Apart from pay someone else to do it.

I finaly have a car that i want to keep long enough for rust to be a consideration so want to wash it regulay. So what is the best way to clean all the road salt and everything else off a car? will using a pressue washer underneath the car work or do any damage? also recomendations on a cheep pressure washer that is good for car washing.

Leave it outside in the rain.

pressure washer underneath should be fine, and from a distance over the rest of the car too to loosen dirt. then I’d look at getting some ‘snow foam’ this stuff, it’s great at working through greasey road film and salt.

Car washes aren’t perfect for your paintwork but they are pretty useful for cleaning under your car.

4th floor balconies and Germany on a Sunday are not a good idea, so I’ve heard.

leave it until mrsconsequence gets frustrated enough to clean it for you.

You would need to be keeping a modern car for quite some time if you are worried about the underside corroding!

I would say no more than a hosepipe inside the wheel arches. Spend your time waxing the paintwork (at least twice a year properly), making sure any chips are fixed promptly and any dirt/bird muck etc cleaned off promptly.

Phill, if i leave my car for long enough will it annoy your wife enough to come round to mine? sorted mrsconsequence is doing everyones car.

bird muck etc cleaned off promptly.

Especially off the seats.

yup 😀

as a valentines present i might point her towards this thread and my volunteering of her cleaning skillz.

better than a card or present any day!

Especially off the seats.

And if you saw Top Gear…

:-O

i haven’t seen it yet, going to watch it tonight. Have i managed to ask a question that was answered by top gear or were they messing around with water and cars?

remembers cool hand luke 😯
Lucky luck philly

Have i managed to ask a question that was answered by top gear or were they messing around with water and cars?

No, not quite.

Well they WERE messing around with cars. As always 😉

It’s all about the 2 bucket method and not using sponges

Google the 2 bucket method. Essentialy one bucket of expensive car shampoo, another full of either water or some cheep crap just to disolve the gunk off the mit.

Use those microfibre noodle mits, Much less damageing to paintwork than sponges.

Always best to ‘clay’ the surface before polishing, it’s not as daunting as it sounds, just always make sure theres is lots of liquid polish on the paint and dont bother below the doorline, or at least if you do use a small bit of clay and bin it regulalry.

Use a half deacent polish to remove fine marks all over once a year.

Seal the paintwork after polishing, think of it as polishing blunts the edges of scratches, sealing fills them in.

Then apply as much wax as you have time for, 3-4 coats isn’t a bad idea as clay+polish will strip off any that was there. Then apply 2 fresh coats each time you wash. The more expensive the shampoo the less wax it will strip off, meguires gold is about £30 a bottle but leaves a much nicer finish than £5 wash’n’wax.

Trigger spray tyre blackers work better than aerosol ones IMO, and easier to apply to a cloth to wipe down interior pannels, making them black rather than shiny.

Glass cutter + polish on all the windows and lights (unless they’re plastic).

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9G3BdsuPNA[/video]

Google the 2 bucket method. Essentialy one bucket of expensive car shampoo, another full of either water or some cheep crap just to disolve the gunk off the mit.

Use those microfibre noodle mits, Much less damageing to paintwork than sponges.

Always best to ‘clay’ the surface before polishing, it’s not as daunting as it sounds, just always make sure theres is lots of liquid polish on the paint and dont bother below the doorline, or at least if you do use a small bit of clay and bin it regulalry.

Use a half deacent polish to remove fine marks all over once a year.

Seal the paintwork after polishing, think of it as polishing blunts the edges of scratches, sealing fills them in.

Then apply as much wax as you have time for, 3-4 coats isn’t a bad idea as clay+polish will strip off any that was there. Then apply 2 fresh coats each time you wash. The more expensive the shampoo the less wax it will strip off, meguires gold is about £30 a bottle but leaves a much nicer finish than £5 wash’n’wax.

Trigger spray tyre blackers work better than aerosol ones IMO, and easier to apply to a cloth to wipe down interior pannels, making them black rather than shiny.

Glass cutter + polish on all the windows and lights (unless they’re plastic).

Or

Leave it outside in the rain.

Think I know which I do.

I was hoping for something inbetween thisisnotaspoon and MSP.

I thing i will go for pre rinse with hose, cheep £5 wash ‘n’ wax using two bucket method and a cheep micro fiber mit, and just use a hose to do wheel arches and under the car.

Who really can be bothered to put one proper coat of wax on a car let alone 4

Who really can be bothered to put one proper coat of wax on a car let alone 4

Don’t whatever you do google “car detailing”.

An old girlfriend’s dad used to have an Escort XR3i and it was his pride and joy – he used to have a series of different brushes for different parts of the car – even down to a toothbrush to clean between the spokes of the alloys. Every single Saturday he would clean the thing inside and out meticulously.

Whatever you do, DON’T put it through a car wash; the rotating brushes will leave scratches all over your paint.

Rinse with a hose. Hot water, car shampoo, sponge. Rinse again. Pour cold beer and relax.

thisisnotaspoon – Member
Seal the paintwork after polishing, think of it as polishing blunts the edges of scratches, sealing fills them in.

What is used to ‘seal’ the paintwork? I need to clay mine to get some tree sap or something from the bonnet / windscreen so I want to do it properly all in one hit

Clay bar a) makes the polishing stages easier b) makes the car look cleaner.

I wash car with car specific shampoo. Clay bar it. Scratch X polish over badly scratched bits, low abbrassive polish for elsewhere. Wax to seal it in. Twice a year if i can be bothered.