You've spent plenty of money on the purchase of your car or truck, now the question arises, “How do I take care of it?” Proper washing is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood areas of auto care, and sadly improper washing damages and dulls your vehicle's finish over time.
If you take a moment to look at a group of cars under direct sunlight, be it in a parking lot or at a car show, you will most likely notice that many of the cars have light scratches all over them. These microscopic scratches seem to radiate outward in a “cob-web” effect from a central light source like the reflection of the sun. Many of the swirl marks are the result of improper washing and drying techniques. They are caused when grit is abraded against the paint's surface.
There have been countless articles written on how to properly maintain a vehicle’s appearance and while most of the tips in this article certainly aren’t new, perhaps they may help you think about things in a different light.
Vehicle enthusiasts range from those who wash or use a quick detailer on their vehicles daily, to those who love caring for their vehicle but only get the chance to wash them weekly or bi-weekly. Both categories of enthusiasts cringe at the very thought of taking their car or truck to car washes, otherwise known as “automatic swirl factories.” In this article we hope to give you some ideas and tips that will help you maintain your vehicle’s appearance and teach you ways to avoid, or at least minimize creating swirl marks.
Car Wash Shampoo
Car wash shampoos have come a long way since their introduction to the automotive detailing market. There was a time when we all just grabbed dish soap and went to work but those days are long gone. Dish soap is designed to eat away grease and food and while it works great for dishes we need to keep it in the kitchen! The same attributes that break down the grease on dishes will strip your car wax and dry out your plastic moldings and rubber seals.Some of the factors that establish a great car wash shampoo like BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Conditioning Shampoo are foaming ability, lubricity, pH balance, concentration, gentleness and gloss enhancing ability. High quality car wash shampoos will clean a car’s surface, enhance the gloss and leave the car wax, paint protectant or paint sealant intact. Generic car wash shampoos that you could purchase in bulk at a clearance or discount store lack many of the attributes of the higher quality car wash shampoos. You will also find that a cheaper bottle of car wash shampoo is not necessarily a good value. While high end car wash shampoos like the Wolfgang Auto Bathe or Ultima Paint Guard Wash tend to cost more per ounce, they are also more concentrated therefore more cost-effective.
All car wash shampoos carried by Autopia are tested and of the highest quality. If you are not sure which shampoo will work best for you, it is often advisable to use the same brand that use for your car wax or sealant. For example, if your paint is protected with BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection then use BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond Conditioning Shampoo and if your paint is protected with a fine coat of P21S Concours Carnuaba Wax than P21S Bodywork Conditioning Shampoo is a great choice. If you still cannot decide, give Autopia Car Care a call at 1-877-855-3125 and let our experts help you choose the perfect product!
Car Wash Mitts
If you ask a group of car enthusiasts which company makes a better car or truck, you will get a variety of different answers; everyone has his or her opinion! To say that everyone has a favorite is an understatement, yet there are some basic fundamentals that make an item one of the best for its intended purpose.Wash mitts can be made of long or short nap microfiber, sponge material or sheepskin that can be either synthetic or genuine. Our most popular wash mitt is the Gold-Plush Micro-Chenile Wash Mitt This mitt's long microfiber fingers lather your delicate paint in suds while gently removing grime, road pitch, and dirt.This comfortable, durable wash mitt is suitable for washing even the most delicate paints.
The Koala Wash Mitt is a great choice as it is soft, easily rinses clean, and holds lots of water and car wash solution.Natural Sea Sponges are composed of some of the softest material known to man and hold a large volume of water and soap solution. The Lake Country Foam Car Wash Sponge is made from super soft foam that is gentle to your paint and rinses clean easily. You want to avoid using shop rags, old t-shirts, and beach towels as the nap, or thickness of these items is so small that you can easily exert too much force onto the paint and inadvertently push surface dirt around instilling washing swirls. Also, these wash rags do not release trapped dirt as easily. The thicker wash mitts designed specifically for use on vehicles offer room for dirt to be pulled away from your paint until your mitt is rinsed.
