Re: A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide Got a rather surprising complement last week TLDR: What happened: My car got extra care at a routine car wash shop as the carwash folks believed that my car is ceramic coated Fact: My car is not ceramic coated or PPF coated! I maintain my car on my onw using basic wash and wax materials and SOPs I learnt from this valuable thread! Long version:
I took my Car (2021 Innova Crysta ZX Diesel AT, Pearl-White) to a reputed car wash in HSR - one having the big rotary mechanized washing setup.
There were 4-5 cars and all were queued into the mechanized setup. However, only my car was not queued up for the mechanized setup. Instead, the boys cleaned my car the traditional way - a)Water jet spray to remove dust, b)Foam spray and soak, c)Hand Rinse using microfiber clothes soaked in shampoo , d)Water jet spray to clean shampoo, e)Dry - using pressurized air and then using microfibers.
At time of leaving, I asked what led them to do manual wash for my car when they have motorized setup.
Car Wash: "Sir, we saw that your car is ceramic coated and hence we did not use motorized setup."
I just said thank you and moved on. I had a big smile as I moved on- because my car is not ceramic coated!
It came as a large compliment - especially coming from a pro in the business! I am glad I didn't have to plonk some 30-40K for Ceramic coating and yet got the compliment from a pro. I am an enthusiast and I do take care of my car on my own. I do not use any car wash boy. I do not have access to running water in my apartment basement parking. So, everything is manual, Tender Loving Care and elbow grease! Materials I use- Water: 2 buckets
- Garden Spray bottle of 2L capacity with compression pump and spray nozzle
- Microfiber: 12-16 pieces
- Drying: Meguiar's Water Magnet
- Shampoo: Optimum No Rinse Wash and Wax.
- Wax: 3M Wax (box is almost over); Will start with Collinite 845
- Tyres Cleaning: Meguiar's Hot Shine Tire Foam
Weekly/Fortnightly Car Care I follow - Spray water using garden spray bottle and remove all lose dust. Takes 6-10 minutes as I need to refill the bottle multiple times.
- Spray ONR Wash and Wax solution over the car and let it soak for 5 minutes.
- Soak 10-12 Microfibers in the same wash and wax solution
- Fold each micro fiber into 2 folds - that way I get 8 faces from the microfiber cloth.
- Start cleaning panel by panel- with horizontal swipe of the microfiber towel. Once a face of the folded microfiber is used, I don' use that face again. So, 8 swipes and that towel is done for the day. I keep that microfiber cloth away from the lot. I start from top and go down.
- After doing 3-4 panels, I use the Meguiar's Water magnet towel to dry the panel.
- For tyres, I just spray the Meguiar's HotShine Foam and it takes care of everything. It does not need any rinsing.
- For leather: Turtle Luxe Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
- For Interior: Sonax Cockpit Spray
Car Wax - Once a month - Complete rinseless car wash as above.
- I have been using 3M wax so far. I will switch to Collinite 745(procured but yet to use).
- I dip the sponge into the wax can, then dab the wax across various places in the panel.
- I then start working the wax into the surface by circular motion of my hand. I do two passes.
- I complete the whole body wax - including plastic panels, headlights etc. I do not do it on front and rear windscreen.
- I do head putting wax on all panels in one shot without worrying about wax drying up. I am in BLR with mild weather and I am working on basement-2 where ambient temperature is further lower and there is no wind/sunlight.
- By the time I am done waxing all panels, wax on initial panels are ready for wiping off the wax.
- I use a clean micro fiber cloth to start wiping/buffing off the wax. For this, I fold the microfiber into 3-4 folds to evenly distribute pressure
- Turtle Luxe Leather Cleaner and Conditioner: I spray few times into a microfiber pad. I spray into the seats, and start working on the seats. I don't let the liquid rest after spraying. I also use this process for my home leather sofa set.
- Interior Plastic Trims: I spray the Sonax Cockpit liquid into another microfiber pad. I never spray into the trim directly. I work the trims and then finally wipe with a microfiber cloth.
It takes me 45mins-1 hours for Washing. And ~1.5 hour if I also do waxing. So, 1-1.5 hours on Sundays, 2 buckets of water, few car-care materials, some sweat and elbow grease - and tada - My car is shiny like a pearl !
Oh yes - I do turn back and look at my car to admire my hard-work before I go to lift lobby! And it is so satisfying!
Last edited by daretodream : 19th June 2022 at 14:05.
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