Best way to shine up a clean, but dusty car?

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Elonheater32

New member
My car just had a full detail, but sat outside for a couple hours yesterday and got quite a bit of dust/pollen on it. I was curious as to the proper or best way to get it clean and shiny again.
Since the car just had a full wash and detail... it doesn’t make much sense for me to give it a full bath detail so I was thinking the best method was for me to use a waterless spray wipe. I have Poorboys waterless spray and wipe. Would it be ok for me to spray a generous amount and wipe dry with a microfiber cloth? Am I risking any damage/marring by doing this?
After wiping down with the poorboy spray and wipe should I then go over it with a topper made specifically for ceramic coated cars as mine has been ceramic coated?
Is this method best or am I better off giving it an all out bath?
 
Elonheater32- While I hear some coatings are indeed quite marring-resistant, if blowing it off with compressed air (which has worked *incredibly* well on my FK1000P`ed cars) doesn`t get it off, I`d give it a full wash. But hey, I`m marring-paranoid even by Autopian standards.
 
Anytime you touch the paint you are marring it.

Rinsing then soap/mitt is probably safest.

I would just use the spray and wipe and not lose sleep over it. I`m not as paranoid as Accumulator. :P
 
I think it depends on the level of dust and pollen. If there is a light dusting, I`d do a waterless wash since coatings seem to make it easier to clean in those circumstances. Anything more it`s a bucket wash.

This time of year is frustrating since the pollen will accumulate while washing your car. I`ve lost count of the times I`ll be drying one of my vehicles only to notice it`s covered with pollen within minutes of completing a full wash.
 
What Coating was applied to it ? Was this done by a professional Detailer ? How long ago ? What color is the paintwork ?

I have had a lot of Black painted vehicles and Detailed hundreds more..
The best thing you can ever do to it is to touch it as little as possible..

And when you wash it very carefully, with a good soap and a good mitt that you are looking at to make sure you don`t rub something stuck in it on the paint, you want to rinse it all off and use air to blow as much water off so you don`t have to touch it as much for final drying..

And after washing it, using a Quick Detailer, or something like Optimum Opti-Seal, etc.,, for a little lubrication to help avoid scratching, that will be ok..
Good luck with this !
Dan F
 
The main reason I posted was because I thought it was silly especially this time of the year when the pollen is horrible..... right after a wash..... the car gets a bit dusty and then you have to do a complete full wash again.
Although, it might be a bit absurd to do a full wash right after one has been done.... I do not want to risk marring the paint. At the same time; don`t you risk marring the paint just as much doing a proper wash over a waterless spray and wipe given that the car is just "dusty/covered in pollen"?
 
Desertnate said:
I think it depends on the level of dust and pollen. If there is a light dusting, I`d do a waterless wash since coatings seem to make it easier to clean in those circumstances. Anything more it`s a bucket wash.

This time of year is frustrating since the pollen will accumulate while washing your car. I`ve lost count of the times I`ll be drying one of my vehicles only to notice it`s covered with pollen within minutes of completing a full wash.
Click to expand...

The ceramic coating was done about a year ago and the color of the car is Papaya Spark..... it`s a metallic orange.... roof is black.
 
Dust is from storing indoors. Dirt is from outdoors. To be safe, a rinseless wash at minimum. But you might get away with a waterless wash if your paint is hard or your tolerance to marring is high.
 
Elonheater32 -- Nice color !
Its really up to what technique is used in either scenario..

When I wash any vehicle, I always pressure wash it down before I ever start the soapy water wash and rinse.. I want to remove as much surface gunk as possible before I start the very careful wash with soap, mitts, etc...

I think pollen is kind of sticky and moist; it will not want to come off as easy as dry dirt, dust, etc.. But at the same time, if it is on really bad, it may attract more dirt that sticks to it because that pollen is moist and sticky, no ?

In my experiences, a pressure washer pre-wash, followed by a good lubricating soap, with good mitts, and lots of care using the right techniques, has been been more paint-friendly than the other option..

Just be careful, try to not do this on hot paint, use shade as much as possible, if you decide to do rinseless, like with something like Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine, etc., that you use plenty of it, and change the media and the water you are doing the washing part with very frequently..

Do all the lower panels last, and do not use lower panel media anywhere else after using it down there.. More gunk seems to collect on the lower panels of vehicles in all the vehicles I have ever washed..

You will be fine !
Dan F
 
If you do it right, you can wash for years without marring the paint enough that anybody could see it without some awfully intensive inspection techniques. I will say that "doing it right" is a pretty tall order, but it absolutely can be done. Just avoid pressing dirt against the paint and moving it under pressure, rather try for "dislodge and flush". If you see dirt in the rinse bucket that`s a clue that something`s very wrong.
 
