A Bang for the Buck Car Washing Routine?
 

This is my first car that's worth the time to wash myself. So, I'm a little new to the ritual of washing the car on the weekend. Basically, I have little patience to clean anything (except for myself and dishes!), so I'm looking for a decent routine to wash (and wax sometimes) in hopefully less than an hour? I have had the car for about a month and a half and haven't washed it yet (except for cleaning the wheels with Black Magic wheel cleaner).

Does anyone have any recomendations in terms of products and a routine??

i use the meguiars crystal system stuff. its in a pink bottle. It works just about like any other car wash would. Make sure you use microfiber and Terry cloth towels ONLY on your car. Don't try to dry it with shop-cloths (like sooooo many people seem to like to do...). Also make sure the lather is rich, so that debris will be lifted away from the paint when you rinse rather than drag it along. Other than that, just wash it like you think it should be washed. Make sure you're thorough with your sponge (or wash mitt. I prefer the mitt...). Theres nothing more annoying than rinsing off your car to find a big streak of dirt on your door or something that you accidentally didn't scrub.

You only really need a few things to keep your car's exterior in great condition. Of course you need a few materials to wash the car like car shampoo (Meguiar's is easy to find and good), a high pressure nozzle for your hose, and something to dry the car with.

Every 3 months or so, make sure you apply a few fresh coats of wax. First strip off the old wax with a mixture of Dawn dish washing soap and water, then get to it with your favorite wax. I prefer S100 paste wax. Meguiars, Zaino, or similar is fine here too. Make sure you get a few layers on.

To keep your car clean in between washes, pick up some Quick Detail spray and a California duster. Use the duster to get the surface dust off the car and the detail spray to give it that freshly waxed look.

Tips:

Drying
I prefer taking the car out for a quick spin up to around 65-70 mph for a minute or two to blow all the water off, then getting the rest of it with cotton towels. Make sure you use 100% cotton towels to prevent swirling (especially on darker colors).

Location
Always wash/was your car in a shaded area. Make sure the car is cool so that your cleaning products dont dry on the paint.

This is pretty much what I do to keep my cars clean, and I always get compliments on how good my cars look. Just make sure you don't use any ****ty products like Armor-All or Turtle Wax on your car and stick to the higher-end stuff, and you should be ok.

Pretty much the same as above, but since my car just got painted, I can't wax yet. So, I use Meguiar's Gold class wash (very foamy stuff) and I wash Artemis TWICE each time I wash her. I also hose down each section (trunk & sides, roof, doors, and hood & sides) to make sure that nothing dries on the car.
I also use 3m hand glaze to keep the color poppin while I wait another 52 days for the paint to be fully cured.
I use SuperGlaze from "the wax shop" (brand name). It's good ****. Goes on easy, comes off easy and the protection lasts.

I do more than that- but you said "simple" :D

Ok, this doesn't sound that hard. Where do I get the towels and the Califirnia Duster?

rainx wash.
eagle one wax-as-you-dry.
eagle one tire and wheel cleaner.

How's that RainX wash? I LOVE the stuff on all my glass (incl headlights)

If you can find it a really good wax is Liquid Glass it comes in a small tin can cost about 18 bucks a can around here but its about the best stuff you can buy.

just put this on my car http://www.corrosionx.com/rejex.html ]REJEX[/URL] looks real glossy, and if it does what it's supose to its totaly worth the 19 bux it cost

Don't drive your car to dry it off. All your doing is putting dust and dirt back on the car which will cause small swirls in your paint as you dry it off.

I bought a Zaino kit from a local guy here. It is by far the best stuff I've used. As of right now, I have 4 coats of it on my car and it just keeps looking better and better with more coats. I would highly recommend it if your wanting to keep your paint looking brand new.

I have a brand new house so I don't have any trees to shade me while I wash myy car. I always wash it and pull it into the garage to dry it off. One way to keep the amount of water at a low is to use low pressure on your hose and kink it and start from the top and go to the bottom of the car. If done right, the water will sheet off and the car will practically dry itself. I've heard of people using leaf blowers to dry their cars off and to get all the water out of the cracks as well.

Go to Target and in their automotive section they have all kinds of supplies to buy to clean your car with. I bought a 5 gallon bucket, mit, tire shine applicator, and some other stuff as well.

Oh yeah, for the times you don't have a 100% cotton towel to dry your car off, invest about 10-11 bucks and buy an Absorber.

Have fun. :headbang:

You have owned the car for a month and half and never washed it! {OMG} The first week i owned my car I washed it 9 times!!! It now has 3k miles, and ive waxed it three times! I dunno maybe im just a little obsesive. :drink:

As far as drying, my GF fortunately is willing to help wash my cars with me, so we have a plan that works really well. I have a couple of old bath sheets, which are basically huge 100% cotton bath towels. We spread out the sheet and lay it on the front of the car. Then each of us grabs a corner and pulls towards the rear. Once you have done it a few times, you learn to do it so that the leading edge of the towel actually forces a "wave" of water ahead of it. This will pick up any loose dust that may have settled between washing and drying. After one pass over the whole car, we follow with two other dry towels. Now I am WAY more anal than most people about washing(wash every time I drive in heated/air conditioned garage with soft water), but this method is relatively easy and fast. I waxed three times within the first 24 hours of ownership, including removing rims and three coats of wax on inside of rims and front and back of brake calipers. My GF says I have gone way beyond obsessive to obscene.

I've had the car for 3 weeks and haven't washed it yet... because I'm waiting for the paint to fully cure before I put any wax on it. My car has a build date of 8/03 so the car (and the paintjob) can't be older than 2 months. When I do was hit for the first time though, it will be a full detail job. :)