Dave´s idea on Car Washing
Dave´s idea on Car Washing
If you are going to wax your car in a later stage, your better make sure your car is as clean as you can reasonably get it. This is the only way to make sure you will get the best result from your wax job.
So it is very necessary to remove all dirt and road grime from the car. Failure to do so may result in scratching the finish of the bodywork due to the presence of abrasive particles that will remain on the body.
A good car wash will remove all residue from industrial fallout, bird droppings, acidic rain, road salt and dust, ... If left unattended, all these forces will work against you in trying to achieve a showroom look for your car.
When cleaning, make sure all the painted areas that are covered by shut doors, hoods, tailgates, ... don´t get overlooked and get their bath as well.
To prevent accidental scratches, it might be an idea to work with two sponges instead of just one. That way you can use one for the dirtier parts of the body while keeping the other for the cleaner parts.
To be on the safe side, it is always a good idea to take a brief ride after washing your car. This short trip will make sure the brakes will be completely dry and wil remain corrosion free.
When drying your car after giving it its bath, you better not use a chamois being it synthetic or not. Newer cars have been painted with waterbased paints that are not as sturdy as the paints used in the old days. So unless you are washing your ´32 Model T with the original paint job, you better use a thick soft cotton towel or a microfiber towel to get the job done. Reason is that the chamois develops a large amount of friction when being pulled across your paintjob. This dragging action is sufficient enough to distort and/or strip wax from your paint. Even worse, small contaminents will adhere to it and will be dragged over the bodywork. This migth cause scratching ans swirl marks that everybody can spot and nobody wants.