How to clean or wash your Roadster

[jlfernan]

After a couple of weeks of just enjoying the car, it's time for a bath. Since it's very difficult to wash one of these without flooding the interior, how are folks out there cleaning them?

[Mustang Man]

I've never "washed" the Roadster in nearly three years on the road. When I get home from a show/cruise/drive I let it cool completely and then (usually the next day) wipe it down with a quick detailing product, buff the finish out with a microfiber and put the cover back on. For the wheels, when they get really bad I actually take them off the car and wash them with the hose and wheel/tire cleaning products. The car doesn't get dirty enough to need the typical bucket o' suds and a hose to wash it.

HTH...
Mark

[Bill_VA]

In four years I've never washed mine either. I use a product called Speed Shine from Griot's Garage (http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+care/car+washing/car+cleaners/speed+shine+maintain+kit.do).

[Jeff Kleiner]

Do you want to take this question Alex? ;)

Jeff

[Someday I Suppose]

Jeff, I was thinking the same thing, hopefully he will chime in. I believe he will recommend a product called ONR - Optimum No Rinse and using two buckets to wash the car over using a quick detailer.

_Scott


Do you want to take this question Alex? ;)

Jeff

[Scalded-Dog]

I use the detailing stuff around the dash, tops of doors and directly behind cockpit. For the rest of the car just set the hose to a strong trickle and carefully wash the sides, area in front of windshield and trunk. Just don't use a nozzle on the hose.

[efnfast]

I'ma steal what I wrote on the other forum a while back. It's denoated by the ___ ___ :D


In terms of washing, don't be afraid to spray it with water - I wash it each time with a pressure washer for a pre-rinse (no, you will not damage paint from a pressure washer, unless the paint was already compromised (poor adhesion), and as long as you use a proper pressure washer (around 2.2gpm, 2200-2400ish PSI, wide nozzel; if you use the concrete etching nozzel and a 3000psi , then yes, you will damage paint....it'd be the same as if you took a buffer with a white polishing pad, then wondered why that worked to polish the car but a buffer with a 60grit disc attached to it did not work)

As long as you don't spray right into the cockpit a little bit of water never hurt it.

____

Since I want to cry when I read threads on here and CC about washing cobras, plus the number of people who've asked me for basic help, I figured I'd write a basic post on how you ~properly~ (i.e., no wash induced marring) wash a cobra. Go me =)

First things you need to understand

1) By damage I'm including swirls/scratches/marring/micro-marrs. To me, swirls from poor washing that show up under the sun

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/980/medium/c-pillar_swirls.jpg



is just as bad as, for example, a deep key scratch. The only difference between the two is that the first (swirls) can be removed with only removing a little bit of clearcoat.

2) Everytime you touch your paint (i'm going to refer to the clearcoat as paint to save time), you risk marring it. If you have a hard clear (e.g., corvette), you can get away with some bad practices before marring starts to show. If you have a lighter or medium clear (light being like Bentley, medium being like nissan), sometimes just staring at it will cause it to marr (not really, but almost).

I see a lot of people like to "Wash" with quick detailer, sometimes after every drive. Quick detailers are not meant for this; they're meant for the occasional touchup on a clean vehicle if it gets hit with something like bird poop. To PROPERLY use a quick detailer after every drive (total saturation of the areas you're cleaning), you'd go through a bottle after 2 uses. Not cost effective at all.

Given the above, plus the fact that that everytime you touch your paint you risk marring it, do you really think that "washing" it after every drive, no matter how short or where you go, is a good idea? (hopefully you say no)

The idea is to keep the vehicle clean (heavier dirt buildups obviously going to have a higher chance of marring than a light coat of dust), while not washing excessively. Remember, the fewer times you touch it (paint), the better your odds.

3) 95% of damage occurs from poor wash technique/media.


-----------
Okie, now that we understand that we want to minimize touching the vehicle, we want to actually wash it.

Lubricity is key - the more lubricity you have, the better your chance of not inflicting wash marring.