If you are washing a larger vehicle such as an RV or boat, or simply prefer using a brush instead of a wash mitt, then stay clear of brushes with nylon brushes that will quickly damage, dull, and scratch paint. Montana Brand Boar's Hair Brushes features hand selected, feathered boar's hair. Once soaked in your wash solution for several minutes these hairs become amazingly soft. The Montana Boar's Hair Brushes hold an incredible volume of soap solution and make cleaning larger areas easy.
Car Wash Buckets
When choosing a bucket you generally have two choices, 5 gallon or 3.5 gallon. Usually the 3.5 gallon is too small to get the job done with plenty of fresh car wash solution, but with water weighing 8.35 pounds per gallon it is difficult to lug the 5 gallon bucket around your car. The solution is the Autopia 5 Gallon Wash Bucket System with Dolly! This bucket will make it much easier to quickly wash your entire car. It even comes with a lid so you can store your car wash shampoo, mitt and brushes right inside the bucket to keep them handy for the next wash.
In order to guarantee a swirl-free finish, we highly recommend using the Two-Bucket Washing Method . As the name implies, you use two separate buckets to wash your car. One bucket holds the soapy car wash solution and the other holds clean, clear rinse water so you can rinse your mitt after each pass over your car. This keeps those dirt particles you just picked up on the surface from going back into the clean car wash solution and being picked up again by the wash mitt.
Grit Guard Inserts
This brings us to the next topic: Grit Guard Inserts. If you aren’t using them, you should be! The Grit Guard Insert is a round plastic insert grate that sits on the bottom of your bucket. It is raised above the bottom of the bucket by four lateral fins, allowing dirt from your wash mitt drops to the bottom of the bucket, ensuring that your wash mitt doesn’t pick up the dirt you just washed off of the car. When you finish washing your car and lift the Grit Guard Insert up, you will see how well it works. The Grit Guard Insert should be used in both the wash and rinse buckets for optimum protection against instilling swirl marks. The Grit Guard Washboard attaches on top of the Grit Guard Insert and is used to agitate your wash mitt without disturbing the dirt that has settled at the bottom of your wash bucket, reducing the chance of your wash mitt picking up dirt and therefore creating swirls. You can save some money by purchasing the Insert with the Washboard together in the Grit Guard Washboard Combo.Hose Nozzles
Foam Guns and Foam Cannons
Dirt and grit as most abrasive when it is lying in a fine dust layer over your paint. Even when pre-rinsing your car with water, some of the grit can scratch. Both the BLACKFIRE Foam Gun and the Autopia Foam Cannon allow you to lather your car in a blanket of clingy suds that encapsulate the grime and reduce the risk of scratching. The BLACKFIRE Foam Gun attaches to your hose with a special trigger nozzle. The BLACKFIRE Foam Cannon attaches to a pressure washer. Mix in your favorite car soap or use a specially blended car soap such as McKee's 37 Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo and spray it on. Allow the soap to dwell for several minutes then rinse off.If your paint only has a light coating of dust or road pitch you can often use the BLACKFIRE Foam Gun or BLACKFIRE Foam Cannon as a substitute for a standard washing. Simply layer your car in a blanket of foam and lightly wipe with your favorite wash mitt, rinsing the mitt frequently in a rinse bucket. After the vehicle has been wiped down, thoroughly hose it off.
Drying your Vehicle
Two of the most popular options for drying your vehicle are waffle weave microfiber towels or an air blower.Microfiber waffle weave drying towels like the Cobra Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towel are very soft, safe and effective. The waffle weave fibers act like little pockets and absorb tons of water and when used properly are extremely gentle on your vehicle’s delicate surfaces. It generally takes only two towels to dry vehicle to ensure a spot and streak free finish. The first towel picks up the majority of water and the second towel picks up any residual moisture ensuring a streak free finish. Another benefit to the Cobra Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towel is that they can be washed with other microfiber detailing towels ensuring that they are clean and fresh each time you need them, with no chance of dirt from the last use scratching the surface.
The McKee's 37 Turbo Car Dryer is a lightweight, handheld car dryer that is powerful enough to blo
