How dirty NB's get clean

[LadybugEwa]

Do you hand-wash your baby or just dirve through the car wash on your way to somewhere? Personally, I hate the automatic car washes . The first and last one I took Ladybug to bent her front license plate and did a sucky job of getting the dirt off. Hand washing also gives us some special time to bond. What is your preference? How does it apply to your NB lifestyle?

[Lnzbug]

During warm weather I hand wash.Once salt is put on the roads I auto wash him.You can't leave the underside dirty or he'll rust from underneath.That's what happened to my honda.She still looks pretty good for a 22 yr old daily driver'but try to jack her up and all you hear is crunch!I am not going to make the same mistake with my NB

[Herbie3Rivers]

Hand wash in the warm months, and automatic in the winter.

[Fowvay]

Hand wash when I can and the rest of the time I use those power sprayers at those self wash places. I just spray a lot of water under the car.

I refuse to use a car wash with brushes (soft touch or not). They are impregnated with other peoples dirt and grim. If I want to have my car sanded.. I will do it myself.

[dnyed]

I never wash my car.













(Bill is the car washer! )

[squeebug]

I had wash in the warm months and in the winter months I don't wash at all. I'm not being a bad daddy, he hibernates

[Toad]

I love spending a good few hours handwashing and doing a quick detail of the interior on a saturday afternoon, ot taking all day on a full blown exterior detail in the spring/summetime.

If i'm in a hurry and the car is embarrasingly dirty, i will go to a local power wash that uses warm water, and i'll bring my chammois with me to dry it off.

[Deserion]

I hand-wash all three year round.

-Des

[FineExampl]

My most recent ritual is this:

Coin-op place with the power sprayers for a good hosedown
The pink sudsy stuff and the brush from the wall for the wheels (only the wheels)
rinse
A little of the protectant stuff from the sprayer with the rinse
Hurry home
Soft towels
One towel to mop excess water, one to use with next step
Meguiars Quick Detail to get all the stuff that needs attention like the lower portions
Meguiars Spray Wax everywhere with microfiber cloth
Open the engine, trunk, doors and clean all sills, nooks, crannies, engine/battery/air filter and any hoses, etc.
Quick wipe of the windows
And last but not least, a kiss

Oh and i vacuum if it needs it

[callisto9]

since i rent, i don't really have the luxury of hand-washing. in nice weather, i will take curby to the parents for a 3-hours cleaning job, but mostly, i do the do-it-yourself wash at the local car wash. when it's cold, i do the auto wash. when i am in the do-it-yourself bay, it's wash, vacuum, hand-dry, drive home, windex and clean the wheels (sheesh those wheels get dirty!). once or twice a year i hand wax and once a year i use a clay bar.

i was using those brushes on curby up until i posted a thread on here and realized how bad it can be on my car's paint! when i drive into the auto car wash, the water does seem to spray all over the underside of the car, so that's good.

i usually wash curby once a week when it's nice. when it's crappy, maybe about once every few weeks or so.

[mentalVdub]

i hand wash.

but to preserve and prolong the wax on the paint (according to meguiars) i also spray the bug down at the do it yourself joints instead of hand washing all the time.

[FineExampl]

This thread reminds me. There's a new handwash place on my way home from work. Can't wait to try it out. New building and all new equipment. Us fancy people need a fancy car wash.

[GINA]

Originally Posted by FineExampl

My most recent ritual is this:

Coin-op place with the power sprayers for a good hosedown
The pink sudsy stuff and the brush from the wall for the wheels (only the wheels)
rinse
A little of the protectant stuff from the sprayer with the rinse
Hurry home
Soft towels
One towel to mop excess water, one to use with next step
Meguiars Quick Detail to get all the stuff that needs attention like the lower portions
Meguiars Spray Wax everywhere with microfiber cloth
Open the engine, trunk, doors and clean all sills, nooks, crannies, engine/battery/air filter and any hoses, etc.
Quick wipe of the windows
And last but not least, a kiss

Oh and i vacuum if it needs it

Do you think the foamy brush on a stick is as bad as going through a regular car wash? It's just starting to get too cold here to hand wash all the time.

[dnyed]

We have a cabinet in the garage, dedicated to car washing supplies. A car washing bucket, special soap, old 100% cotton towels (cut into manageable sizes), sprays for tires, leather, windows; different brushes for different things (one for tires, two for wheels: one for outside area, and one for crannies), squeegies and shammies. We're also lucky to have hot and cold water in the driveway. Our Bugs get a nice, warm bath. They are so spoiled. But they look good when clean!


This is Betel the TDI's last bath, the day we sold him. He was so beautiful for his new mom!

[FineExampl]

Originally Posted by GINA

Do you think the foamy brush on a stick is as bad as going through a regular car wash? It's just starting to get too cold here to hand wash all the time.

I will never use that brush again. I don't even use my OEM washmit on the paint. I had awful swirls on my hood once. Took an hour too get rid of them. Granted the swirls were VERY minor, but still, why would you put to risk that beautiful paint?

[GINA]

So do you just use the rinse w/protectant, not any soap or scrubbing or anything?

[FineExampl]

Originally Posted by GINA

So do you just use the rinse w/protectant, not any soap or scrubbing or anything?

The high pressure hose gets the bulk off of it and the Meguiars at home gets the fine stuff as well as gets the water spots off. All that's usually left is a light films of road dust by the time i'm done at the wash place. I use clean towels each time i do the rubdown and they usually don't come away filthy aside from the places i cant hit with the hose properly. I'd say the results are good for a quick jobber like that. Biggest annoyance is grease, but the Maguiars spray breaks that up too.

best of luck everyone time to go home

[Sukhoidave]

I love to hand wash with my Mr. Clean auto dry system whenever I can. In Ohio thats only a bit more than 6 months a year. (seems like ) When it gets cold and salty its the coin op sprayers for me too. No brushes or anything else touches my car!

[captbp]

Hand wash all year

[Smileybug]

I havent had it in the winter months yet...but I haven't washed her since I've been at school. Slightly difficult since I don't have a hose readily available like at home. I washed her by hand about once a week or so. Bought a bucket of car wash stuff from my local BJ's Wholesale...Turtle Wax brand. Its good stuff. Thats what I use. Its one of those car wash things with the wax in it so thats nice. Paint still looks wonderful. I've heard too many horror stories about NBs taken to auto car washes. I will never do that. I may try to swing in a local do-it-yourself car wash before it gets too cold...but I have exams in almost a week so I dont really have time, then I'm going home. I promise, I'm not a bad mommy! Its all the fault of college that I can't wash her!

Considering all the highway driving I do, it rains enough here that she still looks pretty. Can't wait to wash her when it gets warm again...and give her a good vacuuming too.