What are the proper tools for hand-washing a new black car

J

jdthompson

New member
Hi all,

Will you please advise me on which tools are best for proper hand-washing a new black car. I want to be very careful not to put swirls in it by accident. Mitts scare me a little, because I`m never sure if I rinsed all the grit out. I have used a very soft blond boar`s hair brush on other cars in the past, and it didn`t seem to leave swirls. I also use the `two bucket` method - one for suds and one for rinsing. Blackfire products have worked well for me in the past, but I`m open to suggestions.

Looking forward to some good advice from knowledgeable Autopians. I`m still kind of a novice.

John
 
You know there are probably as many recommendations for “how to” and “which product” to use to wash your car as there are members. You’re apparently very aware that black is even more particular as to how you do it. BlackFire makes nice products and can yield first rate results, I don’t know that you need to change brands.

I think that if I were you instead of asking for specific product recommendations, I’d immerse myself in reading anything I can find on the subject of technique. I personally like Chenille wash mitts, 2 bucket with pressure washer and grit guards. I have some rather nice Boars Hair brushes as well, either can do the job. Can’t beat them with a nice pole to reach the center of a Crew Cab roof.

Accumulator has both insight and experience with brushes, he is very particular, perhaps he’ll join in here. I think he went through a shift from Griot’s brushes to top-of-the-line Montana brushes but I think he did something with UBC Blonde brushes too. I would not use the brush on black paint unless I were starting out with the best of the best brushes but that’s just me.

This link has some pretty good preliminary info: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html
 
Yeah a lot of different methods out there and much is personal preferences. What car is it that you have bought? Cause then we can be knowing in general speaking on the paint hardness of the clearcoat on it. If you where to have a very soft finicky paints that`s scratch sensetive. Then it`s much on the type of products to use. I have a Kia cee`d SW with a paint on the softer side of hardness of the clearcoat but not crazy soft though that some cars like Honda S2000 and some years of Porsche and some other vehicals can have.

The method I use can be a little expensive to go with from the start. It`s useing multible mf wash mitts and mf wash pads. So when you going in to the rinse bucket with the 2bm. Instead you put that wash media aside and take out a freshly washed one. This way you don`t ever get the risk of getting any grit back on the paint. Also I always wash my wash mf mitts and mf wash pads after every wash. And when they are dryied I inspect them from any kind of dirt or other things in them and put them in a sealed container of some kind. This is the Gyeon Smoothie wash mitt and it`s that kind of mf material I use in the mitts and pads I have. If you look at Autogeek they have these but another brand XtraFluff Wash Mitt. The Rag Company Cyclone I think it`s called looks very good too. The mf material that looks like these are basicly the same and just a difference in them and the shape of them. The blue/white is a notch thicker than the orange/white one for some reason I don`t know LOL but it`s splitting hairs. For the cars I wash I use 5 wash mitts and pads in total on the main body of the car. Then depending on the level of dirt I have 1-3 extra for the 1 swipe high from the rocker panels and the back of the car and front. So on the parts where you barely see and just a little up from there. I start on the paint and finishing with cleaning the windows. As I useally think that the windows holds on harder to the dirt and road film. So the roofs paint and finishing with the windshield and flip it mid way on the paint and after the windshield put it away and it`s easy to have a rinse bucket to get them together. The hood and the front and put it away. Then 1 mitt for each side starting on the paint and finishing with the side windows. And the paint on the back and the back window and done. Go around the bottom of around the whole car and have these in another color or different material like a chenille mitts. So this where you have the hardest to rinse off the dirt and risk picking up some smaller grit. Is dedicated to the rocker panels. Also I always wash my wash mf mitts and mf wash pads separately as I do with the drying towels and glass towels as well.
The XtraFluff Wash Mitt is about half of the price of the Gyeon Smoothie.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gyeon-smoothie-wash-mitt.html

