Car cleaning delemma

[iain m]

As a rare breed in the neighbourhood, ie someone that regularly cleans their own cars I have long thought about getting a compressor to blow off the access water and not have to leather the paintwork. My main worry was the amount of condensation and dirt I could be blowing on the paintwork. I saw advertised a Metro car detailing blower at Polished Bliss for £199 and thought this could be the answer, researching I find many car detailers just use a cordless leaf blower costing around £75. Anyone had any experience they can share with any of my three options :) :)

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I thought big fluffy towels were the answer? (I only go on the detailing site I'm signed up for when I need specific info, so may well be behind the times!)

 

I know leathering in a car down seemed to be regarded as a big no no.

[Quinten]

Big microfibre towels for me.

[WestyNottm]

Auto Glym High-Tech Microfibre Drying Towel gets my vote

[Wile E. Coyote]

Big microfibre towels for me.

 

Same here.. albeit I seem to have ended up with quite a few of them as I have a habit of doing all of the cars in a single sitting if I can.

 

I've heard of people using leaf blowers but as the only one I have at my disposal is a backpack one it's always seemed like overkill (and my neighbours must already really hate the noise that comes from our plot).

 

Nearest neighbour spends ages washing and drying his car (proper job of wheels / inside doors etc) but oddly never waxes them.  Can't work out why he doesn't do it at least periodically.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I wash with a lambs wool mitt and then dry with a micro-fibre towel.

Using sponges and leathering dry increases the likelihood of scratching dirt and grit across the bodywork.

[pistonbroke]

does lambs wool mit get rid of sheep S*** 

[Onliest Smeg David]

I'm a bit lost!

 

Car Driving - tick

Car Blatting - tick

Car Tracking - tick

Car Sprinting - tick

 

Car Cleaning - mmmm! Must check Wikipedia for a definition

[dombanks]

micro fiber all the way...

 

rince,

snow foam pre wash,

wash using double bucket method +micro mitt

wheels using separate bucket and ez detail brush

dry using micro fibre cloths. place on pad down lift off

 

when dry figure what is to be done next. if just a quick wash then ill use something like megs ultimate quick detailer.

 

when finished put all of the mitts and cloths into the washer.

[AdamR]

Drive it in the rain = it gets washed

[Dibby]

Big value pack of microfibre towels from fleabay, they're so cheap just throw them away when they start picking up bits of grit.

 

New cloths = car washing

Older ones = mountain bike washing

Even older ones = oily/ painty rags for DIY