Takes me so long!

C

carter840

New member
Well i have a range rover and i find that a wash and wax takes me at least a couple of hours. Is this normal. I can wash and wax my sisters Z3 in less then a third of the time. Since my car is so large i have to wash it in sections which takes forever. Does anyone have any recomendations.



Also i really want to clay my car but i think that might add a few more hours onto the already long process.
 
As Coupe said, its a long process. A properly washed vehicle really stands out though!



When I do my parents' Odyssey (a year old today, still hasn't been waxed...yes I know its not good :p), it takes me 1 hour and 45 minutes to...



Rinse

Pretreat with Citrus Degreaser

Wash with double bucket method and sheepskin wool mitt

Clean rims, tires

Rinse

Dry



Washing should be done in sections. Don't feel like you have to speed up yourself when washing and drying, this is where most of your swirls can happen. Taking your time ensures you're doing everything properly.
 
If you have a good wash soap and water/soap mixture you can clay as you wash using the suds as lubrication. Saves lots of time especially on larger vehicles.
 
claying as you wash?

wouldn't that increase the chance of induced marring because the dirt and grit are still on the paint?

or do you mean wash, then wash again and use the suds as a lube to clay.
 
kaval said:
claying as you wash?

wouldn't that increase the chance of induced marring because the dirt and grit are still on the paint?

or do you mean wash, then wash again and use the suds as a lube to clay.
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Yeah, you wash/rinse until the panel in question is clean, clay/rewash/rerinse and then move on to the next panel.



On the time that it takes: I work quickly, so fast that it's very demanding (and I'm in shape ;) This is as tough as a good run..) and it still takes me well over an hour to wash *anything*. I generally set aside a good three hours for a regular wash of a normal vehicle, and if I finish a little early, well, that's OK too.
 
todd@bsaw said:
If you have a good wash soap and water/soap mixture you can clay as you wash using the suds as lubrication. Saves lots of time especially on larger vehicles.
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The new clay sponge that has been floating around for a few months is great for the clay/wash process plus if you drop it, you can rinse it off
 
imageautodetail said:
The new clay sponge that has been floating around for a few months is great for the clay/wash process plus if you drop it, you can rinse it off
Click to expand...

Haven't seen that yet. I'll have to check it out. :bigups
 
It takes me close to 2 hours to wash/dry my e46 sedan. But that's with setup/cleanup, cleaning all door/trunk jams, dressing tires and cleaning outside windows. Takes more time if i want to qd it too. But i truly enjoy taking care of my car. It's almost therapeutic for me :) Haven't really found a reason to refine my process to make it more time efficient.
 
Optimum No Rinse (ONR) is a real time saver when it comes to washing since you wash and dry at the time, panel by panel and only go around the car once during the wash/dry process.
 
2 and 3 hours to wash a car? :o

I get home from work @ 6 the sun is setting @ around 7:50 these days.

It takes me an hour to wash the car tops... wheels, jambs, dress tires, and QD/AW.



I do it 2x a week...
 
Accumulator said:
...it still takes me well over an hour to wash *anything*. I generally set aside a good three hours for a regular wash of a normal vehicle, and if I finish a little early, well, that's OK too.
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violentveedub said:
2 and 3 hours to wash a car? :o
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[shrug]...some vehicles just take longer than others :nixweiss Two very different examples that I deal with almost weekly: the Audis are examples of our "normal" vehicles, the Blazer is the daily dog-hauler that gets very dirty.



No matter how fast I move, I can't get the A8/S8's wheels/wells/undercarriage done in less than 30 minutes, even using two floorjacks. And the engine compartments take a while due to the cladding I have to R&R and the hard-to-clean areas that are under it. Oddly enough, the actual "regular" washing/drying of the body, even with my foamgun/etc. wash techniques, doesn't contribute all that much to how long things take, and jambs go quickly with BHBs. Goodness knows I *try* to wash fast....



The Blazer washes up pretty quickly (no need to raise it up to do the undercarriage/wells good enough for a quick wash), but I end up blowing water out of nooks and crannies for a long time..it just keeps coming and I get spotting if I just let it happen. But if I don't need to drive it (and if I don't worry about rusting :think: hey, I'm selling it anyhow...) I can just let it sit inside and drain, and then clean up the spots with QD after a day or two. The engine compartment takes a little while, but generally, even *I* can wash that vehicle fast if I don't worry about those drips :D And no, I can't ONR it or I'd never get the dirt out of those out-of-the-way areas that contribute to the dripping.



