Car Washing and Care

[Pham]

Sup guys,

Sorry for huge essay coming up.

Hopefully this is the correct sub for these inquiries.

I just bought a new Tesla and have heard about the infamous paint being ******. I have the "Multi-Coat Red" if that matters. Already got the basics like buckets, grit guards, spray bottle, microfiber mits and *sugar* ton of microfiber cloth. Using leaf blower as dryer possibly.

I'm interested in washing my car at home since the bills have started to rack up. I've taken to the car wash (touchless) about six times within the past two months of ownership. A little excessive I know but I just like the clean look. That being said I've decided I'm just going to start car washing at home and only use the carwash in winter when it's too cold to do it outside.

I've come down to two different methods and that is the ONR Rinselsss method and the whole pressure washer + car foam combo.

It's probably more cost effective to use ONR since you're not using as much water (if I go this route I'm not getting a pressure washer since it's really not required).

• How much are you enthusiasts paying monthly extra in water bills regarding how many times you self wash a month? My ass is lazy so realistically I'm going to be doing it once or twice a month. Planning on ceramic coating the car myself in a week or two.

• What are your personal favorite brands when it comes to car soap? I too am a fan of shaving cream foaming. What about tire products? I have third party hub caps that I replaced my aero caps with. I'll probably remove them to clean separately.

• Should I be using any of the waxing or Optiseal kind of products on a ceramic coat?

• Any particular ceramic coating brands you recommend? I am currently interested in the Gyeon products, specifically Mohs since Gyeon is the only brand I'm familiar with.

• Should I stick with the boring but effective and cheaper ONR Rinseless method? Still going to be ceramic coating the car regardless and am pretty sure ONR is ceramic friendly.

• Which drying aid do you recommend if any?

These are my most apparent questions at the moment. I don't want to go out buying terrible/wrong products. Apologies if this is the wrong sub , can a mod move it to the correct one? Would 'My Garage or Service/Maintenance' be correct?

I'll leave interior detailing for another day since that's a whole different beast.

I DO NOT MIND long essays from an enthusiast on this subject I'm just trying to learn myself since I'm trying to really take care of this car... It's ****ing expensive. I am still hesitating on buying a PPF kit to install myself even though I've watched so many videos and it looks doable. But I think I'm just going to do a ceramic coating and car wash often.

Thanks in advance!

 

[joebruin77]

Congrats on your new Tesla and welcome to TMC. I am a car detailing nerd and enthusiast. Please see my answers below. Hope they help.
Joe

• How much are you enthusiasts paying monthly extra in water bills regarding how many times you self wash a month? My ass is lazy so realistically I'm going to be doing it once or twice a month. Planning on ceramic coating the car myself in a week or two.

I do rinseless washes exclusively. I have not used my foam cannon and traditional soap in over 4 years. I am sure I have saved literally hundreds of gallons of water.

• What are your personal favorite brands when it comes to car soap? I too am a fan of shaving cream foaming. What about tire products? I have third party hub caps that I replaced my aero caps with. I'll probably remove them to clean separately.

For rinseless washes, I like ONR, P & S Absolute, and Owners Pride Ecowash. I also plan to try Carpro Ech20, which has a bit of ceramic in it, so I think it is best for ceramic coated cars. If you want a rinseless with the strongest cleaning ability, check out Feynlab Pure Rinseless v2. It cleans really well but it may strip waxes and sealants (because it is such a strong cleaner).

To clean tires, I like Mckees 37 Tire and Rubber Rejuvenator as well as Meguires Non-Acid Wheel and Tire Cleaner concentrate. For tire dressings, I highly recommend water-based dressings. My two favorites are Griots Garage Ceramic Tire Dressing and Duragloss 253.

• Should I be using any of the waxing or Optiseal kind of products on a ceramic coat?

There is no point in applying a wax or sealant on top of a ceramic coating, as they won't bond. I do suggest using a ceramic boost or topper spray every few washes. My favorite is Xtreme Solutions Topper. I also like Technicians Choice Ceramic Detail Spray.

• Any particular ceramic coating brands you recommend? I am currently interested in the Gyeon products, specifically Mohs since Gyeon is the only brand I'm familiar with.

I only have personal experience with Gyeon Cancoat Evo, which I really liked. Gyeon Mohs has gotten lots of good reviews. I regularly read and contribute to an online forum for professional car detailers and enthusiasts called Autogeek. Here is a link to an example of a discussion about Gyone Mohs. They give it lots of love and many have expressed a preference for it over Cquartz:

Gyeon Mohs Evo and The Curse of the White Perl

First off to set everyone's mind at ease, I have only good things to say about Mohs. TLDR summary: Mohs Evo is an amazing coating. Now for those that

www.autogeekonline.net

• Should I stick with the boring but effective and cheaper ONR Rinseless method? Still going to be ceramic coating the car regardless and am pretty sure ONR is ceramic friendly.

