My First question as an owner, the basics. The car I bought has a SHOW finish, flawless. She slept in the elements on the first night as I got home too late to revert the gym BACK into a garage. She is safe now, but I need to wash this weekend. I'd like recommendations on what to use. I have always hand washed my cars, you can't beat it. I know the rules of hand washing for the most part, but I've never dealt with paint of this quality, and don't want to muck it up. From what I'm finding on the google machine, Microfiber Mitts, Microfiber towels, and a 2 bucket wash system. Any recommendations on favorites/brands? Remember it's black... real black.

 

Flush the surface off WELL, first. Let water flow take most of the heavy stuff off the surface before you try to wash it. Use a mild car soap...not a detergent...and use a microfiber towel or mitt (that has been washed in advance to get out any dirt/particles) and lots of suds to gently wash the surface. The less force you use in this process, the less opportunity for unwanted surface scratches/scuffs.

Flush it well, again, starting at the top and working downward. DO NOT USE THE SAME MITT FOR TIRES, RIMS, ETC. THAT YOU USE FOR THE PAINT; keep the 'paint' mitt for paint ONLY. In fact, I normally wash the tires first, just so dirt from them cannot get moved to the paint accidentally.

Microfiber towels do a very good job of sucking up residual water, too. You can just use one towel to pull most of the suface water of...wringing it out as needed...then use another dry one to finish drying the car.

I don't have a 'show quality' car, so I take advantage of the "spot free rinse" option at the quarter car wash to do the final rinse. Then, I just drive the car to get it dry, as no spots will result, anyway.

 

I really only wash my car once a month or so. But i never drive my corvette dirty. In between I use either a California duster, or meguires detailer and a micro fiber towel.
When I do break out the soap bucket I use meguires car wash. Their products have worked for me very well and don't cost a lot.
A guy I knew 30 yrs ago, worked at a paint and body shop told me they would only use soft brushes to wash the cars. I have also followed that advice for the most part.
I know people either love or despise the duster. I find it convenient and cannot find any detrimental effects to my paint. There is a difference between the real CA duster and the garbage Chinese knock offs that are sold.

 

Hose the whole car down as a start.

I use one full bucket to wash the tires. Then dump. A second to do the drivers side then dump. And a third for the passenger side.

A microfiber mitt is the way to go. Be sure to machine wash it afterwards.

 

Here a good article I read a few years ago. http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...s/viewall.html

One interesting tip was to use two buckets. One filled with soapy water, and then another to rinse off the dirty mitt.

 

Has the car been restored, or just painted? If the entire underbody has been done, then water of any kind is your enemy. I have original paint, but I no longer wash my car. I have too many hours and too much money spent laying underneath the car. Of course, I don't drive it in the rain either. There are plenty of nice days down here to go for a drive. Just as with fishing, you pick your days.

 

Wash, dry, wax in the wee hours when it's dark. Like others have said, use two buckets. If you follow these rules, your neighbors will think you're odd and all the men in the neighborhood will want to come over and borrow sh*t. The women neighbors, on the other hand, will gather at the street corner and wonder why you haven't mowed the lawn.

... I dunno. Beautiful C3's tend to bring out the all the weirdness of us bipeds.

 

The least times you touch the paint the better.

For OTC, Meguirs Gold for soap. What you want is suds and water. The microfiber mitts or chenille http://www.autogeek.net/super-plush-wash-mitt.html are good.

I found on Autopia a few years ago the recommendation for a Tile and Grout sponge at Lowes, found in the Cleaning aisle. Been using it ever since. Holds the most suds and water you can imagine. Use the 2 bucket method. Cascade rinse first as mention before starting.

A leaf blower is your friend for drying. Again any time you put a cloth on the paint can only mean a chance for a mark. If you must-- then use a Cobra waffle weave towel for drying. Not one you buy in the auto stores but use one of the forum sponsors for products. THERE is a difference in quality between what the parts store sells and the good stuff. You won't buy every year so money well spent.

If you see water spots afterward, blot or wipe with a micro fiber cloth (ie. Autogeek, Griots,Adams,etc) with a detail spray.

There is a car care forum here. Just scroll through the post and you will quickly find a thread on washing (a black car). Good Luck.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/car-care-discussion-10/

 

Forget the water, unless you happen to get caught in the rain, then a good shammy to remove it. Get a good set of microfibre towels and a good detail spray......all you'll ever need. Water is the enemy, regardless what anyone says.

 

That's a lot of info in a short amount of Time, I can tell I'm going to love this forum. Great tips, from everyone. I'm going to wash and wax it this weekend with some premium stuff, that I will post here when I figure out what that is, definitely a microfiber mitt with a 2 bucket system. I'm hoping to not have to clean it again now that it will live in the garage, WITH a dust cover over it. Thanks again group.

