[falcon1411]

Hello everyone,

Have a 6 month old m340, got SB3 ceramic coated on week 2
Since then I've been washing myself every 1 or 2 weeks.
This is usually how it goes:


using pressure washer, water only, i pressure wash mostly lower parts of the car, to get rid of brake dust, rubber etc, and get the car wet
next, using foam cannon, i cover the car in Chemical Guys Sticky Snowball. let it stay for few mins.
(didnt like the performance of the Sticky Snowball, so just using it as a "prewash"?)
while the prewash foam is still on, I foam cannon Carpro Reset, and let it stay another few mins, until its no longer dripping
(Carpro Reset is amazing btw. so much more foam!)
Next, I pressure wash rinse, leaf blower dry, then lightly dry any water thats left with microfiber towel
Once dry, I spray on and wipe Chemical Guys HydroSPEED
(this is another great product)



Once a month Ill add a 2 bucket method and mit, while the Carpo Reset foam is still on the car, and give it extra level of wash
The hydrospeed makes it so slippery. spray bottle slides off the car.


Any recomendation to what I am doing? any thing im doing extra or not doing at all?
Any products that will be better than Reset or HydroSPEED? towels? foam cannon?
Am i washing too much or not too often? etc etc

Thanks everyone

[Davesrb]

I guess my first question is how is your method working? Are you noticing any swirls or scratching appear? If not, you're probably good to go.

My method is I rinse the wheels and wheel wells with my pressure washer and then clean the wheels/ wheel wells and tires. Then I rinse the whole car. Next I foam the car and let it dwell for 3 to 5 minutes. Spray that encapsulated dirt off. Then I use the 2 bucket method to wash the car. Blow it dry and wipe out door trunk, and hood sills.
I do my 840i and x6, and my wife's x7 weekly.

I guess I should add, all of the cars are ceramic coated with Gtechniq Crystal serum Ultra and EXO V4 or V5. I use Gtechniq (spray foam and car wash), Griots (wheel cleaner) and some Adam's products.

[335i54n]

so youre soaping then rinsing and wiping/touching it with hydrospeed/microfiber? the least you touch it the better and imo would prefer soapy water as my main touch lubrication.

pressure wash, soap/sit, pressure wash, soap/sit, light rinse and hand wash, dry/with spray is my method. if its just dust a spotless water system does a great job on ceramic coated cars

[falcon1411]

most of the drying is done with leaf blower. very few water specs left i gently wipe with drying microfiber. then with detailing microfiber i apply and buff hydrospeed.

also, ordered adams graphene detailing spray. waiting for delivery.

I tried something different yesterday:

after the first rinse and prewash and washing off, i cover passenger side with carpro reset, and 2 bucket method and mit hand scrub the side. then rinse off. move to driver side and repeat. hood trunk and roof half covered also. then another overall pressure washer rinse. leaf blower dry it, and put hydrospeed.

more labor intensive, switching nozzles and such, but i think it works better?
also, done under a shade at 7pm.

[335i54n]

i think thats the general plan most use when they do a good wash job. u should try spotless rinse and air dry only, if just lightly dirty.

[icj_45e]

Seems you have a decent system, and if there are no scratches and you like the results, then keep going!
The only thing I'll suggest is that you try applying the Carpro Reset after you rinse the pre-wash off, instead of layering it on top. Allow the pre-rinse do its thing and then wash all that soap and dirt away. That way when you do apply Reset, it'll be on a cleaner surface and more effective. I've never tried the CG HydroSPEED, but there are a ton of other drying aides/ceramic detailers that generally get better reviews then the HydroSPEED, if you want to try something new when you run out of your current bottle.

[snareman]

So you only do a contact wash every few times? I would think that if you don't do it every time you are leaving dirt on the car that only pressure washing isn't getting off and then when you go to contact dry it you'd be potentially wiping that dirt around scratching the paint.

[louielouie]

Initial rinse with water is doing more harm. You're diluting the foam and it's tested to reduce the results of prefoam. Sticky Snowball doesn't look like it breaks anything down. It's just lubrication. You're likely not loosening up much dirt if that's what it's for.

There's soap like Bilt Hamber Auto Foam and Touchless which are more aggressive but actually break down dirt and road grime in the prerinse.

[Wo-Wo]

Two rules for me. 1: always use two buckets 2: always pre wash, no excuses.

Marring is inevitable so anything you can do to reduce this should be deployed

[samsammysosa]

I think you're doing the right thing.

Below are the products i use.

Karcher Car Shampoo - https://fairspot.co.uk/products/karc...b5220627&_ss=r


Meguiar's Ultimate Wheel Cleaner - https://fairspot.co.uk/products/megu...aner-g180124eu


snow foam - https://fairspot.co.uk/products/karc...028ef812&_ss=r

I prefer the 3 bucket method though as opposed to the 2 bucket method.

In the blog below, they explain it well.
https://fairspot.co.uk/blogs/news/ho...ar-wash-method

[Ralph III]

Hello OP,

Wo-Wo and Snareman are absolutely correct in their assessment.

The two bucket method is best and safest for the paint. You should ignore any and all other hype that tends to indicate that there are other methods as equally safe. Pre-washing a vehicle, with or without a foam cannon, is good but it is just that. You are pre-washing the vehicle in order to remove as much debri as possible, prior to actually washing it. Pre-washing alone is never going to remove 100% of debris. It would have to be a rarely driven, garage kept vehicle, with a very light layer of dust for that to be possible.

