During the wash process there are several ways you can damage the exterior of your vehicle. Using the two bucket method and my wash guide you will reduce the risk of swirling,scratching or marring the paintwork.
You will need
- Two Buckets at least one of them fitted with a Grit Guard or Grit Trap
- Optinal, a bucket of soapy water as a dedicated wheel wash
- A Good Car Shampoo
- Sheepskin Wash Mitt
- A Spray Bottle containing some diluted Car Shampoo
- Gentle Wheel Cleaner
- Wheel Brush
- Wheel Sponge
- Maybe a Sill Brush
- Drying Towel
- Jet Wash or Hose
- Detail Brushes
Now you have all the products you need we can get to work.
- To remove the loose contamination start by Jet washing the vehicle. Start at the top of the car and work down to the bottom. This way you will wash any dirt away in a downwards motion rather than pushing the dirt around the vehicle in an upwards motion. Make sure you jet wash Under the wheel arches and the wheels at this stage. If you have any bird droppings or dirt that wont budge do not be tempted to hold the jet wash close to the paintwork as this will damage your vehicle.
- If your vehicle has bird droppings, dead bugs, sap or any other hard-to-clean stains, spray the area liberally with the slightly diluted car shampoo and leave to dwell while we move onto the wheels. This will soften and lift the dirt from your vehicle making it easier to remove during the wash process.
- The wheels are washed before the rest of the vehicle as you do not want any overspray from the wheel cleaner to dwell on the paintwork. We have a Bucket of soapy water, brushes and a sponge dedicated to cleaning the wheels. This will make sure any contamination from the wheels is not scratched into the paintwork. Please make sure you READ the instructions on your wheel cleaner before using as not all wheel cleaners are the same. If you are using a wheel cleaner for the first time spray the wheel agitate with a soft brush and wash off with a sponge and soapy water. This process can be repeated as many times as you need to. If you have confidently used your wheel cleaner before you can spray agitate and leave to dwell depending on the condition of the wheel. The thing to remember is to wash the wheel cleaner off before moving onto the next wheel. Leaving a wheel cleaner to dwell can cause damage to the wheel. During this stage you can also wash the wheel arch with a sill brush.
- With all four wheels cleaned you can now wash the car. We always use two buckets both with Grit traps fitted and fill both with Car Shampoo one at a higher dilution rate. The bucket with the highly diluted shampoo is our rinse bucket. This bucket will trap all the dirt and contamination lifted from your vehicle.
- Start at the top of your vehicle and work down to knee height. Dip your Mitt into the bucket of Soapy water and wash a small area of the roof about 3ft x 3ft or half a panel at a time. Now clean the mitt in the rinse bucket making sure you rub the mitt on the Grit Guard / Trap. This will release any dirt you have collected and trap it in the bottom of the bucket.
- Now dip the mitt into the wash bucket and continue with the above process. Don't press to hard on the mitt, you want to avoid grinding in any dirt that could scratch your paintwork. Only wash to knee height as the bottom half of your vehicle is normally the dirtiest part of the vehicle. If the bird droppings ect are still hard to remove spray again with the concentrated shampoo and gently wash.
- Grills and hard to reach places can be tackled with a SOFT detailing brush. Dip the brush into your wash bucket and gently clean the area.
- Once you have washed the top half move onto the lower half and door shuts. Don't worry about the rest of the car starting to dry this will not be a problem. Wash the Door shuts and engine bay area with a different sponge or mitt as you are more likely to pick up grease from these areas. If you are using a sill brush dip the brush into the wheel wash bucket and clean the under sills of your vehicle this will remove most of the dirt. Now still following the above method of rinsing your mitt, wash the lower half of your car.
- After you have washed the entire car, give it a quick once-over with a soapy wash mitt. This will help to avoid water spots. Most car shampoo's do have a anti-spotting agent in them. Remember to keep rinsing and reloading the mitt with soapy water.
- The final process in the wash stage is to rinse the car. Start at the top of the car and rinse downwards remember not to hold the pressure washer to close allowing the shampoo to cascade down. The rinse process is the same if you are using a hose.
- To dry the car we use a Clb Superior Drying and Detailing towel. Simply lay the towel on the surface and gently drag it across. It is much easier than a chamois and you can dry the whole car without ringing it out.
- We dry the door shuts, Engine bay and boot shut with a separate microfibre cloth. This is because you are more likely to pick up grease and dirt from these areas.
That's it your done. It does seem to be a long drawn out process but once you have done it a couple of times it becomes second nature.
For a selection of dedicated washing products click here.
