Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

by cavyman130

There are so many different methods that people use and I have tried most of them, I am interested to hear how you wash and dry your car, and what products you use to do it.

I use the megiuars car shampoo and a soft washing mitt, below is a brief description of what I do.

. I rinse off the car to take off any excess dust/dirt
. I then fill 2 buckets, 1 with water containing the shampoo and the other just clean water.
. I use the shampoo water for cleaning and the clean water for rinsing the mitt, this is what they call the 2 bucket method.
. after I have finished washing I will rinse the car again to get rid of all the soapy contents.
. I then dry the car with a auto glym aqua dry chamois, I also have a meguiars water magnet but after a while it lost its wow factor, I am impressed so far with the auto glym item though.

by foxycav

gonna give this a try, my method always leaves bloody streaks.
im using zymol stuff right now cos it was on offer in halfrauds, its really good but think my method is all wrong. Bear in mind no hose pipe so im relying on the ol bucket and water routine ;D

its as follows

wash car with usually 2 buckets to get crap off
zymol autowash in bucket of warm water as per instructions
soap it all up and get usual bird poo off
rinse car
chamois off
zymol wax in sections
looks great for few days but in between that i always find streaks ive missed, im not patient enough i guess

by cavyman130

same here, I have to rely on the bucket as well, does the job though. what you make of the zymol stuff? the few halfords around here only seem to sell the meguiars products, never seen any zymol products.

What kind of chamois do you use to dry it off? this could be what is causing the streaks, unless you have just missed a bit, roughly how long do you spend washing and drying the car?

by a19vbk

i cant remeber the last time i washed the car but i normally rinse car off,clean wheels first then bodywork and chamois off.then clean wheels again and chamois.then chamois all door shuts,under the kit,engine bay,boot and other nigly bits.go for a little drive to get water out of awkard bits then chamois with clean cold waterand then polish.as a rough idea.could go into detail but would end up sending you all to sleep. ;D ;D

by k1ngy

its buckets and a hose pipe for me

first rinse loose dirt off with hose
then 2 buckets of warm water 1 with turtle wax wash and wax
wash all usual dirty areas first(bottom of doors. around wheel arches and sills ect..)
then wash all of car going over it twice
wash wheels
rinse off with hose
use car plan soaker block to soke up all the water
then dry with soft towel
wax the car with colour magic
clean all windows and mirrors with tesco window cleaner

usualy spend about 3 hours doing this and if the car gets very dirty ill do this twice a week

by cavyman130

another thing is to get a spare old rag or cloth and clean behind the rear arches as dirt usually builds up here and plays a big part in rust forming on the arches. It doesnt take long to do and it will help keep your arches from rusting.

by riggsy

I always do the following

jetwash car
foam the car
rinse with jetwash
wash with 2 bucket methond and wool wash mitt or schmitt
rinse off
dry with a sonus drying towel and meguiars last touch as a drying aid

then clay, polish, seal, wax etc etc

by whitebullet

and heres the correct way to do it(from another forum i use)

When you wash you car, what do you use? a bucket of soapy water and a sponge???

well DONT lol

Those are just 2 things that people do wrong, and i mean people, drive or walk down the road when some1 is washing their car, they`ll have a sponge in there hand, lol
i have to admit, i used to aswell but i`m paying for it now in the way of swirl marks, and its taking a while to remove them
Ok the bucket of soapy water, some people will insist on using fairy liquid or other, you know when you have washed your hands or just done the washing up using a washing up liquid, see how your hads dry out, well think about your car, you are doing the same thing, washing up liquid is a very hard liquid that is`nt anygood for your car, you can purchase loads of car wash products, some better than others, personnaly i use turtle wax`s wash and wax, reasonable price and is available in most places

1st Put the water into the bucket then apply the soap, swirl arround a little, bubbles are not what wash the car

so thats the soap sorted, now the bucket, lmao the bucket i hear you say, oh yes.
Picture the scene, put your sponge in the bucket, wash the car, then back in the bucket, etc, and notice the bucket of nice soapy water goes dark and sometimes black, and yet you still continue to put that sponge back into that water so you can finish the car.

