Not having owned a car since 1978, I need advice on how best to wash my new Fit.


We have a parking space with a hose for washing...do I use a mild detergent soap with a soft sponge and water rinse, or skip the soap altogether as I've seen some people say on other boards?


Thanks.

 

this is the techniques I've been using for the last 4 decades. LOTSA WATER!!!
Get any CAR liquid detergent from Wally's, Autozone, Costco etc..... They're all decent. Mix in the required amount into a separate bucket with water. I have been using a sheepskin wash mitt but there are many microfibres that are just as good. Soak that in the soapy bucket. Make sure your Fit is thoroughly wet.

Proceed to soap. Preferably, your doing this in the shade. If in the sunlight, then do sections with soap, stop rinse and continue. I divide the car starting from the roof, then hood, hatch, Left and right sides.

If there is thick grime, I would put your water hose on your other hand and alternate between soapy rub and the hose.

DO NOT USE HOUSEHOLD detergents especially dishwashing liquid.

Once done use lotsa water to rinse then dry off with a big cotton towel, chamois or microfibre cloth. Result - nice and clean with no hairline scratches.

Happy cleaning!!!

 

I got one of those shammy heads on a telescopic pole specifically for washing cars, from an auto parts store. Best thing I ever got. No more bending and no scratching the car. More often than not I do a simple no soap wash to maintain the shine. Two times around with straight water rub down, one time around dry off rub down, done. Good as new. I always do the tires too. Gotta shine the shoes to look fully dressed.

 

If you use a bucket for soap, be sure to have a second bucket of just clean water. Take the sponge out of the soapy bucket, wash a section of the car, then put the sponge in the clean water bucket as you rinse off the car with a hose. Then take the sponge back out of the clean water bucket, shaking it off as you do so, and put it back in the soapy bucket, then repeat. The point of doing this is that you don't want to keep rubbing the grime and road particles that the sponge takes off back into your paint. You'll be amazed at all the crap that'll be in the bottom of the clean water bucket by the time you're done.

 

Well for starters, i got it washed and waxed professionally.

Might continue that way since I'm lazy, having it waxed at least once a year, and washed quite regularly.

Have a nice car wash place near my work, so... dunno.

Depends on how much money I want to save.

 

Best thing to do is hit up Autogeek.net. They sell anything related to washing and detailing your car. Plus they have how to videos and a forum section.


+1 for ROTTBOY's advice about not using any dishwashing liquid. Only use car wash soap.

 

the one bit of advice I'd give is to avoid washing your car with improper tools and supplies.

You will do more damage to your paint then just leaving the dirt there.
Read up on meguiars or mothers websites. they have tutorials for beginners.

With a good wax job, your car will be easier to clean as the dirt will not stick as well.
If you have indoor parking you could get by with washing your car only a few times a year.

 

Get yourself one of these: Grit Guard, Grit Guard insert, bucket grate, bucket grid,

 

+1 on the Grit Guard
I started using the Grit Guard insert a couple years ago and will never go back! I couldn't believe how much sediment there was in the bottom of the bucket when I was done...which used to just swish around and back onto my mitt pre-grit guard.

 

Thanks, everybody!

 

+1

I use the Shell station car wash where I get gas. Automatic wash and whatever they call a rain shield wax or clear coat. Every couple of weeks. Then once a year pro hand wash and wax. It’s just a car.

 

My ritual:

Prepare two buckets. I bought two different color 5 gallon buckets to know the difference between my dirty and clean buckets. You only need them about half full. Use grit guards. I put my car soap in after filling the bucket so I don't have a crazy amount of foam. You can use a grit guard to mix the soap and water.

1) rinse off your car and get the worst dirt off with a hose
2) using a quality wash mitt, wash the car from top to bottom. Roof, windows and pillars, doors hood and trunk, lower bumpers and kick panels, wheels/mags and FINALLY a slight wipe along the wheel wells muffler and underside of the bodywork. Once you've done this last step there's no getting back on the sides of the car. As a very last step, I actually clean my tire sidewall to prep them for my tire dressing. Keeping a clean mitt can be handy in case your mitt gets very fouled with dirt. If you run into stuck on crud, don't go crazy picking at it with your nail or rubbing like crazy; that will just scratch your paint. Leave that for step 4.
3) rinse the mitt frequently and rub the mitt against the grit guard in your dirty water bucket to try and get rid of the contaminants.
4) I then use claybar and clay lube to remove tough stuck on contaminants like tar, tree sap, bird poo etc. Should come right off without scratching your car.
5) rinse being very careful not to kick up dirt from the ground onto your clean car. Again, rinse from top to bottom.
6) I dry using microfiber towels not worrying about the windows and mirrors. Again, dry from top to bottom and then wheels and tail pipe last.
7) using a foaming glass cleaner (I use Bon Ami. Works great and smells like candy. I wouldn't eat it though ) go all around the windows and mirrors and spray away. Once you get back around to ypur first sprayed window, clean up the remaining foam with microfiber towels. I strongly don't recommend using kitchen/Scott towels since it is both wasteful and leaves little pieces of lint everywhere.
8) my final touch is Duragloss brand tire dressing. I use a foam tire dressing applicator that I bought for 2$ and it saves me a load of trouble. It is shapes to fit the contour of the tire. Just sprits some product on the applicator and spread it on the tire sidewall with no mess. It really brings out the nice black color of the tires and makes the car look like a million bucks in my opinion! I then move my car about a yard forward and go over the section of sidewall that was against the ground. If ever you use the stuff, you'll notice right away which spots didn't get any dressing because they look dirty and brown compared to the treated sections that look nice and black. The dressing I use is a nice matte black but glossy type dressings do exists if that's what you like.

