Maintaining a Daily Driver??

[HK77]

I live in a tropical country with lots of dusts in the summer and daily rain in the rainy season. So, even though I try to detail my car as much as I can, the beauty can only last 2-3 days at most. I have a dark-blue car and I use UC or M80 for polish and Gold Class Carnuaba or M21 2.0 for wax but my car becomes covered with dust and dirt after 2-3 days. So, I have no way but to wash it thoroughly again. The dust condition is so bad that you can see some dust (fine) covered on the paint just 5-10 minutes after you wash your car.

In these case, I'm not sure whether my waxes are still there after 2 weeks or not? So, could you guys please help me suggest my polish and wax regime? (Every 2 week or month?)

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 All, I've already posted the above post in the thread "Your Daily Driver : A Simple Wax and Wash Regime" but nobody really answer and so I just hope someone would really help this time.

[tguil]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

OK...From a "old guy" who has lived with dust and dirt from gravel roads for a long, long time. Your obsessive detailing behavior is not going to get you anywhere. You are going to have a dirty car most of the time. Period. Wash it when it gets really dirty...maybe once a week. Every six to eight weeks wax it with a wax that is easy to use. Then call it "good enough". Next time buy a white car. It took me thirty years to give up on black trucks. I'm a slow learner. This is not a suggestion that it is all that helpful, but I'll just bet a lot of guys on the forum would agree with me.

Tom

[Blueline]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

Then call it "good enough". Next time buy a white car. It took me thirty years to give up on black trucks.

Tom

I would certainly agree. One does own a black vehicle, it owns you. (if you want it always looking nice)

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

Ouch. As Tom points out, you are in a really tough situation there and there is simply nothing you can do to prevent the dust from accumulating on the car short of just leaving it in the garage, which obviously is just not practical. If you're worried about how long a coat of wax will last when it's very dusty out, that shouldn't be a big concern at all. Getting the dust off regularly is the tricky bit, and we would suggest picking up some of our Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere as soon as it becomes available in your area. With several microfiber towels and proper technique you should be able to very safely remove even fairly heavy dust from the surface without marring.

Your rainy season presents a whole different situation though. Regular, steady rainfall is really hard on any wax or sealant and will shorten the life of any such product. You could drive yourself crazy trying to keep a car clean when it rains almost every day. Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere will still be an excellent choice here, especially since it leaves a very nice polymer protection in the process. But still, doing this every day can get tedious, and over time UWWA is going to become a bit expensive to use as a daily cleaner.

Another option is a good rinseless product like our new D114 Rinse Free Express Wash. You should be able to quickly clean a car without a hose, even when it becomes quite dirty. Follow with a quick once over using our Ultimate Quik Wax or D156 Synthetic Xpress Spray Wax. D156 is the pro line equivalent of UQW but since it comes in gallon jugs it's more economical for high volume users. It is also an extremely durable (surprisingly so) synthetic wax.

[tguil]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

.....Another option is a good rinseless product like our new D114 Rinse Free Express Wash. You should be able to quickly clean a car without a hose, even when it becomes quite dirty. Follow with a quick once over using our Ultimate Quik Wax or D156 Synthetic Xpress Spray Wax. D156 is the pro line equivalent of UQW but since it comes in gallon jugs it's more economical for high volume users. It is also an extremely durable (surprisingly so) synthetic wax.

I think that if I were to go back to my days of being plagued by OCDD (obsessive compulsive detailing disorder), I would choose the above option. I always feel a bit more comfortable using a rinseless wash rather than a waterless wash if I have lots of dust on my trucks. I also use enough of the Ultimate Quick Wax that I should buy D156. I really like the stuff.

I haven't tried the new Ultimate Wash and Wax, but I plan to do so on my black Harleys. Now that takes real courage.

Tom

[imranhakro]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

"....... my car becomes covered with dust and dirt after 2-3 days. So, I have no way but to wash it thoroughly again. The dust condition is so bad that you can see some dust (fine) covered on the paint just 5-10 minutes after you wash your car."

Exactly same is the case with me. Its so much dust here that my car gets covered with layer of dust over night, and the morning dew makes that dust etched on the paint once the dew is evaporated. Like you i also used detailers but that didn't seem to work on so much dust, instead making it smeary.

To deal with such situation, i thoroughly wash my car every week and then wax it (ultimate liquid wax, followed by Coat of GCCP).
During rest of the week i dont clean it except mid-week wet wipe with MF, followed by a detailer. Because dry MF wipe is suicidal as it creats swirls. So i give it a wet/Damp MF wipe first and then a detailer wipe.

The best solution to our problem is rinseless or Rinsefree wash, which i am not able to source here in my country.

[walletless]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

Before I moved to U.S., I was from a tropical country where labor is cheap. My dad hired someone who came and cleaned the car every other day for only around $5 per month. Every other month, he would hire another guy to apply wax. He never worried about swirls and scratches.. since shiny "new looking" car attracted malicious children who would key the car "just for fun" :-)

[HK77]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

Thanks a lot guys for all your help. It really let me know that I'm not the only one with this situation. I also slowly understand that there's no way but to accept the not too good condition. Rinse Free Products are not available in Asia and till now, I cannot find one.

For Rainy Season, I think I have no way but to accept those water spots on my car and have to polish again after that.

Just one last question, do you guys also just leave those rain water sit upon your car all night during rainy season, knowingly they will etch out our paint? As I have that OCDD (obessive compulsive detailing disorder) and it makes me so uncomfortable to leave my car with rain water the whole night.

[DAC17]

Re: Maintaining a Daily Driver??

Probably a little unfair for this forum, but...you shuld probably detail the car once really well, and put Opti Coat 2.0 on it. Then it's done for several years. Just wash whenever it makes sense.