Here`s what you should be doing, what they call the 2 bucket method,
1 bucket = soapy water
2 bucket = clean water.
its simple really:
sponge in soapy water
wash the car
rinse in 2nd bucket before putting back into bucket 1

now idealy at the bottom of your bucket, (bucket 2) you wana put like a grill effect object at the bottom, this will let all the grit etc to come of the sponge and fall below there, where you can`t risk touching it again putting it back on the sponge.

Now the sponge, DONT EVER USE A SPONGE to wash a car
basicly a sponge just pushes the dirt, and the sponge will just sit on it, so as you wipe your car, you are infact scratching the surface, creating things like swirls, "cobweb", look at your car, look at close enough where the light hits it and you may see them, depending on the age of the vehicle really.
so what should you be using?
This:

i know it looks silly but trust me, these mits, which are avaible in most places for arround a £10 will collect the dirt, inside,there for not scratching
there are differnent varieties of these aswell, the best would have to be the sheepskin mit

DRYING THE CAR
do not chamis, use a water magnet or a nice soft cloth
i shall leave it there, i could go into much more detail, like using clay etc

[/SIZE][FONT=Times New Roman]so in this order and you now know how:


rinse the car, with hose (on a gentle spray if you can) or a watering can
2 bucket washing
use a mit, (have known peeps to use 2 mits, one 4 washing and one 4 rinsing (up to you)
rinse again, (as above)
dry, but do not chamis, anything left on the car, chamis`s do the same things a as sponge if not worse

i hope you found this useful
for some extra help, watch this video, entitled "[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]How to use the 2-bucket method to wash your car![/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] "
then you don`t have to take my word for it, its 28mins long, and you don`t need to login (if you don`t wana) you`ll need to scroll down just a bit to get under the DVD advertisement
http://www.showcargarage.com/
HTH

another tip, if your planning on claying your car, don`t dry as it helps with lubricating the clay

by foxycav

cavyman130 wrote::same here, I have to rely on the bucket as well, does the job though. what you make of the zymol stuff? the few halfords around here only seem to sell the meguiars products, never seen any zymol products.

What kind of chamois do you use to dry it off? this could be what is causing the streaks, unless you have just missed a bit, roughly how long do you spend washing and drying the car?

its good tbh, i got mine in our local halfrauds. it was on offer else i wouldnt have bought it.
seemed to do a really good job and didnt need a ton of rubbing to use.
girlie thing to say but it smells gorgeous too lol
the wax lasted quite a while as well (always a bonus in my eyes)
id deffo recommend it but it is expensive. wont let anyone use because of that. saying that meguiars isnt all that cheap. get what you pay for i suppose.
i do use autoglym on the black bits though, its best ive found ;D

oh i havent got ANY patience tbh, I start out all enthusiastic then get bored, hence the streaks lol.
Andy, nice one for the "proper" way to do it, im a sad arse i use a sponge :'(
have to buy one of those mitts

by dexy

Mine goes like this

Hose car with water
Warm soap and water usualy turtle wax
rinse off soap and bubbles from car
chamois dry it
super resin polish from autoglym, lots off, should end up like this




I do go a bit far sometimes with the polish though


[

by dirtycav

i wet the car using the hose pipe then wash it with autoglym shampoo then rinse it off making sure ive got all the soap of even under the window and door rubbers dry it of then polish it with autoglm super resin then after ive takin the polish off i put the autoglm extra gloss on while the wax is on i get the Vinyl & Rubber Care out and do all the black bits (bumper tops,number plate pannel) etc then ill use the tyre shine then take the wax off i find that the longer u leave the wax on the deeper the shine u get

I use a mix of meguires car shampoo,autoglym shampoo and sum pressure washer detergent in a bucket of warm water,feels very waxy.i use a fluffy sponge to wash the car down,rince it off and then dry it with chamois cloth so theres no streaks.Gives one hell of a shine.

Rich P wrote:I use a mix of meguires car shampoo,autoglym shampoo and sum pressure washer detergent in a bucket of warm water,feels very waxy.i use a fluffy sponge to wash the car down,rince it off and then dry it with chamois cloth so theres no streaks.Gives one hell of a shine.

