Gary
Well-Known Member
I run the car show circuit here in N. FL. with my roadster. You can get really fanatical and overthink car detailing but I like to keep it simple since I do it so much. All it takes is someone pulling out of a dirt road in-front of you and all your hard work was just ruined. Here's what works for me. Wash with Turtlewax Max Power Car Wash. Griot's Ceramic 3 in 1 Wax. Purple Metal Polish for all metals like my chrome headers and side-pipes. Touch up before the car show with Chemical Guys Waterless Car Wash.I have always liked spending time washing my vehicle and its an interesting "hobby" to get into because it can be as basic or as advanced as you want it to be, can easily be taught and shared with others, and there is never ending supply of new things to try. I have recently been watching a lot of youtube videos around the subject and looking at various online forums as well to determine how I might go about doing it to a degree that I am happy with. Since I just did my first wash yesterday, I thought id share my findings and such as I am pretty happy with the results.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, im just learning (again) how to do some of this stuff. Also just like oil brands and oil change interval recommendations there are 1000s of opinions on what is best, proper process, etc. Stuff below is what I have learned recently and what is working for me.
Helpful Resources:
My Specific Situation for Cleaning my Cars:
- Forensic Detailing - Actual tests on products as they are and verse the competition. The channel is in Europe, so there are some products he he cant get / we cant get. Lot of good info and simple style. It is a little dry content wise, best if enjoyed as a podcast, but other wise one of the few channels that tests things in this space beyond a single wash and it looks good.
- Pan The Organizer - Probably the biggest detailing channel on youtube. Lots of good tips, tricks, and various other reviews. Recently controversial because he released his own line of products and immediately said they were better then every other product. Reviews of his stuff have come back very well, but there's been a lot of fall out from it. Time will tell how this effects his content going forward.
- Ammo-NYC - Larry has ben a car detailer for a super long time and is well known and liked in the industry. Has his own line of products and the channel is a lot of detailing porn content, but also tips and tricks.
- EC Details - Small business owner detailer. Has a different vibe about his videos, does some decent testing and comparisons. I would say its a mix of Forensic Detailing and Pan the Organizer as far as content goes. Just another good real world take on things.
- r/autodetailing - Subreddit for detailing discussion.
I own a very old house (100+ years) and a detached garage (10 years old) that is a 2 bay garage but is very deep. It can fit 4 small cars easily or if one car is turned side ways or angled right 3 cars. I have no driveway as the garage empties into an alleyway and no level concrete space besides the garage or the street to park a car on. On top of all of that, the nearest spout for water is also a good ways away and would require around 50 foot of hose or more. I also live in a very winter prone area of the US, so dealing with a lot of water year round is out of the questions as there is generally maybe only 4 months of normal car washing season.
My Goal for My Setup:
I want to be able to wash my vehicles in my garage without dealing with managing a hose if at all possible.
Tools:
Chemicals:
- Ryobi Compact Blower - This guy is pretty awesome. As rule of thumb when drying is to blow out the crevices this makes that very easy. I have a leaf blower but I would need to get a "stubby" nose and its frankly its just very unwieldy as its meant to be doing stuff out in a yard. I already had a bunch of batteries, so this is a no brainer.
- Ryobi Power Cleaner - I found this recently and it is pretty good. it does not replace a full blown pressure washer, but its good enough to rinse a car / wheels off. Added benefits is it has a syphon kit for extracting water from a bucket, can be used with a hose, or can be used with a standard 2 liter bottle. The bottle capability was very interesting to me as it provides me the ability to get into some weird spaces and angles without having to deal with a hose or simply be fully disconnected from anything. I used 10 1.5L bottles of water to rinse the truck with this. I could upgrade bottles and change some settings to get a better flow rate most likely since I was still learning how to use it initially.
- IK e FOAM Pro 12 - An electric foaming device. This thing works great. It holds about 6liters of solution and then can be manually or with the electric pump pumped up. The foam pattern is very consistent and it comes with a couple different accessories to change out how it foams from dry to wet. A full tank could probably foam 2 cars without switching to the "wet foam" setup. Has a very easy depressurize valve and is very high quality. They also make smaller ones as well. I will also say these are very expensive and you can probably find cheaper alternatives.
- Ammo Aerator - Bought this for winter washing, since I also bought their winter car wash setup which uses no water beyond what's in the sprayer. As you will see a lot with anything in the detailing world, products are designed to go with each other a lot of times. You can find cheaper versions of this as well, but since it was a kit I just went with it. Wont know how it actually handles till winter time, but the reviews have been fine.
- Milwaukee Tool USB C Rechargeable Task Light - I got some of these not specifically for car washing, but they are pretty great. Small, bright (500 Lumens - 4 hour run time), magnetic, can be clamped to surfaces, build id stand, fully adjustable, and IP54 Water and Dustproof.
