washing and waxing info

[greenmachine]

hey i decided to create this thread so you guys can throw any info you have from washing to waxing, if you have any tips, tricks, techniques or anything post it up in here, just put everything you know.. and then when the thread dies i will create a new thread in the Technical & Informative Articles form with all of the information gathered or just throw it up in here and have meissen stickey it..

[meissen]

Washing:
Use two buckets, one for the soap water, the other to rinse the sponge off with. You get the most "cleansing" effect from the soapy suds, so when you make your soap bucket up, blast the water to get as much suds from the soap as possible. Spray the car down with the high pressure level of your garden hose, that's usually enough to spray off a lot of dirt and such. If you're using some sort of tire cleaner / rim cleaner that you spray on and let soak in, now would be a good time to apply it once the car's all sprayed down. For sponging the car down, when you scoop the sponge up from dunking it in the bucket, try to get a lot of suds on the sponge. Clean one section at a time, start from the top and work your way down. That way when you rinse it off, the dirt isn't being rinsed off onto a section that you had already cleaned. After wiping down a section, squeeze all that you can out of the sponge, dunk it in the rinsing bucket so it gets nice and wet again, swoosh it around to try and get rid of as much dirt off the sponge as possible, then squeeze all the water out of it again. Dunk the sponge in the soap bucket and repeat from above. When the whole car is clean, here's the time saving trick (and IMO, the most important part because washing the car is basic stuff, but rinsing it effectively, that's the skill) remove the nozzle from the hose, let the water flow freely out. What you want to do is use the flow of the water to gently flow out of the hose and onto the surface of your car. You want to hold the hose at such an angle so that it's a smooth transition and it doesn't splash all over. The water flowing freely out of the hose onto the surface of your car will sheet all the water off leaving only a few waterspots behind. It takes a lot of practice to do it right and to know the right angles and what parts to do in order, but when you get it down good, drying time is drastically shorter because all you have to do is wipe up the straggler waterspots that didn't sheet off the car with the rest of the water.

Drying:
I prefer to use microfiber waffle weave drying towels, they work the best in my opinion. Chamois aren't plush at all, so any dirt that somehow lands on your car after you washed it, the action of "pulling" the chamois across the car's paint is just asking for tons of scratches. Same goes for that waterblade or whatever it's called. Ideally, if you just finished washing your car, there shouldn't be any dirt on it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Of course, you can be extra safe and just use a leaf blower (that you've cleaned all the dirt and debris out and off of!!!)

[Yoeasy69]

oh... danielsan.. waxon, waxoff, waxon, waxoff..

[02hawk796]

These are not normally compatible with above.
For use with Zaino.
For more, check the other threads, much info there.
1. use drop cloth.
2. once you use a sponge or applicator on your wheels, rip out a corner of the sponge to mark it so you never apply it to paint again. possibly use similar trick to mark wheelwell items, if the wheelwell was filthy. otherwise, don't polish the wheelwels or wheels until the rest of the paint is done. you will never get the brake dust out of those sponges, so use them on paint to put scratches in.
3. use electric leaf blower to dry the car.
4. do not buff wax or polish once it's dried. remove the dried surface, and buff the stuff that's still maleable - the dry stuff will just scratch.
5. for wax, should probably still do in the shade. for Zaino, blazing hot sun is best.
6. roll up the windows.
7. for Zaino, only use 100% cotton Made In USA towels, if you can find them.
8. see a neighbor throwing out a kiddie pool? scarf it and use it to soak your wheels in during cleaning.
9. to help you compare the optical clarity of your shine, hold a credit card close to the paint and see how clear the embossing is in the reflection.

btw, posted some "new" pics from 2002 on the first page of my cardomain.

[JoeliusZ28]

dont have much to add, its been covered pretty good already

3. use electric leaf blower to dry the car.

i also like to use an air compressor to blast the water out of all the nooks and crannies on the car. this helps prevent those EXTREMELY ANNOYING water traps from releasing water at random while you are trying to wax the car, or dry it spot-free.

[greenmachine]

good so far now how about polishing and waxing?

[SS4Matt]

yeah i use an air hose to blast out water from the mirrors...rear taillight panel area...and my rims especially...those rivels on my rims=water hiding spots lol...so i always go around my car and blow it all off...but i also have the luxury of an Air Drier at my work! that eliminates a good 10 minutes of drying (or scratching) with a towel lol

[02hawk796]

dont have much to add, its been covered pretty good already


i also like to use an air compressor to blast the water out of all the nooks and crannies on the car. this helps prevent those EXTREMELY ANNOYING water traps from releasing water at random while you are trying to wax the car, or dry it spot-free.

I aviod saying that because many air compressors are not up to par, and they have been known to blast out particles, like sand (aka sandblasting your paint). I suggest just spending more time on those areas (ALL light lenses, door sills - pop open every door, hatch, hood once, to get the pooled or runny stuff out - window trim, mirrors, antenna, plates, panel seams, grilles.

[02hawk796]

good so far now how about polishing and waxing?

For Zaino Polish, most tips and tricks are posted on thier website. Including: for cars with gorgeous curves like Pontac Firebirds, the direction of application makes a visible difference. For instance, apply the polish in vertical lines on the doors, and in side-to-side rows on the hood, the difference will be visible. For those with the plain-jane sheet metal straight bland look without curves (like Camaros), it won't make much difference.

[JoeliusZ28]

I aviod saying that because many air compressors are not up to par, and they have been known to blast out particles, like sand (aka sandblasting your paint). I suggest just spending more time on those areas (ALL light lenses, door sills - pop open every door, hatch, hood once, to get the pooled or runny stuff out - window trim, mirrors, antenna, plates, panel seams, grilles.

most air compressors have air filters, mine does and it definitely does not blast out particles... i used to blast myself in the face with it all the time as a kid, so that isnt a concern at all to me. Id be more worried about the leafblower shooting stuff than an air compressor. most of the water trap areas arent places where a particle of sands worth of damage would show anyway