I love rinseless washes and, as long as they are done properly with the right techniques and materials, they clean really well without scratching the paint. I highly recommend you buy a sprayer, put some rinseless wash solution in the sprayer and then use it to "pretreat" the panel before cleaning it with the rinseless wash, especially for the lower, dirtier parts of the car. I bought a Chapin garden sprayer from Home Depot for less than $20 and it works great.

• Which drying aid do you recommend if any?

I actually use the beforementioned Xtreme Solutions Topper and Technicians Choice 582 Ceramic Detail Spray as drying aids. I have read that Carpro Ech20 also works really well as a drying aid, but have not personally tried it yet. Not only do these products work well, but they are good values. You can buy a gallon of Topper or 582 for $40. And because Ech20 is a concentrate, it is also cost effective

 

[Pham]

Wow a lot of goodies in here, Joe!

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions my good sir!

I've done more research (by research, I mean watching Pan the Organizer lmao) after posting this and I have found the drying aids like Topper and Bead Maker are probably what I'm looking for.

The more I read and watch about Rinseless, the more sure I am with using this method to wash my car. I'll probably be doing it once every other weekend.

My car isn't going off road or into super muddy/dirty places besides maybe the occasional gravel or dirt road if ever so I don't believe I need to 'deep clean' the car. If I have to, I might just use the self-touchless car washes.

Gyeon Mohs EVO is probably what I'm going to be using for the ceramic coating.

Thanks so much again Joe.

 

[joebruin77]

Wow a lot of goodies in here, Joe!

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions my good sir!

I've done more research (by research, I mean watching Pan the Organizer lmao) after posting this and I have found the drying aids like Topper and Bead Maker are probably what I'm looking for.

The more I read and watch about Rinseless, the more sure I am with using this method to wash my car. I'll probably be doing it once every other weekend.

My car isn't going off road or into super muddy/dirty places besides maybe the occasional gravel or dirt road if ever so I don't believe I need to 'deep clean' the car. If I have to, I might just use the self-touchless car washes.

Gyeon Mohs EVO is probably what I'm going to be using for the ceramic coating.

Thanks so much again Joe

There is a lot of satisfaction in taking care of one's car. Have fun!

BTW, while some people love Bead Maker, I am personally not a huge fan. It adds a ton of gloss and slickness, but does not contain any ceramic. I think if you have a ceramic coating, it is best to use something like Topper that has some ceramic in it. Plus Bead Maker is not durable at all. I saw a video where the Bead Maker was removed after a single wash.

Check out Topper. You will not be disappointed. It adds a lot of gloss, smells nice, and feels super slick under the towel as you wipe it off. Plus, it adds some protection. Brian from Apex detail did a review and showed that Topper did offer some protection on its own.

 

[NeuroRad]

Welcome to the OCD world of car washing! I've got a total love/hate relationship with washing my cars. I love the finished product but always hate how physically demanding it is to do correctly. A lot of the work is just getting everything set up. I look forward to the day I have a garage with pressure water setup and all lines and hoses already ran so all you have to do at that point is flip the power on and turn on the water.

Anyways, you'll really have to try things out for yourself and find out what you like and don't like. Never wash in direct sunlight. Invest in a CR spotless system. These are not cheap but worth every penny in my opinion. I actually do my entire wash with the CR spotless because I don't want to risk any water spots. It's always super hot here and it's impossible to wash the entire car before there's some degree of drying.

Use only the highest quality microfiber. I recommend Microfiber madness. I like their mitts instead of the pads, it gives me better control.

For soap, the Koch GSF is fantastic but very expensive. I'm currently using Carpro reset which is also excellent. I've also used the P&S soap which is cheap and works well.

Get a wheel brush and dedicated mitt for wheel cleaning. P&S brake buster in a foam sprayer works well.

For drying do as much as possible with electric leaf blower. Don't need the stubby attachments many influencers peddle.

 

[Pham]

There is a lot of satisfaction in taking care of one's car. Have fun!

BTW, while some people love Bead Maker, I am personally not a huge fan. It adds a ton of gloss and slickness, but does not contain any ceramic. I think if you have a ceramic coating, it is best to use something like Topper that has some ceramic in it. Plus Bead Maker is not durable at all. I saw a video where the Bead Maker was removed after a single wash.

