revstriker

Since I've always been a fan of dark cars, and my last 6 cars have all been black, I am VERY CAREFUL when it comes to washing it. I avoid automatic car washes like the plague! If at all possible, I will handwash it. When I lived up North, I would take it to a coin operated place and wash it there myself. I only used their water, and normally brought my own soap, sponge, and bucket. I would towel dry the car when done using good quality micro fiber towels (or 100% cotton towels at a minimum). If I was in a hurry, I would sometimes use a touchless car wash. I really didn't like to use this all of the time because of the high pressure water, and the commercial grade soap.

Now that I live down South, I try to hand wash my car at least once a week. I use Zaino products which I have found to go on easy and fast, and last. I try to clay the car once per year, and I ALWAYS clay a car when brand new.

klenbore

Several weeks ago we had about 2 weeks of sub-zero temperatures. After it warmed up to a balmy +10 I used product called QEW (Quick Easy Wash made by Protect All) available at most RV dealers. You can wash your car with 4 gallons of water, no hose required. I let my black E500 set outside on the driveway for a few hours in the winter sun to warm the paint a bit. I mixed 2 gallons of warm water and 2 ounces of QEW in each of two buckets with 3 ounces of Meguiars Quick Detailer in each. Using two good quality wash mits and two micro fiber towels I went after it.

Let me say the car was a quite dirty and was in dire need of a wash. Only as a last resort will I use a pressure wash or the touchless automatic car washes. I used the two bucket washing technique (one bucket for washing the car the other to only rinse the mitts in). I wrung enough product from the mitts so they were not dripping wet. I let only the weight of the wash mitt do the wiping. I slowly made one pass across the length of the panel I was working on and flipped it over to make another pass below it. I immediately dabbed, not wiped, the product from the surface with the MF towel. Tossed the mitt in the rinse bucket and repeat on another area with the clean mitt. Any areas that were streaked I went over with QD then cleaned the outside glass with a 50/50 mixture of good quality glass cleaner and warm water. It looked GREAT, mind you not quite as good as an old fashioned hose wash, but fantastic for only being ten degrees above zero, (sorry no pics). Total time was about 35 minutes and less than a half gallon of frozen water on my driveway. By the way this method left no swirls on the paint either.

Do a search on the internet for QEW for more info about it. I paid $9.95 for 16oz. Also try Meguiars NXT wax, best stuff I’ve found so far for black paint, and I’ve tried dozens of products. It has mild cleaners and fillers in it to eliminate paint swirls. I apply it with a Porter Cable polisher, a must for any car enthusiast who is particular about his paint. Hope this helps..........Bill

Otto

a good place and don't forget to get a punch card to wash 10 get 1 free. I use this one in winters. (go there on weekdays to get better services and avoid long waiting line.)

again, it is not a bad idea to car wash to clean up salt from the chassis.

nantucketsleigh

We lived in Rockland County, New York for about 20 years. Was always able to catch a day here and there for thorough wash and wax myself. There is no such thing as a good commericial car wash.

RJC

From TOWGT in the detailing section

‘Touch less’ carwash:
Hand washing is MUCH preferred, don’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons: You should never, under any circumstances use a car wash that requires you to let another person drive your vehicle onto the ramps or into the wash, notice the disclaimer

“No responsibility for damage to customer’s vehicle.”

Local by-laws require car washes to re-claim or recycle water. This means they have two choices.
a) They can collect the water in tanks and pay to truck it away to a recycling centre.

b) They can filter and then recycle the water (dependant on how often the filters are cleaned/changed) will effect how much dirt content there is.

Recycled meaning re-use the same water, which may include any road dirt/grit that is not filtered out is used to high-pressure (1,000PSI) wash your vehicle (somewhat similar to sandblasting) the final rinse is usually twice-filtered re-cycled water, this is to give the appearance of a clean surface on the vehicle.
•To remove snow/sand/road dirt and grit without agitation (brushes etc) requires the use of very strong chemical cleaners.
•Probably the most important is that this type of automatic car wash use high-pressure water and strong alkaline detergent to clean vehicles that will strip the wax/polish
•You will also need to renew the vehicles sealant / wax to ensure the paint surface protection on a regular basis to counteract the effects of the harsh detergents.
•Also be aware of those that use ‘wheel guides’ as they will cause scratches / etching to the wheel surfaces, as many wash facilities will not accommodate either the tire width or the clearance, thus causing sidewall damage
•Vehicle with lower than ‘standard’ suspension (Corvette C6 and other sports cars) should also be aware the wheel guides could cause body damage
•As an alternative in colder winter months I would suggest using a waterless vehicle cleaning product Protect All’s Quick Easy Wash (QEW) I don't know about this point.
•If you get a chance, attend a car wash / wax vendors symposiums where they give demonstrations of the different soap products that these type of facilities use. You'll come away a convert to never using them again, on any vehicle.
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I will also add that the hundreds of other cars that go through the wash before yours get their tiny little sand particles etc imbedded in those hagging soapers (that are advertised as brushless/touchless etc.) that swing back and forth causing lots of fine scratches. Just think of the filthy grime covered cars and SUV's going through the wash before yours and how infrequently the material of these scrubbers gets cleaned, if ever.

revstriker

RJC, this info is spot on!

Our detailing forum is a great place to learn more about taking care of your car, share tips, discuss products, and bragg about your results! :p