Is my wash method "overkill?"

B

brownbob06

New member
I did an extremely dirty Chevy 2500HD this weekend that is used as a work truck. The truck came out absolutely great after around 14 he's. Of work. I washed, compounded, polished and waxed it.



My concern is that I'm going a little overboard with the wash. I start out with turtle wax bug and tar remover and scrub all asphalt and bugs off of it. Then was with dawn wash, clay while still wet withegs qd as lube, wash again to get clay residue off. Then I compound and polish, followed by another wash with regular car shampoo/wax from advance (eagle one nano wash and wax), to get rid of anything I may have left behind or missed wiping off. Followed with megs #26 high tech yellow wax applied by hand.



I'm just not sure if I'm washing too many times in this process. At times I feel it saves time and other times (usually when I'm finished) I look back and think "should I really have washed that 3 times?



Guess I'm just wondering if I'm going overboard or if some of you guys use a similar technique.
 
For the nasty details I normally bug/tar remover, wheel cleaner, and dawn foam bath to strip all LSPs > clay with just a good thorough wiping of the QD while it's still wet so I don't get the clay residue > compound (IPA for correction) > polish (IPA for correction) > depending on what kind of polish I used, I'll do a "touchless" (foam down the vehicle, let the Dawn dwell, then rinse off and dry with a leaf blower) to strip all of the oils (if I do M105/M205 combo, then I end up needing to do a Dawn foam due to all of the oils) > then reinspect vehicle and apply my LSP. Hope this helps.
 
You can never spend too much time prepping your details. But, you're not doing it justice by using a short lived product like #26 on it. As long as the polishing dust isn't excessive, you can get away with just doing a QD or diluted ONR wipedown to get things ready for the final protectant.
 
I thought the #26 was a pretty good was. I'll have to research more to figure out what wax I should be using to finish with. After working that hard on a vehicle I certainly don't want to short change it by using a sub-par LSP.



I will say that I was very happy with the final results. The way I look at it is I'll get faster with experience. But people do appreciate a great job that takes a long time more than an OK job that's done quickly. Learned that working for my grandpa while plumbing for him of all things...
 
Like others have said, you can never be too careful with the cleaning process!



That being said though, I usually dawn(citrus degreaser) with my soap to save time. Most of the time my vehicles are never too dirty so I just ONR.



Also with claying, I usually finish an area, spray down and wipe away. This saves me so much more time than when I use to re-wash the vehicle again!



Lately now that I have been using Uno, instead of m105/205, there is virtually no dusting and another wash is not needed.
 
I'd go with a final wash of Dawn after polishing to remove polishing oils.



A quality quick and easy wax is Optimum (spray) car wax. Spray on, wipe off, walk away. Great product.
 
brownbob06- IMO you could go even *more* overboard! No time to get into it at present but I'll get back to this when I have a minute.
 
I'm sure I could go much more overboard lol.



I guess I'm not really wondering if I'm going overboard with just a basic wash, but more so of I should be or have to wash so many times during a detail. I don't thinks its necessary but it just makes me feel a little more shire there is no compound left when I polish and no polish left when I wax. For some reason I feel like its quicker just do do a quick wash after claying rather than wipe the residue off immediately after. I'll have to time myself next time so I can see if it really is saving time or if its just in my head. (Lots of things are "just in my head") lol
 
Here's my take on this:



brownbob06 said:
... I start out with turtle wax bug and tar remover and scrub all asphalt and bugs off of it...
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I would do a regular wash first. Scrubbing (yikes, that term makes me :nervous: ) the tar/etc. off first could easily induce new/additional marring since the vehicle is still dirty.



First I'd wash with an eye towards avoiding new marring, and *then* I'd go after the tenacious stuff.



Then was with dawn wash..
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Again, I'd do this *after* a regular wash as Dawn lacks lubricity and doesn't really lend itself to marring-free washes.



Even if I'm doing correction, I'd approach it this way. Well, unless the vehicle was SO marred up that I was gonna get really aggressive anyhow.



clay while still wet withegs qd as lube, wash again to get clay residue off.
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OK, but I just rewash/rinse panel-by-panel after each panel gets clayed.



You question which way is quicker...I'd think that having to go back around the vehicle again (to wash it) would take more time than just doing the rewash while you're already standing at that panel. The time spent moving around the vehicle multiple times is one of the variables you can limit (the claying and washing are "set", no way to limit those; limit the variables you can, live with the ones you can't).



Then I compound and polish, followed by another wash with regular car shampoo/wax from advance (eagle one nano wash and wax), to get rid of anything I may have left behind or missed wiping off.
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It's a good idea to wash after doing significant correction, but I'd use a regular shampoo without any "waxy" additives.
 
Thanks Accumulator. I pretty much only use the was and wax because I have a lot of it and need to use it up lol.



And It's actually kind of hard to find a wash that doesn't say "Wash & Wax" or "Shines and Protects" or anything along those lines lol.
 
I think what you are doing is an overkill, washing the car again and again. I would rather wash it once and then use a steam cleaner (its faster and cleaner!) if your in the car wash business the time your taking on one vehicle will kill you.
 
John: Right now I'm just doing relatives and friends vehicles to basically refine my technique and speed things up before I start doing people outside of my family. My end results are good and I have a great eye for detail, but you're absolutely right, the time I'm taking will kill me once I start doing other people's cars lol
 
while we're on the topic of speeding up, what do you guys use for Bug & Tar removers, I highly doubt turtle wax makes the best product for this out there lol.
 
brownbob06 said:
while we're on the topic of speeding up, what do you guys use for Bug & Tar removers, I highly doubt turtle wax makes the best product for this out there lol.
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I hardly ever use 'em myself as they take off the LSP along with the tar. I clay most tar off, but yeah, that does trash my clay pretty fast.



When I do use a solvent, I generally just reach for ValuGard New Car Prep or Wurth Clean Solve.
 
I tried tarminator yesterday actually. It worked great. My uncle also told me that he uses purple power and let's it sit for a few minutes at full strength and bugs come right off. I'm a little weary using it full strength on paint though.
 
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