"In-Between Clean" - Am I damaging my paint?

[davey g-force]

Firstly, I wash and wax my car every weekend, so she's pretty clean and smooth.

Sometimes though, when its been raining during the week, I like to give her a quick "In-Between clean" when I get home from work (cos Im an obsessive freak). I just dont know if I may be hurting the paintjob, maybe someone can shed some light on the matter?

Here's what I do:

If I get home and the car's still wet, I'll chamois it (as is) with my Meguiars chamois. Because the paint is waxed and smooth (and Megs chamois is such a top product!), any dirt etc seems to come right off. I then also buff off any excess moisture with a clean, dry cloth. Whole job takes about half an hour.

If the car has dried and there are water spots on her, I fill a spray bottle with water and spray on the car first, and then do as above. Whole job takes about 3/4 hour.

What do you think? I hope Im not doing more harm than good. Any other suggestions to achieve the same result in roughly the same time? Cheers!

[Jeff Smith]

Re: "In-Between Clean" - Am I damaging my paint?

Originally posted by davey g-force
Firstly, I wash and wax my car every weekend, so she's pretty clean and smooth.

Sometimes though, when its been raining during the week, I like to give her a quick "In-Between clean" when I get home from work (cos Im an obsessive freak). I just dont know if I may be hurting the paintjob, maybe someone can shed some light on the matter?

Here's what I do:

If I get home and the car's still wet, I'll chamois it (as is) with my Meguiars chamois. Because the paint is waxed and smooth (and Megs chamois is such a top product!), any dirt etc seems to come right off. I then also buff off any excess moisture with a clean, dry cloth. Whole job takes about half an hour.

If the car has dried and there are water spots on her, I fill a spray bottle with water and spray on the car first, and then do as above. Whole job takes about 3/4 hour.

What do you think? I hope Im not doing more harm than good. Any other suggestions to achieve the same result in roughly the same time? Cheers!

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9231&highlight=Lesson+learned

Your post reminded me of a post I made several weeks ago (above). I learned a big leeson with working after a rain. I keep my truck very clean as well. But this time I wanted to get a wax job on it. So after it had rained, I took my truck through the local AutoWash (Touchless - Pressure). Then drove straight to work and got started. I went through 3 QD pads before it was clean enough to proceed. And this was right after having washed it at the autowash.

The point being is that there is all sorts of grime on your finsh if you have driven in the rain. Mostly from the cars ahead of you throwing goop up in the mist. Even the Pressure wash did not remove it from mine. So your hitting it with the chamois to dry probably is not the best idea. You are just smearing that grit & grime across the finish.

And if it is dry and you are just spraying with water, I think you are just back in the same situation as above were you still have the grime on there.

Personnaly, in the situation you described. I would either hit it with a QD product and a QD Pad or wash it. If you can't do those because of time, you might wish to consider just waiting until you can do it properly.

Just my thoughts there.

[Hannibal]

I would just live with it untill I could do a proper wash. You need some kind of lubricant on your car when you wipe off dirt. Meguiar's car washes are made to help remove dirt without scratching. I was doing the quick-wipe-down thing for 3 months, now I am in the process of removing all the cobwebs from my paint!!

No more shortcuts!!!

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Hannibal
I would just live with it untill I could do a proper wash. You need some kind of lubricant on your car when you wipe off dirt...
No more shortcuts!!!

Yep, my feelings exactly

[LiquidBlack]

Last weekend I had a situation I can tie into this. On saturday I did a full detail of my car, and on Sunday it rained.

Immediately after the rain, I grabbed my chamois and got all of the water off my car. For me, the job only took 10 minutes.

Before each pass with the chamois, I inspected my work area to make sure I would not be dragging anything other than water. Lucky for me, the car was not near any trees, so I did not see anything except water.

Car looks great!


As for the misting with water and wiping down your finish, I recommend AGAINST that. I also am going to need to remove the cobwebs I instilled by doing this.

[davey g-force]

Re: Re: "In-Between Clean" - Am I damaging my paint?

Originally posted by Jeff Smith
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...Lesson+learned



Personnaly, in the situation you described. I would either hit it with a QD product and a QD Pad

Thanx guys.

Jeff, pardon my ignorance, but what is a QD product and a QD pad?

[Jeff Smith]

Re: Re: Re: "In-Between Clean" - Am I damaging my paint?

Originally posted by davey g-force
Thanx guys.

Jeff, pardon my ignorance, but what is a QD product and a QD pad?

