No shade to wash my car!!

[marco_diesel]

hey everyone. I have no shade to wash my car so Im looking for advice of how to clean and wash my car in the sun. Just bought a brand new "BLACK" car and looking for any advice possible. Thanks

[ca2kjet]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

My advice would be to do a wash of the entire vehicle and wait until the very end to hose everything off, even if the soap has dried it'll come off once you've hosed it down. Right after that, take a drying towel and quickly go over it. I sometimes use some Last Touch detailing spray when the water is drying super fast. You may also find it easier to wash it first thing in the morning while the sun isn't super hot or even very late in the evening.

[Blueline]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

Congrats on the new BLACK car. Remember, you do not own a black car, it owns you. I have a black car also and it is fairly easy to wash in the sun if you have a good coat of wax on it. Sometimes half of my car will be in the sun if I am lazy and don't want to move the other one. Again, assuming you have a good wax, hose the entire car down, wash the roof, rinse. Wash the hood, rinse, and rinse the roof again. Wash the trunk.rinse, and rinse roof and hood again, and so on. Keep previously washed panels wet. (I personally would not let soap dry on my vehicles as suggested above.) When finished, take the nozzle off the hose, and gently run the water from the open end hose, from the roof down. With a good wax, most of the water will sheet off. Gently blot what is left with a good absorbing towel, or lay the towel flat and gently pull over the panel.

[Raykreations]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

Blueline is correct...keep those panels wet until you're ready to fully dry the car. I did mine yesterday morning in what probably was close to 80 degree heat at 10am. Nice part...I followed up with Ultimate Quik Wax which allows you to use in direct sunlight. Just do a smaller area at a time since the sheetmetal is so hot.

[scanlessfool]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

I wait till at least an hour or hour and a half till sunset. Temperatures aren't that high so it gives you a wee bit more time. If anything, have you considered ONR? You can wash one panel at a time that way you don't worry about water spots.

[Murr1525]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

Yeha, mornings... ONR could be a good option.

[Shawn T.]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

I use only ONR now for washes. Works great and my car is black too.

Otherwise, I would do as said above. Move quickly, and do not rinse each section. Let the soap dry if you have to as it is better than hard water drying on your paint.

[marco_diesel]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

awesome! thaks for all the help. I just bought the 70th anniversary Jeep wrangler and need to keep it looking out of the shown room..so in steps i plan on doing this
1. Rinse off all dirt
2.Wash car
3.keep the whole jeep wet while washing
4.after washing, run water just from the nozzle from roof down
4.dry
5.quick detailer

can the quick detailer from meguiars be used in the sun also????

[marco_diesel]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

also, can anyone tell me the difference between the "quick detailer" and the "quick wax" ?? and which to use for my situation?

[Don]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

also, can anyone tell me the difference between the "quick detailer" and the "quick wax" ?? and which to use for my situation?

Generally speaking, in the Meguiar's line, the quick detailer is for cleaning a mildy dusty car (pollen or light blown dust) without causing any new scratching/swirls. The quick wax is for a clean or just washed car to add a bit of protection to "boost" the current coating of wax. Either would work fine for you in your situation.

I often get very minor swirls when drying a car when it's really hot outside and the water dries too fast, even when using a damp microfiber, so I willl use a QD or QW over the car and it will remove/conceal the marks even on dark colored cars.

[Tuck91]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

I would try to get up early enough to where the car is washed/dried but sunrise.

[tguil]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

I owned and maintained black vehicles for over thirty years. I would never wash/wash/whatever a black car in intense direct sunlight. As far as leaving the soap on it and then rinsing the whole car off ...! If you must wash in the sun, do it just after sunrise or just before sunset. Where I live now I have no shade during the day. However, I do have some early in the day and late in the day. That's when I wash my trucks. I also sometimes wait for cloudy days.

When washing my trucks I wash a panel and rinse it immediately. I keep the the whole vehicle wet as I wash. When I'm done washing, I dry them as quickly as possible.

IMO a vehicle that is a little dusty or dirty is much better than one that is has water spots of even worse...etching.

Please note my signature. I finally got smart...except for the Harleys.

Tom

[boiler7904]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

To me, keeping the entire vehicle wet to avoid water spots wastes a lot of water. It also doesn't necessarily work well if you have really hard water and high temps.

6 years of owning a medium dark blue truck and trying to wash with little shade in hot, humid midwest summer weather has taught me how to get things done quickly without leaving water spots.

I start with 3 buckets of water, a couple of wash mitts, and a few drying towels.
- 1 with car wash solution at 1 oz per gallon for wheels, tires, and wheelwells
- 1 with car wash solution at 1 oz per gallon for the body
- 1 clean water for rinsing the wash mitt(s) using the 2BM.

1. Wash tires, wheels, and wheel wells. Don't bother drying - they're going to get wet again.
2. Foam or rinse the entire vehicle to remove loose dirt.
3. Wash the entire roof, all windows, and all pillars down to the beltline.
4. Rinse items in step 3 with clean water and dry - keeping the towel away from the still unwashed panels. Sheeting the water will reduce amount that has to be dried with a towel.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 on the hood, front clip, doors, and remaining body panels one or two at a time moving front to back doing the rear hatch / tailgate and bumper last. You also want to overlap a few inches onto the next panel to be washed so that you can completely rinse and dry the one you're currently working on.

After a couple of washes, you'll get a rhythm and learn how to wash and rinse without splashing all over the previously dried sections. Technique may have to vary a little from vehicle to vehicle so you can experiment. Some things on my wife's white Ford Escape (textured plastic clad nightmare) don't work as well on my blue Chevy Colorado.

I don't know what you drove in the past, but you should seriously consider buying something like the Werner AP-20-MP6 Work Platform to make washing the roof of your new ride a lot easier and safer. I want to say they are around $40 at Lowe's or Home Depot but usually go on sale at least once or twice a year.

[marco_diesel]

Re: No shade to wash my car!!

Thanks for all the replies. I plan on washing the jeep tomorrow and keep it wet then drying it with this "california" dryer I have, then also with a "microfibre" towel...when its all said and done, go over it with the "quick wax"