Car washing

Website · Post by **coyote1980** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:00 am

Curious... When I wash my car I sometimes do it by hand, and sometimes I go to the carwash to have it washed in the moving belt washing street.

Shame!! I know

But, when I go to the carwash I go to a good one. There is just one carwash here in the city which I trust. It washes your car with a high pressure rod and lots of soap before you enter the washing street to keep the amount of sand entering the street at a minimum, and they only have cloth rolles instead of streets that use some sort of syntetic hairs. I only go to the washing street if the car is very dirty because I am afraid I might create big scratches when washing it by hand when it is so dirty.

I was wondering how you guys wash your car, do you use automated washing facilities, or always by hand, and how often do you wax her and with what. Let it all out

levensnevel · Post by **levensnevel** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:22 am

Most of the times manually. Only in wintertime, after a period of sleet and snow I visit a carwash which is able to clean the bottom, to get rid of all that salt.
For wash and shine I use plenty of water, shampoo, wax and polisher from the HEMA (a dutch superstore)

480-Pelle · Post by **480-Pelle** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:46 am

Here in Sweden most automated car-washes has this new recirculating system for the water. The water is going trough a cleaning-process and is then used again and again. Only ten liters of water is going down the drain every wash.
The water gets clean but this system doesn't get rid of the salt so the water used for washing has a VERY high content of salt when used for a while.
This is also the water used for washing and rinsing under your car...

Since I found out I have never visited a carwash again. (Before I only did it in the winter...)

In the summer I have my own high-pressure wash and wash the car at my parents and in the winter I wash in the garage at work or at a gas-station with a do-it-yourself hall.

For cleaning and waxing I use Sonax and Hagmans products.

//Pelle

tfmorton · Post by **tfmorton** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 8:29 pm

I only wash my car by hand and polish with Autoglym super resin polish

Gimle · Post by **Gimle** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:45 am

Well I wash her only by hand. I use Turtle quick wax once a month (so every 2 washturns)

buddo · Post by **buddo** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 10:16 am

Always a machine wash...

If you do it by hand you could get scratches because of sand and to less water.
If you do it by machine wasch, lots more water and less chance of scratches, and... easier!

I've read a test earlier this year and the result there: no difference in the result...

And of course: twice a year waxing! (By hand...)

tfmorton · Post by **tfmorton** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 10:34 am

I assume 'machine wash' means those awfull things installed in pertol stations that use recycled water, harsh cleaners and leave swirl marks all over your paintwork.
You should avoid them like the plague

The safest method is:
Pressure wash entire car including arches etc
Go over with a clean sponge and bucket of warm water/car shampoo
Pressure wash
A good quality wax like Autoglym should be used whenever possible as this makes the dirt wash off easier and stops it scratching.
Sit back and admire

Gimle · Post by **Gimle** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 11:12 am

tfmorton wrote:The safest method is:
Pressure wash entire car including arches etc
Go over with a clean sponge and bucket of warm water/car shampoo
Pressure wash
A good quality wax like Autoglym should be used whenever possible as this makes the dirt wash off easier and stops it scratching.
Sit back and admire

This is my method too, except for the Autoglym...

pol · Post by **pol** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 11:18 am

No no no no no...

Car washes are shit. Don't care what anyone says. After working in a petrol station for a while and being taught about the car wash, i'd never use one on my 480.

You must wash first with a hose or buy a pressure washer. Then shampoo. Then rinse. Then leather. Then wax if needed with colour magic.

