self car wash with gas pressure washer

[aseibel]

Please forgive my rookie questions. I have never washed a vehicle myself besides at a pay car wash. I know some of you spend hours every weekend detailing your vehicles. That is not for me. I have small kids and a wife who will not give me half a Saturday free to stand in the yard with a bucket.

 

I bought a gas pressure washer and bottle of Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds II (detergent that car washes use). I hoped I could just spray the detergent on our 3 vehicles, rinse off and hand dry with microfiber towels. This weekend i just did an experiment and ran out of time to hand dry, so they just dripped off.

 

I'm super disappointing in the grime/ film left behind. I can't imagine rubbing that all around on the paint with the towels. What am I missing to get the surface clean? and by clean I just mean free of dirt, grime and water spots. similar to what it looks like after I pay $8 at the drive through wash behind the gas station.

 

I repeat- I'm not looking to wax, buff, clay bar, or any of that labor intensive stuff you single guys do. I don't have the free time for that. I want to fire up the pressure washer, spray some stuff on and do a quick towel dry. Anyone have a simple way to just clean the exterior of my 3 vehicles in under 1 hour?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

[RUSSH]

_{You can try the waterless car wash route.}

 

_{You get out of it what you put into it.}

[KARNUT]

If you have a special car, fine do it your self. The others I do a blue wave for 20$ per month unlimited and my DD is black it does fine. My classic I do myself once a year but I only drive it when the weather nice. The wife's is gold it goes once a month it never looks dirty. Her classic is black same thing once a year. Spraying off will do nothing, waterless is fine if the car is just dusty and a lite color, I've tried them all I quit being too finicky on the daily drivers.

[Heavy 5.7]

Anyone have a simple way to just clean the exterior of my 3 vehicles in under 1 hour?

Looks like you're going to pay $24 at the drive through wash behind the gas station.

[dsr611]

I bought a gas pressure washer and bottle of Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds II (detergent that car washes use). I hoped I could just spray the detergent on our 3 vehicles, rinse off and hand dry with microfiber towels. This weekend i just did an experiment and ran out of time to hand dry, so they just dripped off.

 

I'm super disappointing in the grime/ film left behind. I can't imagine rubbing that all around on the paint with the towels. What am I missing to get the surface clean? and by clean I just mean free of dirt, grime and water spots. similar to what it looks like after I pay $8 at the drive through wash behind the gas station.

 

 

So you just sprayed the truck down, sprayed soap on it, and rinsed it off? When you shower, do you just stand under the shower head, put shampoo/soap on your head, and let it rinse off or do you scrub your head and use a wash cloth to scrub your body? Just spraying soap on and rinsing it off isn't doing anything but wasting soap and water. You need to use a microfiber wash mitt, wash pad, etc to actually go over the surface of the vehicle to get the dirt/grime off. If you spray the soap on and just rinse it off, you have not removed the dirt/grime and when you hand dry it, you're going to scratch the mess out of the paint. Sounds like you would have been better off just paying a few bucks and running the truck through a car wash

 

 

 

I have small kids and a wife who will not give me half a Saturday free to stand in the yard with a bucket.

 

I guess my wife and 3 girls didn't get that memo

[j-ten-ner]

Cleaning a car is part of the maintenance. And it takes time to do it right.

When your wife and kids are so demanding, why even bother washing the cars?

At some point they will ask you to do it.

 

so long

j-ten-ner

[aseibel]

_{You can try the waterless car wash route.}

 

I thought you were being sarcastic, but i googled it. I never heard of that before. It defeats the purpose of playing with my pressure washer though.

 

When you shower, do you just stand under the shower head, put shampoo/soap on your head, and let it rinse off or do you scrub your head and use a wash cloth to scrub your body?

 

That makes sense. Thank-you for the analogy. I guess I was foolish to think that a power washer that can blast the surface off of a concrete slab would actually remove dirt from a flat painted surface.

 

It seems like I was missing the step where I have to physically wipe the car down. I'll have to try that. If it takes too long, the grand am will just have to stay dirty, haha. I usually run my vehicles through the pay wash about 3 times a year, mostly to get all the salt off in the spring. I'm not as worried about actual dirt.