There is almost an endless supply of chemicals to use. There is also basically no way to truly test everything as road conditions, weather, altitude, temp, application method, application media, paint type, paint age and such all very so much. Most reviews come down to price per ounce and smell honestly. The biggest thing to look for any Brand of chemicals is if its a white label or if they are a advertising firm. Some will argue Chemical Guys which was a very popular brand initially has now turned into a advertising firm. What I mean by that is they multiple chemicals that all do the same thing and there is really no different in performance beyond user experience, look, smell, and price.
It also generally recommended to stick within a brand as you think about what chemicals you want to use. That's more of a very loose guide then anything, but you'll find lots of brands will build synergies within their products with each other and that the brands test their products with their own stuff, not necessarily against others or with others. There is no right and wrong here for this.
I ended up going with the Koch Chemie brand of products initially. They are generally well regarded within the space, have okish price per ounce, and perform well. They are made in Germany. I will most likely get a few uses of them before I start to decide if I want to switch some stuff out as it wasn't to my liking or not what I was looking for.
Im going to link to The Rag Company Website as its where I bought most of the stuff and they have specific guidance, videos, and stuff for each product. Most of this can be gotten off Amazon, but from an information standpoint its better if I just link to their site.
Interior:
Exterior:
- Koch-Chemie Pol Star - Leather, alcantara, and textile cleaner. Does a very good job at removing oils from things like the steering wheel and cleaning various soft touch points. Has an OK smell, nothing that lingers, and doesnt alter the shine of the material. I used this in a diluted mixture with a brush and works fine. Easy clean up as well. A bottle of this is going to last a long time (1 Liter) unless you are just doing lots of truck stuff.
- Koch-Chemie Leather Star - Leather care product. You put this on after Pol Star. Its a simple wipe on and let dry type product. Has an ok darkening effect but semi-gloss finish (its on the lower end of semi-gloss), is not greasy at all, and is designed for smooth leather and perforated leather material. Has a pleasant smell as well, but nothing that is overwhelming. This is a protectant, that should last 2-4 months depending on car usage once applied. You get a lot for the price (1 liter) so this will last a long while as well.
- Koch-Chemie AllAround Surface Cleaner - Good for just about anything in the car. Great for getting greasy oils off touch points or good at just cleaning any surface for light cleaning. I wish it came in a bigger bottle as the amount you get is $15 for 500ml. The sprayer on all Koch products is pretty good. I will probably swap to something else.
- Koch-Chemie Glass Cleaner - It cleans glass. For $15 bucks I'm not sure if it beats Stoners Invisible Glass for me at that price and volume point (500ml) considering the aerosol version of Stoners is 19 ounces for 7 bucks. Will probably swap this out for something else.
- Koch-Chemie Gummifix - Havent used this yet, but its meant for preventing slippage on various rubber parts. It should darken the plastics and also give them less of a slippery feel. Comes in 1 liter size, so will last awhile depending on how dirty such you get your mats.
- Chemical Guys Inner Clean Quick Detailer & Protectant - I grabbed this at Autozone as I was looking for an interior quick detailer with some UV protectant. The smell is not great, doesnt add any glossy effect or greasy shine effect which is nice. It doesnt spread very well either. I like Meguiars Ultimate Interior Detailing spray better in almost every way.
- Koch-Chemie Gentle Snow Foam - Pretty nice product. They do a limited edition around this time of the year that smells like Christmas, otherwise its a cherry scent. Can be used as a foam applicant or as a shampoo. its PH neutral so its not going to do any deep cleaning for you. You can add Koch-Chemie Green Star to it to give it some more bite when you need it. As my car is kept in the garage, this should be enough for most of pre-wash needs.
- Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine - Tried this out for the first time and it worked well. Super easy to use, only needed 2 gallons of water and did the whole truck. This will be one of my main go to's to wash and shampoo when I dont feel like dragging everything out.
- Koch-Chemie Plast Star - This is a tire dressing. I haven't used it yet for that since my tires still have some dressing on them already. I did take this and run it on all more door seals as it is suppose to prevent sticking / freezing in the winter. You will need an applicator for this as it comes with a squirt nosel on the bottle. You also get a lot of it. It is rather expensive at $40 for a liter. So ill have to see how it works on the tires and such before I decide if I'm going to stick with this or not.
- Koch-Chemie Magic Wheel Cleaner - Cleaner + iron /fall out remover for wheels. Seemed to work well and turns purple after reacting. I like it because its acid-free and an all in one product. I have historically use Sonaxs iron remover product and then just normal soap, but will need a few more goes with this one to see if I like it. My wheels weren't very dirty so its hard to see the difference vs the 2 wheels I didn't use this one. This also does a good job of not smelling like a large carton of rotten eggs. That smell is still there but way less.
- Koch-Chemie Quick & Shine - This was a nice topper I added after the wash and I'm in love with it. Goes on easy, flashes quickly, and leaves a really nice smooth finish and gloss. Great for using right after the wash to get any spots missed and just a good overall topper that provides a bit of extra protection without messing up your existing protection.
Anyways, this is getting long, but hopefully we can use this thread to discuss what others like, what is working for others, and/or just general questions around cleaning cars and stuff.
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