Remember that if you used claybar, it does also remove wax. It's no biggie but you could go over those sections with some wax if you want. I personally don't obsess over wax so much. I apply some after I buff my car to keep it looking nice longer but I don't worry about single spots. If you've never used claybar, try it and you'll love it.

 

i was about to goto sleep... but saw this thread.

one day I will make a bigger write up, but long ago before auto geek teaching this stuff, i taught many of my friends and other forum members what washing vs detailing meant.

my advice is this, wash with a good car soap, any will do, no name brand, brand name, all are the same. Two mitts, two buckets.

Hose car off, then start from top of the car, (less grime), work your self down towards the hood, and sides bottom of the car (more grime). Rinse off the car, and put that mitt and bucket away.

With the second mitt and bucket with soap mixed, wash your rims; keep that mitt forever only for rims.

Wet down the whole car and rinse again, dry off body with a chamois, and the windows use news paper (news paper and windows only!!).

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If you need, apply wax afterwards, for the weekend garage warrior, NXT 2.0 is pretty good stuff already. On the contrary to what people think... WAX is only good up to 2 weeks, sometimes in less than desirable conditions such as parking outside, or in excessive heat, it may only last for a week.

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my advise to any new 2015 owner is to buy a Zaino all in one kit (Z-tripletts), Zaino tire shine, and a bottle of 1Z Einszett premium cockpit cleaner. After experimenting with detailing stuff for a long time; i find the above easy to use, and the results are very good. The initial investment in the beginning is a bit more than your average weekend trip to Autozone for car care. But the items you are buying last long, and is high quality. And you don't need to buy more of something else and try adding hundreds of once used bottles in the garage. I think that is really all you need to keep the Fit looking great on a normal basis. If you are looking to do more, a DA Buffer and a clay bar once a year won't be too much to ask.

but for me, my detailing jobs, if i strip paint, I use dawns washing soap. I don't recommend using dawns for EVERY car wash. But when its time to detail and prep the surface, dawns is safe and effective.

I am a detailing guys when it comes to cars, most my friends make them go fast, race them, work on them as a strong point. Detailing them is my strong point; once you see perfect optics on paint... when you can make reds like its melting off the metal with a super wet slick look, and blue pearl change colors as light shifts on the panels, you'll fall in love over and over again.

 

I use Blue Corral car wash soap and wax. It works great.

 

This is a little too much of a process to actually use entirely but I think its a good basis:

Car Wash Guide, Car Wash how to - easy steps to shampoo and dry your vehicle using paint-safe mitts and towels, plus sponges, the Grit Guard and

Main thing is to have 1 bucket and microfiber dedicated to your exterior and 1 for your wheels. I also always wash my car with one bucket full of clean water to regularly dip my sponge into which helps to prevent swirls

 

I love all the snake oil promotion that car washing invites! You'd think that folks were in a clean room preparing their cars for a mission to Mars!

Look, it's a car. It lives in a world of grit, grime and mud. It comes with a factory finish that is the product of 100 years of research and refinement. Manufacturers have learned that if their finish does not last a reasonable period of time their cars will be perceived as low quality so they do a pretty good job of painting the car.

Now, people think that somehow you can harm this finish by using the wrong soap or (gasp!) a sponge or towel not especially made for the job.

I use a big bowl full of warm water, a giant-size Dupont cellulose sponge, and a small squirt of dishwashing liquid.

I hose down the car then start working from the roof downward, wiping each panel with a sopping-wet sponge and then rinsing with the hose, being careful to keep the entire car wet. I finish with the wheel covers as they are the dirtiest part of the car.

I then take a terry-cloth beach towel and dry the roof, the windows, and then the rest of the car. I open the doors, hatch, hood, and gas door and dry the parts that got wet in these openings.

That's it. No wax. Modern finishes already have a clear coat and it seems rather silly to add some random product on top of it and hope that it is compatible with the factory finish. It's more likely that I'll screw it up by sticking some random grit to the finish.

My 10-year-old polar white xB lives outside all the time in SoCal and still looks excellent.

 

This is terrible advice, maybe the worst I have ever seen on an automotive website in all my years

 

Your white color shows the least amount of scratches and paint wear. Secondly, SoCal doesn't get beat up by the winter time with salt and road grime, bad potholes that are constantly throwing loose rocks and stones at your finish. SoCal is overall better for a car's finish especially if it's garaged or covered. I do understand why you didn't wax it but once a year would have been nice, lol.

When I wax my car, the dirt comes off so easily between washes and beads up nicely. It hangs around on my roof in droplets until it evaporates pretty much. Wax isn't only for protection but for shine too.

 

Boys, your cavalry to the rescue!!!

A little elbow grease keeps the shine!!! Wash my cars regularly but wax once a year. We got no snow here BTW!!! LOL!!!

 

Why, because it flies in the face of the companies who want big $$$ for car washing products? Because it doesn't involve some near-religious ritual for keeping an everyday object clean? People get very upset when they are caused to question their faith!

Somebody has to tell the emperor that he has no clothes!

We have our share of grime, mostly fine, oily dirt that adheres to the car as we drive along in the spray of other cars when the road is wet. That's why a bit of detergent is important in the wash water, as a surfactant to release the oil from the paint surface. A big, open celled sponge that holds a good quantity of wash water allows the dirt to float away without being ground into the finish and wearing it.

What we get in excess is ozone and UV, both of which are not good for paint but modern paints seem to handle them well. My car isn't garaged or covered but the factory finish is holding up fine.

The problem with excessive waxing and polishing is that you eventually wear through the clearcoat. When that happens you get blisters under the clearcoat and the only solution is to repaint. The whole point of the clearcoat is to provide a shiny coating without waxing!