Heh heh, I still haven't figured out how to wash that (metallic black) Yukon XL quickly...lots of vehicle there; I'm on/off the work platforms repeatedly (and constantly moving them) just doing the roof, it's like some aerobics class step-workout :eek: And it's supposed to replace the Blazer as our dog-hauler :nervous:
 
You jack up the car every time?! I guess neither of those land yacht's have the air suspension? :)



Wow, I thought for a minute there A8 vs. VW Rabbit(me), sure... ok; it will take longer so you aren't as crazy as I thought. Then you self-disclosed a little more and boom... :) You must have a very understanding home life, my wife would kill me if I did that every wash. Most folks look at me funny b/c I take the wheels off once a MONTH and clean up back there.



P.s. If you lower the car and put bigger wheels on it... you can't see the wheel wells much any more!

car2.jpg




Note the A8 wheels, when my car grows up, it wants to be like yours...
 
imageautodetail said:
The new clay sponge that has been floating around for a few months is great for the clay/wash process plus if you drop it, you can rinse it off
Click to expand...



Do you feel the sponges do as good of a job as clay?



Also, do sponges come in untra fine, fine, medium etc. like clay does?
 
It takes me about 1hr 45 mins on my car, but on larger vehicles maybe 2hr 30mins. I just want to get it right so i don't have to go over a area twice.
 
violentveedub said:
You jack up the car every time?! I guess neither of those land yacht's have the air suspension? :)



Wow, I thought for a minute there A8 vs. VW Rabbit(me), sure... ok; it will take longer so you aren't as crazy as I thought..
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Yeah, these days I just keep a pair of jacks in the washbay :o



Nah, they'll self-level to some extent but I can't just raise 'em up like some vehicles (don't have to disconnect anything to jack 'em either though). I can do a quick job on the A8 without jacking but then I have to *really* clean it the next time and I'd rather not let it get ahead of me. I did that once and my wife had to take it in for service and they were all "gee, that was mighty dirty down there for one of your cars...".



Heh heh land yacht is right! But then I got the Yukon XL and learned what that *really* means!



FWIW, back when I had my beloved VW Quantum Synchro wagon, I could clean it up pretty quickly. And the WRX went downright fast.







.. I take the wheels off once a MONTH and clean up back there...
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Guess it's just an even trade-off: I do a sorta-big job every time; you do a more-big job once a month.







Note the A8 wheels, when my car grows up, it wants to be like yours...
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Your car sits pretty low too, I can see why you have to pull the wheels once a month. Those wheels look great on that car too. Nice thing about those wheels is that you can clean the back sides pretty easily. But I still usually find something I'd missed when I do pull 'em off. The backs of the spokes *are* cleaning up better since I got some "four finger sheepskin mitts" from Griot's.



Very nice VW :xyxthumbs



Hey, where are your tirevalve stems?!? I can't see 'em in the pic. Our A8 has them in deep recesses that are a PIA to clean.
 
It takes me about 1.5 hours to wash which includes cleaning wheels, tires, and wells, washing and drying, dressing the fenderwells and tires, and wipe down the door jambs with a damp MF followed by a dry one (provided they aren't anything more than lightly dusty. This is on an average sized vehicle, and "average sized" in my area means a midsized SUV.



Once you get a routine down your work times will decrease a lot.
 
Accumulator said:
Hey, where are your tirevalve stems?!? I can't see 'em in the pic. Our A8 has them in deep recesses that are a PIA to clean.
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I got them shaved, it's more euro! j/k

I guess they are on the part you can't see in the pic, I haven't noticed them to be any deeper than normal though. I got the cheepy valve stems (they didn't ask) so they are black and I don't notice any dirt.
 
violentveedub said:
2 and 3 hours to wash a car? :o

I get home from work @ 6 the sun is setting @ around 7:50 these days.

It takes me an hour to wash the car tops... wheels, jambs, dress tires, and QD/AW.



I do it 2x a week...
Click to expand...



Your car is smaller. Plus i spend 20-30 minutes on just the wheels. My set up is perfect right now. Sun sets behind the house and the roof creates a huge shadow covering the driveway. After i wash i pull into the garage to dry off so i'm not worried about finishing before it gets dark. Clean looking car by the way.
 
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