Tips for washing and drying
 

I am getting swirls and scratches everywhere. Using a microfiber mit to wash and one to dry(forgot to dampen it the first time,tho). Damn this black is hard to maintain. Help please. Oh anyone using a leaf blower?

are u saying the micro-fiber mit is the cause of the swirls?

ELECTRIC leaf blower + a premium waffle weave microfiber.

Make sure your microfiber is clean before you use it. All of the dirt is leaving swirls in your paint. You need to be using wax to protect the paint.

autogeek.com for allot of things like this..

That is the best drying technique by far that I have found.

FIRST!
READ THIS!
http://www.autogeek.net/exterior.html


For washing, you need to get rid of the microfiber mitt. No matter what you do, it traps dirt in the fibers, and it scratches your paint.

You want the least amount of contact on your paint as possible, and you need to try to get rid of anything that is abrasive.

You need to invest some money in a few things. It will save you time, and headaches.


Foam Gun:
http://www.autogeek.net/auqufofogun.html

This makes life easy by far. Just get yourself a nice rinse bucket, with the grit guard:
http://www.autogeek.net/5gagrguwabu.html

Wash mitt:
http://www.autogeek.net/2in1washmitt.html

I don't really use the one side, but the soft side is amazing.

To dry:

Rinse with free flowing water!!! I can't stress how important that is. It makes drying much quicker, and easier.

Use this:
http://www.autogeek.net/cobra-waffle-weave.html

Or an Electric Leaf Blower. Or both.


If your car is properly waxed, the drying process should only take 5-10 minutes.




Unfortunately, your car is already swirled, and scratched. So you need to either invest in a porter cable, a polish, and a wax, or get it professionally detailed (by a good detailer) to get rid of those swirls.

Then you can practice good washing techniques.

Why only electric leaf blowers and not gas? Too much power maybe?

Electric is cleaner.

I use this at final rinse and no water spots http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rodid=11201522

Those are sweet. If I had a dark color car, i'd definitely be buying that.

Most leaf blowers use a 2 cycle engine to power the blower.. there is the potential of having oily exhaust fumes blown all over your freshly washed paintwork.

I use the two bucket method.. one bucket for the washing solution, the other to rinse the mitt between passes.

When washing, follow the airflow of the vehicle and wash in straight lines.

Using a circular motion will cause swirling... and if should one should be as unfortunate as to catch some girt in the wash mitt, a straight line scratch is easier to correct than a circular one.

I use an electric leaf blower because I dont want to deal with the annual maintenance of a gas one. It is really lame to use an electric blower because it may be more friendly to our precious environment :kekekegay:

I just never dry my car......switched to this recently.

http://www.detailedimage.com/Optimum...-P444/32oz-S1/

Works magic. ONR + a little claybar-ing = cleanest paint i've seen since we bought the car.

I just use a chamois (shammy). As long as you keep it clean it doesnt swirl. I have heard if you drop it on the car and pull it off (it does a skid-stop-skid etc) it "warps" the wax. I have never had trouble with that but i dont dry my car like that either.
With a dark car you are going to get some sort of swirl by washing almost no matter what. I got rid of mine (when I got it then every other year) using a clay bar and meguire's 3-step.

The biggest problem I have with mine is the trunk leaking to the bumper... its a pain in the ass, you have to dry it like 5 times

This and the side mirrors were my biggest problem too. Thank god I found this no rinse wash, no more freaking water spots and streaks.

I use the Mr. Clean sprayer, but with Meguires Gold Class soap. It works as a foamer (probably not as good), and it has the water filter to help keep reduce spots (again, probably not as good as a pro's tool). A local Big Lots store had them on sale for $4.00 so I picked up a few. I use an air compressor and air wand, pretty much the same thing as a leaf blower, to help dry the water, and a Micro fiber towel.

Also, I raise the trunk and put a towel on the bumper under where the trunk lid closes, close the lid back down and the water doesn't run down the bumper.

All you have to do for the runny water on the trunk is open your trunk, and dry the actual lid underneath.

Tried it. Problem is the Cobra spoiler holds water underneath it. So that no worky for me.