yea i cant standa dirty car myself. it isnt just about going fast to me, you also need to look good when doing it

 

I always say the first part of knowing how to drive is knowing how to clean your car...this is what motivates me to stay out in the driveway for 3-4 hours every saturday lol

 

Anyone else gonna tell there ways of cleaning there rides?

 

Do youself a favor, don't use too much Armorall products, particularly on leather. Their regular shine product is linked to all kinds of dry rotting from leather seats to dashes to vinyl tops to tires. Stoner makes great products and their "More Shine, Less Time" tire shine is the best I have ever used.....only takes about 15 seconds per tire. Lasts long too. Meguiar products are very good, especially their newer synthetic NXT line. They make a vinyl cleaner/conditioner that is so good I use it on my convertible top. Protects it from all kinds of nasties and shines the top real nice. Spread it out even with a rag and then rub it in good with a terry towel. Meguiar's pinkest looking waxing car wash is awesone too. You won't believe how it can make your car shine and it only magnifies it if you have waxed it at a previous date as it does not attack existing wax. Meguiar products had been used for years in the car painting and body repair industries prior to their adventure out into the consumer's market. They know their stuff.

Best, safest, non-toxic, bio-degradeable engine wash......Simple Green! Use on a slightly warm engine. Spray liberally, wait about a minute and hose off with a high pressure hose setting. Won't kill anything, screw-up your driveway or attack any materials in your car's engine compartment, paint finish, etc. Even leaves bright work shining just like they were polished. Use full strength, of course.

One of the best waxes I have ever used is Z-Best Car Wax. It is a light purple-color liquid wax that can be applied under any lighting conditions, you do not need to let dry to a haze first, and buffs off extremely easily without leaving any kind of white residue behind. I particularly like this because I have a triple black GT convertible. You can only buy it via mail order or from a booth at the larger car shows around the country. Can't say enough about it. I got my supply at the New York Car Show two years ago. I noticed it had separated badly from getting too cold in my garage in the winter and went back to the booth this past spring to ask what to do about it....or what they would do about it. Basically all you have to do is wait until the weather warms up again (or simply warm the wax up) and shake the hell out of it. He recommended using a small paint stirrer that you can attach to the end of a drill of somekind and whip the material back up to its working consistency. The kicker is this.....he then said it takes over three days for the original raw materials to be blended together before bottling! Really sweet stuff. Problem is I can't remember what their website is or how to properly spell their product/company name. I know, what the hell good am I? Just have to search it out yourself. Guaranteed you'll love it. The finish lasts a real long time and only builds up deeper with every added application. If I can find the website address I'll pop back in again on this forum and post it.

Good luck with your car care!

 

Do any of U guys use one of those water blades to dry your car?? I bought one a few weeks ago and tried it. The squeeeeeeeeekkkking sound drove me NUTS! And I also thought, if I "missed" any dirt while washing the car, this water blade is gonna drag it across my body panels & do more harm than good...

 

Have any of you all tried the "wax as you dry" waxes? Are they any good?

 

I go to the laser wash every time then I hand dry it outside ,trunk,under all the doors, door jambs, and under the hood gets everything wiped with a towel .Next I spray the wheel wells with black magic tire shine and leave it be(sometimes I do it before the wash so any excess gets washed off).Then I usually get the mothers polish or this other polish called Wicked and hit the charger and the power pipe quick. Then i polish the valve covers and the top of the electric fan shroud along with top of the radiator. Then lately Ive been using that new Black Magic Little hand held foam thing that you squeeze to get the foam pad wet and you just wipe it around the tire(its kinda arched for the tire and is about big enough to do my tire in one pass with no mess)I cant think of the damn name of it[:@].Its works real well as long as you dint put to much cause it flies all over your car.I usually wait till I'm done with the rest of the car to wipe the tires to let it even out and soak in but you dint have to.I wont use the foam cause it gets all over the rims and it sucks to get off,plus you still have to wipe it anyway.Next I go to the interior. I use a microfiber rag thats static charged and wipe everything and it picks up every little piece.Its honestly amazing how good it works but you do tend to get shocked alotMy interior has never had anything (Amorall)on the interior so it still looks as its new(that stuff is NASTY and dries **** out)I try very hard to keep it like that(I dint allow people in the back seat).and dint have any food or drinks in it. After all that fun last but not least I use spray away glass cleaner on the chrome rims and it shines like a baby's ***.I'm a little **** with my car and wont let myself let it get dirty enough to need to be touched with anything .Anything you touch your car with tends to scratch it even the wash mit, so I try not to touch it at all.She sits inside all the time so nothing really gets on her.Its never been rained on (while I had it anyways) and I only drive it maybe 600 miles a month and that makes it really easy to keep clean.


After reading all that I decided its pretty ******* boring!Sorry but you asked

 

The "wax as you dry stuff" works okay. You get a nice shine but it doesn't really stay shiny for long. Just a few days. And once it rains, the shine is gone completely. Don't really recommend it, unless you have nothing else.

Reading all of your posts makes me feel like I neglect my car! I hand wash at least once a week and if I need to do more (bird poop, excessive bugs, etc.), I will just run it through the automatic.

Hand washing includes:

~Quick wash down with regular hose water
~Turtle Wax hose car wash (you hook it up to your hose to use it)
~Lather it up with a regular car wash sponge
~Rinse it off
~Dry with a regular towel
~Apply wax (can't remember the brand right off hand)
~Buff

Voila!

 

I cant stress this enough DONT USE ARMORALL!! It will suck the life out of your top and make it dry and cracked Prematurely. A tip I learned from a leather worker, use a product called gojo (or something like that). its a cream hand cleaner, it will clean as good as armorall and it has moistureizers that will keep your vinyl/leather stuff healthy and fresh for a long time.

 

Then what would you guys use on vinyl convertible tops? I like it when its real shiny and Amorall is the only thing that really works.