The other important part is the drying of the vehical. Here`s also much about the personal preferences. But IMO the safest way to dry a vehical is by blowdrying it. The less you touch your paint the less risk of wash and drying indused swirls and scratches. A dedicated blowdryer with a long hose is the better choice as the way I do it now with a leafblower it`s hard on the body so I rarely blowdry the cars. The better LSP performance has in the beading and especially the sheeting the easier to blowdry the vehical it is. The technique when useing mf drying towels is also different. And the safest way is to blot drying it as in laying out the drying towel and padding it lightly. The next technique is called matador style sometimes. You hold on to the mf drying towel in the longside each end and lay it out as far as you reach and pull it against you. The Griots Garage Terry Weave PFM drying towels is very high end. It`s also called twisted loop nap mf weave drying towels. These nap mf weave is incredible to soak up water very fast and also holding up the water. I use mostly this kind of drying towels. We don`t have any good options of the double sided twisted loop nap mf weave drying towels here in Sweden sadly. The GG PFM Drying MF Towel is awesome and also the DPC Sucker JR seems to be a very great one to. These 2 in the big sizes of 20"×40" and up drying a vehical without any need to be wringing them out. I usually use 3 of these sizes with one sided versions. As I just don`t wring them out and reach for a fresh one when it leaves water streaks behind. And 1 pass is what`s needed and you have a bone dry paint after that pass.
Now you may ask about a drying aid. This many uses these days. But I`m on a different opinion of useing a drying aid as I don`t use it LOL. I have tried it but IME the drying needs more passes than 1 and that ads to the aggitations on the paint. Also with the products I have used as drying aid and even if washed the drying towels directly afterwards they loose their effectiveness to both soak up and hold on to the water. This also gets reduced for me personally when I`m drying as the drying aid break down the water tension and the capillary holding ability that the drying towels use to be effective to soak up water very fast and also holding up the water. And if you have a drying towel that marring your paint it`s not a drying towel I would use anyways or you have a bad technique with apply too much of pressure on them. This gets mostly noticed on the vertical panels you dry. I apply the glossenhancer and or protection topper after the drying if it`s needed to be wiped off. If you want to a drying aid then go with it as many does this and check out what kind of products they like to use as drying aid. With a great technique you are not going to be marring anything with it. So try it out and see how you likes it.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/pfm-drying-towel-griots-garage.html#.Xiawr9ZwFyU

I want also to mention something that I go by. And that`s I want to get the paint as clean as possible before I touch wash it. So I always use a PW when washing my car and mostly apply a dedicated prewash foam with the foamcannon. The PW comes in here for me and I use the water pressure from the PW to clean with as I do with the wash media. So I hold not more than a foot away from the vehical and the water pressure touch every part of the vehical so it helps with the cleaning. This for me is where I minimize the biggest part of getting any wash indused swirls and scratches. We have a lot more options with prewash foams here in EU. Some good ones you have available is Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam and Griots Garage BOSS Foaming Surface Wash and Gyeon Foam.

When it comes to the car soap. The Carpro Reset car soap is for me the best out there. Awesome cleaning ability from it and lubrication and it rinses off very easy and don`t leaves anything behind as in protection and glossenhancers. Use it properly diluted at 1:500 and it`s awesome. With stronger than the recommended dilution it can be very aggressive on the LSPs if you have a sealant or wax on the paint. If you have a coating or SiO2 based protection just go with Reset as it`s worth it IMO. I would be interested to test out the Blackfire Ceramic Coating Wash which is in the Reset car soap options out there. Also Gtechnic G-Wash or Gyeon Bathe is other great car soaps that leaves nothing behind as in protection and glossenhancers.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gtechniq-citrus-foam.html

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/gtechniq-g-wash-500.html

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/carpro-reset-shampoo.html

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/blackfire-pro-ceramic-coating-wash.html

And as mentioned above. You have a whole bank of knowledge just by reading a lot of threads on the forum. Chose a category you are interested in and read through as much as possible. I did a lot of reading when I got on the forum about 3 years ago. Then you get a lot of options and try out those that you think makes sense and try out those if possible. It`s not much of a difference which color you have on the vehical. As if you get marring and swirls and scratches on white paint it`s less noticeble but also the gloss degrades on it and it`s hard to get that high gloss on the white and lighter colors as well. The black paints it`s more visual when you get the damages on the paint cause of that high gloss around the them it pops out more. And the high gloss finish even on a brand new vehical comes from a chemical and mechanical decon and a polishing. If the dealership have not been doing any prep and a polishing that is great. You have a lot of benefit to do a decon and polishing on a new car as well. Then maintain it great as you will be doing with any of the methods you get from the comments in this thread.

Have you chosed the protection products that you are going to be useing on your new vehical?

/ Tony
 
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From personal experience my recommendation would be drive it to your local tunnel wash, pass it to the nearest car dealership and trade it in. It will never be clean enough. Wash it and the end of the day she’ll be dusty again.

If not wanting to do that I wash with one bucket. 7 -12 wash media.... i like MF mitts any kind. One flipping it into make shift 4 sides i wipe one direction on panel then turn to another side. I get 4 passes per mitt. Then it goes into the dirty bin and i use another one. Not sure rinsing with grit guard in bucket will remove all contaminants so i just use alot more clean mitts.

I like Carpros reset and Optimum car soap. Meg’s Hyperwash also gets alot of love. Dry with griots PFM’s. With a drying aid.