Beautiful (apart from my new scratch)

pol

tfmorton · Post by **tfmorton** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:37 am

Colour magic is shite. Why- because it's WATER based !!

i.e it washes off. And it's very abrasive.
You guys need to start using Autoglym or Meguires !!

chris1roll · Post by **chris1roll** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:34 pm

You need to be carefull how powerful your pressure washer is, ost domestic ones should be fine,but living on a farm, my father had a big 3,000 psi one, which would take the surface off of the wooden pens, or the skin off your hand, and I hate to think what it would do to paint. Any pressure washer is going to remove a very fine layer of paint though.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 8:36 pm

I use my own pressure washer at home most times, unless it's really dirty, or I'm feeling lazy, in which case I use the jetwash down the road, which uses nice cherry smelling shampoo and turtle wax

Ernie · Post by **Ernie** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:27 am

Washing my car in the rain saves me a lot of time and effort. The already wet dirt is easily removed and soap residue is washed off autmaticly. Just one bucket with soapy water, a sponge and 15 minutes is enough. (and no salt or calciumcarbonate in rain water!)

Cars are made for driving, not for washing

levensnevel · Post by **levensnevel** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:46 am

Ernie,

[grumpy mode on]
Than I sincerely hope that your rearwheel arches are made of stainless steel
[grumpy mode off]
Suppose it would be a good idea for you to clean out the inside rim of your rearwheel arches on a regular basis. Otherwise those arches might by consumed by the mighty Rust Gremlin

buddo · Post by **buddo** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:15 pm

levensnevel wrote:Ernie,
Suppose it would be a good idea for you to clean out the inside rim of your rearwheel arches on a regular basis. Otherwise those arches might by consumed by the mighty Rust Gremlin

Regular... I clean the inside of my rearwheel arches once a year. I wash my car always with a machine wash (or whatever you call it) and wax my car twice a year (coloured wax).
And despite this little amount of attention, my car still looks great and has no rust at all!!
My 480 has two purposes, it's a hobby and it's for daily usage (it's always outside in the Dutch climate...). So amount of attention (washing, waxing, cleaning) and degree of usage have to be in balance. And technical maintenance off course on a regular basis!

levensnevel · Post by **levensnevel** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:24 pm

Well Buddo,

I really do envy you: No rusted wheel arches, beautiful Taurus alloys and even 'the' Palm Beach' steering wheel.
Life is unfair

buddo · Post by **buddo** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 4:14 pm

levensnevel wrote:Well Buddo,

I really do envy you: No rusted wheel arches, beautiful Taurus alloys and even 'the' Palm Beach' steering wheel.
Life is unfair

Thanks for your compliment... but unfortunately it's my girlfriend who uses the car every day for travelling to her work, not me! Lucky her!
I only drive it in the weekend...

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:47 pm

I use a hose andwash-brush or sometimes a sponge, then chami cloth to dry her and then either autoglym or car-plan triple wax. I find that car-plan is good because it doesn't leave white residue around trim etc. Fortunately my baby is totally rust free!

I aim to keep her that way so I wash her every week or so (my parents call me obsessive but I dont care)

hereagain · Post by **hereagain** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 5:15 pm

The car wash near me is good, it is a new one, but Â£7.50 for the works!!!!

I have handwashed and take the points entirely about scratches, I cleaned out the arches, have always done this on all cars...I found several Dirt pockets on the 480

1) the wheel arch rims - everyone know
2) Fuel pipes catch loads of crap, get your hands up with the hose and wash out, it really is surprising how much comes out
3) make sure that the door drains work well

My old car g reg fiesta (ok don't start), I gave to my sister, had no rust on it at all. But I did scrub everything right down and sprayed a good few layers of CLEAR waxoil, including spraying in any holes I could get to, like the sill plugs (might explode if any welding is done!!) and door plugs.

storm480 · Post by **storm480** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 6:05 pm

I don't let her get dirty...I was her quite frequent BY HAND ONLY !! She's got a nice garage to sleep in and I avoid driving in the sill conditions of winter. And yes, ... AUTOGLYM is the answer to that nice deep glossy shine she has. The plastic panels can easily be done with silicone spray.

Volvo 480 Club Europe

Car washing

Car washing

re: car washing

Miyagi say wash the car

And...

Wash your car on rainy days only ...

I do both