What do you use to wash your car?

[Xenon]

I use Simoniz Car Wash. I got 3 free bottles of this stuff at last year\'s DarKnights. I\'ve only used one on my car... the other two are in my bucket of car wash stuff.

Meguires Liquid Clear Wax for the Waxing (which I still have not doe to my car yet, since the clearcoat is still very new)

Absorber to dry, followed by a towel.

Meguires Tire Spray... gives the tires the new, wet look.

[swales]

Currently I\'m using the Meguiars NXT wash, which works really good.

I use the Meguiars NXT tech wax which works great and is really easy to apply, then I use the NXT spray wax as a booster.

I use the Meguiars Hot Shine tire spray which gives the tires that wet look and it actually lasts, even after it gets wet from the rain.

To dry the car I do a quick pass with the california water blade to get most of the water off, then I use a microfibre waffle weave towel to dry the rest of the car off.

[sw0rdfish]

I picked up some of that Meguires stuff... the Carnuba Wax to be exact. I\'m just wondering if using only step 3, of the 3 step process is a bad idea? Should I not bother using it unless I plan on picking up the other 2 steps as well?

Obviously it wont be as good as if I used all three, but I\'m just wondering if it will do the job, as far as a one coat wax goes...

Peace

[Xenon]

I\"m not sure about that 3 step stuff, I have never used it...

I use the Liquid Clear Wax. (bought it anyways, I\'ll wax my car at the end of next month)

What do you people use to get all that brake dust off? I jsut use a damp cloth... seems to do the trick... I don\'t need to use any protective stuff do I?

[01AWW18T]

Originally posted by Xenon

What do you people use to get all that brake dust off? I jsut use a damp cloth... seems to do the trick... I don\'t need to use any protective stuff do I?

After i clean the rims I put a coat of mothers cleaner paste wax on it. If there\'s any baked on stuff that\'ll get rid of it too :)

[Xenon]

I clean my rims daily... no brake dust gets caked on :D

[bubba1983]

i jus picked up some armour all soap stuff...supposed to \"rinse off good with cold water\" so the bottle sais. Havn\'t picked up a decent tire thing yet, still looking around for a good, non greasy wet look.....i jus use a chamois for drying....and i use a 3 step waxing thing.....first the Klasse all-in-one cleaner, then the Klasse glaze...then P21s wax!

..rims....small sponge and water!! lol

[idreamofmazda]

I have tried a few different waxes on the Mazda so far, and the best, in my opinion, is Nu Finish. It contains no wax, and I have applied in direct sunlight, and then after 1 minute, wiped off with ease, and no swirl marks. Give it a try.

I also like a spray wax called Wax As-U-Dry, good for hard-to-wax areas, like the front end, around emblems, and inside the doors. Just spray it on the wet car after washing, and wipe off as if you were drying the car. It would probably work well in the cool fall temperatures.

[MazdaTree]

whats really good to clean your rims is a pressure washer i borrowed my friends once and it does an amazing job on the rims... especially getin off all that break dust

[majic]

would it be advised to use a pressure washer for the rest of the car?? like windows and the rest of the body. The reason i\'m asking is, everyone says the paint is very delicate.. and i wouldn\'t want to remove the paint with one.. especially when/if you get a paint chip.. wouldn\'t teh pressure washer do further damage?

also how strong of a pressure washed is adequate?
can it be used with mr clean? (i guess for rinsing? maybe the application of mr clean if you can find a right nozzle and nozzle pressure)

[Dr Butcher]

I personally wouldn\'t use a pressure washer on the car. They\'re pretty expensive and it\'s a bit of overkill. Pick up a spray nozzle at a garden center for a few bucks and you\'ll get all the pressure you\'ll need.

I\'ve seen pressure washers take some nasty grime off sidewalks, bricks, and take paint off of decks. I can\'t imagine spraying my car with one..... :(

[idreamofmazda]

I wonder about the manual car washes, when I press the trigger on the high-pressure sprayer, it almost knocks me over.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by Dr Butcher


I personally wouldn\'t use a pressure washer on the car. They\'re pretty expensive and it\'s a bit of overkill. Pick up a spray nozzle at a garden center for a few bucks and you\'ll get all the pressure you\'ll need.

