Never wash vehicle method

Updates:



At normal speed, ONR takes me 1 hour to mist spray, wash, dry, apply detailer and window cleaner.



Tonight I went maximum speed with these results:



22:50 - wash and dry completed



34:00 - detailer completed (start to build protection back up, plus removing water streaks and spots)



45:00 - wax coat completed



I felt the need to wax tonight, because after 3 ONR washes this week I felt it was pretty abrasive to the sealant. I'll just have to buff it off tomorrow morning during the 7 minutes it takes for the engine to reach full operating temperature.



If I must ONR every day, it looks like the solution is to simply work a lot faster.
 
3 days out of the 5 day work week, I'm only in my car for 20 minutes (10 minutes to work, 10 back). There's no way I'm spending more time to QD my car than the time I actually spend driving it.



As someone said before, if it's working for you that's all that matters, but most Autopians won't agree with your method.
 
User24, excuse me if I'm wrong but you sound like a young guy with good intentions but Ithink possibly you need to re-evaluate a lot of your processes and priorities from a bigger picture perspective. First of all, regardless of all the nonsensical ways you guys went back and forth trying to justify it, at the end of the day, week, month, or year, it's all about TOTAL MINUTES spent on the car to maintain the look you want. It's silly to think you're coming out ahead by doing 40 mins a day compared to one wash a week..and it comes down to what you said about impressing people - what the heck are you doing qd'ing your car for 40 minutes every day?! Do you think people judge your worth by how spotless your car is, or do you have an OCD problem worthy of a psychiatrist(this is not entirely out of the realm of possibility considering the degree to which you're timing everything -LOL ;))? And that question is coming from an autopian, which by 'normal' standards is already coming from a fanatical perspective..As posted above - a car that's properly cared for and even washed weekly will get just as many compliments from the masses, if that's important to you. One more comment on impressing people and perception - I will tell you that I GUARANTEE more people look at you and ask whats wrong with that guy, or think you're weird for covering and uncovering your car every day than people that see your car and think wow how cool, that car is so clean...The fact that someone is that nuts about covering the car daily (and I'm assuming it's not a lamborghini or something of the like which people would understand covering) will definitely cause some notice. I would expect comments like 'that guy needs a life' or the sort when you go that far 'over the top'..



As far as your paint thickness comment goes regarding pc vs qd..I don't think they're really apples to apples - because most of the time if there's any dirt the qd will be causing some minor scratching/marring, whereas pc will be correcting it. However, the point is moot because you can polish that paint out with the pc more times than the years you'll own the car. If you do searches for people with paint thickness gauges, you'll read see the pc's really don't remove much clearcoat.



QD'ing will not 'build up' your LSP layer or add to the protection, more likely than not it will degrade it due to the cleaners.



Overall I think you're doing waaay too much to your car, and again that's coming from an already fanatical autopian perspective. I think it's been well covered already that most here would find it preferable to do a 'real' wash if you can rather than qd'ing. I think you should challenge yourself to go a day with a few water spots on your hood without getting your feathers ruffled...it sounds like there may be more philosophical agendas to overcome than detailing ;) No offense intended, just one man's opinion.
 
i'd like to see pics of what a black car that doesn't get washed, but kept clean looks like please.
 
DSVWGLI said:
Anyone watch the movie "American Psycho"?
Click to expand...



HAHA I was thinking the same thing. I think this guy has OCD, seriously look at his posts everything he does is timed to the minute. I would also like to know what kind of car he is doing this to and pics.



Dave
 
Scroder said:
HAHA I was thinking the same thing. I think this guy has OCD, seriously look at his posts everything he does is timed to the minute. I would also like to know what kind of car he is doing this to and pics.



Dave
Click to expand...



I think I have OCD as well "obsessive compulsive detailing" :o
 
Just wanted to say, I remember someone who claimed ONR took 20 minutes. I didn't believe it then, but now I realize it can be done. The reason why ONR took me so long was because of the drying process I used.



