Well, I put off saying the “W” word for as long as I could. But the fact of the matter is that winter is coming for a lot of us and there is no escaping it. I get asked by a lot of customers about what they should use on their paint for winter protection. My top two recommendations are both from Collinite… Collinte Paste Fleetwax 885 and Collinite Insulator Wax 845. Both offer long and tough protection against the snow and road salt.
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Below I have outlined some helpful washing techniques that will help reduce marring and scratching of your vehicles paint. All of the washing products mentioned in this article can be found at Danase Detailing Supply.
Proper Washing Tools:
Wash your vehicle by hand with a good wool or chenille wash mitt or a chenille covered sponge.
Always make sure to use a good quality automotive shampoo/wash and definitely NOT dish soap. I hear people brag about getting a gallon of soap at the local parts store for 2 bucks and it “Cleans the car just as good as anything else…” I have used that soap in the past, before I knew better, and found that it does not offer enough lubrication and has harsh cleaners that will strip the wax off of the paint and leave your car unprotected. So don’t skimp on your car wash solution.
A lot of people use the “two bucket method” of washing. This is when they use two buckets. One bucket filled with water and car shampoo and the other filled with just water. Use the car shampoo bucket to dip your wash mitt into and the water bucket to rinse the mitt out in. Simply dip the wash mitt into the shampoo bucket, making sure the mitt is fully soaked, and wash a panel of the car. When you need more shampoo on the mitt, rinse it out in the water bucket first, before dipping it back into the shampoo bucket. It is also highly recommended that you use a Grit Guard Insert in your buckets. The Grit Guard keeps the wash mitt out of the dirt that settles to the bottom of the bucket.
Something that is often overlooked is the hose nozzle you use. Use a hose nozzle that has a rubber protector around it incase you accidentally smack it against your paint. You want your nozzle to have the option to give you multiple spray patterns as well.
For the initial hose down of your vehicle you might want to consider using a Foam Gun. The Foam Gun will create a nice foamy lather on your vehicle before you start washing. Simply add your favorite car shampoo into the foam gun and spray down the entire car or the panel you are working on. By using the Foam Gun you are creating a nice layer of foam on your vehicle. This foam helps to lift dirt away from your paint and acts as a lubricated layer. Having the dirt lifted away from the paint, and having a nice lubricated surface to start with, helps reduce the amount of marring and scratching that occurs when washing.
Proper Washing Procedure:
Before you wash the exterior surfaces of the car always clean the tires and wheels first. See our Proper Care For Your Wheels and Tires Section. Cleaning the tires and wheels first prevents you from getting tire and wheel cleaner all over your freshly washed car.
Be sure when washing the vehicle you start from the top and work your way down. This procedure keeps your from cleaning a lower panel and then rinsing dirty water onto it when cleaning a higher panel. Using the foam gun cover the roof of the vehicle in a nice foamy lather. Always start at the top of the car using your mitt in a back and forth motion across the paint, not in a circular motion. Make sure that you keep your wash mitt clean and soapy at all times. Once the roof is done rinse it off using a gentle spray. Next, move down and foam the windows and wash them in the same manor as the roof. Rinse the windows off using a gentle spray. Complete the same steps and work down the vehicle until the entire vehicle is cleaned. Once the car has been washed use a steady stream of water from your nozzle or hose and rinse your vehicle off again using no pressure. Start at the top of the vehicle and let the water run over the top and down the car. Continue this step for the entire vehicle. Most of the water will sheath right off of the paint making drying the vehicle easier.
Now it’s time to dry the vehicle. To avoid scratches I recommend using a good quality Waffle Weave Drying Towel. Just like when you washed the vehicle, start at the top and work your way down. I fold the waffle weave in quarters flipping it over to a dry side often. If it gets too wet and is not doing as good of a job of drying, simply grab a dry, clean waffle weave drying towel and continue. If you have water left in nooks and crannies use a Metro Vac N’ Blo or Air Force Blaster to blow the stubborn water out. Once the car is cleaned and dried now it is time to protect the tires (see our Proper Care For Your Wheels and Tires Section ). After you put protectant on the tires then you can go ahead and clean the windows (see our Streak Free Glass Cleaning Section ).
www.Danaseforums.com is going to be changing from phpBB to V-Bulletin. V-Bulletin has more options and will allow me to do more with the forums. Also, the new url, the old one will work too, is going to be www.detailingforums.com.
