Help me improve my wash technique

[SuperCK]

I have a new car that I park in the outside drive (no indoor garage). The color of the car is silver. I just finished washing the car and it does not look clean. I use the following:

1. 2 bucket system with grit guard.
2. 2 sheep sheep skin mitt. one for the body and one for the lower panels.
3. Meguiar NXT car wash
4. Meguiar water magnet microfiber drying towel

I wash my car from the top down then I would soap up my wash mitt. I would squeeze out all the soap from the wash mitt on the car then begin washing in a up down movement. I do not press hard on the wash mitt, just a gentle glide. I would then rinse the wash mitt in the first bucket then squeeze it out then dip it into the NXT wash bucket. I would repeat the cycle until the car is done. I would then use the microfiber drying towel to pat dry the car.

After all this hard work or lack thereof my car goes not have nice shine. It looks like there are still dirt residue on the car. I have not used any wax or detailer spray on the car yet.

Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong or how I can improve my technique.

Thank You

[Tuck91]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

How about a picture?

A brand new silver car should look at least decent if not good even after just a basic wash.

Do you have some sort of problem with the paint or are you just looking for some techniques and products to make you car look nicer?

[SuperCK]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

I will post some pics tomorrow. Its kinda dark in my area right now.

I am looking for some technique and products.

When looking at it i feel as if I didnt scrub hard enough with the wash mitt and there are residual dirt on the car. Should I press hard when using the wash mitt or a gentle glide over?

[CHzo6]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Sounds like you may be in need of a clay bar system.

[SuperCK]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Sounds like you may be in need of a clay bar system.

the car is 35 days old.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

A good car wash soap is gentle. So could well be something that needs the clay or cleaner to remove.

How to Wash Your Car Show Car Style

[CHzo6]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

the car is 35 days old.

That has no bearing on whether or not it needs to be clayed. Think about how the car got from the factory to the dealership then to you, and how you drive it during the day and park it at night.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

I have clayed numerous vehicles within a week of the owner accepting them.

Age to you has no bearing. How long was it on the lot. Mode of transport?

[davey g-force]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Your washing/drying technique sounds fine.

I agree we need some pics but without seeing it, I too would suggest it needs claying.

[gmitch23]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

My car is silver and depending on the shade of silver you may or may not get that "shine" you are looking for. Thats just a draw back from light colored cars. Believe it or not, claying may do wonders, my car is outside a lot like yours and i bought mine brand new and kept it clean only to clay it and was like wow. The clay bar wasnt very dirty at all but it was still able to make my car look more wet/reflective.
Also nxt wax is great to try followed by the clay.

[SuperCK]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Here are my pics. it was a cloudy morning when I took the pics.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Just so you know, we grabbed your images off the hosting site you were using and put them in our gallery for display here. We also resized them so they could be better viewed on the page.

FYI - the image hosting company you used gave me a pop up to an adult site when I clicked on the slideshow link. You might want to rethink using that image site in the future.

[gmitch23]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

Looks pretty good! i could still see a bit of your reflection on a cloudy day. Silver doesnt like to "mirror" very much.

[davey g-force]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

It actually doesn't look too bad in the photos. Silver is good at doing that - hiding imperfections.

You may have to get some full sun shots to better illustrate what you mean.

[davey g-force]

Re: Help me improve my wash technique

After looking more closely, I THINK I can make some specs in the paint (unless that's your metallic flake?).

If that's the case, I still stick by the claying theory...