Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

[HK77]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Thanks Murr1525. I tried to use some quick detailers to remove some dirts and dusts from my car after 2 days drive. But finally, I find myself guilty to Wipe off that dirty and dusty car with just detailers and Microfiber towels. Finally, I have two options now --- to just bear with dirt and dust until it's 5-7 days long and then fully wash (OR) just wash every 3 days when my car is dirty. So u guys really think that if I use a good car wash, the wax will still be there for 2-3 months even if I wash every 3 days?

Another noobie question is for upcoming rainy season. In tropical country's rainy season, your car will always be wet with rain after you go out and sometimes dirty with muds and road grimes. I know that water sitting on my car will give water spots. But If I have to wipe the water from my car everytime after coming home is also not pratical. Worst part is sometimes, I cannot decide whether to just wipe the water OR give a full wash before wiping.

I know that I have a bug from this forum, inside me

[HK77]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Thanks Murr1525. I tried to use some quick detailers to remove some dirts and dusts from my car after 2 days drive. But finally, I find myself guilty to Wipe off that dirty and dusty car with just detailers and Microfiber towels. Finally, I have two options now --- to just bear with dirt and dust until it's 5-7 days long and then fully wash (OR) just wash every 3 days when my car is dirty. So u guys really think that if I use a good car wash, the wax will still be there for 2-3 months even if I wash every 3 days?

Another noobie question is for upcoming rainy season. In tropical country's rainy season, your car will always be wet with rain after you go out and sometimes dirty with muds and road grimes. I know that water sitting on my car will give water spots. But If I have to wipe the water from my car everytime after coming home is also not pratical. Worst part is sometimes, I cannot decide whether to just wipe the water OR give a full wash before wiping.

I know that I have a bug from this forum, inside me

Hi, can i get any suggestion from anyone or from a Moderator? I know that my questions are naive and not important for people on this forum but your suggestions and answers will help me a lot. Thanks.

[krimsonviper]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Alrighty then, I'm fairly new to the whole detail section of car care. I generally just wash and dry my car. When I do detail, I wash, clay, and wax with Gold Class. How good is this simple protection and how long does Gold Class wax last? Should i ditch this regiment for the one stated with the OP? The stuff I usually work with doesn't have Carnuaba in it, it was before it, but today I bought one with Carnauba and used that instead.

I want to hit the car with a second layer of GC with carnuaba, but how long should I wait? Is this a wasted effort, as I've seen in multiple posts that layering isn't recommended.

[akimel]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Krimsonviper, your regimen is fine. The important thing is to attend to your car on a regular basis, which you are obviously doing.

To the question "How often should I wax my vehicle?" there is no answer that fits everyone. There are so many factors involved: the wax you are using, how often the car is driven, whether it's garaged or left outside 24/7, the kinds of environmental stuff the car is exposed to, etc.

What kind of wax are you using and how often do you wax your vehicle?

[krimsonviper]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Krimsonviper, your regimen is fine. The important thing is to attend to your car on a regular basis, which you are obviously doing.

To the question "How often should I wax my vehicle?" there is no answer that fits everyone. There are so many factors involved: the wax you are using, how often the car is driven, whether it's garaged or left outside 24/7, the kinds of environmental stuff the car is exposed to, etc.

What kind of wax are you using and how often do you wax your vehicle?

I'm now using Gold Class Carnuaba and its very rarely waxed these days as life is getting busy. Maybe 1 or 2 times every 3 months? She sits outside 24/7 and driven at least 5 times a week. I'm in the Bay Area of California, so that should give you an idea of what the weather is like.

Should I hit my car with another coat of wax? I'm about to Quik Detail it with the spray that comes out of the Clay Kit and give it another coat in the next hour or so.

[akimel]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

So you wax your vehicle every three months? Well, that puts you way ahead of most people. Keep up the good work.

As to the question, "How often should I wax my car?" I like this rule of thumb: apply a fresh coat of wax whenever a characteristic that you value--gloss, slickness, beading, wetness--degrades to an unacceptable level. Besides, it can never hurt to apply a fresh coat of wax, and the car always looks better.

[ffboy]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Waxing is good, it seems we can never wax to often. It's always nice to have a car that's just a bit shinier than the next car and it is a good way to relax and clear one's mind.

A good car wash followed by a spray wax that can be used as a wax as you dry in my experience is a good practice for maintaining that newly waxed feel though it doesn't really last as long, which is expected. Nothing beats application of wax in shine and slickness.

