Questions about washing a never ending dirty car

[bigconan]

Just have a question, regarding what others do with washing your car. I spent a good while, cleaning my car. I then go for one 20 minute ride, to enjoy my clean, shiny black redeye. I come back, and it's dirty, all over again. I don't remember my car before this car, ever getting dirty, this incredibly fast....there is no way on earth i can keep cleaning it every time i drive the car....i will literally be spending every waking hour, cleaning it. but I do like it when it's clean and shiny....My question is, why can't i just use a wet micro fiber towel to wipe the dirt off? come back from a drive, grab a wet towel and just clean it off real fast. this way, you can keep it clean, without breaking out the buckets and power washer 30x per day. I don't see how, doing that will scratch anything...it's not like there's pebbles on the paint...its just dirt spots kicked up by the tires...or bugs and shit hitting the front...there must be an easy, simple and fast way to keep the car clean.

 

[AeroF16]

Get it ceramic coated. It makes life better. Wheels clean really easy and it is much more difficult for your car to get dirty.

But, to answer your question, if it's just light dust/dirt, then you're probably fine doing a waterless detail on it. Be careful though, you'd be surprised how the smallest particles can scratch your paint.

 

[Hellcatcfp]

What AeroF16 said. Very, very easy with waterless washes.

 

[Hunter]

What they said.
Turtle wax ice, Mcguires, chem brothers, etc, etc, etc.
Change out your brake pads to Z23 / 26.

 

[bigconan]

Just have a question, regarding what others do with washing your car. I spent a good while, cleaning my car. I then go for one 20 minute ride, to enjoy my clean, shiny black redeye. I come back, and it's dirty, all over again. I don't remember my car before this car, ever getting dirty, this incredibly fast....there is no way on earth i can keep cleaning it every time i drive the car....i will literally be spending every waking hour, cleaning it. but I do like it when it's clean and shiny....My question is, why can't i just use a wet micro fiber towel to wipe the dirt off? come back from a drive, grab a wet towel and just clean it off real fast. this way, you can keep it clean, without breaking out the buckets and power washer 30x per day. I don't see how, doing that will scratch anything...it's not like there's pebbles on the paint...its just dirt spots kicked up by the tires...or bugs and shit hitting the front...there must be an easy, simple and fast way to keep the car clean.

It is ceramic coated...I did initially use the adams waterless wash...but heard it can scratch your car...didn't notice any though.

 

[Magnified]

Just have a question, regarding what others do with washing your car. I spent a good while, cleaning my car. I then go for one 20 minute ride, to enjoy my clean, shiny black redeye. I come back, and it's dirty, all over again. I don't remember my car before this car, ever getting dirty, this incredibly fast....there is no way on earth i can keep cleaning it every time i drive the car....i will literally be spending every waking hour, cleaning it. but I do like it when it's clean and shiny....My question is, why can't i just use a wet micro fiber towel to wipe the dirt off? come back from a drive, grab a wet towel and just clean it off real fast. this way, you can keep it clean, without breaking out the buckets and power washer 30x per day. I don't see how, doing that will scratch anything...it's not like there's pebbles on the paint...its just dirt spots kicked up by the tires...or bugs and shit hitting the front...there must be an easy, simple and fast way to keep the car clean.

What color was your previous car? And your car now. That can have a great deal to do with it.

Ceramic the car (with a quality heat bonded / cured process) and it makes it much easier to clean. Do it and some "clear bra" film immediately, or as soon as you can. It won't fix damage to the finish that occurred before its application.

 

[bigconan]

What color was your previous car? And your car now. That can have a great deal to do with it.

Ceramic the car (with a quality heat bonded / cured process) and it makes it much easier to clean. Do it and some "clear bra" film immediately, or as soon as you can. It won't fix damage to the finish that occurred before its application.

my previous car was a 2007 dodge charger superbee. so it was yellow. this car is black...so that definitely has to do with it. unreal what a difference color makes.

 

[Hayabusa]

Cleaning black cars is an art and a science. You have to love the washing process to maintain them. I stopped buying black cars (owned a bunch of them over time) as they are spectacular looking when clean, for about 15 minutes.

A few tips...use quality microfibers and lots of them. Follow the basics of multi bucket and top down washing on a cool car in the shade. I've used Griot's products for in between wash touch up (Speed Shine, etc) and the lubricants in them help avoid scratches. Lots of products out there from Chemical Guys, etc., that accomplish same. I use Iron X on wheels and am going to try Tuga based on my CQuartz guys reco.

Key rule: do not apply pressure when wiping (cars surfaces, counter tops, your body parts!)

Ceramic coating will help prevent swirls, scratches and "micro-scratches" that will kill your shine. You still need to be careful. I have all of my vehicles paint corrected and have CQuartz applied by a certified pro. There aren't many around as they have complete initial training and regular refresher programs to maintain certification (requires travel and time).

Also, invest in some rock guards if you don't have them and Z23 or Z26 brake pads are a godsend. Good luck and enjoy her when she's clean!

 

[bigconan]

Cleaning black cars is an art and a science. You have to love the washing process to maintain them. I stopped buying black cars (owned a bunch of them over time) as they are spectacular looking when clean, for about 15 minutes.