Ideally, the best way to start is with a pressure washer to remove as much heavy and medium dirt as possible. However, I'm going to assume most of you arn't going to do this for fear of getting your interior wet (fyi, a proper pressure washer (<2400psi and 65* nozzel) will not damage your paint, unless you do something really really really stupid that I can't begin to fathom).

The next most ideal step if you arn't going to pre-rinse with a pressure washer, flood the panels with water from a garden hose. It's not going to remove as much as the washer, but every little bit helps. However, I'm going to once again assume most of you are afraid of getting your interior wet with the garden hose( *sigh*), but with our method you can skip over this step if you (personally I wouldn't because i like to give myself as many advantages as possible, but if you don't want to it won't be the end of the world)

So now we're going to wash the cobra without pre-rinsing it because we're scarred of getting our interiors wet.

Okay, so if you post on autopia you probably know where I'm going with this. If you don't, you probably think I'm

What we'll need is a 5gal. bucket with gritt guard to trap dirt
http://www.autogeek.net/5gagrguwabu.html

High quality microfiber cloths
http://www.autogeek.net/cobra-deluxe...ber-towel.html

MF waffle weave towels
http://www.autogeek.net/microfiber-waffle-weave.html

Optimum No rinse (ONR)
http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html


Put 1.5oz of ONR into your bucket, and mix with 2.5-3gal of water. ONR has special polymers and stuff that will trap and encapsulate the dirt it picks up.

Now take your microfiber towel (I prefer the purple cobra jrs) and soak it really good in the bucket. Pick a panel (e.g., trunk) and wash it with the mf towel. Make certain you cover the entire panel several times, turning over the mf cloth every so often. Once you're finished washing the panel, put the towel into the bucket and aggitate/wring it out a bit to flush out any dirt that isn't picked up by the ONR in the water. Now dry that panel with your waffle weave.

Examine panel in sun - notice anything - it's glossy (ONR adds a little bit of extra gloss with the wash) AND it's marr free (assuming you started with a perfect surface). ONR's chemistry basically traps and encapsulates dirt while cleaning, so you don't end up dragging it across the surface. Then when you wring out the mf in the pail, it gets sucked up and out of the cloth so you're ready for your next panel.

So now we can wash the entire vehicle without rinsing or getting our precious interiors wet. Just soak mf towel, wash panel, dry panel. move on to next panel.


edit: if you arn't flooding the area w/ water previously, just for added protection what I'd do is mix some ONR into a spray bottle and liberally spray the area just to help loosen any dirt before starting.
-------
Notes

1) Obviously risk comes from cleaning 1 panel, then drying it but accidently getting your waffle weave on a dirty panel when drying. To prevent this, I usually overshoot the panel on every side (i.e., go onto the next panel), then dry the first panel stopping short of the border. This way I clean more, dry less, but when I do the next panel I repeat so I end up going over borders twice.

2) From my experimenting, micro-fiber (either pad or towels) work best with it. I originally tried micro-chinelle (really love them for traditional washing), but te mitt stained pretty badly and just barely failed a cd test. MF passed the cd test, so that's what I'm sticking with for now.

3) Always always always cd test your washing/drying media once a month or so - what i mean by this is rub the media against the back of a cd. If you see ~any~ scratches, replace it right away. if it can scratch a cd, it will scratch your clear.

4) I normally wash as follows: roof (obviously not applicable in cobra), trunk, hood, front quarter panel, door, rear quarter panel, bumper (so basically horizontal surfaces first, then vertical, then bumper....just my pattern)

5) I use 2 mf cloths when washing - one for roof/hood/trunk/upper portion of quarter panels and doors, then one for lower. Although the ONR emulsifies the dirt, I prefer to keep 1 for cleaner upper panels, 1 for dirtier lower panels. Just my habit carried over from traditional washing

6) You can use ONR on some pretty dirty vehicles; however, if dirt is CAKED on, I'd definately rinse it off first.

