get in my car and drive to the gym... about 1 hour later when I come back to the car which was parked outside at the gym, boom, there it is again! on the areas with condensation, it is just not an even pattern of condensation like I would expect, but a dried soapy looking patter when I look at it in the right light! WTF is this, is this baked into the glass and I never saw it before or did I create this somehow when I washed the car and did not dry it in time???

Is there a way to remove soap scum that keeps showing up in certain lights and condensation conditions??

Its really driving me crazy how it will look flawless in the day and look flawed at night in the right light with a little condesation added...

There are also a few streaks from soap on the hood, what is the best way to remove these type of flaws??? do I just wash them off with the mit and water next time I wash and make sure I rinse right away and dry? or to I use some compund first???

I think my mistake in what caused this is that I washed the whole car at the same time instead of drying and rinsing each panel or piece seperately...


its amazing how little time you have to rinse and dry each panel before your totally F'ed with streaks, and soap patterns and spots...

i know I sound like an idiot to all you cagy veterns out there, but its cause my previous car only went through automatic washes at my friends gas station for free once a week, but i would never trust that now...

anybody else have any issues with the glass looking unclear and with a dirty finish as soon as condesation starts to occur?? what could this be?

 

Hahahaha, yeah just re-wash and you'll be fine. Wash one panel at a time and then rinse rinse rinse. Wash roof first, then windows/windshield, then hood, then trunk then front ... you get the idea.

Some soaps are better than others about leaving streaks if they dry too. Hey, wait, do you have really hard water where you live?

Could also be residue from that chamois you were using to dry too; if it didn't go through the wash about 10 times before you used it it's probably still got a lot of tanning chemicals in it.

 

good call oblu, i should wash the chamois a few times...

what about the soap, i just used basic meguires gold class... this should be fine right?

do you know why streaks on the window would only appear after condensation??? I

 

meguairs gold class soap is fine... wash the whole car top to bottom than dry with an absorber... keep dippin the mitt in the bucket you dont wanna scratch your car with the nasty debris on it. rinse and dry the whole car with an absorber. if you still see streaks on the windows its b/c either you didnt squeeze out the water in the absorber or your just didnt clean the windows right. go to autozone and buy a cheap bottle of auto class cleaner thats ammonia free and tint safe. that way you can clean your windows in and out and use a microfiber towel while your at it. your car should look great. use a seperate sponge or w/e to clean the wheels never mix the wheel sponge N the wash mitt in the same bucket.

g luck

 

I believe what you're seeing is some light watermark etchings. When you wash a vehicle in the sun or if it's warm out you can get watermarks very easily. Often times you can't see these marks unless you're in the right light, but they are hard to look at. I highly recommend reading our Washing and Drying Detailing Guide for tips on techniques and products.

Removing these marks depends on how far they etched in to the clear coat. Since it's a brand new vehicle hopefully they are not too bad. I don't think re-washing the vehicle will fix the problem, unless there is truly just left over product on the surface. However I'm fairly confident, from your description, that you have some light etchings. For your glass you can easily remove them with the Glass Science Glass Scrub. Just buff it on your glass when you're washing next and it should remove them no problem. For your paint it can be a little more challenging. I typically recommend using a two step combination of polishes with a medium and light polish and a good orbital buffer like the Porter Cable 7424. You can try just using a light finishing polish like the Menzerna Final Polish II and this may work. However a good percentage of watermark etchings require a medium cutting polish as well like the Menzerna Intensive Polish. If you think the marks are easily noticeable you may want to get both. If they are very faint you may be able to just remove them with the light polish. If you have any questions about these products or any part of the process you can read our Detailing Guide or contact me. I hope this helps and I look forward to hearing from you.

Greg @ Detailed Image

 

I used to run a car wash business. May I make a few suggestions?

1. Dry the side of the car facing the sun first. It will be the first to otherwise dry on its own and watermarks will show.

2. Always use soap when washing. This sounds dumb, but seriously b/c a good rinse and dry will simply spread dirt around and possibly scratch your vehicle.

3. Use the "Absorber" drying cloth. I've used tons of things and this is by far the best and costs under $10. Store moist in the container it comes in.

4. Do not OVERSOAP. Using too much soap can cause streaks.

5. Another reason for seeing streaks may be you aren't drying immediately after your soap your car.

6. My method: rinse car and rims. soap car. rinse car. soap rims with sponge dedicated to rims only, rinse rims, rinse car again if it looks like it's drying. then dry. The point is that you dont' want to spend a ton of time washing the rims while the water on the car is self drying and making water marks. rinse again so that when you finally dry, it'll be okay. Although people don't have the patience, it may be worthwhile to actually rinse and soap the rims BEFORE doing your car. Most people don't do that b/c they're impatient and want to see a clean body first.

Hope it helps. Good luck. I'll look out for the supershiny car.

One more thing. Contrary to popular belief, waxing does not shine the car. If you want shine, use polish...after wax. Wax protects. Polish shines.