[aseibel]

Cleaning a car is part of the maintenance. And it takes time to do it right.

When your wife and kids are so demanding, why even bother washing the cars?

At some point they will ask you to do it.

 

Well I'm sure in 2-3 years they will ask me to do it, but unfortunately with a 2 year old and 8 month old and a wife that works full time, our weekends don't have much "me time" right now. I was hoping I could pull out the pressure washer once a month from April to October, but maybe this was just a bad plan from the start.

 

I appreciate the feedback though. I will think about finding a way to "do it right"

[aseibel]

You need to use a microfiber wash mitt, wash pad, etc to actually go over the surface of the vehicle to get the dirt/grime off.

 

Just to clarify, if I obtain a microfiber pad/mitt, what steps should I do?

 

The detergent bottle says I should spray that on a dry car. So I presume I do that first.

Then hand wash with the mitt, then spray off with plain water? Are there more steps?

[Nick The Great]

 

Well I'm sure in 2-3 years they will ask me to do it, but unfortunately with a 2 year old and 8 month old and a wife that works full time, our weekends don't have much "me time" right now. I was hoping I could pull out the pressure washer once a month from April to October, but maybe this was just a bad plan from the start.

 

I appreciate the feedback though. I will think about finding a way to "do it right"

 

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I understand your struggle. And I only have a 2 year old.

 

Between work, dinner, and such, I barely have time to take a crap, let alone spend 3 hours detailing a car.

 

Google the "two bucket method" for washing cars. Basically you wet the car down. Bucket 1 has soapy water and Bucket 2 has clean water. Rub soapy water on car. Rinse cloth in Bucket 2. Dip into Bucket 1, and rub car again. Rinse car and dry with microfiber.

 

That's it in a nutshell. It doesn't have to take forever, but you aren't gonna do it for all 3 cars every weekend.

[kstruckcountry]

I blast off any mud or debris with the washer, then use 3M soap in a bucket with a microfiber towel. After each panel is soaped, I rinse it with a garden hose.

 

I've found with a good sealant on the paint, washing gets a lot less intensive.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[RUSSH]

 

I thought you were being sarcastic, but i googled it. I never heard of that before. It defeats the purpose of playing with my pressure washer though.

 

 

I've personally never done it, but a lot of guys swear by it. Plus it saves some time.

[Back in a Bowtie]

sounds like you need to spend a little time on the youtube and learn some wash procedures. Fastest thing for you is going to be to get a good brush. This is certainly not the best for your paint but it'll be the fastest option. use a soap that has waxes in it (will say wash and wax on the bottle). The pressure washer will help to remove the loose stuff but it'll also remove the wax if you get too aggressive. Since you already have the pressure washer id recommend a foam cannon.

Foam truck

Allow to "soak" in

rinse

Foam again

clean with microfiber mitt (or brush)

rinse

dry

 

The key to washing and detailing is to touch the car / truck as little as possible

[dsr611]

 

Just to clarify, if I obtain a microfiber pad/mitt, what steps should I do?

 

The detergent bottle says I should spray that on a dry car. So I presume I do that first.

Then hand wash with the mitt, then spray off with plain water? Are there more steps?

 

From the CG website (http://www.chemicalguys.com/Maxi_Suds_II_Super_Suds_Car_Wash_1_Gal_p/cws_101.htm)

• Shake Well.
• Fill 5 gallon car wash bucket with water.
• Add 1 oz. of Maxi Suds II to 5 gallon car wash bucket.
• For use with foam gun/foam cannon, fill 32 oz fluid tank with water and add 1 - 3 oz. of Maxi-Suds II. (you probably don't have the foam gun/cannon so skip this step if you don't)
• Wash surface with soapy solution and premium microfiber wash mitt.
• Rinse using clean water.
• Dry car with premium microfiber towel for perfect shine.

Short, 2 minute video on the basic car wash technique

 

[Vicarod]

I agree with the above suggestions.

Use a single bucket wash technique and get real good at it.

The better you get at it, the quicker you will be able to do it, and that should give you desired results.