Pressure washer detergent

This is bound to cause damage to your paint mate, I would stick with the meguiars shampoo, its a good product and does a good job of breaking down harmful substances, you will get the shine purely from the meg/autoglym, you would be best using just the one product though, as mixing them might eliminate the certain plus points that each individual product gives.

Cavyman_130 wrote:

Rich P wrote:I use a mix of meguires car shampoo,autoglym shampoo and sum pressure washer detergent in a bucket of warm water,feels very waxy.i use a fluffy sponge to wash the car down,rince it off and then dry it with chamois cloth so theres no streaks.Gives one hell of a shine.

Pressure washer detergent

This is bound to cause damage to your paint mate, I would stick with the meguiars shampoo, its a good product and does a good job of breaking down harmful substances, you will get the shine purely from the meg/autoglym, you would be best using just the one product though, as mixing them might eliminate the certain plus points that each individual product gives.

I guess your right,from now on im just using one shampoo at a time and eliminating detergent cheers

good stuff mate, give a couple of washes and you should start seeing a better finish

MENIS -MY WAY
FIRST I HOSE THE CAR DOWN TO REMOVE EXCESS DIRT.GET A BUCKET WITH MEGUIARS CAR WASH IN AND WASH MITT AND CLEAN CAR.HOSE OFF AGAIN.
ONCE REMOVED ALL SOAPY BUBBLES DRY OFF WITH A MEGUIARS WATER MAGNET.LEAVE 20 MINUTES THAEN APPLY MEGUIARS TECH WAX WITH APPLICATOR PAD AND REMOVE WITH MEGUIARS MICRO FIBRE CLOTH.THEN CLEAN WHEELS WITH WHEEL WAX AND REMOVE WITH MICRO FIBRE CLOTH AND THEN CLEAN BLACK PLASTIC WITH MEGUIARS PLASTIC CLEANER .END RESULT IS AMAZING

my way...

Take £4.00 to the lady in the petrol station, get a code. Punch it into a machine and read the paper for 5 minutes while the big wirly things and squirty jets clean the car for me...
Sorted

dave wrote:my way...

Take £4.00 to the lady in the petrol station, get a code. Punch it into a machine and read the paper for 5 minutes while the big wirly things and squirty jets clean the car for me...
Sorted

should be read the paper for 5 minutes while the big whirly and squirty jets scratch the whole of your car car washes are the worst place to take your car, the detergent is bad for the paint while the hard cleaning strips scratch your car up,down and sideways

I know lol... i suppose given the minor fact i actually like the three cars i own now i really should more effort into it lol

I just tend to get the hose on it to get the loose stuff off (the setting that looks like a shower head) and then wash over using turlewax stuff with my wash lambs mit
I do the roof and the windows then wash the soap off and
work my way round do the bonnet headlight wings boot and rinse that off then the bumpers lower doors skirts etc, overlapping the pannels then clean the wheels.

Im not a big fan of polishing so i tend to so it about 4 times a year with megs polish and colinite wax as its detergent proof, give a good shine and protects the paint, i could get better results with a "shinier" waX but this seems to last longer

Id rather keep it clean by washing than bother polishing every weekend - im lazy like that

I'd like to comment on two things that i've read here!
Firstly there is a polish made by 3m called pink rosa and it gives u a brilliant shiny finish with a oily resistance that can last anything up to one month.
Secondly its friendly to all plastics and rubbers so that you need not spend all that valuable time (which could be spent drinking beer) masking up mouldings and rubbers, which by the way it's good to see some people do do that as it looks awful if you dont!!

I love the lengths which some folk will go to to wash a car i have been in the trade for eight years and must wash a good five to fifteen cars a week and yeah swirl marks are a problem but if you polish your car regularly this shouldn't be a problem.