 

This is how I have been doing it the last couple of years after picking up this tip from a thread on here sometime back.

 

Work in smallish areas and keep it wet all the time. If you allow soap to dry on the surface it will cause haze which you will have to remove later. As long as it is waxed (or sealed if you believe in miracle polymers) well and you dry it somehow you should have no trouble with water spots.

 

There is also a 'Car Care" section of the forum you should check out for some more information.
Regards
Roy

 

Two buckets is good, I go one step beyond that with a "foam gun". It's basically a chemical sprayer that you attach to your garden hose for weeding or whatever, but jam some car soap in there (I dilute mine about 1 part soap to 3 parts water) and use it.

In other words, I rinse all the heavy / loose stuff off, then spray foamy water on, then go at it with the two buckets.

 

We need pics of this awesome paint!

 

All the advise here is good but not for BLACK. First it depends on the paint used as to the success you'll have keeping it swirl and scratch free. Not all Mircrofiber towels are created equal. DON'T buy them off the auto parts store shelf, might as well buy sandpaper for a black car. I have a Black car and I've spent a lot of money and time trying to do just what you've asked so her is the combo I currently use and I still have swirls and mircomarring from overuse of Detail sprays instead of washing with water, catch 22.

Your water is the first place to start. If it is hard or full of minerals you'll need a filtration system to start with. I bought one off of amazon that came from AutoGeek. Auto Geek is going to be your best source for product and knowledge. Go to it, book mark it and get used to spending some time there and their YouTube page and you will learn more than you'd believe you could.

Once you know you have clean water then the 2 bucket system is the best thing you can do. I bought 2 five gallon buckets from Lowe's and 2 of the plastic grates from Auto Geek to place in the bottom of the buckets. I use a wool wash mitt and currently Surf City Garage wash/wax combo (blue in color, forgot the name. something Wave)

One bucket gets soap the other clear water. I also use a foamer with a few ounces of soap. This hooks up to the garden hose with a few different settings and acts like the scrubbing bubbles stuff for the bathroom. You rinse the car with water, then use the foamer to loosen anything the water missed then rinse again, now your ready for the soap bucket.

Wash from the roof down to the hood and back deck then sides and wheels last with a different sponge or cloth. Wash smaller sections (half the roof, half the hood etc) then rinse your mitt in the clear water bucket flipping the mitt after you wipe it on the grate in the bottom. Idea is to knock off any dirt or debris from the mitt and let it settle under the grate at the bottom of the bucket and you don't contaminate your soap with dirt and reapply it to the car, this is the benefit to the 2 bucket system. One other thing you could do if you only have one bucket is rinse your mitt after you wash each section of the car to remove any dirt before washing the next section.

Drying is where most of the damage is done. With filtered water you can usually get away without drying at all since if there is no minerals in the water then there won't be any spots. I use my air compressor to blow off the car so all the hidden water (side marker lights, mirrors, etc) is removed along with under the hood and door jambs. Then if needed I use a micro fiber towel and a good detail spray. I've tried many detail sprays and found Surf City Garage Speed Demon Detailer and Meguiars to be the best on black. Adams polishing is nice but pulls a ton of link from the cloths and requires more work since you get to wipe the car a second time with a dry towel to remove the lint.

The microfiber towels I've found that do the least amount of damage are the Chinchilla towels on Auto Geeks website. I have a stack of different towels I've tried and these are the only ones I use. You wash them on delicate and with woolite then air dry. This applies for all micro fiber towels.

For polishing and maintaining the paint go to Auto Geek since there is far too much information on buffers, products and techniques to list on a forum.

Good Luck and enjoy your black ride

Eric


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Ive seen a few guys mention it so far, but let me build upon the leaf blower option. I worked for Harley Davidson for a few years and we NEVER dried by hand, it was ALWAYS with a large leaf blower. Leaf blowers get water out of all the nooks and crannies and are also much quicker than hand drying. Ive got an old black and decker leaf blower that is used solely for drying my bike and car. PLUS, it works great to harass your dog who keeps playing in the puddles left over from the wash.

 

This is great stuff, thanks again everyone. Leaf blower it is for sure... Along with some of the products and techniques mentioned. I wish I had all of this info when I had my black truck a few years back.

 

I'd suggest that you buy an electric leaf blower that you use ONLY for drying the car. If you use the one for your yard, it sucks up dirt and holds it.....until you blow your car dry.

 

There are some really cool heated blower & vac units too that you can get, if you're into the leaf blower thing. I find that I spend as much time hitting my car with the leaf blower as I do drying it by hand, so I've just dried it by hand. Of course, the more you touch the paint...