Just a question that's got me wondering, can you ever over clean a car?
I clean my st proberly everyday. Just to keep it super clean. Just wondering does this affect the paintwork? Normally it just a quick wipe over with a microfibre cloth an 2-3 times a week a wash and polish. Hoover it 2x a week. ( have a little boy who makes a mess ;(.

Please discuss.....

 

I should think polishing it 2-3 times a week can't be to good for it as polish is usually abrasive.

Although would be good to hear what the buffty's reckon.

 

That was what I was thinking? I'm just such a bad clean freak I can't stand a dirty car..

Maybe I should just wash it and wipe it over.

 

Should do it every 3 months . doing it a few times a week will make the paint so thin .....

 

Ah right, cheers for the reply, glad I've not had the car too long.

So when I wash it, just best to wipe over it after to get rid of the water marks?

 

If you want to free your car from the burden of excessive cleaning, please feel free to do mine instead!!

 

A decent wax is non abrasive so you could polish it, wax it, then keep the wax topped up as often as you like as thw wax isn't going to affect the paintwork.

I top up the wax layer once a month on mine as well as doing a full on decontamination clean twice a year.....wash, clayed, polished, waxed once just before summer and again late autumn before winter kicks in.

As far as polishes, some have more abrasives in than others. Some have fillers that make the appearance of light scratches less noticeable

I use Autoglym SRP & HD wax

 

Fab, shall be investing in that stuff very soon. Cheers for the reply.

 

Yeah bring it round dude.... Sure the missis can keep
You topped with tea/ coffee. Lol.

 

When I want a quick wash and clean, i wash the car the use meguiars quick detailer, it's just a spray which takes away the water marks and gives it a nice quick shine

 

that is way too much "cleaning".
wash it daily if you must, snow foam, and rinse as much as you like.
break out the microfibre and a good shampoo after that every other time i'd say.
clay and polish and follow up with a good wax every few months, big job to do but yields good results, just keep the wax topped up.

 

I know it a horrible OCD thing I got if I don't clean my car or
My house everyday ill get all weird

 

You must have lots of free time?!

 

Work 11 hours a day as a powdercoater and got a missis and little boy. Take me what. 1hr to clean my car and 20 mins to do my house and it always clean anyway

 

When you lot say keep the wax topped. Does this mean you polish once then a few times a month you wax it?

 

Yes mate.

The polish provides the shine and can hide minor blemishes

The wax seals in the shine the polish gives

So polish once then wax, wax again and again and again to keep the seal the wax provides.

 

a ceramic paint coat would be your best bet after a proper detailing session, its a harder seal against abrasives.

Washing it as regular as you do, especially if you don't snow foam etc, will mean you're left with scratched/swirled lacquer and if you aren't using a PH neutral shampoo, it'll eat the laquer away.

I had my new vehicle ceramic coated by a pro - spend some time on detailingworld:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...ghlight=Amarok

That's mine ^ you can see how bad it was after one wash from the dealers :-(

I snow-foam mine every weekend to wash it and 2 bucket method with a decent mitt and once a month I top up with carpro reload silica and water literally gets repelled, means it dead easy to wash.

Jordan

 

Love that!
I dropped my skoda off for a service last week and the lad on the desk looked a bit confused when I told him to write on the order in big letters that it must not be washed

 

Thanks pal

I've done the same thing myself, when it went in for its 1st inspection I made her write on the work slip DO NOT WASH and then I made her add DO NOT CLEAN ANYTHING. She looked confused too!

Jordan

 

Well I normally just give it a quick pressure wash. Never had problem since.

 

What polish are you using :/

 

anybody used these waterless type cleaners
http://www.jmldirect.com/uk/mantis-p...is80100000001/

 

Auto glym

 

AG SRP isn't too abrasive tbh so you've probably not done too much damage. Its also full of fillers which will help hide the swirls that you've already got.


As others have said above. It would be a good idea to do a really thorough clean of everything and apply a nice hard, durable wax.
I use Collinite 915 on mine (when i do a big wash) which will last around 2-3 months with weekly pH neutral wash and a quick detailer now and again.


Its important to build up a nice layer of protection to help stop the build up of scratches.

 

They're allright if the cars clean beforehand, which kind of defeats the object.

The first and last time i ever used something like this was on my motorbike. I will never use a waterless cleaner ever again.


When you're cleaning you ideally need to remove the dirt without scraping it around the paintwork. This is why snowfoam combined with jetwashing is so good.
It lifts alot of the dirt from the paint before you set at it with a sponge or washmitt.

 

I don't have access up a snow foam as I don't have a hose pipe fixing at my home, so this is why I normally use my local jet wash, just wash it with hot water.

Could someone tell me what to use for a decent wash. Im a clean freak and clean it regularly..

So a list of the products and where I can get it from would be fab.

I look at my paintwork and there not many swirls, ( it's a 11 year old car which most Likly hasn't ha the paintwork treated right.)

Thanks guys for all the comments

 

Regular safe cleaning is the key to keeping your car in good condition, imo at least once a week
You can put the best ceramic sealants on your car but it don't mean you can then leave it for weeks or months without washing it

Seal and wash regular will keep your can looking great.