A few tips...use quality microfibers and lots of them. Follow the basics of multi bucket and top down washing on a cool car in the shade. I've used Griot's products for in between wash touch up (Speed Shine, etc) and the lubricants in them help avoid scratches. Lots of products out there from Chemical Guys, etc., that accomplish same. I use Iron X on wheels and am going to try Tuga based on my CQuartz guys reco.

Key rule: do not apply pressure when wiping (cars surfaces, counter tops, your body parts!)

Ceramic coating will help prevent swirls, scratches and "micro-scratches" that will kill your shine. You still need to be careful. I have all of my vehicles paint corrected and have CQuartz applied by a certified pro. There aren't many around as they have complete initial training and regular refresher programs to maintain certification (requires travel and time).

Also, invest in some rock guards if you don't have them and Z23 or Z26 brake pads are a godsend. Good luck and enjoy her when she's clean!

Luckily, I did have the car ceramic coated, before i picked it up. but there is no way on earth, i can wash the car, this often...I'm definitely going to use the waterless wash more often...adams ceramic waterless wash, seems to work pretty good, the first time i used it.

 

[HWDan]

Around here, it's now pollen season. As soon as you finished wiping down that last corner, you have to start all over again. Doesn't matter the color, within 24 hours, your car color is now "yellow jacket".

 

[Slowpoke387]

Have you swapped out your brake pads? The stock ones will get your car dirty just backing out of your driveway. I've had two black Challengers and they weren't that bad after I changed out the pads.

 

[GdBye]

I've owned many black cars and finally gave up on that color because I couldn't stand putting all of the effort into the cleaning process, taking a short drive, and seeing a layer of dust settled on the car. I wasn't able to just let it go and would then spend the time to get it back to looking spectacular again. A lot of great suggestions offered by fellow members here but in the end, it will come down to how much time you are willing to spend in the cleaning process and whether you can learn to be a little less attentive to keeping it perfect. As for me, I'm not using the waterless systems or just wiping a wet microfiber towel on the paint. Yes, it will remove the dust with less effort. You will get fine micro scratches though that will show up in the clear coat, especially with black and under sunlight. If I couldn't live without black paint, I'd probably correct any scratches and flaws in the current paint and then put PPF on all painted surfaces. You can then use a surface cleaner/protectant like Plexus to help hide scratches and keep the PPF looking new. It's expensive to do that but would offer you more protection for your paint and there isn't a lot of expense involved in annual upkeep vs. ceramic. At least then when you use a water wipe down method, it isn't compromising the actual paint underneath. There's only so much clearcoat on the paint, so periodically buffing out the scratches has it's limits. Not trying to discourage you from maintaining the color you selected, but there is no simple solution to your question without weighing some sort of compromise involving process and effort to maintain.

 

[MikeD1]

Used to have black cars & gave up because it's impossible to keep them clean (to my OCD standards).

Lots of good suggestions above for dealing with the never ending chore of trying to keep a black car looking good.

Black & red seem to be the worst for showing dirt, waterspots, swirls etc.

 

[bigconan]

Around here, it's now pollen season. As soon as you finished wiping down that last corner, you have to start all over again. Doesn't matter the color, within 24 hours, your car color is now "yellow jacket".

Definitely true. frustrating...luckily, i garage the hellcat...but I like to leave it out on weekends. I made a mistake driving it, while it was raining out...that kicks up tons of dirt from the tires and makes the car filthy. my mistake.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

This posting is classic LOL. Uh yeh ok sounds like your car needs a daily shower like yourself and truthfully some film on the car makes you go nutty😳

 

[JRabq]

It is a quandry. I had a beautiful black NSX. I started off with daily full washes. Realized i was dirtier than my car. I continued once weekly full washes, but learned to accept that it was still beautiful even with a little dust (not much rain in NM). Modern coatings and better waterless washes may help. How one handles AutoOCD is a personal journey. Good luck!

 

[bigconan]

It is a quandry. I had a beautiful black NSX. I started off with daily full washes. Realized i was dirtier than my car. I continued once weekly full washes, but learned to accept that it was still beautiful even with a little dust (not much rain in NM). Modern coatings and better waterless washes may help. How one handles AutoOCD is a personal journey. Good luck!

I don't mind a little dust. I'm not that bad..my mistake, was taking the car out and it started to rain...that kicked up tons of dirt...one ride, and it was dirty again.

 

[PaVaSteeler]

If it's just road dust on the car after a drive after having fully washed it, you can safely use a microfiber and a quality detail spray to clean it.

I prefer Wolfgang's Uber Wash; it's a rinseless wash product that makes one of the best detail sprays I've ever used. The directions for mixing as a wash or detailer are on the bottle. Use one microfiber per panel; that way you're not using a dirt towel on the next panel.

 

[Prange]

Ever since I started doing rinseless washes, I stopped doing the waterless.

With my rinseless routine, I also mist the panel before wiping.

 

[bigconan]

Ever since I started doing rinseless washes, I stopped doing the waterless.

With my rinseless routine, I also mist the panel before wiping.

what exactly is a rinseless wash? I'll google it..but just curious.