If you were me...how would you wash/detail my car in my area?
 

1. I live in an apartment complex.
2. There's no hose to wash my car.
3. There is a touchless wash down the street
4. There is a fully automatic wash with brushes (no way)
5. There is a self-wash bay. The timer give you like 5 minutes and the hose is VERY high-pressure.
6. I have a Pearl White 370, sport wheels.

What would you do? It seems the only hose I have access to is a high pressure one and I feel like that is a problem especially if you are supposed to wash just one section at a time? Please be as detailed as possible when explaining what you would do in my situation (where, how, what products).

It's a long-shot to get responses to this, but thank you in advance. Rep to any helpful posters

edit: I'm new to all of this and don't have any products currently. What cloths should I buy as a newbie? (in your list of products)

self wash bay if they allow buckets you can still wash the car there just cause there are timers doesn't mean you have a limited amount of time to be there.

I would recommend using Optimum No Rinse (ONR). You should use the two bucket method with one bucket used with the ONR solution and one with plain water so that you can rinse your wash media off and let the grit stay out of the solution bucket so that they don't make it back to the car's paint. The next thing is to get a good wash media: I have been using ONR for 3 years and have had good success using a microfiber chenille mitt and a grout sponge such as those at Lowes. My observations and tips:

-I have not used a hose on my cars in 3 years: the key is that you work from top to bottom going section by section. You should work on small sections (1/4 of the hood = one section), then you immediately dry that section and move on.

-Use little to no pressure when washing/drying.

-Use a quality drying towel: a plush drying towel is good because you can blot drying and reduce the risk of marring.

-It can be used on everything: once you finish cleaning the paint, use the remaining ONR solution to wash the wheels. You can even use it to clean the interior by dampening a MF towel and performing a wipe down.


I have not used a hose on the Z since I first got it and it has no marring whatsoever, the key with ONR is in using careful technique and is perfect for your criteria in my opinion.

Find a girlfriend with a house, garage, and a garden hose.

Use the two bucket method at the DIY car wash. As long as you don't get too close with the pressure washer, you'll be fine. Not everyone has the ideal conditions to wash. I have well water and have installed an under sink filter to my spigot. But in the end, there was a time when 200 dollar wash kits weren't the rage. There must have been no shiny cars then?

I can give you more specific product recommendations if you want, just let me know! I have used almost every mainstream and popular detailing product but these are what I come back to every time. For basic detailing supplies, here is a general list of the products I have found success in having these as the basics:

-Microfiber: get lots and lots of high quality microfibers. You should get a lot that are dedicated just for the paint (Chemical Guys, Adams, Pakshak, Detailer's Domain), some for wheels, and some for interior/general use (Costco yellow MFs are great for this, just remove the tags).

-Wash: Optimum No Rinse for the wash solution, MF chenille wash mitt or Lowes Grout sponge, a couple waffle weave drying towels and a plush MF drying towel (Chemical Guys, Detailer's Domain, Pakshak).

-Wheels: Optimum No Rinse washes, Optimum Power Clean (all purpose cleaner for tires), Optimum Opti-bond water based tire dressing.

-Paint Protection: I highly recommend Menzerna Powerlock sealant as it is very durable, offers great protection, makes metallic and pearl paint pop, and is stupidly easy to use. Some good pre-wax/sealant paint cleanser is Chemical Guys EZ-Creme glaze or Prima Amigo are good choices.

-Quick Detailer/Spray Wax/Spray Sealant: these can be used after every wash to bring that just waxed look to the paint, as well as top up the paint and existing wax/sealant with some additional protection. Quick detailers also have some light cleaning ability if you want to clean of a very light layer of dust or get bird bombed (crucial to remove those as quickly as possible. Some great QDs are Finishkare 425, Gloss it Gloss Enhancer (my fav), Optimum Instant Detailer, and Duragloss Aquawax. Some great spray waxes/sealants are Chemical Guys V7, Optimum Spray Wax, Duragloss Aquawax, and Prima Hydro.

-Metal Polish: Chemical Guys Metal Shine, very easy to use with great results.

-Plastic Protectant: 303 Aerospace Protectant is great for dressing interior plastics, vinyl and leather. Opti-bond is a great exterior plastics dressing as it is durable and leaves a beautiful dark satin look.

-Polishes/AIO Products: not sure if you are interested in polishing the car, but there are many good options out there and marring is inevitable after a while. A buffer and some quality polishes plus some know how will pay for itself in the long run since you won't have to pay someone to do it and you will always be able to polish whenever you need to touch up the paint to keep it looking its best. Remember, 95% of how good the paint looks is all in your prep work which is dependent on polishing.


Hope this helps!

Yes!! Great to know you haven't used a water hose in a long time and still got great results. I'll definitely look into some Optimum No Rinse and QD.

Where do you buy your cleaning solutions?
More details on exact MF towels/mitt to get would be great. - off-topic: do you have pics of your saab somewhere?

edit: if any of this is available on Amazon, I just signed up for a Prime account :tup:

I have the same situation as you - live in a loft building with no wash area. I go to a coin-op self wash not too far from me. I generally go early in the morning when there's no one else around. I use a two bucket wash with a sheepskin mitt and hold the wand as far away from the car as possible when rinsing. Normally, I'm also able to dry the car inside the bay (Adams microfiber all the way), because of the time I go.

It's not perfect, but as was said - not everyone has the ideal arrangement available.

Best advice EVER! :bowrofl:

To be honest, I flit around a number of detailing sites and whoever has the best deal is generally who I go for. All the Chemical Guys products I mentioned are best bought from CG themselves, however I use Detailers Domain, detailed image, Pakshak, and sometimes Autogeek if they have any good buy one get one deals.


If I kept this car swirl free without a hose using the aforementioned products and techniques, you can too! 1996 900se 2.0t with a GT28 turbo, full supporting mods and chassis mods (360hp). I sold it last summer with about 36,000 miles on it.... I'm blabbering now aren't I... :icon17:

http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u...m/DSC_0001.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u...C_0031_256.jpg
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0998.jpg

Agreed on the ONR, however if it's winter or when it's really dirty, drive down to the self wash place and spray down the car before you go back home and use the ONR.

Detailors domain is a great place to buy supplies. Their uber no name are the best microfibers on the market. They also carry the full line of adams polishes amoung many other brands. They are a forum sponsor use coupon code: 370 and receive 10%
Chemical guys is another awesome place to buy from. Super cheap prices and fast shipping. Use coupon code: GOLD and receive 5% off

while living in an apartment over a decade ago i gave up on self washing and either used touchless wash (if dust only) or the local handwash place.

after the wash i get home, QD'ed the car in the apartment parking structure. done. :)
i wasnt as picky back then and kept me sane. :D hahaha.

Good thread. Anyone with tips to safely/effectively wash at the self-serve places?

Definitely good advice here. I'd love to give my car 3 hours of attention on the weekends, but I also live in an apartment complex, etc. Been trying to figure out a proper regimen to use the coin operated (coin-op to add another search term) car wash without being "that dude."

Thankfully I am up early and usually go before most people, so I can take my time a bit.

The hardest part right now is going to be able to take the time to really get a good wash and claying session so I can put some sealant on. Then again, this might work out as I can get a clear bra before then... :)