Washing Your Vette?
 

What is considered to be a good process for washing your Vett without getting anal about it? Is a pressure washer/soap cannon really safe, it could obviously do some damage if care is not taken.

Thanks for any input.

There will be plenty of opinions shared, but most will break down into guys who use hoses and guys who dont... I've heard great things about a foam cannon - just dont have any experience with it, and heard they are expensive.

Remember - regardless how you wash your car - remember to use the clay bar once a season, and always give it a good wax afterwards with a DA Buffer or by hand (again personal preference).

Depending on what type of person you are - here are two suggestions:

If you do NOT use a hose:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c0b3820755.jpg

If you DO use a hose:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f7f1621e12.jpg

Another vote for waterless wash but I prefer the one from Griots
https://cdn.yourzoom.com/gg/11065/11065.yz/thumb.jpg

Obviously you can go down a rabbit hole with information. Grab a MicroFiber Madness IncrediMitt (personal preference other brands out there), two buckets (grit guards also but not mandatory) and some quality product (Adam's is a solid offering).

One bucket for rinsing off the mitt, one bucket for soap. Hose down the car (foam cannon is plus but not absolutely necessary, aids in lifting dirt off car), grab mitt, soap up and start washing. Every panel (or couple panels) rinse the mitt off and dip back into more soap. Wash top down (roof, windows, trunk, hood, top of doors, bottom of doors, bumpers). Essentially washing the cleaner parts of the car first, leaving the dirty spots last. Drying the car, you'll want microfiber towel and some quick detail spray.

YouTube is a great resource, tons of quick videos on two bucket washing.

Tips: Wash out of the sun to prevent water spotting. Microfiber is your friend. Lube your drying towel with a quick detailer (or similar).

I only wash if I have been on a long trip, got rained on and generally the car is super nasty. Then I use a good car soap, dedicated wash mitt and hose. Most of the time I only use a good detailer and microfiber towels. I have literally gone years without using soap and water - detailer only.

Use a wash mitt and a garden hose. Soap will strip wax off the car, so I don't use soap unless I'm going to wax the car again. I use bleach-white on the tires and scrub them with a bristle brush, then I spray them with armor all. Dry the car off with a clean chamois.
If your car is basically clean, but has dust on it because its been sitting around, just back it out of the garage while its raining outside, then chamois it off.

I love it! I've done this a time or two, and it's just fine, as long as you have a good coat of wax on the car, any residual dirt will just slide right off.

Seriously though, just wash the car with a high quality soap like Meguires or Groits and give it a wax every other time or so. It only takes about 30 minutes to wax one of these cars once you learn all of the body panels.

I like Griot's the best too.

Two word: YouTube Junkman

He'll teach you all you need to know about proper wash techniques and why you need them. And he seems like a cool cat to boot!

If my car is just dusty then I let rain water do the work for me. It wont strip off wax, and it wont leave water spots. It also has a secondary benefit of testing for water leaks. Obviously if the car is filthy then you need a wash mitt and hose, but when it just dusty, rain works great.

The perfect car wash formula: One cup of bleach, and 1/4 cup laundry detergent to 5 Gal. bucket of warm water stirred well. 👍

Greetings,

Hose, microfiber mit, Griot's Garage Best of Show Wash and Wax, rinse, microfiber towel with Griot's Garage Airstream Drying Gun....do it in the shade, sun, whatever. Use Griot's Garage Extra Large Microfiber Wheel Wand for wheels (use smaller wand for front wheels). Car turns out perfect...oh, use a little Best of Show Detailer or Spray Wax to dry. Awesome results.

Semper Fi

Once per month the week before Cars and Coffee, or two months if I get lazy and the dust is minimal:

• Bucket of water with a capful of Maguire's Car Wash.
• Microfiber mitt
• Homemade wheel cleaner (old cloth drinking glass cleaner with long handle) to reach the depths of the barrels.
• Dry with McKee's 37 Turbo Car Dryer
• Final touch-up dry with synthetic chamois.
• Every six months I follow the above with an application of Rejex.

There is some good advice on here but an tremendous amount of poor advice being offered. I strongly advise going to Adams, Griots, or another of the professional sites for advice before you cause permanent damage to your car.
On another note I am amazed with what speed some of you profess to be able to wash or wax a vehicle. To thoroughly wash and dry my C7 it takes me 2.5 to 3 hours. I can cut about 1/2 hour off that by blow drying it. Waxing it takes 4 to 5 hours.

What bad advise will a professional site give? Adams and Griots have great products...very confusing.

I do agree a proper wash would take 2-3 hours but that's also taking your time. If you rush you could certainly be done in 1-1.5 hours.

Permanent damage ! Good lord, who would have ever thought washing a car was so complicated !
I wonder if maybe there's a course available at the local community college.
Do you think I might have damaged my car already ? It turns out clean every time, and there's no scratches in the paint, but since the only professional car washers I know all make minimum wage at the local dealer, maybe I should have them train me anyway. What do you think ?