rozwell911

I just wanted to let everyone what i use to clean the exterior of my car. It has servered me well in the past and i am sure it will server anyone else well who uses it:
Washing
For washsing the car, normal hose water works...most soaps now of days help prevent streaking and water stains...and if you detail like i do, if there are any stains, they come right off as you dry/detail/wax the car.
Soaps i use, there are only 4, Turtle Wax car wash, Turtle Wax ZIP car wash, Dawn Dish soap (only use when you need to strip your old wax or are planning on clay baring the car, as dawn takes grease and wax off your car) and BMW Car wash...yes BMW car wash...It works the best IMO inbetween waxes, really have very little trouble removing bugs and grime with that car wash.
Also, i usually wash a section at a time, as to not give the soap time to dry on the vehicle, makes final drying/detailing a lot easier..If you got time or a second person, drying as you progess also helps with preventing streaks. When i wash a section at a time, i always keep the hose on low flow to prevent water splash onto any dry parts i have already worked on.
Stripping the wax off Car
If you are striping the wax off the car, dawn dish soap and dry with a sheep skin shamy....it does fairly well striping all the wax of a car for a prep for a fresh polish.
You can also use a 50/50 mix of white vinager/water in a spray bottle....Soak the section of car your working on with the spray, wipe with a towel (DO NOT WIPE TO DRY) to rub the wax off the car, then proceed to rinse off with water imidiatly. With this step it is recomended to wash the car again with the soap of your choice. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO CAN DO THIS PROPERLY OR HAVE DONE IT BEFORE. you can seriously damage your paint/clear coat if you leave the vinager solution on too long. BEWARE!! I am not responsible for any damage occured to your vehicle. these are only suggestions.
Drying
Drying is simple. I only use Microfiber towels. I find they leave little to no "fuzz" like some towels do and do not scratch the clear coat like rough bath towles can.
Also, use a bit of fabric softner when tossing your microfiber towels in the laundry, it tends to keep their soft, slightly plush feeling a little longer.
Waxing
Before turtle wax bought them, i would recomend Zymol...it was 100% pure carnuba wax, all natural...it would come in a Jar similar to plamade and you would apply it to your car with your fingers...really good stuff. But since Turtle Wax bought them, I have not used it for fear that they would degrade the product from what it was....this is not to say that Turtel wax is a bad product all together, just that Zymol was at a higher quality IMO and i am afraid they would do some type of cost saving's to the brand. If anyone still uses Zymol, please let me know as i would like to know if its quality is still top notch.
The primary wax i use, is Meguires 3 step wax ( what step is listed on the outside of each bottle) (http://www.meguiars.com/ in the search bar type "Deep Crystal System" and the 3 cleaners/waxes that are part of the kit will show up...use all 3 for best results). Cleaner Wax to help remove impurities, the polish to give the car that water glaze, and the deep crystal carnuba wax to give it the smoothness and protect form the elements. this seems to work the best for my vehicles in general.
What i use full time on my car: the Turtle Wax Black Box, specificly for black cars , is ( http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,28 ) the best thing since 18 way power seats were invented. The black colored wax formula, does not leave the while or yellowish wax marks on plastic and molding, thus making clean up a bit easier. It also helps remove scratch in the clear. Best bang for the buck. I recomend it to anyone with a black car, although, people without a black car can use it, it drys black on the car, but wipes away clear. I remcomend using this wax if you dont want the yellow crusty stuff showing up on your moldings.
When waxing, use the aplicator pads specified in the box, or any of your local auto parts store brand aplicator pads..>DO NOT USE TOWLES...not only do they not apply the wax appropiatly, they can leave fibers under the wax as it drys thus ruining the process.
When waxing, do only one section at a time (EX. Hood, door panel, roof or bumer ) to prevent the wax for hardening to hard. Also do not wax in the sun, sun makes the wax dry really fast causing you to have to really rub off the wax hard...it is very annoying and your muscles start to hurt a lot. Also as before USE MICROFIBER TOWELS to remove the way...buffs to a very nice shine with them. P.S. I wax the tail lights, and head lights too...seems to offer a bit of protection from rocks and chips.
Wheels
Weather they are chrome plated,aluminum or MAG wheels, i always use a mild soap and water solution. the chemical based clearner i find can be too harsh to the wheels, and if you use the wrong time of solution (like chrome solution on Aluminum wheels) you can damage the finish on the wheels. I use a brush for the hard to reach plasces (soft brissle wheel cleaning brush or tooth brush if you have too). Once i rinse the soap off with water, i go over them with some spray detailer (Either Meguiers, Mothers, or Zymol...does not matter) and dry them off, then i wax them i find waxing them gives them the best shine and helps with removal of brake dust when washing, cause it doesn;t really stick to the wax...Also, for protecting the wheels, i have looked into the spray on clear bra and had some relative good sucess with the wheels on my previous mustang. the spray on bra was also waxable and washable...it worked pretty well for my car.
Inbetween Washes/Waxes
California car duster is your friend...workes good when you just have dust and no dirt on the car (during spring, pollen, dirt roads). Spray detailer works well also. The top ones i use are Zymol, Meguires and Mothers. There is a detailer/spay polish i can recomend also. its called Capt. Rons "the Bomb"....a lot of the detail shops in my area use it, it is very safe for paint, waxed surfaces and plastics as well as cleanign the interior of the car. It also makes waxing the windows a lot easer in the spay form, so that way the water beeds up on the glass when it rains. Also, as usual use microfiber when detailing.
Since there is already an interio thread started, i will not touch basis of it in here. that way we keep the threads seperated.
If anyone has any questions, commments or suggestions...please ask in this thread!
Lupe
Disclaimer: I have tried everything, but do not acept resonsibility for any damage done to peoples vehicals by improper use, or MFG defects in the products or people not knowing how to do something...The above are merly opinions and suggestions by me.