Heres my little routine for a paying customer

Rinse with hose
Clean bucket of water with suds and a clean sponge over the whole car thouroughly
Rinse off whole car with hose thoroughly
Then use rubber squigy to dry car
Then using a thoroughly cleaned (with warm water) and (thorougly sqeezed so barely moist )chamois leather go over the rest of the car
Clean the Chamois again as above then go over the whole car again until all streak marks are gone

IMPORTANT
Do not do any of this in direct sunlight

Obviously as previously said before this will eventually cause swirl marks but will mean you have more time on your hands to drive your very shiny cav!!

reading that is like i typed it myself apart from the squigy part good to no im doing it right mint

BEST WAY TO WASH YOUR CAR IS BY USING ONLY DAIMOND BRITE PRODUCTS FROM SHAMPOO AND CONSERVER TO THE POLISH CARS LOOK GREAT AND THE WATER JUST REPELS OF IT AND I DID IT FOR ALIVING AT ASTON MARTIN

I often wash mine when it's raining! I use a clean sponge and poor Autoglym Shampoo in the centre of it and start with the roof downwards. The rain washes off the suds and there are no streaks.

phunkymonkey wrote:by whitebullet

and heres the correct way to do it(from another forum i use)

When you wash you car, what do you use? a bucket of soapy water and a sponge???

well DONT lol

Those are just 2 things that people do wrong, and i mean people, drive or walk down the road when some1 is washing their car, they`ll have a sponge in there hand, lol
i have to admit, i used to aswell but i`m paying for it now in the way of swirl marks, and its taking a while to remove them
Ok the bucket of soapy water, some people will insist on using fairy liquid or other, you know when you have washed your hands or just done the washing up using a washing up liquid, see how your hads dry out, well think about your car, you are doing the same thing, washing up liquid is a very hard liquid that is`nt anygood for your car, you can purchase loads of car wash products, some better than others, personnaly i use turtle wax`s wash and wax, reasonable price and is available in most places

1st Put the water into the bucket then apply the soap, swirl arround a little, bubbles are not what wash the car

so thats the soap sorted, now the bucket, lmao the bucket i hear you say, oh yes.
Picture the scene, put your sponge in the bucket, wash the car, then back in the bucket, etc, and notice the bucket of nice soapy water goes dark and sometimes black, and yet you still continue to put that sponge back into that water so you can finish the car.

Here`s what you should be doing, what they call the 2 bucket method,
1 bucket = soapy water
2 bucket = clean water.
its simple really:
sponge in soapy water
wash the car
rinse in 2nd bucket before putting back into bucket 1

now idealy at the bottom of your bucket, (bucket 2) you wana put like a grill effect object at the bottom, this will let all the grit etc to come of the sponge and fall below there, where you can`t risk touching it again putting it back on the sponge.

Now the sponge, DONT EVER USE A SPONGE to wash a car
basicly a sponge just pushes the dirt, and the sponge will just sit on it, so as you wipe your car, you are infact scratching the surface, creating things like swirls, "cobweb", look at your car, look at close enough where the light hits it and you may see them, depending on the age of the vehicle really.
so what should you be using?
This:

i know it looks silly but trust me, these mits, which are avaible in most places for arround a £10 will collect the dirt, inside,there for not scratching
there are differnent varieties of these aswell, the best would have to be the sheepskin mit

DRYING THE CAR
do not chamis, use a water magnet or a nice soft cloth
i shall leave it there, i could go into much more detail, like using clay etc

[/SIZE][FONT=Times New Roman]so in this order and you now know how:


rinse the car, with hose (on a gentle spray if you can) or a watering can
2 bucket washing
use a mit, (have known peeps to use 2 mits, one 4 washing and one 4 rinsing (up to you)
rinse again, (as above)
dry, but do not chamis, anything left on the car, chamis`s do the same things a as sponge if not worse

i hope you found this useful
for some extra help, watch this video, entitled "[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]How to use the 2-bucket method to wash your car![/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] "
then you don`t have to take my word for it, its 28mins long, and you don`t need to login (if you don`t wana) you`ll need to scroll down just a bit to get under the DVD advertisement
http://www.showcargarage.com/
HTH

another tip, if your planning on claying your car, don`t dry as it helps with lubricating the clay

I use the above method but I snow foam it prior to washing.



It's mostly a gimmick but does a good job of getting the top layer of crap off before washing.