7) Here's a sample video of someone using ONR, for those who are visual. Watching Scott (guy in the video) would be the equivalent of, for example, watching Hoofa use a Sawzall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLIGQ5hTnj4

----
Extra

I don't care how good you are, even somebody like Paul Dalton can't keep a vehicle perfectly marr free forever. The trick is to make certain you minimize the marring (which 95% usually occurs when washing) then every few years clay&polish it out (or compound it out if you've got some pretty severe damage going on). Just remember, whenever you compound/polish the paint, you're removing a little bit of clearcoat (the amount you remove depends on the type of buffer, pad, product, and heat (pressure, number of passes)). If you remove too much, you'll strike through the paint and need to re-paint/re-clear. Ideally, you'd only like to have to polish the vehicle once a year at most, so you want to make certain your washing technique is spot on.

I can guarantee you anybody who disputes the above either doesn't care that their paint is all marred up in direct sunlight, or has a white/silver/lighter color car where you have to study it to find swirls and marrs.

Here's my first use of it (i.e., still in the learning curve), soft black paint (infiniti). Notice, no marring in direct light.

http://i708.photobucket.com/albums/ww89/efnfast/onr1.jpg

____________

edit 2: I've been using ONR for about 2yrs now. Previously I'd have to do a light polish (e.g., white pad + 106) on my cars once a year because of slight wash induced marring that would happen over time naturally. However, since switching to ONR I've had 0 need to break out the polisher, unless I bought a new (used) car and had to fix the last person's damage to it.

[Magnus]

In my opinion it's the wiping motion, together with the microscopic abrasive particles, that scratch the paint surface; so I'm experimenting with using a "dabbing" motion to clean the panels instead of wiping the dirt off them. It's a bit extra work, but I feel like I'm not using the dislodged film to sand down the surface of the paint. I also use two buckets: one for holding the shampoo solution and one for rinsing the sponge. Amazing how much dirt a sponge picks up, even with just the dabbing.
Of course I rinse the car off before washing it, but there is always that last layer of film that won't be rinsed off easily. I have yet to try any of the chemicals that are supposed to break the molecular bond of the film or whatever the sales pitch is.

In five years I have washed the car a dozen times. Usually the rain tends to wash off most of the grime from the fair-weather driving.

[efnfast]

In my opinion it's the wiping motion, together with the microscopic abrasive particles, that scratch the paint surface; so I'm experimenting with using a "dabbing" motion to clean the panels instead of wiping the dirt off them. .


It's a catch 22 - you need the agitation to thoroughly remove all the particles, but it's the agitation that can be abrasive to the paint and swirl it up.

When using the old method of lubricity (i.e., soap), I'd end up having to polish my vehicles once a year with a light polish because it was impossible to completely avoid all wash induced marring, a little bit would creep up bit by bit.

However, it's been over 2yrs now using ONR and I havn't found any marring on any of my vehicles from washing - it really works wonders be encapsulating and emulsifying the dirt - in short it grabs it off the paint and puts it in a protective 'bubble' so it doesn't rub against the paint. it's a bugger to get out (I usually wash my washing microfibers every 2-3washes with a microfiber cleaning solution to thoroughly rinse them out), but it does work - i've washed really soft clearcoats with the dirtiest microfibers I've ever seen (After doing a winter wash on my daily driver with the ONR) and not one marr.

[THE ITALIAN]

I spray it with a hose always just to get the dust off ,
then a sudsy sheepskin mitten to release anything else while wet
and cotton dry ready for detailing,
now I'm ready to shave my legs.

[Magnus]

It's a catch 22 - you need the agitation to thoroughly remove all the particles, but it's the agitation that can be abrasive to the paint and swirl it up.

When using the old method of lubricity (i.e., soap), I'd end up having to polish my vehicles once a year with a light polish because it was impossible to completely avoid all wash induced marring, a little bit would creep up bit by bit.