Check out Topper. You will not be disappointed. It adds a lot of gloss, smells nice, and feels super slick under the towel as you wipe it off. Plus, it adds some protection. Brian from Apex detail did a review and showed that Topper did offer some protection on its own.

Yessir, already bought Xtreme Solutions Topper from Amazon. It's going to take a bit to get here but whatever. I've already also ordered the requirements.

Xtreme Topper
Bucket
Wolly Mammoth Drying Towel
Grit Guard
ONR
Big Red Sponge
Spray Bottle
Invisible Glass Cleaner
Windshield Wipe Tool
Packs of Microfiber Cloth

Spent about $150 after said and done, all ordered through Amazon.

I may eventually splurge on a pressure washer in a couple months or so if I feel like I want it.

I will start looking into the tire stuff as well. Pan the Organizer's probably got some videos on this


Thanks for the assistance!

 

[Pham]

Welcome to the OCD world of car washing! I've got a total love/hate relationship with washing my cars. I love the finished product but always hate how physically demanding it is to do correctly. A lot of the work is just getting everything set up. I look forward to the day I have a garage with pressure water setup and all lines and hoses already ran so all you have to do at that point is flip the power on and turn on the water.

Anyways, you'll really have to try things out for yourself and find out what you like and don't like. Never wash in direct sunlight. Invest in a CR spotless system. These are not cheap but worth every penny in my opinion. I actually do my entire wash with the CR spotless because I don't want to risk any water spots. It's always super hot here and it's impossible to wash the entire car before there's some degree of drying.

Use only the highest quality microfiber. I recommend Microfiber madness. I like their mitts instead of the pads, it gives me better control.

For soap, the Koch GSF is fantastic but very expensive. I'm currently using Carpro reset which is also excellent. I've also used the P&S soap which is cheap and works well.

Get a wheel brush and dedicated mitt for wheel cleaning. P&S brake buster in a foam sprayer works well.

For drying do as much as possible with electric leaf blower. Don't need the stubby attachments many influencers peddle.

Pretty much got everything I need this afternoon. I bought ONR to try out the rinse less method first since it's the cheaper and easier set up.

I will buy a pressure washer soon but that CR system looks amazing... But $400+ is a lot.

 

[NeuroRad]

I am personally not a fan of rinseless washes. I would only consider it if there were substantial water restrictions. The level of clean simply does not compare to a traditional 2 bucket wash.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I am personally not a fan of rinseless washes. I would only consider it if there were substantial water restrictions. The level of clean simply does not compare to a traditional 2 bucket wash.

Yeah, personally I don't see the point of those washes also unless you live in an area with strict water restrictions. I have PPF, and do not have as high standards for cleanness as some here, so I'm not generally using soaps (only rarely as necessary for spot cleaning for very stubborn residue). However, just doing a whole body spray with a garden hose with pistol nozzle (like below), then immediately drying with clean microfiber towels (absolutely required because my home has hard water), surprisingly it doesn't use as much water as people and articles seem to make it out to be.
Gilmour Metal Pistol Nozzle with Threaded Tip 857302-1013 - The Home Depot

I measured I take 4.5 minutes (270 seconds) to spray the whole car clean. I measured the flow rate at my preferred nozzle trigger position and it takes 80 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket, that means I am using 3.375 buckets or around 17 gallons of water. I've seen articles claim a typical driveway car wash uses 100 gallons, which is ridiculous. Maybe if they had no nozzle attachment and they are just letting the hose run the whole time (which seems like a hugely inefficient way to wash, as you get very little pressure)?

My water costs are $1 per 138 gallons, so I'm paying $0.12 each time (a wash every week or every two weeks). Even washing every week for a whole year costs $6.24. Well worth it to keep the car free of dust, pollen, and occasional bird droppings.

In terms of water conservation, I'm skeptical car wash bans really save much, even though visually seeing water run down the driveway may trigger people. I looked up the flow rate of typical sprinklers and it's 2-3 gpm, with about 10 sprinkler heads and running it 15 minutes, already uses 300-450 gallons. So shutting off or running sprinkler head a shorter time saves a ton more water.

