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-   -   Simplified: The Idiot's Guide to keeping your car clean & shiny (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/164767-simplified-idiots-guide-keeping-your-car-clean-shiny-9.html)

At 3+ years and 65,000 kms and counting. It always pays to follow strict maintenance and cleanliness, for that timeless look, time after time.

Would really appreciate if you could also share your car cleaning method.

Here is an update after a long time:

I finally procured the ProKlear CX liquid from Flipkart. It took it's sweet time to arrive, but that is not the point.

Had a chance to use it this weekend on my amazingly dirty Figo. It sure works and is much easy to use.

Spend close to 75 mins prepping my drive and it was the most satisfying time spent, apart from driving the baby of course :D

The process was as followed:

1. Wipe the dust with the Jopasu duster

2. Prepare 5:500 solution of ProKlear CX in water, put it in a sprayer.

3. Spray one panel at a time and wipe with a folded MF towel (1 quarter towel for 1 panel) so needed more than 1 towel

4. Buff off with another MF towel

Notes: Initially had a little white layer on the paint surface but this disappeared after buffing.

Some pictures (sorry don't have too many to show here)

The car right after dusting:


Bonnet before cleaning:


Bonnet after cleaning: (at least 1 spot is visible which I have cleaned later after taking this pic)


Car after cleaning:

I envy all fellow TeamBHPian's who are having a squeeky clean cars.

Due to water shortage and impending drought next year too, we guys in Hyderabad will be living with dusty cars for one more year.

Not really! Try waterless wash, as I stated in the above post, I managed to get my car shining like new with just 1/2 lt of water and 5ml of ProKlear CX liquid.

Try this or other waterless liquid and keep your car shiny too! :thumbs up

Not a big fan of waterless wash teemus. I just dont like them spray and wipe the dust with microfibre. Very hard for me even contemplate cause the place where I live it very dusty and for me to wash the properly I usually use the two bucket system (but wheel and wheel wells will be left untouched).

Not an option for me though. I will prefer pressure washer with recycled water which is very hard to get by.

Got the car washed at 3M store yesterday.



This is in the same building as my new office in Viman Nagar. The work done was exceptional!

A especially proud moment for me was when the 3M guy and his manager kept asking me if the car was really 3 months old. When I replied in affirmative, they were surprised and told me that even though the car was very dirty (dust, bird droppings, tree sap etc.) there was NOT a single swirl mark on the car.

This was a sort of recognition of me gearing up to keep my ride proper and beautiful. The weekends spent maintaining (I would not say detailing as I am not yet to that level) the car were worth it, totally! :D #feelingawesomelygood

Hey Guys,
An amateur needing some help. please:

So I went all DIY for cleaning my new Rapid (Carbon Steel).
I followed all the points as mentioned in this thread, however, committed a blunder while cleaning it today.

As I was in a hurry, I did not hose down my car properly, I poured some water from a 2L bottle and then started cleaning it from the microfiber cloth.
Post cleaning I observed that the dust had not gone completely, and noticed there were swirl marks all around the car! (Very minuscule ones, nevertheless) :Frustrati

So should I go to a 3M center and have those removed? I wanted to go there for paint sealant treatment anyway, and they'd charge extra for the swirl removal, or is there a DIY way, which considering my latest experience, I'm not that excited to take up.

The best thing to do if you are in a hurry is to use the Jopasu Duster and get going in 5 mins! Pouring water is the last thing you want to do if short of time. Just my 2 cents!

Regarding 3M treatment, I am no expert but a waxing session should be fine to get rid of these swirl marks. You can go for that surely. But I will let the experts comment on this before you go through.

Assuming the paint is not damaged, just try the sprays that are available at the petrol pumps or rubbing polish. Should be a quick job to remove these marks and should cost very reasonable.

Have pulled together a few of my thoughts IF you allow kids to eat in your precious car. This could be as simple as during a long drive where stopping will be a no-no due to whatever reason:

CLEANLINESS
1. Carry a minimum of 2 designated plastic leak-proof container or bags which are the refuse bags. Keep one in back seat (maybe in the back of the front seat magazine pockets or doors

2. Buy a packet of wet wipes (50s/100s) which can be freely used to wipe sticky fingers immediately after consuming any food so that your windows/door panels don't collect oily marks

3. Consider investing in 3D or Kagu type mats - trust me they are invaluable after a long journey as you simply lever them out carefully and dump the mess in a garbage bin. They also wash and dry easily.


