[Closed] I think I'm going to have to wash the car

Got mine done 2nd week of lockdown, took half a day inside and out. It has sat on the driveway since and is covered in dust. Ah well.

Our Volvo festermobile has a wash and hoover once a year whether it needs it or not. I think its due today coincidentally!

I’ve got a worx hydroshot with a soap dispenser and a couple of buckets but what cleaners do I need?

Mine is needed daily for work, I'll not be able to see out the windows soon. I'm happy to let it fester as it's not my car, but they comes a point where the practicalities have to be considered. It doesn't help that work often has me in the arse end of beyond and down shitty tracks in a bog standard mid range estate car.

I'm tempted by the washing up liquid idea and I don't want to go "full detailer" but I'd like to do a half decent job if I've got to use my time and effort.

For christs sakes dont use washing up liquid. I did and it stripped our blue van of any shine.

I've washed and cleaned mine 4 times without it having moved from outside the house.

What should I be using then? Is a snow foam with it? Will it work with the hydroshot?

Is the autoglym 3 step "blast" system any good?

I’m tempted by the washing up liquid idea and I don’t want to go “full detailer” but I’d like to do a half decent job if I’ve got to use my time and effort.

Wash'n'wax, are some better than others? Probably, but really it doesnt make a difference unless you're trying to take photos of the reflections of fluorescent tubes with water droplets sprayed onto it. It's called "car shampoo" because you want it to have enough surfactant to wash off the dirt, but leave behind a layer of wax/silicone to make it shiny. A bit like human shampoo makes the model on TV look sexy, whereas washing your hair at home in shower gel doesn't.

If you use just surfactant then you strip everything off.

Wash it in the shade with a sponge and rinse it with a hosepipe.

Your car now looks 99% as good as a "detailed car" from the sort of distances anyone is ever likely to look at it from.

Next level faff:

2 buckets, grit guards in the bottom of them, and 2 of those noodly microfiber mitts. 2 buckets means you wash the mitt to remove the grit and dirt before putting it back in the soap. Th microfiber mitt stops the grit form swirling the paint, a sponge on a dirty car is like dragging an 160grit sanding block across the paint.

This does make a difference if you wash your car regularly and/or care.

Beyond that there's a whole world of clay bars, de-iron something or others, tar removers, correctors, polishes, waxes, paint thickness testing, overpriced orbital sanders, and £30 a litre car shampoo (sorry, conditioner, anything over £10 a bottle seems to be referred to as conditioner, must be the extra zero).

Mine hasn't moved for a month! Inside is clean, I did hoover that out a couple of weeks ago but the outside is now really quite dusty!

There's a decent jetwash at a garage just around the corner but I'm not sure if it's been closed as "non-essential". Certainly not going to waste time handwashing it!

I washed one car a few weeks ago and it is covered in pollen, dust whatever and no cleaner than if I had been using it. That's it for 6 months anyway as only tend to wash car a couple of times a year.

There’s a decent jetwash at a garage just around the corner but I’m not sure if it’s been closed as “non-essential”. Certainly not going to waste time handwashing it!

By the time you've driven there surely handwashing would have been quicker?

Hose pipe, bucket and sponge, hose pipe. 20 minutes max?

Why not just use some Windolene on the glass and lights and leave it be? Waste of water.

Quick hose and sponge then Tesco furniture polish (red can) FTW.

Washed the wifes car because I can see it from the sofa and was filthy. Dirt was also inhibiting the opening of the back doors when I took it shopping. Less fussed by my van as I can't see it from the sofa and it's twice the size.

Had to clean one of my previous cars for fear of one of the ecologists at work declaring it a nature reserve and applying for SSSI protection. Also thought it would be handy to see stuff in the mirrors for a trip to France.

Actual shampoo is much of a muchness in my opinion. I generally use some generic stuff from the supermarket, or some household cleaning products if I don't have any.

If you want to make a good job of it, polish and wax. Clay bar too if you're really serious.

Autoglym Super Resin Polish and Extra Gloss Protection are both recommended and easy to come by. They're also easy to apply.

That'll keep you good for the next 6 to 12 months, where a quick wash with little more than water will bring it up well again.

My 'technique' for pre cleaning car and bike is to put usual amount of car wash in a bucket of hand hot water and run that through my hydroshot. Gets loads more muck and grime off than hosing with cold water. Hydroshot still works fine.

Hose, bucket with some generic car shampoo and a sponge, hose again. Takes about 20 mins, including the time it takes for my 2-year-old to help.

I'm sure doing it with a bit more care can be enjoyable in itself, but it sounds like the OP has other stuff to be getting on with.

Tuesday or Wednesday after the lockdown started I saw a guy with 3 cars in the drive polishing the last one, I thought what you doing for the rest of the lockdown.

I want to wash and hoover the car but I have no drive, just a numbered parking bay out front. Would feel kind of hypocritical to be out there washing it or should I count it as my daily exercise?

Its due to start raining next week. Should save me a job

I made the mistake of parking my car under the trees across the road. It hasn't moved for weeks and all the local feathered population has been having a dirty protest. It's like the four-wheeled version of Bobby Sands H Block

For christs sakes dont use washing up liquid. I did and it stripped our blue van of any shine.

I can attest that this works on red cars also. Looked like it'd been painted with matt emulsion.

what cleaners do I need?

Bucket, sponge, washing up liquid, deckchair, beer, someone else's teenager and a fiver.

Trouble with washing cars is, you find stuff.
The other day washing the car I found a rust scan the size of a pound coin. Me being me it escalated to two large holes giving a nice internal view of a sill, in primer. luckily I have some colour match gaffer tape until my welding bits turn up.

Probably not the place to say I use tfr and a soft clean broom on the big red van.

Anyone who does otherwise has too much time.

The other cars I spend more time keeping the underside clean and free from salt and dirt than I do the topside.

Trouble with washing cars is, you find stuff.
The other day washing the car I found a rust scan the size of a pound coin. Me being me it escalated to two large holes giving a nice internal view of a sill, in primer. luckily I have some colour match gaffer tape until my welding bits turn up.

Its old. That's normal

I made the mistake of parking my car under the trees across the road. It hasn’t moved for weeks and all the local feathered population has been having a dirty protest.

Relevant to the discussion... Bird shit eats through the paint. Some paints are hardier than others but it's a good idea to wash off sooner rather than later.