Give me few minutes and I'll lay it out. On the wrong PC

[Jeff Smith]

Re: Re: Re: "In-Between Clean" - Am I damaging my paint?

Originally posted by davey g-force
Thanx guys.

Jeff, pardon my ignorance, but what is a QD product and a QD pad?

My apologies. Sometimes I tend to "assume" by the wording of a persons post that they are more familar with some of the terms.

Maintenance Products (What I tend to refer to as QD Products)

Consumer
NEW NXT Generation Speed Detailer
NEW NXT Generation Speed Detailer

Quik Detailer
Quik Detailer

Professional
Final Inspection
Final Inspection


Detailer
Last Touch Spray Detailer
Last Touch Spray Detailer



And the QDpad (One of my favorite tools in the arsenal.

Microfiber Quik Detail Pad
Microfiber Quik Detail Pad

[gb387]

I would agree with others... wait till it can be done properly with a carwash product that is designed to remove a heavier build up of grime.

IMO after any rain a vehicle should have a full wash to remove any stuck on stuff. Rain attracts everything and likes to hold it on the vehicles surface. May not look like it when its wet, but once it dries you will see all that is there stuck to the surface/spots/dirt and so on.

EDIT: In addition to what Jeff has posted for you.... here is a link to the Meguiars Online Acronyms - Product Links. This will help with any other abbreviations you may come across.

[Jeff Smith]

I have actually been trying settle into a newer routine for myself. If rain is forcasted for a given week I'"try" to wait until after it rains and then wash. If no rain is forecasted I usually just wash it once a week or twice depending on the need or if I am just in the mood.

When washing after a rain, I do the best I can to wait until after i suspect that the roads have dried up. It's a pain hitting the huge puddle down the street right after you washed.

But, yes that road grime & film that covers your vehicle during a rain is almost invisible "until" you touch it. I was amazed at how much was on there. I decided right then and there I needed to re think my strategy.

[davey g-force]

Thanx again Jeff.

Ive seen the Quick Detailer here in Australia, but not the nxt speed detailer. I might have to look a bit harder. Are they much different? Is the nxt much better?

I also haven't seen the Quik Detail Pad here. Is it much better than a clean terry cloth? If so, I'll hunt around for that too....

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by davey g-force
Thanx again Jeff.

Ive seen the Quick Detailer here in Australia, but not the nxt speed detailer. I might have to look a bit harder. Are they much different? Is the nxt much better?

I also haven't seen the Quik Detail Pad here. Is it much better than a clean terry cloth? If so, I'll hunt around for that too....

I have to be honest in that I have not done a dedicated, focus comparison between the 2. I like them both. But I have since kind of gone with Last Touch primarily as I can get it by the gallon. Final Inspection will be in the arsenal soon as well.

I would not go as far as to say one is better than the other. Each had its own qualities and both do a good job of providing a lube for anything on your surface.

As far as using a Terry to apply one of these products. I can't remeber seeing that anyone else does that. I can't think of a reason not to but, for me, unless I know someone here does something and gets good results, I tend to shy away from doing it.

The QD pad is an excellent investment. I think I have about 10-12 of them. I was actually using one a day there for a while on one vehicle. I could keep my truck spotless by using that and one of the maintenace products shown above.

My advice would be to buy 1 of the QD products and 1 QD pad and try them out. I think you will be very please with the results as I was, and still am.

[davey g-force]

I'm heading down to the auto store in my lunch break, they should have a good range of Meg's goodies. I'll let you know how I go............

[Jeff Smith]

Originally posted by davey g-force
I'm heading down to the auto store in my lunch break, they should have a good range of Meg's goodies. I'll let you know how I go............

How to locate Meguiar’s Professional & Detailer products in your hometown
How to locate Meguiar’s Professional & Detailer products in your hometown

There is a bad link in there. Try this one:

http://www.meguiars.com/DealerLocator/

[OctaneGuy]

If you've got a good coat of NXT Tech Wax, I prefer Speed Detailer over Quik Detailer. It feels slicker and smells nicer too! LOL

In terms of which works better, the are similar, but I do prefer SD over QD, and I use it every day---multiple times a day on my MINI. I do use the lower priced QD for my painted white wheels though. =)

Richard

Originally posted by davey g-force
Thanx again Jeff.

Ive seen the Quick Detailer here in Australia, but not the nxt speed detailer. I might have to look a bit harder. Are they much different? Is the nxt much better?

I also haven't seen the Quik Detail Pad here. Is it much better than a clean terry cloth? If so, I'll hunt around for that too....