FOODS TO AVOID
1. Avoid crumbly food like home-made cake which are soft and likely to crumble/break off. Instead stock up on the Britannia type hard cakes which are much less messier

2. Avoid sticky juice or milk-based drinks or similar. The aerated ones are 'better' if spilt on seats or mats

3. Avoid the oil-heavy parathas and messy subzi type food. While they can be very filling, rest assured someone is going to muck the interiors up.

4. Generally avoid heavy meals before long drives especially for kids - a series of smaller meals/snacks is a much better idea. This is also true if you have stopped to eat lunch and then start off - vomiting chances tend to be very high during such times!

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
1. Advise kids (& adults) to immediately alert you if they are feeling car-sick. Even 15/20 seconds warning from the to-be-victim can mean a major difference in the way you can safely slow down and park on the shoulder rather than brake in a dangerous manner etc.

2. Definitely carry a couple of sealed 2 litre of water bottles in your car on long drives. They can be a blessing if someone is car sick inside the car.

3. Consider anti-car sickness medicines like Avomine ( http://www.dokteronline.com/en/avomine ) for anyone chronically affected
by car sickness. These medicines are very safe when taken very occasionally and can cause drowsiness - but are generally harmless.

4. Encourage chronically affected people to look out of the window as much as possible - these allow the mind and body to understand that you are in a fast-moving vehicle and not in a small room. Avoid reading - makes many people get severe headaches after some time.

ROUTE & VEHICLE ANALYSIS
1. Ghat roads or smaller roads or even highways with repeated undulations (due to a defect in the road surface) inevitably cause significantly higher nausea etc. Analyze your route! For example, the Masinagudi to Ooty route (36 very tight hairpin bends) is a very common route to cause nausea.

2. Vehicles with softer suspensions (especially rear setups) and/or high center of gravity (CG) inherently cause more car sickness. For example, I once followed a loaded Verna (not the current model) for nearly 100 km on NH4 and noticed very uncomfortable suspension movements which MUST have been unnerving to rear seat occupants. When my Cruze drove over the same undulations at the exact speed (steady around 90/100 km.hr), we could barely feel it. Ditto for vehicles like the Xylo which wallow on ghat roads unless fully loaded. So, if hiring a vehicle, choose carefully!

3. Last but not the least, drive in a manner to avoid unneeded movement and discomfort to those in the back seat. Sometimes, we 'enthusiasts' drive to enjoy ourselves forgetting that we have acute spatial awareness, a steering wheel to hold on to plus the inevitable seatbelt. Those in other seats may not always be aware what is coming up and how your vehicle is going to behave. The Masinagudi route for example is lovely for enthusiastic drivers going up but the perspective can radically change from the back seat.

Hope these help :-) Am not a doctor or a highly experienced traveler but have had the opportunity to drive (and be driven) across India as a kid, with kids (and without) and thoroughly enjoyed every mile of the way :-)

Ideally, the swirl marks would be taken care off in the paint sealant treatment. Do share in-treatment pics with brief description.

Very nicely maintained Teemus. If possible, go for the paint sealant or any other similar treatment. It will tremendously help in maintaining the glossy look for a longer period of time.

Noob question here-
What is the life of a microfibre cloth? When I should I be throwing it off?
Some pictures to describe would be welcome.

Until it becomes extremely dirty and refuses to let go off stains in it, its good enough.

Best option is to wash it regularly with mild solution of liquid soap in warm water. It will make it soft and supple for easy use.

In 3M cloths, you will stop feeling the cloth sticking to your dry palm after prolonged use indicating reduced efficiency of the cloth due to wax,dirt sticking inside the fibers. Washing in warm water restores it back.

I was using 3M microfibre cloth for my car, but stopped using it due to extra cost and cleaning cycle. So, old used cotton underwears, dhoti, lungi and banians/vests are my favorite and do a great job at fraction of the cost of MF's. :thumbs up

Any recommendation to remove carbon from the wheels and the exhaust pipe.