I\'ve seen pressure washers take some nasty grime off sidewalks, bricks, and take paint off of decks. I can\'t imagine spraying my car with one..... :(

I only use it to take off brakedust.

[MazdaTree]

jus a quick tip about carwashes my car salesman said ONLY USE TOUCHLESS cuz the cloth ones can get rocks and mud caught in the cloth and theres chances of scratchin your car...
so all i use is touchless cuz i dont wanna take any chances

[///M]

- self service car wash bays at Shell (I live in an apartment)
- whatever soap they have there
- 3x Simoniz microfibre drying towel
- some Japanese claybar from FMP
- Meguiars NXT Tech Wax

for the rims I find that using a pressure washer to spray them is enough to get rid of most of the brake dust - when it\'s really bad I\'ll wipe them down then spray them

[bluntman]

I went to a local Shell station right before today\'s (September 25) meet. I opted for the \"Ultra\" car wash for $9.99 (plus a $2 surcharge because I didn\'t get any gas). It was worth every penny. It seemed like the Ultra wash applied soap 3 times, rust inhibitor and underbody pressure wash. Surprisingly, the wash even removed all or most of the brake dust from my rims. I barely had to touch the car afterwards, the wash got pretty much every nook and cranny on the body.

[///M]

I can\'t take it to the Shell touchless washes, or any other washes with rails for that matter. It scrapes.

[Dr Butcher]

Originally posted by bluntman


I went to a local Shell station right before today\'s (September 25) meet. I opted for the \"Ultra\" car wash for $9.99 (plus a $2 surcharge because I didn\'t get any gas). It was worth every penny. It seemed like the Ultra wash applied soap 3 times, rust inhibitor and underbody pressure wash. Surprisingly, the wash even removed all or most of the brake dust from my rims. I barely had to touch the car afterwards, the wash got pretty much every nook and cranny on the body.

I\'ve taken mine to a Shell touchless at Kingston Rd and Port Union a couple of times and it seems to do a pretty good job. The pressure from the jets is a little unnerving though. Also, it\'s unmanned so lining up your wheel in the track can be a bit scary at first... I used to take my truck to a Shell station with the \'scrubbers\' and after a while the paint wore on the front of the hood, and I didn\'t really take in in there that often....

Xenon, I meant I wouldn\'t use a pressure washer on the body of the car, rims are a little different. :)

[bluntman]

No rails in this touchless carwash. :D

[Dr Butcher]

Originally posted by Melenium


Hey guys, I was just wondering what the heck DrButcher and autoexe used on their cars to get such an increadible shine? All these pics look great!

3 hours of elbow grease. When all was said and done I had washed, dried, applied the pastes, and buffed the car 8 times. I probably didn\'t need to do anything but wax it because it was still so new but I figured what the heck, it\'ll last me the winter. :D

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[jl_1978]

Do you guys take the antenna off before using the touch-free washes? If so, will it matter that water gets in the screw hole? I\'m pretty sure I\'ll be using Shell Touch-free over the winter months. Which locations have no rails (I\'m in Scarborough)?

[bluntman]

The Esso in my area has a touchless carwash, but the blowers at the end of the wash cycle come down pretty close to the car (the air pressure keeps them a few inches from the metal). For car washes like this I\'ll remove the antenna, even if it is a flexible stubby. The Shell station a little further away has stationary blowers so for that I\'ll leave it on. I don\'t worry about water getting into the base, it\'s sealed.

[kyfe]

Zaino wash
Zaino polish
Zaino clay bar for bugs and grease/tar

I\'ve recently bought a house so no more car washes at the GS

I also use it on my 93 golf, just to give you an idea, the paint has started to dull a little, my last application was in July and the rain still beads off my car.

I apply it usually 2-3 times /yr

it\'s more expensive, I think with everything i purchased it cost about 150. 2 years ago and I have about half a bottle left.

I used to use Zymol before which is an affordable alternative.

Kyfe