Here’s a good walk-through on how to wash your vehicle to minimize swirls and scratches.

I make references to “the two bucket wash method” and some people don’t know what that is.This doesn’t take ANY more time than washing with one bucket, but it can GREATLY reduce the number of swirls and fine scratches your paint endures, and that nice swirl-free detail will last longer.

***Quick side note about soap. If you use household dish-washing soap you will strip every bit of wax off your paint. If you are looking to polish you vehicle this isn’t a bad thing. But if you are looking to just give your vehicle a maintenance wash between waxes I would suggest using a soap formulated for cars which is mild and wont strip the wax. The suds in auto soap are usually better and last longer and a half gallon can be purchased at almost ANY store for $5-$15 bucks. ***

Start with a clean bucket and fill it half way with water. Add a few ounces of car soap and then spray into the bucket until the suds fill the top. If you put the soap in first and then spray you will end up with about half a gallon of water and a bucket full of suds, and if you fill the bucket to the top with water you wont have enough room for suds and will be washing with just a wet mitt. So fill halfway with water, 2-3 ounces of soap, and the rest with suds.

The next bucket is just plain water. Fill it 2/3 full or more. (If you want to go the extra mile, you can pick up a Grit Guard from www.autogeek.net)

Now start with a clean wash mitt. This is personal preference. You can use a lambswool mitt (my favorite- it holds a LOT of suds and the fibers are gentle on your finish) a microfiber mitt or even foam mitts.

Dunk the mitt completely into the soapy water mix and do not wring it out. Start with the top of the vehicle (the least dirty part usually) and wash as normal. Do one panel at a time; the roof, the hood, the front corner panel, the door etc. After each panel submerge your now dirty mitt into the CLEAN water bucket with the grit guard. Press the mitt against the grit guard and scrub it a second or two. What this does is loosen the dirt thats trapped in the mitt. The dirt, which is heavier than water, will fall to the lower chambers below the grit guard. Unless you agitate the water forcefully the dirt will mostly stay at the bottom. Now pull the mitt out and wring it out GOOD. It should look cleaner than when you put it in the rinse bucket.

Re-submerge your mitt into the soapy water like before and wash another panel. Its not always possible to wash in complete shade, and dried suds on paint is a huge pain. After each section washed I would go ahead and rinse unless you are in complete shade.

Work your way down the vehicle with the mitt. You want to save the dirtiest parts for last to minimize the dirt from being transferred to less dirty areas and ground into the paint.

You want to save the wheels, wheel wells and tires for last, and NEVER use the mitt you wash your paint with on the wheels, tires and wheel wells. What I do is wash the wheels and tires first because the tire/wheel spray works best undiluted. Meaning if you spray on the wheels and tires DRY then 100% of the cleaner is working to remove the brake dust and grime which is hard enough to get off. Make sure you use a cleaner that is safe for ALL types of metal rims unless you know what kind of rims you have, then you can buy a cleaner specific to that metal whether it be chrome, aluminum or what not. Also you want to keep the cleaner away from your paint and other surfaces because some of these cleaners are very harsh.

Another product tip/suggestion is called Amazing Roll Off. You can purchase this from most boating stores or at www.autogeek.net. “Amazing Roll-Off is bio-degradable, non-corrosive, rust inhibiting and ecologically safe and 100% acid free.”

This stuff cleans better than ANY rim/tire/wheel cleaner I have EVER used! And it has SO many other uses: Convertible tops, engines, patio furniture, boats, vinyl etc.

Happy Washing!

Here’s a sample of the power of a hot water carpet extractor.

After a good vaccuum job this is what was left on the floor mats.

After pre-soaking the stains with a mild, non detergent spot cleaner, and using a few passes with the hot water extractor this is the finished product.

Another clean interior. No more coffee stains, leather grime or dirty carpets. A dressing with UV protection and a matte, factory-like sheen was used. All interior dressings I use are non-silicone based so there is never a greasy feel and no dirt and dust is attracted to the surfaces.

When rain, sprinklers and hose water fall onto glass, the water will eventually evaporate leaving a deposit of minerals on the surface of the glass. Like anything else that sits on auto surfaces too long, it will eventually etch itself on/in the glass. After trying to remove with clay bar, vinegar, and other tricks, water spots like those below are still there. You cant always see them unless in direct sunlight but they are there and they are unsightly. This window was washed and cleaned well before this picture was taken.

Using a cleaning Polish (Meguiars M04 Heavy Cut Cleaner Polish) and a Makita Rotary polisher with 2″ abrasive pads, these spots came off in a few short passes. Hours of elbow grease alone couldn’t yield these results. The entire back window was completely free of spots and looked like brand new glass. Unfortunately, lighting was not ideal to get a clear shot but here is a picture of a tape line so you can see side by side the difference in the window.

This truck was a beast but fun at the same time. The owner has taken very good care of it in the past five years so by the time I got my hands on it, there wasnt much for me to fix besides some bad swirls/dullness and a lot of dirt to carefully wash off.

Before

Washing a black vehicle, especially a lifted truck, takes some time and care. The last thing you want to do is to grind all of that dirt into the paint.

This truck was washed using the 2 bucket method.

Bugs and contaminants were removed with a clay bar.

The inside was really not that dirty at all. A very thorough vacuuming, water and microfiber wipe down of entire interior, grime from steering wheel and leather removed, and floor mats cleaned with a hot water extractor and mild carpet cleaner.

Door jambs were cleaned and waxed.

For the exterior, a swirl removing polish took care of the swirls. A paint sealant was applied and then a final coat of wax. This was the most time consuming due to the large surface area.

Windows were cleaned, wheel wells were scrubbed and treated, rims polished, exhaust tip and running boards were polished and all rubber and trim was treated.

This whole truck took about 7.5 hours. Most of that was polishing the swirls out.

Here are the after shots: