Help! Gravel Driveways, Black Cars, The Things Nightmares Are Made Of

[JBSpeed]

I've got a question for all you Autopians out there.



Recently, we had a new concrete driveway poured that replaced the old dusty gravel one we had. Now, I'm still noticing that after a few days, there is a very heavy buildup of what appears to be gravel dust all over the car. Now a number of my neighbors still have gravel driveways, and I'm guessing that the wind might be carrying all this contamination across the neighborhood.



My paint is horrifically swirled and the car is only a year old. Also, it being a black car, any sort of buildup is immediately noticeable. I've been washing using the two bucket method and a sheepskin mitt, and blot drying with a MF drying towel.



So here is my question. Seeings that there is no way to keep my paint clean of all this gravel dust, is there any recommendations you could give that would reduce the marring to the paint.



As this is gravel dust, I'd assume it would be much more abrasive that you everyday dirt, and I am now afraid to wash my car. No matter what I'm doing, the swirls seem to keep getting worse and worse, no matter how careful or meticulous I am with my wash method. Would there be a way to get most of the gravel loosened and carried away so that when I actually put mitt to paint, the potential for marring would be greatly reduced. I'd imagine a foam gun would help, but would it be powerful and effective enough at loosening this dust, so it could be rinsed off?



Any help or expertise you all could forward on would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JBSpeed]

Anyone?



Also, I've noticed that the dust seems to be remnants of crushed stone. If you've ever watched a rally race, and you've seen that rocky silt that gets kicked up all over the place, that's what all over my paint.

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

I would highly suggest getting a foam gun or cannon and a water deionizer, if you can afford it. This will allow you to lubricate the grit, but you will probably still need a mitt. I've found in my situation that 90% of my marring comes from drying - if you can get your hands on a CRSpotless system, you can spray it down and let it dry.



If it were my money, I'd pick up a decent gas pressure washer, a foam cannon, and a CRspotless mobile system - you're looking at 500-600 total but it will save your sanity.

 

[Bert]

I would highly suggest getting a foam gun or cannon and a water deionizer, if you can afford it. This will allow you to lubricate the grit, but you will probably still need a mitt. I've found in my situation that 90% of my marring comes from drying - if you can get your hands on a CRSpotless system, you can spray it down and let it dry.



If it were my money, I'd pick up a decent gas pressure washer, a foam cannon, and a CRspotless mobile system - you're looking at 500-600 total but it will save your sanity.

What websites sell the CR Spotless Moble System?

 

[JBSpeed]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate the advice



Now is there much difference between a foam gun (garden hose) vs. foam cannon (pressure washer) in terms of lubricity? I might be getting a pressure washer in the few months, but it all really depends on how bad my school bills get. If I could get away with a foam gun, with equal results, I'd choose that option, but I would assume the foam cannon works much, much better?



I just went to the CR Spotless site and was very intrigued and interested in the idea of spotless drying. Although it looks expensive at face value, I'm sure the added savings of not having invest in a good set of drying towels, and the money you'd save by not having to re-polish out towel induced marring, the value would show itself very easily.



Guess I'll have to start putting some cash away for some new weapons to my arsenal.

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

I use a foam gun myself, as the cannon isn't portable enough for my needs. I have had excellent luck with the gun, and it's quite capable of putting 1/2" thick foam on the car. However, the cannons are capable of 2" plus thick foam - I'm not sure if the advantage is minor or huge, but I have heard nothing but good things about the cannon. A boars-hair brush, used like Accumulator uses it, might be good too. It rinses out much cleaner than sheepskins.



A really slick LSP will help too - see if you can get your hands on one of those Ultima sampler kits or a little bit of Ultima.

 

[DaGonz]

You could always move.... :LOLOL

 

[JBSpeed]

You could always move.... :LOLOL

Lol...I wish. The city even has a bylaw where any new home built must have a concrete, asphalt, or brick driveway. Problem is I live in one of the older parts of town.



Its not that its a bad neighborhood, quite the opposite, its just been around since the 1930's. So many of the people living here are elderly, and are quite content don't like new fangled things like cement driveways when they see nothing wrong with dusty gravel



Problem is I see a problem with dusty gravel, especially whenever I park my car on the road and there is the slightest of breeze. It sucks to watch all your hard work go to waste in a few hours. Then again, the street is filled with 1988 Buick LeSabres that are rusting into the ground, and I always get "looks" when I'm out slaving away on the car. Some people just don't get it I guess.



Here are some pictures, the car doesn't look half bad in them, but the combination of the angles and the overcast lighting hide the defects well, but as soon as the sun comes out, swirl city. It's actually so bad now that when I was at a gas station last night, I could see the swirls, through the dirt, under the faint light of the gas stations fluorescent lighting.

