No. Not at all.

 

I wash mine twice a week or microfibre it to get off that dust. Usually sundays if im not working i spend like 1.5-2hr babying it. Maybe i have no life.

 

If I ever go to a car wash it's a do-it-yourself pressure washer thingy... or a touchless automatic car wash (just sprays your car and has no cloth batting things) I don't want swirls

 

Hahahahaha...I spend about 6-8 hours on mine, but weekly though...provided there's no rain forecasted for the weekend.

 

Sorry if I missed this in any of the rest of this thread;

but has anyone had any experience with that Mr. Clean self-drying wash/wax device thing? Like some others here, this is my first new car, so I'm only used to a giant spunge and car wash soap.

Should I try the bald guy?

 

Yes- I used the Mr. Clean system with the special detergent and filter. The system works well, but is expensive compared to other methods of drying without water spots. Also, the plastic spray gun of my system broke after a year. The Turtle Wax Ice products along with a water blade works better overall, and costs a lot less.

But, if you DO buy the Mr. Clean system, you can get the supplies for it at discount prices at Home Depot, and at Drugstore.com.

 

I use...

Meguiar's Gold Class shampoo
Halford's Sheepskin wash mitt for the bodywork
Meguiar's Microfiber wash mitt for the wheels
Sponge only for door shuts, under the hood and inside the wheel arches
Supreme Shine Microfiber for drying

I use the two-bucket method for washing (one bucket of shampoo, another one with clean water for mitt rinsing). Until recently, we had a hose-pipe ban down here in Southern England, so back then I used a watering can to pre-rinse and rinse the shampoo off.

 

Does anyone know if a Swiffer duster be good for cleaning off pollen or would that just scratch your paint?

 

Hello Everyone,

I was reading through the thread and noticed alot of FIT lovers using abrasive materials on there cars. Here is some basic info on micro fiber towels for washing, drying and buffing your auto.

What is Microfiber?

Micro fiber is a high-tech blend of polyester and polyaminde (nylon) that makes for superior cleaning & buffing capabilities. The fibers are 100 times thinner than a human hair. Microfibers absorbing power is quicker than normal cotton better then a sponge, fine pores absorb water as well as lift and trap dust, dirt and grime.
Benefits Of using Microfiber

• Steak free auto windows with water only
• absorbs 7 times its weight
• Longer lifespan than normal cotton
• Lint free
• Non Abrasive
• Drying times decreased by nearly half
• Microfibers are so thin (100 times thinner than a single strand of human hair) that when they are woven together they create a surface area 40 times more than that of a regular fiber – creating an expanded surface area with dramatically enhanced absorbing power due to the capillary action of the fine threads. Microfiber is traditionally defined as a fiber with a denier of less than one. These towels will be with you for years and years. They have a ten to one life time over cotton/sponges/anything. I have different hot colors and different sizes available. If anyone is interested in learning more about how to protect there investment...email me tony@mimatowel.com. I am a sales manager for a micro fiber specialist. Hope this helps.

 

I've ordered a Blackberry Pearl MT Sport which should arrive in around a month (guessing). I've had many new cars in the past but was too stupid to conceive of "swirling" much less preventing it from happening. I washed and waxed that's it! I'd like to start right from the beginning this time. I'd like to formulate some system whereby I could spend around two hours per week detailing and perhaps a full day every three months. I'm excited about getting the car but goals have to be realistic if you're going to keep them up permanently. Can you guys make suggestions on a realistic, doable long term detailing plan. Include product suggestions and explanations as to why. I'd like for the total yearly cost of detailing to be no more than $300 and preferably below that. Basically I'd like the best detailing buzz per $ and hour spent! I appreciate any guidance or ideas.

 

My suggestion is to START with a clay bar (best deals on Amazon.com) using the lubricant that is recommended by the clay bar manufacturer. Thereafter use the Turtle Wax "Ice" system of wash detergent, polish, and detail spray. Based on your new color choice, I would bet that swirl marks should be expected from the delivery dealer, so look CAREFULLY. If the marks are there, refuse to take the car until they have their own detail shop remove the marks that they left.