However, it's been over 2yrs now using ONR and I havn't found any marring on any of my vehicles from washing - it really works wonders be encapsulating and emulsifying the dirt - in short it grabs it off the paint and puts it in a protective 'bubble' so it doesn't rub against the paint. it's a bugger to get out (I usually wash my washing microfibers every 2-3washes with a microfiber cleaning solution to thoroughly rinse them out), but it does work - i've washed really soft clearcoats with the dirtiest microfibers I've ever seen (After doing a winter wash on my daily driver with the ONR) and not one marr.

The Catch-22 is why I haven't washed it that often, but then the bug spatters start to eat into the paint...grrr!
I just might have to order me some of that ONR.

[Someday I Suppose]

Alex, thanks for the post, are you strictly doing the one bucket method as in you're post, or do you use a seperate bucket to rinse the micro fiber before going back into the ONR and onto the car?

Pretty awesome results if you haven't had to polish in two years, knowing how much you are into detailing, etc.

_Scott

[efnfast]

On my daily drivers (which obviously accumulate more filth) I use 2 buckets - one bucket with 2 microfibers for the hood/roof/trunk/doors, and one bucket with 2 microfibres for the front bumper/lower quarter panels. Obviously the lower portions of the car will attract more dirt so I use a separate bucket and microfibers for those areas.

In terms of a separate wash & rinse bucket, no - the ONR really grabs the dirt and I find it pointless trying to rinse it out. What I'll do is when I'm done a panel I'll dunk my microfiber back into the bucket and rub it against itself for a few seconds, then use it on the next panel. When I'm done the car, I'll wash it under the sink with cold water rubbing it against itself. the above will get rid of any dirt in the surface, but dirt that's been encapsulated won't be removed - it's a bugger to get it out


After 2-3 washes I'll then use some micro-fiber cleaning detergent and rub out all the encapsulated dirt while washing it under the sink.

It REALLY encapsulates the dirt - the first few months I used ONR I would just rinse my cloth out with water. I did about 12 washes and my microfiber was absolutely filthy with dirt stains (but still wasn't causing any marring). I was going to throw it out but tried washign with the microfiber detergent and all the black just came pouring out of it.

So in summary encapsulation is terrific for keeping the dirt away from the paint, but is also a bugger to remove and you need to use a microfiber cleaning detergent to get it out (not just water).

[shooter]

efnfast - Any thoughts on the Dri Wash n' Guard product?

I bought their normal stuff plus a metal polisher, but the metal polisher seemed to cause some small scratches on side vent louvers. Even with a microfiber cloth...

[Bobasaurus]

I use a bucket, water, a spongy mitt thing, blue coral soap, and a "7 action" nozzle on "rain". I park on a hill so the water runs to the back. All that and my 8 year old attempting to wet me with the hose is a fun day washing the roadster. My friend with a BMW swears by the pressure washing method, but I am afraid of the pressure washer!

Oh yeah on the tires a use a big plastic brush and on the wheels a microfiber obelisk with a handle both soaked in the left over water in the bucket from above.

:)

Bobby- The low tech car washer.

[efnfast]

efnfast - Any thoughts on the Dri Wash n' Guard product?

I bought their normal stuff plus a metal polisher, but the metal polisher seemed to cause some small scratches on side vent louvers. Even with a microfiber cloth...

No experience with their products but there are several ONR-like (i.e., rinseless) products on the market that work well. Personally I stick w/ ONR because it's cheap and proven.

In terms of polishing metal, I suspect what you're seeing is marring and not actual scratching - it's virtually impossible to polish aluminumi by hand and not show any marring. That's why I gave up on polished aluminum. The only way i've found to polish it w/o inducing any marring is using a cyclo and fleece-wrap cloths. However, it's very time consuming and frustrating to do a mar-free job, and really a waste of time. I could polish a panel perfectly, but just by rubbing it with a microfiber towel I'd marr it up. Ditto for polishing it by hand.




I use a bucket, water, a spongy mitt thing, blue coral soap, and a "7 action" nozzle on "rain". I park on a hill so the water runs to the back. All that and my 8 year old attempting to wet me with the hose is a fun day washing the roadster. My friend with a BMW swears by the pressure washing method, but I am afraid of the pressure washer!