Sorry for the low quality of the pictures, they're off my camera phone. I need to get a new set of rechargeables for my good camera.

 

[ManiZ]

You haven't mentioned what you do to care for the car. In my experience, the key is always in the products used to protect the paint and make it slick. A slick surface will be a lot less likely to get marred during the wash as most, if not all, of the dust will just wash off during initial rinsing, leaving little to no residue to induce swirls during the wash.



My advice would be to clay and polish it very well, getting rid of all contaminants and then following up with a few layers of high-quality sealant/s to start out on the right foot. Then maintain it with a foam gun to further reduce wash-induced marring as was suggested above as well.

 

[JBSpeed]

Nothing special as of yet, I'm just getting into the whole "Autopian scene". I just ordered a UDM kit, and am now picking and choosing some compounds and polishes to give the car its first once over. As for what I do for upkeep, nothing special I'm sad to say. Weekly washes, two bucket method, sheepskin wash mitt, using Meguairs Gold Class, drying using MF drying towel (blot method), and waxed with Meg's Liquid NXT when needed.



Any recommendations on what sealants would be a good choice? I know opinions are subjective, but I've been eying Blackfire AFPP or Poorboys EX-P, as my choices are limited due to living in Canada.



I've ordered from AG before, but unless its a large order, its hard to justify the shipping/brokerage on a single item.

 

[imported_sonyexec]

I think with your neighbors having old school driveways you're screwed unless you can get the wind to stop blowing. Judging by your pics it doesn't look like you garage it but how about one of those pop-up deals then attaching somekind of side curtains? maybe tacky but if you set it up out of eye shot who cares, it does the job.



Maybe buy an air compressor with an air gun and blow it off when you can. I have a friend that does this with his vette. Riged up a compressor with 2 hoses so they hang on both sides of his car and he just gives it a blast every few days. Of course he parks in a garage so the dust is minimal.

 

[Accumulator]

JBSpeed- Welcome to Autopia! Sorry to hear about your problems with neighborhood dust. Sounds like limestone dust, pretty nasty stuff IMO if only because a) yeah, it's very abrasive and b) it tends to really stick to stuff when it gets wet and then dries.



First off, I agree with DaGonz; while I suspect he was being facetious, I really would move, or get a white car, over something like that- it'd be a quality-of-life issue...but that's just me. OK, on a more practical note:



I'm assuming you wash/etc. inside a garage. If you're working in a garage, keep the doors/windows closed and keep your garage floor wet (or at least damp) when detailing so the dust sticks to it instead of floating around.



No way to avoid marring the paint IMO if you work outside where the abrasive dust is floating around. But if you do have to work outside, I honestly don't know what to suggest other than some sort of enclosure :nixweiss Still, there are better/worse ways to do this stuff, so don't give up if you're garageless, keep reading and see if something sounds doable. At least you can effect some improvement over what's going on now.



Pressure washing would probably remove most of the abrasive dust, and do it better than anything else. I'd seriously consider using a pressure washer for an initial pre-wash.



Then I'd do the foamgun/BHB wash, followed by a foamgun/mitt wash. Use a high-lubricity shampoo and keep contact pressure to a minumum.



Use a slick LSP, e.g., UPP for a sealant or Collinite for a wax.



Then don't touch the paint until the next time you wash it.

 

[JBSpeed]

Thank you again, everyone. Your comments and suggestions have been very helpful. I appreciate it all greatly.



To Accumulator, unfortunately I am without a garage. Whenever I wash the car, I try to wet down the immediate work area, as to dampen any dust and dirt that might become airborne with any wind. I try to only wash on overcast or very cloudy days, as the dust doesn't seem to be very a problem as much on those days. I guess after a very hot days, everything dries up, and becomes airborne.



A few of my neighbors actually had their gravel driveways replaced with concrete last week, and I'm waiting to see if it has any positive effect on the level of dusting in the neighborhood.



I now know my next big investment is going to have to be a garage, or an enclosure at the very minimum.



But again, thanks to all for the help

 

[Accumulator]

To Accumulator, unfortunately I am without a garage. Whenever I wash the car, I try to wet down the immediate work area..



A few of my neighbors actually had their gravel driveways replaced with concrete last week, and I'm waiting to see if it has any positive effect on the level of dusting in the neighborhood. ..

OK, since you're without a garage I'd better quit sounding so pessemistic



You're on the right track with the wet-down and it sounds like things might not be quite as hopeless as I'd figured. If you work on the wash technique (do get the foamgun at least) you should be able to make some great headway. Washing without marring it is always a challenge, and if you take care of the stuff that *is* within your control I think it'll make a big difference.