Two hours to wash and dry car?

[wtom]

LOL I think there are a few of us out there who take even longer but for me, trying not to be too slow but at the same time trying to clean up all dirty areas and drying up water spots;

- Starting rinse
- Auto shampoo in bucket, high-pressure spray-in to sud-up
- Apply. Go from top, to back, side windows, front, sides, and finally the bottoms (dirtiest parts last)
- Wipe down the rims somewhere in between above processes
- Drying takes the freaking longest... using The Absorber (chamois) I\'m like soaking up half a square foot by half a square foot every wipe. Trying my best to keep water from drying up naturally (ie. sun, heat, basic evaporation).

Whole process; 2 hours give or take 10 mins. :(

I don\'t wake up early enough on the weekends to wash before the sun hits hard, and I take too long after getting home from work and be ready to start washing... sky is pitch black before I finish drying. :(

[mEtH]

Thats about right. Then I have to do windows on top of that HAHA!

I find since I switched to the Simoniz chammy its cut my time down alot. It picks up alot more water then the standard chammy. I recently tried the Mr Clean and its pretty good. I am still fearful to try it in the sun with my BLACK car. It heats up just way too much.

One step you either just didn\'t mention is to soap sections of the car at a time. So its soap then rinse, soap then rinse, soap then rinse. RINSE RINSE RINSE! Would rather have the water dry on the car then the soap.

***That reminded me of the simpsons.***
\"Gas break honk. Gas break honk. Honk honk punch. Gas gas gas.\"

[Xenon]

2 hours and 10 mins huh?

well... when I want to go all out, I spend 5 Hours on my car...

-take out all the floor mats and accessories in the car.
-take out any garbage etc.
-Use Eagle One 20/20 to clean inside of all the windows and the rear view mirror.
-vaccum the inside of the car, including my cloth seats (you\'ll be surprised, the seats actually change a shade of black!)
-Use Meguires Protective wipes to clean the interior
-Take off the antanna, pop the gas cap, pop the hood (But don\'t open the hood)
-close all windows and doors. Lock the car.
-fill bucket with soap & water
-Full rinse-down with a jet of water, all over the car, paying a lot of attention in wheel wells and any area below the side moulding.
-Using a bug sponge & soap, i get rid of bug guts and excessive dirt on the front bumer, anywhere there\'s Llumar and the side mirrors
-spray Meguires Hot Rims Rim cleaner on all the rims
-full soap down of the car using normal sponge, top to bottom
-high pressure spray the brake dust off the rims, just normal garden hose get to wash out the wheel wells again
-using a damp, soapy cloth, I clean the wiper blades
-after the car is totally soaped, a final rinse down
-unlock the car and park it in the garage, wet.
-open all doors, hatch, hood and gas cap
-Use Moose River Chamios to dry the car
-use a old bath towel to clean all the water behind the gas cap, all the door areas, door stills and under the hood. I open and close the doors several times to shake out excess water.
-use Eagle One 20/20 to clean the outside of all the windows and mirrors.
-dress the tires
-wax the car from top to bottom, paying special attention to the front of the car, hood, Llumar, head/tail/foglights and chrome (such as emblems).
-vaccum removed floor mats
-pressure wash rubber mats
-put back all cloth mats. put back rubber mats when dry
-Sometimes I use Febreeze to give my car a clean smell (unfortunately the new car smell is fading :()

Best time for that was 4:25. Average is about 5 hours. After all this my car looks better than showroom :p. It looks brochure clean, inside and out.

Yes, I am nuts. Thanks for asking :D

[wtom]

Originally posted by methodyst

One step you either just didn\'t mention is to soap sections of the car at a time. So its soap then rinse, soap then rinse, soap then rinse. RINSE RINSE RINSE! Would rather have the water dry on the car then the soap.

***That reminded me of the simpsons.***
\"Gas break honk. Gas break honk. Honk honk punch. Gas gas gas.\"

Actually I do the soap/rinse certain sections also. Just didn\'t want to get too detailed. :)

LOL at The Simpsons line... unfortunately I don\'t recall it... new episode? or an older classic?

http://www.mazda3forums.com/images2/smilies/eek4.gif at Xenon... too bad couldn\'t find a jaw-dropping smiley... I wouldn\'t mind spending 5 hrs to really clean up the car ... but... five hours... sleep preferred. :D

[swales]

Ya I take about 5 hours too if I\'m giving it a good clean but if I\'m doing a quick job (not waxing) I take about 2 hours.

FYI, you should always clean the tires/rims first then do the rest of the car otherwise there\'s a chance that the dirt from the tires will get on the freshly cleaned parts if you wash them last. You should also use one mit for the tires and another for the rest of the car.

[wtom]

Originally posted by swales

FYI, you should always clean the tires/rims first then do the rest of the car otherwise there\'s a chance that the dirt from the tires will get on the freshly cleaned parts if you wash them last. You should also use one mit for the tires and another for the rest of the car.

Good tip regarding rims/tires. I haven\'t been cleaning/rinsing them first but your reasoning is a good one. Definitely use at least two different clothes/sponges/brushes when washing the car. I have a separate cotton cloth for the rims. I\'ve yet to pick up the tire shine.