Oh yeah on the tires a use a big plastic brush and on the wheels a microfiber obelisk with a handle both soaked in the left over water in the bucket from above.

:)

Bobby- The low tech car washer.

Proper GPM and PSI and nozzel with the pressure wsher and you won't have any problems.

[jlfernan]

Hey efnfast. great post! I just ordered all me cleaning stuff from Autogeek. What do you use for micro-fiber cleaning detergent?

[Pierre B]

From the outset, I have used Presta Products (prestaproducts.com) for washing/detailing of my FFR, largely because we used that company's compounds to buff and finish the original paintwork. It has just been simpler and more convenient for me to stay with the same paint care products from the outset. I don't know how Presta's prices compare to that of other manufacturers, but they do work very well and are widely used by shops looking for professional results.

[shooter]

What do you do for wheels then?

[efnfast]

Hey efnfast. great post! I just ordered all me cleaning stuff from Autogeek. What do you use for micro-fiber cleaning detergent?

http://www.autogeek.net/mideco128oz.html

A few drops of that, then rub vigorously under the sink to remove the dirt and thoroughly flush any detergent outof the cloth.

[MHCobra]

I spray it with a hose always just to get the dust off ,
then a sudsy sheepskin mitten to release anything else while wet
and cotton dry ready for detailing,


ditto! I think you need to get the dirt off before you use detail spray.

Mike

[Ophitoxaemia]

I hose wash my car if it's really dirty. You can angle the hose. I'll hose out the interior too though, and besides, when it rains it all gets wet wet wet anyway.

Normally a mist-n-wipe is all that's needed.

[Snakely]

The water at my house is terrible. It always leaves white kinda chalky spots on my truck when i hose it down (just knocking the dirt off). I was wondering if there was any kinda of filter or something that i could run the water through when putting it in the bucket to wash the car, or pre-pressure washer?

[patpur]

Just washed mine for the first time last weekend. I used a plastic sheet to cover the engine and shoved a towel in the scoop hole. Eventually I'll get a tonneau but for now I gently washed around the interior and squirted away from the interior. I dry with a blower and then 100 cotton towels with no tags on them. After that I use Adams detail spray and by the way Meguiars Gold Car Shampoo. Prior to the Cobra I had a Crossfire which I got new, never had a swirl mark. The Cobra was a bit used and had some swirls on it, got those out with my Porter Cable and some Wolfgangs Scratch and Swirl remover. I cringe too when I see guy's washing their cars with detail spray. I know they say its not scratching the finish but think about it you are wiping hard particles across your paint. Better to rinse that off as best you can, Just my 2 cents worth and by the way hello, I'm new here.

[Someday I Suppose]

We have really hard water as well. Just looking at Autogeek, they sell a couple of filter kits http://www.autogeek.net/waterfilterkit2.html that would help a great deal. I have to give it some thought, though I am inclined to go the bucket route Alex spoke about and just use a few gallons of distilled water instead.

_Scott


The water at my house is terrible. It always leaves white kinda chalky spots on my truck when i hose it down (just knocking the dirt off). I was wondering if there was any kinda of filter or something that i could run the water through when putting it in the bucket to wash the car, or pre-pressure washer?

[efnfast]

We have really hard water as well. Just looking at Autogeek, they sell a couple of filter kits http://www.autogeek.net/waterfilterkit2.html that would help a great deal. I have to give it some thought, though I am inclined to go the bucket route Alex spoke about and just use a few gallons of distilled water instead.

_Scott

I have a similar kit - CR Spotless - but there's 2 problems with it.

1 - you must restrict flow to around 2gpm or else you will kill the resin within a minute

2 - if your water is quite hard (mine is - well water) you may get 2-3rinses (not complete washes, but a rinse-down) before you need to replace the resin.

There's no question it works - I can leave the water to dry on a car in direct sunlight and not 1 spot - but if your water is too mineralized you're screwed on longevity so it's useless.