 

[Pham]

Yeah, personally I don't see the point of those washes also unless you live in an area with strict water restrictions. I have PPF, and do not have as high standards for cleanness as some here, so I'm not generally using soaps (only rarely as necessary for spot cleaning for very stubborn residue). However, just doing a whole body spray with a garden hose with pistol nozzle (like below), then immediately drying with clean microfiber towels (absolutely required because my home has hard water), surprisingly it doesn't use as much water as people and articles seem to make it out to be.
Gilmour Metal Pistol Nozzle with Threaded Tip 857302-1013 - The Home Depot

I measured I take 4.5 minutes (270 seconds) to spray the whole car clean. I measured the flow rate at my preferred nozzle trigger position and it takes 80 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket, that means I am using 3.375 buckets or around 17 gallons of water. I've seen articles claim a typical driveway car wash uses 100 gallons, which is ridiculous. Maybe if they had no nozzle attachment and they are just letting the hose run the whole time (which seems like a hugely inefficient way to wash, as you get very little pressure)?

My water costs are $1 per 138 gallons, so I'm paying $0.12 each time (a wash every week or every two weeks). Even washing every week for a whole year costs $6.24. Well worth it to keep the car free of dust, pollen, and occasional bird droppings.

In terms of water conservation, I'm skeptical car wash bans really save much, even though visually seeing water run down the driveway may trigger people. I looked up the flow rate of typical sprinklers and it's 2-3 gpm, with about 10 sprinkler heads and running it 15 minutes, already uses 300-450 gallons. So shutting off or running sprinkler head a shorter time saves a ton more water.

Oh wow, so the water bill is basically a non issue then huh.

I live in the suburbs of Chicago; we have no water restrictions.

Honestly I was only interested in the Rinseless method because I thought water bill increase may be an drag and maybe the extra time.

But I do love the foam gun and pressure washing part...

Regarding cleanliness, I was lead to assume from multiple detailers (Youtube ones) and other people's personal experiences that the Rinseless Method works just as well as the traditional soap method. Yvan Lacrouix, Detail Groove, Pan the Organizer, and a few others have all sang praises of rinseless.

 

[rwiegand]

I'm giving some thought to washing my car for the first time in celebration of its first birthday. It's rained about every other day this summer though, so there seems little point.

 

[NeuroRad]

Oh wow, so the water bill is basically a non issue then huh.

I live in the suburbs of Chicago; we have no water restrictions.

Honestly I was only interested in the Rinseless method because I thought water bill increase may be an drag and maybe the extra time.

But I do love the foam gun and pressure washing part...

Regarding cleanliness, I was lead to assume from multiple detailers (Youtube ones) and other people's personal experiences that the Rinseless Method works just as well as the traditional soap method. Yvan Lacrouix, Detail Groove, Pan the Organizer, and a few others have all sang praises of rinseless.

And many of those guys also have a product to push or need views to make money.

The rinseless wash is not a replacement for a traditional 2 bucket wash. Its something you can do in between regular washes or if you have water restrictions. Its also not good if your car is very dirty.

 

[rlsd]

In the first couple months I used the water hose to wash the car on the driveway.
But later I found this was not efficient and not desirable because:
1. Too much water was used.
2. The sun made the water dry too quick and I left spots on the paint if I did not wipe in time.
3. Trapped water was dripping out of the doors, the mirrors, the camaras, the trunk and left traces on the paint even after I wiped multiple times.
4. It took too much time and was exhausting.
5. I had to greet the walking by neighbors. Plus I did not want to be judged by them for caring too much about my car and for being cheap .

Lately I use microfiber cloth to wipe the car inside the garage. The car still looks clean like I wash it with the water hose. I use regular car wash soap. I don't use ORN Rinseless thing. Once in a while I use chemical to remove tree sap and tar.

 

[joebruin77]

It is true that some detailing Youtubers are paid to push products. So you do have to watch videos with a critical eye. But that does not mean that all information presented on Youtube is inaccurate. For example, Larry with Ammo NYC has done some of the most informative videos on Youtube, even though ultimately he is trying to sell his products.

I think each person has to use a car washing method that they are most comfortable with. Personally, I think rinseless washes are a lot safer than most people assume. I also think some people who are against rinseless washes have never even tried one.

There are some situations where I think a traditional wash is safer and necessary. For example, if I owned a 4x4 and my car was covered in mud from off-roading, I would probably choose to do a traditional wash. But if my car is lightly to moderately dirty, I have no problem doing a rinseless wash.

BTW, there is another type of wash called a waterless wash, which is very similar to using a detail spray. You spray it on and wipe it clean. This uses even less water than a rinseless. But personally, I would choose a rinseless wash over a waterless wash in most situations, as I think waterless washes are more likely to induce scratches than the rinseless method.

 

[canasion35]

Ammo Reflex pro Enamel coat did better than almost every ceramic coat tested by Chicago Auto Pros…his topper (derived from the top coat) is also unreal.

I’ve never had a car shine so much with his products. Both are ceramic coated with Reflex pro and Reflex top coat.

Also a big fan of two bucket wash method.