The reason that I suggested starting with a clay bar treatment is that many cars are transported from a sea port inland by rail. A lot of particulates wind up embedded in the paint from rail transport, as well as from Hadley truck transport.

My recommended system will fit within your requirements and leave you time and money so spare. The performance of the Turtle Wax Ice products have been positively reviewed here over and over.

 

You my friend are a dedicated cleaning and waxing man! That Meguiars stuff is a fantastic product line, only wish I had the time to care for my car like that.

+1 for Turtle Wax Ice, easy to use and quick to apply. If you don't have time for a 3-stage wax then Ice is the way to go!

 

I use a California Dash duster to dust my car. I've also used Meguiar's car wash, clay bar with Quik Detailer, and Gold Class wax. Last time I washed, clayed, and waxed my car, it took about 8 hours over 4 days (the last 3 days, I only had about an hour each day)!

I've noticed some scratches on my car, some I was able to severly minimize with ScratchX, others not so much. (I had a white "smudge" on one of the rear doors and after using ScratchX 3-4 times, it is hardly noticeable at all, but I have a few scratches on the door sill that I used ScratchX on 4 times and it's still there.) However, I've noticed that I have swirl scratches all over my car, escpecially on the hood.

I've almost always (two of the three times in 5 months, the other time I used a self-serve spray carwash and didn't let anything but the water touch the car) hand-washed my car with a microfiber mitt, dried it with a microfiber waffle-weave towel, wiped the detailer off with a microfiber towel, and buffed the wax and ScratchX with a microfiber towel, the only thing left is the California Duster. Could this be scratching my car up, or could soaping, claying, waxing, or buffing in circles scratch, and should I be doing this back-and-forth only?

Also, am I correct in assuming that once I use the ScratchX, I need to re-wax the area? What else do I need to make the car really shiny? Finally, I see some discolored spots on some of the rubber areas. What is good for cleaning that?

 

Quick newbie car wash comment & question:

I haven't washed or cleaned my FIT for... almost 3 months! (Yes, worthy of stoning I guess)

I wanted to ask, to the pros out there, what YOU would do if you were in my shoes.

I'm a high school art teacher who has little free to for cleaning things up (I rarely "clean" my room) since I'm usually out and about.

Should I use a clay bar first then other products? If not, then what?

 

I'm not a "pro", but have been driving, building, and caring for vehicles for over 40 years. In your case, I would wash the car to remove the accumulated grime and particulates, then clay bar to remove embedded particles, then wax REALLY WELL to protect as much as possible over the next three months. And YOUR winter weather will absolutely NEED the protection of the wax!!

 

So say i am using the microfiber cloths for cleaning windows or wiping the dash or drying the car.

Can i toss these in the washing machine? I heard laundry detergent destroys microfiber cloths... thus eliminating the purpose of them

 

If your machine has a "double rinse" cycle, use that to get residual detergent out of the cloths. Otherwise, the cloths will be OK.

 

cool. thank you sir.

 

Has anyone tried the green microfiber mitts available at advance auto parts ($5)? They look like green dreadlocks and feel soft and well built. I'm going to try and avoid marring/swirlmarks from the beginning.

 

Green microfibre mitt - Yes, that is all I use! Right from the beginning and no one else in the house is allowed to use it on their car!
No touchy the Fit Mitt! I love it. It does a fabulous job - rinses very clean and by the design seems to draw any dirt far away from the surface of the mitt.
Mine is washed in a clean bucket of car wash soap after I finish - rinsed very well (takes forever to air dry in the sun) They say you can use it as a chamois - I didn't find it to work well at all for this but it definitely HOLDS water for a long time)
Mine is the same bright lime green as the day I got it = no dirt in the mitt.