[patpur]

One thing I've noticed with just about any car, especially dark colors is you can not wash them in direct sunlight without getting waterspots. My suggestion is wash in the evening or the shade and then get the water off it asap. A lot of wax and detail spray helps. I washed my last car weekly and used detail spray after every wash and then polished once a month, added a coat of wax every 3 months or so and every spring it gets clay. I used to use Zaino products but I think Adams gives a richer luster and read efnfast's post, great info in there - I love the CD test!

[Darren T]

Maybe we should have an 'Ask Alex' section for washing tips....

[efnfast]

One thing I've noticed with just about any car, especially dark colors is you can not wash them in direct sunlight without getting waterspots. My suggestion is wash in the evening or the shade and then get the water off it asap. A lot of wax and detail spray helps. I washed my last car weekly and used detail spray after every wash and then polished once a month, added a coat of wax every 3 months or so and every spring it gets clay. I used to use Zaino products but I think Adams gives a richer luster and read efnfast's post, great info in there - I love the CD test!

I hope you arn't really polishing once a month - there's only so much clear on a vehicle. When you polish it, you remove a little bit. If you're polishing every month then it won't take long for the clear to have really been degraded and start suffering peeling/UV damage/other issues.....

[LuckyWinner]

I cant wait till this is my biggest worry!!!!!

[seagull81]

Great posts Alex. Thanks for sharing. I am going to switch products and try your method.

[Chepsk8]

And just to keep all you guys honest and looking good, I'll give you my cleanliness secrets.....

1. Park it on my driveway, slightly inclined, nose up, so the drain holes are at the bottom of each area
2. Take out the pressure washer, and hook it up
3. fill the pressure washer tank with Mr. Clean or similar heavy cleaner
4. Spray everything. Body. Interior. Motor. Trunk. Wheels & tires.
5. Repeat step 4 until the cleaner tank is empty
6. Rinse with water
7. drive around the block twice to get all the water out
8. Dry with old towells

Back to the track!


(for those who don't know me, the car is still gel-coat, no rugs or finished interior & trunk, a rough & tumble car)

[seagull81]

Be sure you have someone pressure wash you so you don't drag dirt into the clean car! LOL!

[David Williamson]

Location makes a big difference in how dirty your car gets. Here in Alberta where Alex and I live the car will be covered in bugs after a drive so cleaning is a big deal. In CA you guys can just clean off the dust. After an evening ride I am cleaning bugs off the fire wall and vacuuming dead bugs out of the carpet.
David W

[patpur]

efnfast - I polished my Crossfire once a month every month for the 5 and a half years I owned it, show car finish. The polish I use has zero abrasives in it as well as UV protection. Do me a favor when you get a minute, check out Adams web site and tell me what you think. I use the Metal Machine polish once a month and the Wax product maybe once every six months. The clear on my Crossfire looked just as deep or deeper than the day I got it. I am curious what you think. Again its polish and not wax, no abrasives, not a cleaner. Thanks

[efnfast]

What are you using - this?
http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-140-adams-fine-machine-car-polish.aspx

Any polish has fine micro-abrassives in it .... that's what makes a polish, a polish. Even an all-in-one like Optimum poli-seal has a minute amount - if the one you're using is like poli-seal then yea, you could use it every month without any problems in the long-term (at least I think so), but I'm not certain why you would want to do it month after month after month after ......

[patpur]

That's the stuff. I guess I'm just anal when it comes to a clean car.

[efnfast]

That's the stuff. I guess I'm just anal when it comes to a clean car.

It basically says it has abrasives in it

"Polish is so fine that you can use it several times a year to maintain perfect gloss, without thinning your clearcoat. "

it's just that the abrasives are very fine, so although it will knock down the clear, it's on a very very very very very very very minor level.

With a proper wash technique you shouldn't see any differences in how the car appears in month 1, 2, 3, 4.....etc....., and should just "need" to wax it once every 3 or 4months for general upkeep.

