Car Washing Tips

[McCann87]

What to use?

Current setup is just hosepipe, bucket + the dreaded sponge of death

Have a jet washer, but its quite powerful and took the wheel weights off last time although that was probably my own fault!

What attachments should i use with my jet wash? Are foam lances worth the money?

Basically just want something better to give the car a better clean instead of using a crappy sponge which just collects the muck and keeps hold of it

 

[D-Power]

No expert myslef, but if you research '2 bucket method' you'll find thats the most common way to go about it. Theres a decent guide on Detailingworld, but essentially you use a bucket of shampoo as usual with a second bucket for rinsing.

You'll probably get flamed for even mentioning word sponge

 

[McCann87]

been meaning to replace the sponge for ages, but didnt know what to replace it with.

Had a wuick look on here and lambs wool is meant to be the best?

Had a look on some other websites about foam lance attachment, cars look covered in thick foam, but at £50 doesnt seem worth it?

One of the lances with my jet was has a setting for foam, you reckon i could just use that?

 

[D-Power]

most people will suggest replacing sponges with lambswool mitts and when drying bin the chmois leathers for microfibre cloths.
I bought a foam lance attachment for a Karcher i already had, but its far from essential. I find soaking the car helps to remove some of the looser stuff such as soot that collects on the car (especially tailgate) but cant say the car looks any better than it would following a good wash.

Keep reading on here and detailingworld, thats what I'm doing. Just get the basics sorted first then work out from there.

 

[McCann87]

first thing i bought was a microfibre cloth!

Hate those stupid leather things, have to rinse them out every 3 or 4 whipes

 

[Crafoo]

This is a list of what I bought a while back to get me started (http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=228427)

The snow foam lance is quite good but in hindsight I don't think I would have got it, for the money and the job it does it's not really worth it, it is only meant to be a pre wash just to loosen the worst of the dirt which is does ok but it's nothing special.

Get a decent wash mitt (sandpaper is better than a sponge lol), lambswool is always good, get a couple of decent towels for drying off and then build up the rest of your kit as you see fit, once you have a base you can build and add to it when you need to. I found the alloy wheel brush is really essential for getting all the wheel clean without breaking your back.

 

[liamsxa]

next time your on detailing world search (grout sponge) seems to be quite popular.

 

[Aimez]

I have been into detailing for well over a year now and just today used a decent wheel brush it is a thin one you can get between wheel and caliper, wish I had bought one ages saved lots of effort! I started with wash mitt one of them super absorbent drying towels and some non acidic wheel cleaner. As said use two bucket method too and build on products from there really.

 

[Deleted member 48395]

I have 2 lambs wool mitts (for upper and lower panels) and one for the wheels. I also now use the 2 bucket method and think these simple changes are a massive improvement! I was looking ar getting a Karcher + foam lance but its just too expensive for me when the way I do things now does the job pretty well.

 

[turbo009]

I use Lamb wool mits and the 2 bucket methods now. Only started from this year tho,slowly getting into detailing products to buy for my car

 

[D-Power]

I have been into detailing for well over a year now and just today used a decent wheel brush it is a thin one you can get between wheel and caliper, wish I had bought one ages saved lots of effort! I started with wash mitt one of them super absorbent drying towels and some non acidic wheel cleaner. As said use two bucket method too and build on products from there really.

Aimez what sort of brush did u get? I have to say cleaning the wheels (mk4 sports) is my most hated part of the whole job! The fact there shot to bits prob doesnt help.....DIY refurb coming in the summer!

 

[Aimez]

I have 2 lambs wool mitts (for upper and lower panels) and one for the wheels. I also now use the 2 bucket method and think these simple changes are a massive improvement! I was looking ar getting a Karcher + foam lance but its just too expensive for me when the way I do things now does the job pretty well.

Yeh I was going to get one but can't see too much benefit really, other than in winter time. I n winter be handy to foam, rinse foam again and use wash mitt to clean the car and leave it at that. But saying that the pressure washer is not heated water so sounds a bit or a horrible job!

 

[Aimez]

Aimez what sort of brush did u get? I have to say cleaning the wheels (mk4 sports) is my most hated part of the whole job! The fact there shot to bits prob doesnt help.....DIY refurb coming in the summer!

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/vikan-wheel-brush/prod_389.html

does a great job never wanted one of them fat looking brushes no good on most cars wheels really.

 

[xpa]

I LOVE MY KARCHER!!!!
I got a 110 bar and as long as your not stupid with it its amazing. Mine has a detergant intake aswell so u can foam it I normally polish, wax and paint restore it after aswell but i must of spent 100's on car cleaning products. You will eventually find ones that work for you and your paint and stick with them for a while. All I can recomend is trying different products

 

[Aimez]

I took the paint of my calipers the first time I used it! We have a really old one don't think you can adjust the pressure, can you on newers ones, can you heat the water too?

 

[demon_dan]

I got the Nilfisk C110.3-5 X-tra Pressure Washer from Argos for under £50 a couple of weeks ago and can't fault it at all. Comes with a basic foam lance/bottle, I doubt it's as good as a £50 job from CYC ...but then the whole pressure washer was less than that lol. Used some Valet pro Snow Foam with a bit of Maxi Suds & got decent coverage. In fact it was good enough that I probably won't get a foam lance attachment now.