[Cavalier_Man]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

humblepie....Ive been told by alot of detailers at autogeek, mothers, and meguiars that you want to wash the car in sections and rinse. While washing the car, its also recommended to keep the car wet, even if ur washing ur car at night time. Mainly bec this prevents the water from starting to dry while u wash, and gives much less water spots on the finish. Heres what i do, and this should help you and anyone else on here who wants to know how to do this a good way:

I use the 2 bucket method.
1. fill one bucket with 2 ounces of ur choice of carwash solution for every gal of water.I personally love using meguiars ultimate wash and wax, or mothers wash and wax carwash soap. (i add this much to get more suds. U can get by with 1 ounce for every gal of water). One bucket with plain water.(to rinse the wash mitt out frequently). Add a wash mitt of ur choice as well. I recommend meguiars wash mitt, genuine sheepskin or genuine lambswool wash mitt for handwashing.
2. Spray down the whole car loosening any dirt, and debris before washing.
3. Take wash mitt with soap and start washing from top to bottom, side to side. (washing roof, front window, back window, and all side windows) Rinse completely. Id go ahead and rinse your mitt out thoroughly. Trust me lol.
4. Depending how dirty ur car is, if its mild to severely dirty, id wash half the top part of the car on the sides(fender, doors, and qtr panels first. Id do both sides of the car this way and even do the hood).Rinse off both sides washing and rinsing one side at a time of course =]. Reason why you would want to do this is because since the bottom parts are prone to more dirty water and things like that is bec you dont want to wash a cleaner part of the panel with the other half being really dirty and transferring that much more dirt onto the next panel and risk swirling or scratching. Then once youve done that, go ahead and wash ur front bumper, rinse. Wash ur back bumper and trunk, rinse. Rinse your wash mitt out after 2-3 panels to minimize the risk of swirling and scratching. Now move onto the bottom portions of ur fenders, doors, and qtr panels, washing and rinsing them one at a time. Remember to keep car wet throughout the washing process. Id spray the whole car down atleast every 1/3 of the way through. This helped me out i found out.
5. Once whole car is completely washed and rinsed off, take ur nozzle off ur hose, and let the water free flow run over the car starting from top to bottom side to side.
6. Dry car off with meguiars water magnet drying towels or do what i like to do, which is soon as i do my final rinse using the free flowing method, i will get in my car and rush to the carwash and do a spot-free rinse there so i can just let the car dry on its own. Then the only thing i dry is the inside of the door jambs, around the hinges, (everything that gets wet inside the door) trunk, and dry the inside of the hood. If you have wax protection, i wouldnt do this, id just dry the whole car with the water magnet drying towel the best you can. Carwashed=].

This is pretty much the same methods meguiars, mothers, and alot of other detailers use. I just altered it my way after doing a little experimenting. ANy qs please ask. Thank you

[HEMI1500]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

i use two wash mits,,one is every panel on the top half and one mit is for the lower half,rinsing each panel and mit repeatedly ie,,fender, then rinse mit and fender,,upper door then rinse door and mit

I watched that car wash video and noticed the guy was washing and rinsing each section of the car - compared to washing the entire car then rinsing.

Is washing and rinsing sections of the car the preferred way? Or can I just wait till the end for the rinse?

[Maruzo]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Actually, I consider the Op's process to be a very thorough and professional treatment for a "daily driver". I would only consider using such process on my weekend fun car.

The funny thing is, weekend cars are typically very clean to begin with, because they don't get exposed to the elements all that much, so very little chance of getting soiled/ stained/ polluted.

I gave up on giving my daily driver the full treatment years ago. Because the car is covered with micro dust after sitting in parking lot at work for one day.

One freaking day!

I would spend a good hour or two washing and polishing and sometimes waxing as well the night before.

Then I spend 8 hours at work and by the time I got home the next day, the car is FULLY covered by a layer of fine dust.

These dust are easily removed, mind you. 5 ~ 10 minutes tops using a towel and detailing spray will bring the car back it's shine.

But you do get sick of it after a while.

So my solution nowadays is giving the full treatment to my weekender only.

As for daily driver, every 2 weeks I take it to the car wash at the local chevron gas station and choose the medium level wash. Which gives it a soap wash + liquid wax. After the wash I hand dry the entire car using a 6 sq ft microfiber drying towel. It's not pretty but it get the job done decently enough.

However, once a month I would clean it with detailing spray or Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax, followed by claying, and then waxing with gold class paste wax.

The surface isn't as dirty and full of deposits if you choose the car wash with an additional spray wax. It also helps if you choose the brushless type of wash, where the machines just squirts the cleaning shampoos followed by strong streams of water to wash off and then blower to "some what" dry off the vehicle.

[The Guz]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

With the technology advancement in today's products one can make a daily driver look just as good as a weekend warrior and even maintain the daily driver to look it's absolute best. On my daily driver I correct it twice a year and use a sealant (synthetic wax) such as M21 or Ultimate Wax. I find a sealant to be best in a daily driver in terms of protection and durability. Plus I don't want to be claying and waxing every month. In between my corrections, I maintain it by washing it regularly (whether it be a 2 bucket wash or rinseless wash) to avoid any contaminants from sticking to the paint. I also use both M135 and D156. These two products alone will aid the LSP and rejuvenate it to give it that little boost. I agree that if the car sits outside, it's a losing battle to fight dust. Thus it is recommended to wash regularly to maintain the 8+ hours it took to correct it in the first place.

For me it doesn't take long to wash the car and use either M135 or D156 to keep my daily driver looking good. I also prefer to wash my car at home then to take it to any type of car wash but that's just me. This way I know what is being done to the car.

