Compleat Washing a Car Guide.

[MaTTy_P]

Hi guys, just thinking this thread would be great for me and others, once i get my mini (ordering on wed/thurs).

As i currently have a crappy AX (only car ive ever owned), not much thought has went into washing that...mearly fairy liquid and a sponge. So i was wondering, would people post thier specific ways and means of washing thier car, from how they start off, and how they finish off...including the use of shammys, doing the windows, dusters, cleaning products, polish then wax or how ever.

heres and example (what i do at the moment):

'Start off by filling a bucket of body temperature water with fairy liquid, grab the sponge and a peice of old cloth for drying from the garage. Walk over the the car, slap the sponge on and start washing. Proceed to do the whole car, slap the rest of the bucket of water over everything, then give it all a nice dry off with the cloth, including the windows. Maybes give the wheels a scrub.'


The reason for this thread is because 1. i dont want to mess up my lovely mini (being inexperience when it comes to washing/polishing 2. so my mini will always look spotless and shiny . Aswell as providing others with a simple washing guide.

Examples of how you normally do you're cars are required

[Charger_Pete]

GRAHAM......(M.2)...over to you on this one. You are the cleaning meister after all

Teach us a lesson in car cleanliness!

C_P

[Hat]

check the maintenance thread - i'm sure there are links in there to car care guides. also www.autoglym.com has a handy feature

[obehave]

"Fairy liquid"???
You sure that's legal??

If you mean dish soap/liquid/detergent, DO NOT use it.

Pre-rinse the car first
Get a proper car mitt or sponge, mitt preferred
DO NOT dump the nasty water over you car. That would kind of negate washing it in the first place
Use an open hose end to sheet the water off the car
100% cotton towel for drying anf remove the edge binding (I use a waterblade first then towel)
Always, always, always use a seperate brush ot cloth for the rims

Not complete but a good first tip list

[johnlondonw3]

Now you've done it every freak will come out of the woodwork with their tips.well heres mine!!!

Buyy a hose,make sure car is well soaked
Get good quality shampoo, NOT washing up liquid.
Start at top of car and work down,dont use circular motions,back and forth on roof and bonnett,up and down on side panels and rear

Use two buckets one with shampoo the other plain water,the second is to rinse your cloth in after each wash of the car with shampoo, ie dip cloth in shampoo wash area of car ,wring out cloth and then wash it in the clean water bucket before going back to the shampoo bucket .Rrepeat untill car washed.
At the end the water in both buckets should still be clean(ish)

When all the washings done take the nozel off the hose and let the water sheet over the car.

Towel dry using the same motions as when washing.

Huge debates about what to use in washing /polishing,principle is to keep friction and draging particles over paint work to a minimum,you will have to decide for yourself ,but I have only used terry towels to wash ,dry and polish,with the edges cut off,they unravel but they arent that expensive to replace.

So far I dont have any swirl marks at all,............mine is Dark silver with black roof.
Polish is another huge area of debate .I use Zaino,others use autoglym,meguires,etc etc.

Check out the www.zaino.com web site lots of tips their,all of the other manufactures do similar things to push their products.


Try not to do it in the sun,the car is small so it takes no time at all to do it properly

[obehave]

Good sites as well
http://www.properautocare.com/
http://www.autopia.org/

[MaTTy_P]

cheers for the info

like i say, my current car, i couldnt really care about it being shiny, i think the paint has faded so it couldnt b shiny even if wanted it to be.

looks like ill have to fork out for some decent cleaning stuff, unless i can get them chucked in with my mini.

[Wul]

Matty - as you are getting a solid black MINI - you really need to take extra care when washing/ drying/ polishing as it's the best looking when clean but easiest to scratch when washing!

As the guys have said already check out the links posted - or try here www.meguiars.co.uk - their whole range is excellent and easy to use - I have a black coop and it looks great with their stuff.

My tip is if you don't have a hose then buy a large plastic watering can and use the with the nozel off to rinse the car. For drying I find a good microfibre towel is ace - meguiars do good ones or you can also get them in halfrauds.

A few Don'ts for a black mini!

Don't buy a normal sponge - grit gets between the sponge and paint and causes more scratches - but a good deep pile wash mit.

Don't use circular motions anytime up and down on the sides, back and forth on the roof, bonnet, boot.

Don't use fairy or similar unless you want to clean off all the wax protection on the car!

NEVER go near an automatic car wash or the brush attachement at a jet wash - you were warned!

Enjoy your mini - a few hours reading the threads in here and autopia and you will soon be an expert.

[MJ.]

Drying......

I'm using a good chamois leather, dipped in a bucket of luke-warm water after every swipe, wrung out tightly, repeat. Don't use it on plastic trim though. And for those niggly annoying bits like door/boot sills, use a synthetic cloth (like Autoglm) dipped in water, wrung out. Otherwise your leather will be black before you know it.

[andyupnorth]

I'd agree with the above posts - don't use Fairy Liquid or other dishwashing detergents as they contain salt which will speed up corrosion. I'd nip along to Halfords (other car accessory shops are available) and get one of those nice Autoglym packs with everything in - the one on the Silverlink is nearest Priory MINI.

[MaTTy_P]

nice. i shall do. cheers all for the help...it wasnt just so much a guide for me...as a thread to place ur techniques in, and compare em to others.

Thanks andy for the little tip m8, ordered my mini yesterday...its due end of march.

[andyupnorth]

I've just noticed you're getting the viper stripes as well - good! I have a black Cooper with silver viper stripes and friends and family are always phoning me up saying "I saw you here..." or " You passed me etc..." It's impossible to go anywhere incognito...hehehe. Now I can just say it must have been some other bloke with a black MINI with stripes.

[pappillon]

Matty - I came across this site a while back (it might even have been something I picked up from MINI2) and it's pretty good. Have a look & see what you think

http://www.tech-esq.com/mini/Wash%20Your%20MINI.htm

[MaTTy_P]

wow. A very good in-detail site m8. Cheers

[juddct]

One thing people tend to forget is clothing, watches, etc. Remember to take off all watches, rings, or anything else like it - or tape it up/elastoplast over it. You don't tend to realise this until after you've scratched the paintwork and wish you hadn't! (luckily someone told me about this ~before~ I got my mini!).

As for clothing, wear a jogging suit - the 'sweat-suit' type is probably best, but anything without a zip or buttons on the front - even the button on jeans can scratch whilst you're cleaning the roof.