If really want to take “no marring to the next level air dry. I use a leaf blower or the Master blaster. You’ll need a good LSP. I have my car Ceramic coated and no issues blowing 95 percent of the water off.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A foam gun and many mitts. I use about six mitts per wash and I never let my car get super dirty. I’m sure Accumulator will share how he uses the foam gun. His technique was a paradigm shift for me.
 
Lots and lots of mitts. I use 4 to 8 mitts per vehicle`s size and condition. One bucket with soapy water and one empty bucket for used mitts.
 
I agree with "Coatings=crack" about drying your car with blown air to get off most of the rinsing water. It is really nice for panel seams, door and trunk/hatch jams, side mirrors, gas cap doors, or that impossible-to-dry egg-crate front grill. Each of these areas hold water that seems to drip off long after you have dried your vehicle and leaves hideous-looking water streaks on your paint.
You do this one of three ways:
1) Compressed air with an air wand (which means you have a large tank air compressor)
2) Metro air blaster
3) Leaf blower
As a hobbyist, I use the third one: an electric Toro variable-speed Leaf blower, Model No. 51599. Works OK but there are four (4) caveats to watch out for:
1) NEVER use the blower as a vacuum for leaves, as the Toro model I use has this feature. That leaf debris will blow out the next time you use it on your vehicle. (Been there, done than. Live and learn...)
2a) Wear ear plugs. Electric blowers are LOUD and even infrequent usage will damage your hearing over time. (Ditto on the live and learn..)
2b) Don`t use a leaf blower at 6:00 AM on a Saturday/Sunday morning in a residential area. The neighbors will not like it.(ditto again)
3) Watch the blower tip and keep it off the vehicle. Sounds common sense, until you let it get too close and scratch your black paint. You`ll understand this when you need to use two hands to lift the blower up and dry the roof top, hood, and rear trunk or hatch lid. (Ditto again)
4) Use a 12 Gauge wire extension cord. Smaller gauge wire (16 or 20 Ga) cords will heat up the electric motor because of the higher amps it draws and shorten your blower motor life. (Well, kinda ditto. This happened with an electric lawn edger)

At what time of the day you wash a vehicle does have an impact, as I TRY not to wash in the direct hot sun, for obvious reasons with a black vehicle. However, washing in the early morning when it is cool and still (see 2b above!!) or late evening does present some challenges. Late evening has bugs/insects and depending on where you live, that can be a nuisance to you (mosquitoes) or get on your vehicle (lake flies, gnats, flying ants). A dry, windy autumn day has deciduous tree leaf litter in the air that can get on your wet vehicle when it is rinsed OR in the summer on a dry, windy day when EVERY residential neighbor is cutting their lawn and throwing all that grass debris, pollen, and fine dirt in the air. Cottonwood tree dander (seeds) or pine tree pollen or linden tree pitch can wreak havoc on car washing.
 
There is lots of great advice in this thread. Here is my additional advice after maintaining two XXL black cars for a few years: eventually, issues in the paint will appear no matter how careful you are, so eventually you should grab a nice DA polisher like the Griot`s Garage G9, a few pads, and learn how to buff it out. A polisher like this is very forgiving on technique and you`ll be very happy with the results. You can learn the basics on YouTube.
 
One of these lifetimes I`ll write up how I wash...though it`d probably just be a long slow read that leaves people (other than Bill D) thinking "no way, he`s nuts..".

Sorta-random thoughts:

-Clearcoat is clearcoat no matter what color basecoat it`s over (BMW Jet Black/etc. excepted). I treated my black vehicles the same as my white/silver ones and recommend that everbody else do the same

-Anything that touches paint oughta be tested and proven safe before it touches the car

-BHBs from Universal Brush have always proven safe for me, but *if used properly* are generally too gentle to do the job in-and-of themselves; other methods are required to get *all* the dirt off, and failing to do so can result in marring if you touch-dry

Once the Wash Media has been tested and shown safe, it`s all about technique. The dirt on a car is generally abrasive. How do you dislodge the dirt from the surface and get it off of there without causing marring. If you press the dirt against the paint and then move it under that pressure, it can/will mar. Gotta avoid that.

And I do *not* subscribe to the "just correct it now and then" approach. Today`s cars have very thin clear and it doesn`t take much correction to overthin them. Those of us who keep our cars a *long* time (my newest is an `08) simply can`t take off clear every few years. And you shouldn`t have to if you wash it properly and don`t touch it between washes.
 
I have yet to have to correct my Accord which is a ‘10. This is all due to my washing technique. I just absolutely must have a foam gun in order to obtain the results I get.
 
Bill D said:
I have yet to have to correct my Accord which is a ‘10. This is all due to my washing technique. I just absolutely must have a foam gun in order to obtain the results I get.
Click to expand...
Bingo. "Dislodge and Flush". Works like magic.