I just use a QD or waterless. (Gasps). I like speed shine for pollen/dust removal.... real slick. I spray on thick remove with hi gsm fluffy pile MF with light/ no pressure. Slightly saturate MF with speed shine. I follow up with some Merlin’s mix to add shine. Seems to work good.

If you are super worried about marring though, foam cannon first, rinse and then 2 bucket or a good quality RW.


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Accumulator’s way is by far the best way I’ve ever washed although it is rather involved. I’d rather have it be involved then have to polish though.
 
I still think that my technique is fairly quick and easy. I spend *infinitely* more time doing "the stuff nobody bothers with every time" than I do washing the parts that show. Yeah, it uses a lot of water and shampoo mix, no way around that, but unlike clearcoat I can just buy more shampoo, and water usage isn`t an issue in my area.

It always seems that washing the body proper is almost just a matter of walking around the car a few times while moving my arms.

Maybe the boosted water pressure explains it, but the BHB step doesn`t even require much rinsing (of the BHB ) most of the time, the foamgun flushes it clean as I wash. By the time I switch to mitts all the "big stuff" is long gone and thus that part of it goes fast too.

Bill D- Heh heh, and here I think that *your* variation sounds tough and time-consuming...all those mitts...I think I`d go nuts, mitts are a lot harder for me than BHBs for the heavy lifting (without marring), although the pressure washer might change that.
 
Yes using multiple mitts can be time consuming but I’ve done it for so long I don’t mind it as much as I used to.
 
Accumulator said:
I still think that my technique is fairly quick and easy. I spend *infinitely* more time doing "the stuff nobody bothers with every time" than I do washing the parts that show. Yeah, it uses a lot of water and shampoo mix, no way around that, but unlike clearcoat I can just buy more shampoo, and water usage isn`t an issue in my area.

It always seems that washing the body proper is almost just a matter of walking around the car a few times while moving my arms.

Maybe the boosted water pressure explains it, but the BHB step doesn`t even require much rinsing (of the BHB ) most of the time, the foamgun flushes it clean as I wash. By the time I switch to mitts all the "big stuff" is long gone and thus that part of it goes fast too.

Bill D- Heh heh, and here I think that *your* variation sounds tough and time-consuming...all those mitts...I think I`d go nuts, mitts are a lot harder for me than BHBs for the heavy lifting (without marring), although the pressure washer might change that.
Click to expand...

When I hand bucket wash I use about 8 wash mitts one bucket. How do you wash your cars All for better technic


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I`d use a rinseless wash mixed up fairly strong in a spray bottle and wipe with a MF. Not advised for heavy dirt. Or you can get the Mothers spray wash at Walmart.
 
Coatings=crack said:
When I hand bucket wash I use about 8 wash mitts one bucket. How do you wash your cars All for better technic


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Click to expand...

8 mitts is good but you need to have a foam gun and be spraying it constantly over the area you are whisking with a mitt. I personally don’t even use a bucket

Accumulator has a write up about his non marring foam gun technique somewhere on this forum.
 
If it is truly just dusty and you want minimal contact - give it a quick foam and rinse - blow it dry, a LSP of your choice and presto. When my nice weather only car comes out of hibernation (come on mother nature, 6 inches of snow last Sunday?), I`ll give it a rinseless wash with Garry Dean Forever Rinseless and call it a day. If the car has a coating or a good sealant, that should do the trick.
 
I can often get away with just a Home Touchless as per jatleson`s sugestion, but IME it requires a pretty good LSP, and I still can`t bring myself to LSP or otherwise touch the paint unless I`ve done a full-blown regular (my definition) wash.

I need a pressure washer and compressor-driven equipment (Lonn Cleaning Gun, Tornador Black, air nozzle to dry) to to a Home Touchless. While much quicker than my regular washes, the last time I did it on the Tahoe it still took well over an hour and of course it doesn`t get the out-of-sight areas clean.

Bill D- Yeah, my buckets are basically just a repository for my wash media, a place to keep `em soaking in shampoo mix. The Rinse Buckets are basically unnecessary, but they give me some peace of mind since our vehicles can get awfully dirty between washes.

IIRC, I never did really write up a decent version of my current Wash Technique :o

Thumbnail version: foamgun output sprayed at the point of wash medium-to-paint contact, wash medium moved in short, interrupted "jiggling" motions (to facilitate dirt being flushed away rather than trapped in the medium and so any marring that does occur is short and random), multiple gentle passes rather than fewer more aggressive ones.
 
You did write up one although I think you said it wasn’t a final version or something along those lines.

Tapatalk doesn’t seem to allow me to post links but the one I saw is dated 3/29/2004
 
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