October 4, 2007
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday its Mustang convertible has been awarded top marks in all federal crash tests, a first for a convertible sports car, after Ford made side air bags standard.
Ford said the 2008 model earned five out of five stars in front and side crash protection for drivers and passengers in tests run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It also received five stars for resistance to rollovers. Side air bags were optional on 2007 models.
NHTSA rarely runs crash tests on convertibles, with only five models tested so far in the 2008 model year with one additional 2008 model scheduled to be tested.
The agency lacks funds to crash test every model of car and truck, and focuses on more popular vehicles.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranked the Mustang in the middle of the class in its own crash tests earlier this year, grading it “acceptable” in front collisions and “good” in side-impact safety.
Contact JUSTIN HYDE at 202-906-8204 or jhyde@freepress.com.
Do you ever notice that the bottoms of doors seem to rust before anything else? I’ve noticed a few late model vehicles lately with rust on the bottom of their doors so thought I would share some info. on how to help prevent this. For starters, make sure when you clean your vehicle you clean the door jams, edges of doors, and be sure you dry them well. Dirt plays a factor in rust because it allows moisture and contaminants to sit on the paint eating away at it. The other thing to do is locate the small holes at the bottom of your doors. Open the doors and lay on the ground then look at the door bottoms. You should see a few holes. The manufacturers put these holes in the doors so any water that gets into the door, which a lot does from around where the window meets the door molding, can drain out the bottom. Often times these holes get clogged with dirt, leaves, grease, and anything else you can think of. If your holes looked clogged, unclog them. Doing this a couple times a year will help keep your doors rust free!
Sincerely,
Bob Daniels
I get asked all of the time…”What kind of polisher should I get?”. There really isn’t one solid answer to this question. I’ll try and explain some of the main polisher styles and their pros and cons to help some of you out.
1. There are those “polishers” you can buy from just about any parts store or hardware. You know the ones. They usually have a 11″ or so terry bonnet and a one speed on and off button and you hold it with two hands, one hand on each side of the machine. These style of machines are really only good for applying and removing waxes and sealants and half the time are not even good for that. Do not expect to use this style of machine with a polish and get good results.
2. Next we have the random orbital / dual action polishers like the Ultimate Detailing Machine. This is a good machine for anyone from beginners to professionals. Since the machine is random orbiting you don’t have to worry about causing any major damage like burning through the paint. There are tons of pads for these machines so you will never have a hard time finding pads to use. Also, they do a good job at breaking down light to medium polishes so you can get a perfect paint finish fairly easy with this style polisher. The down sides are that they will not correct as fast or correct bad defects like a rotary polisher (listed next) will. They also tend to be more noise and vibrate more than other machines.
3. High Speed Rotary Polisher. This is an awesome tool in the right hands and a very bad tool in the wrong hands. Since the machine spins in circles and not randomly and faster than a random orbital there is a lot more chance for the operator to burn the paint or cause bad swirl marks. The best thing to do is get some panels from your local body shop and practice on those until you master the rotary, then move to a real car. However, for people that have mastered the rotary they can get out some major paint defects that other polishers can’t. Medium defects are also removed a lot faster than by random orbital, with the experienced rotary operator.
4. This polisher I put into a class of it’s own. It’s called the Cyclo Dual Head Polisher. The Cyclo is one of my favorite detailing tools! I put the Cyclo between the rotary and random orbitals when it comes to correction. It will not correct as much as a rotary but it can correct the same if not better and faster than a random orbital. The Cyclo has two 4″ random orbital heads that spin at a set speed. There is only one switch and one speed. At first glance people think the Cyclo “looks heavy” but trust me when I say that it isn’t. The Cyclo is so quiet, well balanced, and smooth operating that you really have to use it an compare it to the others to see first hand.
I hope this article was able to help some of you that where having a hard time choosing a polisher.
Sincerely/ Bob Daniels