Having 7 cars has taken all the fun out of detailing for me, lol - now it's what's the fastest way I can get it all done and be perfect, heh.

[patpur]

That's a lot of "very's" I'll cut it back and see what happens. I appreciate the input.

[Someday I Suppose]

Alex, so speaking of wax, what ya using these days. My painter suggested Zymol Carbon on black.

-Scott

[efnfast]

Collonite 845
http://www.autogeek.net/collinite-insulator-wax-845.html

After 2or 3 weeks any visual differences between waxes won't really be noticable (unless you used something crappy), so I just look for something with unmatched durability - on a non-daily driven vehicle it can last for 10+mths, so good enough in my books.

One of my friends who used to run a detailing shop had Zymol Royal (retail around $7500/bottle) and you couldn't tell the difference after 2-3weeks. I mean, the people who forked out the $$$$$$ to get it done to their lambos/etc... claimed they could easily tell, but honestly you couldn't.

[patpur]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread with efnfast and say thank you. You are 100% correct, Adams says to use their polish maybe once or twice a year. Their wax is ok to use on a monthly basis if I wanted. Since this car is used a lot less than my previous car I'll probably stick to 2-3 month intervals on the wax. I do clay bar every spring and I am getting ready to do that.
Thanks again, just when you think you know it all you have to suck it up and learn something new.

[UMassDave]

I've used a hose set on a 'gentle rain' setting to wet the entire car, and wipe it while hosing with a soft cotton cloth. Yes, water will run into the interior but not much if you park on an incline as stated above. Best lesson I learned on another forum is to then dry it with a leaf blower, i.e. no touching the car. Clean the leafblower first so no dust on it, and blow the water right off the car. Then zaino polish twice per year with zaino detail spray in between. Leafblower means no water drop marks left on car. Completely dry.

[patpur]

Here's the problem. When you just use water (I used to do this too) it doesn't remove the dirt, some of it microscopic. When you run your towel across it, soft or not you risk scratching the clear coat. Eventually you end up with swirl marks. (If you already have them Wolgangs makes a great swirl mark remover). I use Meguiars Gold car shampoo. It also lubricates and lifts the dirt so it doesn't scratch. Take your hose and just aim it away for the interior. I also cover a cool engine with a small plastic drop cloth and then plug the scoop hole with a towel. Wash in sections always squirting the hose away from the interior. Once done then yes the leaf blower is a good choice ( I have used one for a long time), then go over it with a 100% cotton towel. I have found if you have a dark finish, even with the blower you are going to get some water spots unless you wash in the shade or after the sun is out of the sky. Go over any water spots with a damp towel and they should come off. I also use a detail spray (Adams) after every wash. I'm hoping the addition of a tonneau cover will help keep the interior dry during washing but even without if you are careful you'll get minimal water in the interior. I used Zaino for many years, its a great product, I suggest when you run out you give Adams a try, it'll blow you away!

[shooter]

Resurrecting a really old thread here..... Plus, I've been off both forums for quite some time. Car got finished, had some kids, time went bye-bye.

Also didn't realize that Alex (EFNFAST) was no longer on the forums. I had followed his post on the other forum, repeated here, like gospel for my car.

I loved the results, the look, the ease, etc for the past 5 years since my car was finished. I could have SWORN he said a wax was really not needed due to the polymers/etc in the Optimum No Rinse (ONR). However, I have now read that posting 3 more times today and I don't see that fact. So, I'm an idiot apparently. I haven't waxed my car once. Been mostly a garage queen with only 1000 miles, but still.

So, questions galore:

1. Apparently I need to wax it ASAP, lots of suggestions on here from Adams's to the Collinite stuff Alex recommended. Optimum now has a combo ONR/Wax called ONR Wash and Wax (green stuff). Does that suffice?

http://www.autogeek.net/no-rinse-wash-and-wax.html

2. I have also applied the ONR technique to my 2012 Black Raptor and have loved the results so far. Again, no wax.... Any recommendations for black paint?

thanks all,