After washing the vehicle (top to bottom, two bucket) with a quality lubricating soap and a wash mitt such as Carpro Merino, you then want to use a rinse aid in adding lubricant to the drying process, if using towels. I highly recommend the Platinum Pluffle towels. Those are really soft and consequently very safe for the finish. Otherwise, you can use a blower or distilled water for a non-contact method.

The above is the best method in reducing and/or limiting the amount of microscopic marring which will inevitably occur irrespective. Don't buy into the hype of rinse-less car washing either, btw. I only recommend that method when there is absolutely no alternative, due to water restrictions or the weather.

I'm a former professional detailer (14 yrs). I've made paint corrections on over 10k vehicles and washed many thousands more, over that period. I've also professionally painted over a dozen vehicles for family and friends going back to the 1980's.

Good Luck,
Ralph

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by Ralph III

Hello OP,

Wo-Wo and Snareman are absolutely correct in their assessment.

The two bucket method is best and safest for the paint. You should ignore any and all other hype that tends to indicate that there are other methods as equally safe. Pre-washing a vehicle, with or without a foam cannon, is good but it is just that. You are pre-washing the vehicle in order to remove as much debri as possible, prior to actually washing it. Pre-washing alone is never going to remove 100% of debris. It would have to be a rarely driven, garage kept vehicle, with a very light layer of dust for that to be possible.

After washing the vehicle (top to bottom, two bucket) with a quality lubricating soap and a wash mitt such as Carpro Merino, you then want to use a rinse aid in adding lubricant to the drying process, if using towels. I highly recommend the Platinum Pluffle towels. Those are really soft and consequently very safe for the finish. Otherwise, you can use a blower or distilled water for a non-contact method.

The above is the best method in reducing and/or limiting the amount of microscopic marring which will inevitably occur irrespective. Don't buy into the hype of rinse-less car washing either, btw. I only recommend that method when there is absolutely no alternative, due to water restrictions or the weather.

I'm a former professional detailer (14 yrs). I've made paint corrections on over 10k vehicles and washed many thousands more, over that period. I've also professionally painted over a dozen vehicles for family and friends going back to the 1980's.

Good Luck,
Ralph

I wash with 1 bucket and instead of dunking it into a rinse bucket, I just grab a new one. You go through more towels but never introducing a used towel back onto the car is better.

[xxpanipuri]

Have you tried foaming the car DRY with a good pre wash like car pro lift...(i'll hit the wheels with a good wheel cleaner first and power wash those off)

thought behind foaming a dry car is that you're removing all the lose dirt, and pressure washing loose dirt into the paint @ 2000 psi...

[holiday1001]

Thanks Ralph for the post!
What is your thought on a modified method of using a foam cannon to get soap on to the car, then using a clean wet microfibre mitt directly to the car, instead of soaking the mitt in a soapy bucket? then using the single bucket to just rinse afterward.

Originally Posted by Ralph III

Hello OP,
Don't buy into the hype of rinse-less car washing either, btw. I only recommend that method when there is absolutely no alternative, due to water restrictions or the weather.

A question about rinseless- any suggestions on how to reduce micro scratching? I try my best to run a the wet towel several times to try to make sure there's no grit left before drying but it seems microsratches are inevitable!

[snareman]

I'm a single bucket person. Soap the car with the foam canon, let it sit and then rinse it off. Then redo the foam canon and have a single bucket of water with some soap. Do the contact wash and then rinse the car off. It both saves the hassle of having a second bucket and re-foaming the car allows the soap sit and act on the dirt some more. It just seems more efficient and foaming is fun.

[TboneS54]

Originally Posted by snareman

I'm a single bucket person. Soap the car with the foam canon, let it sit and then rinse it off. Then redo the foam canon and have a single bucket of water with some soap. Do the contact wash and then rinse the car off. It both saves the hassle of having a second bucket and re-foaming the car allows the soap sit and act on the dirt some more. It just seems more efficient and foaming is fun.

Do you inspect, with light, for new swirls? Or is the car color too light to show them anyway?

[snareman]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

Do you inspect, with light, for new swirls? Or is the car color too light to show them anyway?

I don't inspect. I have white and Santorini blue which is relatively light. There are already some swirls because during the winter or when pinched for time I'll take it through a wash. I'm not anal enough with the paint that I'll only hand wash it as my desire to have an always clean car is greater than my desire to have a swirlless car. And I generally only keep cars for 3ish years and some microswirls or lack thereof that you can't see without close inspection don't affect resale value. I enjoy the cleaning process and the car is definitely cleaner when I hand wash it, but I don't super stress over some microswirls.

[TboneS54]

Good for you, that's a healthy mental state. I, on the other hand, with black, haven't "let go" yet ☺️

[snareman]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

Good for you, that's a healthy mental state. I, on the other hand, with black, haven't "let go" yet ☺️

That's one of the reasons I can't own a black car. They look amazing when they are clean, however when you wash a black car and are drying it front to back, by the time you get to the back the front is dirty again already.

[icj_45e]

I use a single bucket method using Carpro Reset. I soak 3 "double flip" mitts/towels ( https://www.autofiber.com/collection...100-gsm-3-pack ) in the bucket. This give me 12 clean contact mitt surfaces to wash the entire car. A used mitt never goes back in the soapy water