Now on my weekend warrior that spends most of the time in the garage, I usually give it a good polish once a year. In between I will use either a M135, D156 or a rinseless wash as it is mostly light dust that sits on the car.

Now for those that don't want to go through a full 5 step correction then that is where a cleaner wax comes into play. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't have the time to do a full 5 step.

[billddrummer]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

With the technology advancement in today's products one can make a daily driver look just as good as a weekend warrior and even maintain the daily driver to look it's absolute best. On my daily driver I correct it twice a year and use a sealant (synthetic wax) such as M21 or Ultimate Wax. I find a sealant to be best in a daily driver in terms of protection and durability. Plus I don't want to be claying and waxing every month. In between my corrections, I maintain it by washing it regularly (whether it be a 2 bucket wash or rinseless wash) to avoid any contaminants from sticking to the paint. I also use both M135 and D156. These two products alone will aid the LSP and rejuvenate it to give it that little boost. I agree that if the car sits outside, it's a losing battle to fight dust. Thus it is recommended to wash regularly to maintain the 8+ hours it took to correct it in the first place.

For me it doesn't take long to wash the car and use either M135 or D156 to keep my daily driver looking good. I also prefer to wash my car at home then to take it to any type of car wash but that's just me. This way I know what is being done to the car.

Now on my weekend warrior that spends most of the time in the garage, I usually give it a good polish once a year. In between I will use either a M135, D156 or a rinseless wash as it is mostly light dust that sits on the car.

Now for those that don't want to go through a full 5 step correction then that is where a cleaner wax comes into play. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't have the time to do a full 5 step.

Great advice Guz.

In my case, the 'daily driver' has nearly 15,000 miles on it, so I clay more frequently than twice a year.

Based on the advice in this forum, I switched to using a touchless car wash close by my apartment. (One thing I did discover is that they aren't as diligent about cleaning their water filters, so the 'spot free rinse' sometimes becomes a 'free spot rinse.' Still better than the poorly maintained brushes at the traditional wash!)

So far, I've clayed four times. Three times I went with the full 5 step process, twice with SwirlX for the below surface correction, once with ScratchX.

Polish with UP, then Gold Class Carnuaba Paste Wax.

So far it's working well. But my situation is unique because of the mountain driving. Right now pine pollen is a continuing problem. Usually I hit the car with QD after I get back home and let the metal cool. (Uncovered parking at work.)

[billddrummer]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

Oh, another thing: I typically wax monthly, depending on the weather.

[Maruzo]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

i like to hand wax my weekend car. Love how it just sits there looking pretty and sparkling.

Waxing a daily driver will only attract more dust and makes it that much dirtier in less time (a few hours!). I just try to keep the surface free of contaminants. The brush-less car wash with liquid wax will keep the surface somewhat protected with a thin layer of wax, which makes the car easier to clean by hand when I do my cleaning/ claying / polishing/ waxing ever couple of months.

I hate open parking at work. Some of my friends have parking structure at work. Lucky bastards!

[learning curve]

Re: Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

As a new member I will use the back side of the pennies toput my two cents in…
As I have bought my first new car and did my research in animpartial manner and waited to wash my car until I was giving it, a properstart of ownership. Three days after taking possession I bought Meguiar’s GoldClass, a pack of microfiber towels and a sun visor to protect the dash. I donot have a garage or port to keep my car from the elements and I am a “dailydriver”.
My regiment at the end of one year, I try to do this everyweek:
1 spray the bottom-underside with clean water
2 dedicated bucket and tools to wash wheels and wells andunderside one half at a time rinsing in-between
3 another dedicated bucket (my car is small enough andwashed enough not to use a two bucket method) spray the whole car top to bottomwith clean water
4 I have divided my car into five sections, starting withthe roof, I wash and rinse each section over lapping each keeping the car wetand rinsed throughout the process. Only microfiber towels, I got rid of my mittquickly as I believe it keeps too much dirt
5 I lightly spray the whole car with P-81-Q to reduce waterspots and apply a thin coat of polish and wipe with (start with a dampmicrofiber towel) the whole car until most every drop of water is off
6 same towel (since it has some polish in it) do the doorjams, hatch lid, inside the gas door and finally the inside of the hood and theengine compartment
7 another clean dry microfiber towel to buff the whole carsaving the wheels for last
Note; I wax sections as needed mostly the roof, hood andbumper guard. I use ultimate liquid wax so not to hurt the plastic or rubberparts. I vacuum and clean the interior often, at least once a month using interiordetailer. Also clay the car as needed using ultimate quick detailer as themedian when I find enough rough spots. Endurance tire gel when I feel she isspecial. I think I am taking good care of my first new car.
I also have ultimate compound and scratch X2.0 standing byin the wings if I become unsatisfied with the results, have not used either yet.Since I live in love-bug world “nasty bugs” I have bug & tar remover fromturtle wax for that season. I also use invisible glass on the interior glass toreally bring the whole thing together.
Side bar; I do not smoke, drink or eat in my car! Veryimportant! I watch the road and avoid potential hazards! Towels can be washedor thrown away as needed!