Hello,
I had a quick question regarding the cleaning care of my MINI.
I keep my MINI as clean as they come. I wash it with a soap/wax combo and sponge every Wednesday (hand dry with terry cloth). Will washing and drying this much some how harm my MINI's clear coat or any part of the MINI?
Yes, your current wash technique will damage your clear coat. A sponge acts like a flat surface pushing dirt and grit along the surface of your cars body work, inflicting light scratches visible in direct sunlight / direct artificial light. Washing like this every week will leave your paint looking dull, marred, scratched and aged in no-time. Only way to restore the paint back to its original condition is by machine polishing with good quality polish. On top of this, glaze, sealant and wax should be added for the perfect protected surface which looks great.
In replacement of your sponge you need to use something which has a deep pile to draw the dirt into and thus not just drag it along the bodywork. The chosen tool of most is a micorifbre / lambswool mitt, (I personally prefer the latter). The mitt needs to be combined with the two bucket method in which you use one bucket containing water and shampoo, and a second bucket (complete with grit guard) with clean water in to use as a rinse bucket before each dip into the soapy bucket. This ensures that any grit in the pile is rinsed out and kept below the grit guard in the rinse bucket. Upon the next dip into the soapy bucket the mitt is clean and keeps the water clean which in turn keeps the dirt/grit off your bodywork.
With regards to waxing, you should use a carnauba based wax. I prefer solid or paste waxes over liquid waxes, however people have had good results with both. A good wax for your MINI if its a dark coloru would be Poorboys Nattys Blue wax. Good wax for the winter would be Collonite 476S with his super high durability. If your MINI is red then I recommend Victoria Red Wax. ...All my suggestions are the lower range of waxes (costing around £20 - £40) but are exceptionally good products giving great protection from the elements and very impressive finishes. However you can go up the price range and get somethign extra special such as Swissvax Best Of Show. You can pay as much as $7000 for a wax so you have a lot to choose from
i dont use wash n wax as the wax will turn all the plastics white like when you get polish on them like some people put mer in a bucket of soapy water so they dont have to polish the car but that puts wax on the plastics to or fairy liquid that has bleach in it and will make the paint work go matt all takes a lot of washes mind
i use TFR ( traffic film remover ) waterd down a lot dosent take mutch i put it in my presure cleaner but you can use it like shampoo in a bucket dosnt contain wax ll it does is remove all the dirt and road grime
Best product I use for the actual washing of the car is Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo +. I usually buy products online but with shampoo I prefer something readily available from a shop as it often runs out before you realise "Shampoo +" is a shampoo and conditioner and has great lubricity which in turn helps not to induce marring. I also find you get a lot of suds from the gold class. To me, its a great all rounder and isnt too expensive
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