I had a synthetic leather chamois, which works by being saturated with water and then wrung out to dispose of water. This means it is always damp and will never leave a true dry on the vehicle by itself. Although it can hold a lot of water weight compared to its dry form, it's actually very slow to absorb water. Notice how it actually pushes water droplets around the vehicle rather than soaking them up.



I started using a drying cloth I purchased from Autopia, which does not become water saturated, and actually leaves a true dry even used alone. It is very quick to absorb and dries the car in a small fraction of the time. Buffing out water haze afterward is eliminated because this dries to a shine.



It takes 25 minutes now to ONR mist spray, ONR bucket wash, dry, and apply layer of detailer going at normal speed. This is now twice as fast as my former method of trying to dry with synthetic chamois.



25 minutes a day, every day.
 
Maybe you are a real estate agent, otherwise cleaning your car everyday is a little too much. I mean I am pretty anal about keeping my car clean, but the truth of matter is that it is going to get dirty again, doesn’t matter how hard I try. What I do is I usually spend about 2 - 3 hours every 2 -3 weeks to thoroughly clean and polishes up my car.
 
I hope User24 is able to *not* spend 25 minutes cleaning his car on some days and be okay with that. If it's a compulsion to do a complete QD or ONR wash each day no matter what, I'm not sure how healthy that is (and I don't mean paint health).
 
User24 said:
Updates:



At normal speed, ONR takes me 1 hour to mist spray, wash, dry, apply detailer and window cleaner.



Tonight I went maximum speed with these results:



22:50 - wash and dry completed



34:00 - detailer completed (start to build protection back up, plus removing water streaks and spots)



45:00 - wax coat completed



I felt the need to wax tonight, because after 3 ONR washes this week I felt it was pretty abrasive to the sealant. I'll just have to buff it off tomorrow morning during the 7 minutes it takes for the engine to reach full operating temperature.



If I must ONR every day, it looks like the solution is to simply work a lot faster.
Click to expand...



While you seem like a very nice guy and quite dilligent in your posting, I have to imply with one thing. You really wait 7 minutes to let your car warm up before driving away? You do know that auto manufacturers like BMW recommend against that right? A engine is made to be lightly run for the first 5 min to warm it up, not idle. In cold weather, that wreaks havoc on condensation build up. You might rethink that. And the whole idea of you timing things to the minute is somewhat comical, sorry.
 
To the OP, you seem a bit too anal about things (from a detailing OCD person myself)...it would probably be in your best interest to get it checked out..(not tyring to be funny, because things like this are serious).
 
User24's method is a little unorthodox, but I have to say I sympathize with him. I have a '04 SVT Cobra convertible with the Mystichrome appearance package. If you are familiar with this limited edition paint and interior package, then you know it is something that is likely to drive anyone crazy trying to maintain. I think I've certainly been pushed to the edge of sanity by this car.



I don't do what User24 does, but I'm basically trying to acheive the same thing. My hair stands on end at the though of getting any hard water etching, bird dropping burns, or hail damage in the clear coat. Therefore I wash each week and I keep the car covered when it is parked outside. I never had to cover the car at work because it was always garaged there, but now I am in a new office that is outdoors. I too seriously considered keeping it covered during the day, because we get freak hail at least ten days a year. The only thing stopping me is that I don't have the time to do this and I did not want a wet car cover molding in my trunk.



There is always going to be a tradeoff between freak spot damage and dirt accumulation, and keeping the car covered and doing a regular cleaning. For me, I have gone the weekly washing and daily covering route for over two years and the clear coat has stood up very well. It is only recently that I've developed a major swirling problem, and I'm pretty certain it is because of my crappy washing method.



I used to spray wash regularly and only hand wash every so often or when the car was really dirty. Then for several months I just did hand washing every single week and I really screwed the pooch. Swirls are not visible in daylight, but painfully obvious under lights. I'm going to need to polish for the first time this weeken, and I hope it is the last time for another two years.



Anyway, I just wanted to say that I think keeping a car covered and having a regular wipe down with possible marring can be better than having your car take a bath in tree sap and be exposed to environmental damage.



Oh, and don't get me started on the threat of daily sun on the Mystichrome leather. The thought of it is enough to drive me crazy.
 
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