Just wondering if anyone could give a list of things that yall do when you're washing your truck. I have a gold truck if that makes any difference. Thanks, Mac

 

Washing, in my opinion, is one of the most important parts of routine maintenance. Most of us put in oodles of hours on a good detail and, as such, want to keep it up in the best possible order to avoid thrashing all the time and effort that we put into our paint.

That being said, here's a quick run down of some of the 'high' points in my procedure...

1. Two bucket method. This is where you'll utilize one bucket for your wash water and another bucket for 'fresh' water where you can rinse your mitt/sponge. The technique is to wash a small portion then take your mitt to the fresh water to remove most contamination that your mitt picked up while washing that single section. Then back to your wash water.

By doing this, you keep your wash solution cleaner and thus, minimize transporting 'gunk' from your bucket to the paint. That gunk is one of the main things that causes scratching, swirling, and maring.

Change the bucket water often. If it looks grungy... change it.

2. Mitts/Sponges. Some like a mitt. Some like a sponge. Whatever you're using, make sure it allows for the inclusion of the gunk into the mitt/sponge and that it holds a lot of solution.

For me, I prefer using a SR Arnold 100% Lambs Wool mitt. It holds a lot of solution and the fibers on the mitt allow for the 'gunk' to be held in the mitt until I move it to bucket one to clean the mitt.

Use dedicated sponges/mitts for places like wheel lips, tires, wheels, and any where else that can pick up LOTs of grunge. I have dedicated mitts for wheels and even for the lower portion of my doors, etc...

Consider replacement of a sponge or mitt if you drop it on the ground. At a minimum, flush with copious amounts of water.

3. Let your Hose Work. Use the hose to 'blast' off crud before you start. Start at the TOP of the vehicle and work downward towards the tires. You should also wash in this same fashion - top to bottom. Reasoning for that is that the top should be less dirty than areas near the road.

4. Work in sections and take your time. Wash a panel, rinse that panel. Don't get in a hurry because, when you do that, you'll make poor decisions on where to wash and such.

5. Drying. Before utilizing a nice waffle-weave microfiber towel to dry, flow water across the paint without the use of a spray nozzle. Just allow straight flow out of the hose (be careful with the brass end and the paint!). The flowing action will cause 'sheeting' which, in turn, will minimize your drying action and thus, the time that a towel or similar is touching your paint which, in turn, will minimize the potential for scratching/swirling.

Once you've started at the top and gone towards the bottom with your sheeting action trick, BLOT the remaining 'wet spots' off with a nice microfiber towel. Waffle weave microfibers are the prefered towel in my opinion.

Some like the use of a QD spray while 'blotting' or wiping dry.


That's not all inclusive but, it's a decent set of tips I think. Let us know if you need anything else.

RP

 

thanks. what about polish/wax/etc.?

 

What about it? You're asking me to write a manual here man...

 

sorry but im only 16, ive never used wax before. Just trying to learn the basics. thanks

 

Waxes...

A few different types:

1. Cleaner wax. Probably the most common type of 'consumer' product from a wax perspective. This product will protect and also remove/conceal many surface blemishes. Odds are, if you're looking for a quicker, more comprehensive way to wax/polish in one step, you want a cleaner wax.

Some good brands include Meguiar's and Mother's. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, in my opinion, is a VERY good product.

2. Pure wax: As the name implies, it's just wax. It offers protection and protection only. If you have a scratch, this product will not touch it or conceal it, or hide it. Straight protection. Typically made of some level of carnauba wax (tree - Brazil) or a combo of carnauba and some other natural wax (bees or similar).

There aren't too many of these on the shelf at your local 'mart' store (if any).

3. Synthetics: Probalby what you may want to consider. Most 'consumer' synthetics like Meguiar's NXT or Mother's Synwax offer similar cleaning qualities to the 'cleaner wax' but, being that they're synthetic, offer longer durability and better protection.

The con in my opinion to a synthetic is the overall 'look'. My eye always tends to classify a synthetic wax as yielding a 'suran wrap' look to the paint versus a deep luster. Shine and depth are two different things in my book -- I look for a balance of both.

Polishes:

Different polishes do different things...

1. Pure Polish - Offers NO protection or problem removal (ie: swirls). It's just straight 'shine in a bottle'. Always follow with a 'wax' of some sort on top -- typically a pure wax with no cleaners.
2. Cleaner polish - More common than 'pure' polishes, these will remove some level of blemish and/ or conceal it.
3. Compounds - think of this one as a polish on steroids. Liquid sandpaper even. This probably won't find it's way into a normal polish aresonal because most won't need something this aggressive to remove problems on their paint.

That help?

 

you can take what RP posted here to the bank as some of the best advice you will receive ..

the one thing I would add, since you are new to this, is that avoid doing this in the sun as mich as possible .. most of the waxes and other prep stuff like claying, etc do not like the sun, or hot sheet metal ..


Washing in the sun is just asking for water spots ..


have fun!


.

 

Thanks Gip... I really appreciate that comment.

 

thanks a lot for the help. Mac

 

Thats very comprehensive and must have taken some time to type. The only thing I do different is go with 3 buckets...One for the GD brake dust. I start there then begin at the top with the roof while standing in the bed.

 

yw .. the time you take to answer peoples questions is appreciated by all ..

 

I will typically just empty a bucket and start fresh... but, very good idea on the third.

 

my washing method would be...

#1 haul the pressure washer out

#2 get the supplies ( I myself have two buckets, wash mit, rubber squeegie, carwash formula, wax & applicator pads if doing a wax, nice MF towel, tire cleaner/de-greaser, and tire shine.

#3 turn the key back onto accessories & pop a Children of Bom cd in lol

#4 spray down good from top to bottom front to back wheels & wheel wells, and for true dedication the underbody

#5 make the water & carwash formula solution in one bucket for glass and paint, then another one for lower body, wheels, & tires.

#6 with bucket #1 I scrub from the roof down, scrub the windows, then move onto the hood, & work down to the grill, then go along the top half of the doors and bed, bed rails, and tailgate.

#7, spray from top to bottom, then clean the front bumper, lower half of the body, and the rear bumper ( chrome and painted only )

#8 spray that off then start cleaning the wheels up, i do the wheels first, then tires, still using bucket#1, soap suds are starting to disapear in the bucket so after the tires and wheels are done pour it out, and move onto bucket #2.

#9 start inside the wheel wells, inside the fornt bumper a little, the running boards ( i hold off this long on my runningboards because they are plastic and not chrome, otherwise would do them at step#7 ) and tail pipe and hitch and all, then get up in the bed and scrub that down and hose it out too

#10, drying time, I take my squeeqie and run it over the thick spots of water ( saves towels ) and start towel drying the body from top to bottom and the bumpers, then dry the wheels, tires, inside the wheel wells, and the hitch, tip... everything thats left ( sometimes bed fills with water but my Driveway has a slant so I move onto the slant and wait a minute for it to drain ) then dry the bed. ( also open the doors and get the water in the doorjam and in the weatherstripping )

#11 run a lint mit all over the body to remove any lint from drying

#12 I gloss my tires and wax my wheels ( if needed )

#13 If needed wax the body with a nice applicator pad, usually at this point the bugs come out to check the truck out...

#14 start the truck & let it idle for a moment to give the battery a little life, then park it, put all my stuff away, and laze around for the rest of the day ( I always wash at the evenings )


Those are my procedures, a good way to spend 1hr 1/2 lol. hope I helped

 

I also use a Rubbermaid tire brush on my white letters with a little work they get the letters white and the brush holds up great. I got mine at Target.