All a matter of thinking it through :D
 
Accumulator said:
Sorta-random thoughts:

-Clearcoat is clearcoat no matter what color basecoat it`s over (BMW Jet Black/etc. excepted). I treated my black vehicles the same as my white/silver ones and recommend that everbody else do the same...
Click to expand...

This absolutely correct. That said, a darker color whether it be Navy, Black or Carbon will show marring on the finish through the clear top coat that though while present on a silver or white your eye would never pick up on a ”galloping horse from the street”. The marring is present but less detectable thus leaving many with lighter colors the illusion of a great finish. Anyone that knows what they are looking for will still pick it up.
 
Assuming I`m going to keep my car for 5-10 years, I have no problem just correcting it from time-to-time (twice a year maybe?). This video helped me understand how thick the clear is: https://youtu.be/mBGT7tNqV1w Spoiler: the pro burned through a scrap panel around 60 corrections.
 
No correcting for me. I’d rather just be super careful when I wash. Also saves me a bundle on polishes, pads, and polishers but I can understand some people’s frustrations about not being able to wash marring free.
 
I either use multiple MF towels and OCNR (opti coat no rinse) or standard two buckets with a wash mitt.
I use the Obsessed Garage method of drying. Blow off most the water. Then use a couple Rag company FTW’s (awesome towels FYI) and Bead maker/007 or Opti seal. Not so much a drying aid .. but rather layering a little bit of protection on since my car is coated.
 
bofh said:
Assuming I`m going to keep my car for 5-10 years, I have no problem just correcting it from time-to-time (twice a year maybe?). This video helped me understand how thick the clear is: https://youtu.be/mBGT7tNqV1w Spoiler: the pro burned through a scrap panel around 60 corrections.
Click to expand...
IMO it`s risky to generalize about how much clear is safe to remove, better err on the side of caution.

And remember, it`s not about "going through the clear" as removing a few too many microns will utterly compromise its UV-resistance.

E.g., many "normal scratches" I`ve done have required the removal of six microns for complete correction (I`ve measured that number countless times, still surprises me because it`s so high). Do that more than twice on the last Mazda I had and it`ll be repaint time, even though I could do it on some of my others with no problem at all.

But I`d *NEVER* expect to get away with biannual corrections.
 
bofh said:
Assuming I`m going to keep my car for 5-10 years, I have no problem just correcting it from time-to-time (twice a year maybe?). This video helped me understand how thick the clear is: https://youtu.be/mBGT7tNqV1w Spoiler: the pro burned through a scrap panel around 60 corrections.
Click to expand...

I did not watch the video, too annoying.. :)

The problem with any video like this is that first - we don`t know how many coats of material are on that panel to start with.. It could have been a repaint and generally, in most great shops, the Painter will apply a lot of material to the panel, etc., so that it can be compounded, etc., and there will still be a lot of material on the panel.. How do I know this ? I used to be that Painter..

Then, with all newer cars and new cars from the Factory, it appears that there is less and less material being applied by the Factory now..

No Factory is ever going to tell you how much paint material is being applied to their vehicles.. There is no Factory Paint Standard of total paint material application in microns, that I know of or have seen..

Unless it is the most expensive paint thickness meter like this one - https://www.autopia-carcare.com/defelsko-positector-200-advanced.html#.XiisXjKQH3g - doing the measuring, all other meters only measure -total thickness- = primer +perhaps a sealer, +color coats, +clear coats..

So while this meter used in the video is good for giving a total thickness measurement, and certainly, the higher the total thickness, the better, you still don`t know how much actual clear coat is left..

These total thickness meters, if can be calibrated to be accurate, are good for showing you how much you just removed of that top clear coat layer when you re-measure after correcting that panel..
Dan F
 
EDIT: the following is *NOT* an argument with STOKDGS, don`t want anybody misconstruing...

Stokdgs said:
..No Factory is ever going to tell you how much paint material is being applied to their vehicles.. There is no Factory Paint Standard of total paint material application in microns, that I know of or have seen..
Click to expand...

Ford has that info. I`ve received copies of it over the years from [name withheld to protect the helpful], although I haven`t kept up with it the way I should have since my interest in Fords basically ended with the last Crown Vic they built.

Note that it was Ford that came up with the "only safe to remove 2/3 mil" rule-of-thumb too. Guys who recondition LE Crown Vics take off at least a full mil all the time, often more. The cars look fine, but if/when exposed to UV those nice paintjobs are gonna fail. note that guys who do impressive Before/Afters here take off more than *that*....

Sure, you can get away with it if you treat the car right; my `93 Audi has overcorrected paint and even exposed pearlcoat/basecoat/primer and it`s not getting appreciably worse. But I`m not leaving it parked outside all afternoon either.
 
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