Damn, it\'s gonna rain tomorrow... just washed the car last night after the arse got all nasty dirty due to yesterday afternoon\'s downpoor. :(

[midnightfxgt]

Not much I can add to this, since I am somewhere in between :D

But, I do take the car for a quick 2min spin down the deadend I live on. This gets the water out of the Hatch/bumper area, door jambs, and the side mirrors.

~JOHN

[RedRaptor]

My car is really dirty...and it hasn\'t even been a full week since I picked it up from the dealer. Its mostly the residue left by Rustcheck spray but right now I try not to use the trunk on my hatch because its dirty where the hatch handle is.

My tires have lost their \"shine\" and my rims are full of brake dust eventhough I just cleaned them 2 days ago.

FX Auto said no car washes for 2 weeks because of the LLumar bra. I\'ll just clean/wash the rims for now.

Question for you guys.

Do you just use a regular sponge for washing/soaping up the car?

How about drying the car after the wash? Do you use the Microfiber or Sheepskin cloths?

How about \"buffing\" the car? I have some Simoniz Wax and the instructions are apply with wax pad and then \"buff\" with a cotton towel.

What is the proper technique in \"buffing\" something?

[wtom]

Originally posted by RedRaptor


Do you just use a regular sponge for washing/soaping up the car?

How about drying the car after the wash? Do you use the Microfiber or Sheepskin cloths?

How about \"buffing\" the car?

I use a Simoniz auto body brush. It\'s very soft bristles and cleans pretty good.

Drying the car I bought \"The Absorber\" (chamois) from CanTi. It\'s awesome! No lint, no dust, picks up lotsa water!

Waxing... if water still beads on your (brand new) car then you definitely don\'t need waxing yet. Wax when you find the water just sits on the car (no beading whatsoever).

[miggiddy]

Originally posted by RedRaptor

Question for you guys.

Do you just use a regular sponge for washing/soaping up the car?

How about drying the car after the wash? Do you use the Microfiber or Sheepskin cloths?

How about \"buffing\" the car? I have some Simoniz Wax and the instructions are apply with wax pad and then \"buff\" with a cotton towel.

What is the proper technique in \"buffing\" something?

I have one of those fur gloves to wash the car and use Microfiber cloths to dry.

Waxing, I do manually, exactly like your instructions. I\'m afraid to use a buffer and create swirl marks. Ofcourse waxing sections at a time.

[bluntman]

Two hours to wash a car huh? Maybe this link (http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1050a.htm) can help you. :p

[idreamofmazda]

How about a Newfie Car Wash, very quick, and cost just pennies. While it is raining, take a bucket of soap, water and a sponge, wash the car, and leave it. The rain will rinse it away, and since the rainwater isn\'t hard, there shouldn\'t be any streaks. A variation to the Newfie Car Wash, to make it a non-Newfie Car Wash, is to wear a raincoat.:)

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman


Two hours to wash a car huh? Maybe this link (http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1050a.htm) can help you. :p

LMAO!

yoy.. 2-5hrs.. ugh even with a full vaccuum job, a hand wash takes about an hour.. i wouldn\'t want to wash for hours on end just so that the weather people could be wrong and the next day have a thunderstorm (we know how reliable those guys are) :sarc

[wtom]

Originally posted by bluntman


Two hours to wash a car huh? Maybe this link (http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1050a.htm) can help you. :p

LOL I think my parents might be looking into that for me. :p

[lukel90]

OMG you people are crazy. 5 hours to wash a car....WTF...lol....man...i wash, vacum, dry eat, shower, and have sex in less then 5 hours..lol....c\'mon you guys cant be serious. it doesnt take a auto detailer 5 hours to completely detail a car. It cant really take that long....i was just a bit surprised by that...lol

[FLIPDADY]

Finally after a month I have time to wash the car. I\'m gonna spend at least an hour and a half because of all the salt build-up on the car.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by lukel90


OMG you people are crazy. 5 hours to wash a car....WTF...lol....man...i wash, vacum, dry eat, shower, and have sex in less then 5 hours..lol....c\'mon you guys cant be serious. it doesnt take a auto detailer 5 hours to completely detail a car. It cant really take that long....i was just a bit surprised by that...lol

I\'m extremely detailed if I spend 5 Hours with it... There is not a spec of dust, a spot on the outside, smidge on the window, NOTHING dirty on the car.

I even disassemble the centre console so that I can get the cup holders clean.

[majic]

Originally posted by Xenon



Originally posted by lukel90


OMG you people are crazy. 5 hours to wash a car....WTF...lol....man...i wash, vacum, dry eat, shower, and have sex in less then 5 hours..lol....c\'mon you guys cant be serious. it doesnt take a auto detailer 5 hours to completely detail a car. It cant really take that long....i was just a bit surprised by that...lol

I\'m extremely detailed if I spend 5 Hours with it... There is not a spec of dust, a spot on the outside, smidge on the window, NOTHING dirty on the car.

I even disassemble the centre console so that I can get the cup holders clean.

just so 5 min later you got shit all over it from a puddle, rain, birds, trees etc.. hmmm.. no gf for you!! :p