My car has been filthy for weeks so I called in at the local hand car wash now we've had a few dry and cold days. Drove the couple of miles home and already there's signs of dirt on the wheels and doors so one decent journey to work and it'll be filthy again.

I underestimated just how dirty the roads are after weeks of deluge rain so I don't think I'll bother having it washed again this winter. Waste of time and money really so I'll just clean the windows from time to time.

Anyone else noticed how mucky the roads are or suffering knock on effects from the rain in general? I'd quite like to see some nice clean snow falling soon.  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

If you’re not bothered about washing it, just take it to a jet wash to rinse any salt and the worst of the crud off with plain water. It won’t look perfect by any means, but it’ll stop the bodywork and paint getting damaged unnecessarily, with minimum cost and effort

Personally wouldn't go near a hand car wash; have occasionally used the local jet wash, much prefer diy

Give Turtlewax rinse wax a try , fantastic product if applied correctly



Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (Now gone)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S (Gone,but what a car)
2020 Ford Fiesta ActiveX 1.0 Ecoboost
2024 Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 Tsi SEL

Sidthecat wrote:

Personally wouldn't go near a hand car wash; have occasionally used the local jet wash, much prefer diy

+ 2

I don't know what they used for shampoo/wax etc but it took me several proper DIY hand washes to get the smeary muck off.

J

I never went near the hand car wash places with my last 2 cars which were navy blue and deep red. However, my current car is silver which doesn't show the inevitable paint imperfections such as swirls caused by the hand car wash guys. Stress free colour. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

The missus’s SLC is a mid metallic grey. I tend to wash it weekly using snow foam, jet wash, 2 bucket wash, gentle Bilberry wheel cleaner and plush towel dry. It looks fairly good with a mild paint correction off a clayed base, DAS3 and megs 205 / chemical guys foam pads (with 105 on tougher areas first) each spring and the odd top up of techwax through the year. It gets a wheels off arch and underside attack once a year after the salt has been down.

But, if I don’t get a chance to wash it, or the local seagulls get a severe dose of incontinence mid week and I don’t notice and clear their output, she will not listen and will sneakily take it to the scratchers down the road. The impact is immediate and clear, swirls, harsh chemical residue and shiny brownish/blackish tyres etc. and due to the harsh chemicals they use, her wheel lacquer is suffering which is gonna be expensive to fix (diamond cut!). I think she has got the message now, but I do need to keep it clean or she will do her thing to get it shiny again.

My Freelander is silver, so as mentioned above, shows little superficial marking and as I bought it recently I haven’t had time or the temperature to correct anything yet. So if it gets too cold, that may go to the scratchers here and there, but not after I have hit it with the DAS in the spring.

It will get a pretty harsh introduction to my care with Tardis, Red7 clay etc to prep the surface for paint correction under lights and remove whatever has happened to it during the last 9 years. Sadly there are a couple of areas I can already see which are beyond correction (a car park door ding which has broken clear coat, 8mm stone chip/dent in bonnet leading edge, driver door edge scuffs) which might get some localised paint if I can be bothered when it warms up. Also the wheels will get a DIY refurb this spring, and the headlining will get a complete go over with APC to remove a few yucky kiddy prints and general build up. After that, it is just my regular weekly wash maintenance process as above - about an hour.

It may sound excessive, but really takes little extra time compared to a regular wash and is quite therapeutic and satisfying compared to my day job.

Quote:

It may sound excessive, but really takes little extra time compared to a regular wash and is quite therapeutic and satisfying compared to my day job

Totally get where you are coming from, my escape and "me time" find it really therapeutic to get the cars looking sparkling.  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I worry about jet washing, as it must drive the dirt and moisture into places in the chassis, and bodywork, that are not that accessible.

Maybe modern cars are better built and designed, but hidden voids were always where the rot started in the past.

Having said that, I do use a normal car wash, which probably destroys my argument, as well as my car.

I do, however, always do a pre-wash, with a bucket and brush, of my wheels and lower edges of the car, as I find most automatic car washes leave these bits dirty. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Too right Bob , the wife's Fl2 after a cleaning session


And mine after a good clean




Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (Now gone)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S (Gone,but what a car)
2020 Ford Fiesta ActiveX 1.0 Ecoboost
2024 Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 Tsi SEL

Down under tougher drought regulations are expanding around the country. A good excuse not to wash the car.

'Cleaning of vehicle windows, windscreens, number plates and mirrors can be done for safety and regulatory purposes with buckets only.' Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

bxzx16v wrote:

Too right Bob , the wife's Fl2 after a cleaning session

Mark

Looks really nice.

I love cleaning black cars, especially removing minor paint faults but after driving a mile away from home I want to take them back and do it again as they already look grubby. With silver, they never look as good straight after a wash, but rarely look as dirty after a busy week either. With previous silver cars, sometimes I have to wash it to see if it is dirty or not.

I may seem a little obsessive to some about car cleaning, but I do tend to use them as a tool rather than have them as garage queens, so they get dirty - my Vette had 160,000+ miles on it when I sold it after 9 years of ownership and still had a pretty good (red) paint finish.

To see what can be achieved by a pro with somewhat harder cut pads and compounds (which you and I probably would be advised to use with some tuition and measuring clear coat depth first!), this video of a 214,000 mile FFRR Vogue going through the mill shows true obsession (and not a small amount of skill and experience IMHO).

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq2Kxm4MquudBM4BR3sPcHQ

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Lol! I suspect those of us that are not obsessive car-cleaners are unlikely to watch a 48 minute video of someone else cleaning their car!  2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

If you have never pulled off the boot panels etc you will get a rude shock of how much dirt is behind them. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18