So what have you done to your car today?

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Wash my own car. Quite hard work so acts as a form of physical workout.

Simple to do.

BucketS
Sponge
Hose
Microfibre drying towels
Beer.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Doesn't the last part make it all sticky? 

Beer shampoo used to be all the rage....

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Wash my own car. Quite hard work so acts as a form of physical workout.

Simple to do.

BucketS
Sponge
Hose
Microfibre drying towels
Beer.

The classic and desirable Signum has only ever enjoyed the one bucket fairy liquid gritty sponge method.....

When the new car arrives I may need to reconsider.

[Nick W]

Doesn't the last part make it all sticky? 

You line up 3 or 4 cold beers where you can see them while cleaning the car. It's a motivation improver to get the whole tedious process over.


The whole 27 buckets, miracle cloths and fancy potions just to clean a car is even more risible than tribal support for oil brands

[ronnyd]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

I can't be arsed with this bit.

[ronnyd]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

I can't be arsed with this bit.

Sometimes,if the roads are dry, i take it for a spin. 

[Nick W]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

Exactly. Works just like it always did before someone realised that if you call it 'detailing' you can sell loads of expensive crap to the gullible.

[dave the builder]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

"Fairy" or other washing up liquid is formulated to strip oil, wax ,polish etc from what it's applied too ,plates ,saucepans etc 
Use the wife's expensive shampoo instead  , or buy car shampoo 

I use washing up liquid (not Fairy as i'm NOT a brand snob ) once a year to strip residue before applying wax polish

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Swmbo bought about a hundred bottles of baby shampoo from Tesco years ago, due to a price glitch which made them 1p per bottle.
Ive ben washing cars with them ever since. 
As for the two bucket method. When you wash a panel and then rinse the sponge or cloth out into a rinse bucket before putting it back into the hot soapy water bucket to wash the next panel, its very easy to test if its worthwhile or not.
After youve finished leave both buckets standing for 24 hours and then have a look in the bottom.
The rinse bucket will have a lot of dirt, grit etc sat in the bottom and the wash bucket will have very little of anything.
If you just use the one bucket all that dirt grit etc. would be floating around in the water and get reapplied to the paintwork every time you rinse out your sponge in the bucket.
Thus scratching hell out of your paintwork.
The only extra effort involved is filling two buckets instead of one.

[YZ250]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

I've just had a coronary at the thought of Washing Up liquid on my paintwork.    It contains salt, not road salt admittedly but salt all the same.   

.......
Exactly. Works just like it always did before someone realised that if you call it 'detailing' you can sell loads of expensive crap to the gullible.

Although I sort of get your point, 'Detailing' is far more involved than just washing a car, even by the most cautious of methods. Detailing is aimed at the removal of high spots, low spots, swirls, holograms etc so that when bright light reflects on the paintwork, the reflection is a pure reflection, with depth to the paint and shine. Not so important on a normal use family car but definitely worth having done immediately prior to a ceramic coating. 

[Nick W]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

I've just had a coronary at the thought of Washing Up liquid on my paintwork.    It contains salt, not road salt admittedly but salt all the same.   

.......
Exactly. Works just like it always did before someone realised that if you call it 'detailing' you can sell loads of expensive crap to the gullible.

Although I sort of get your point, 'Detailing' is far more involved than just washing a car, even by the most cautious of methods. Detailing is aimed at the removal of high spots, low spots, swirls, holograms etc so that when bright light reflects on the paintwork, the reflection is a pure reflection, with depth to the paint and shine. Not so important on a normal use family car but definitely worth having done immediately prior to a ceramic coating. 

Consider just how much washing up liquid/car shampoo/miracle gunge you actually dilute in a bucket of water. It takes many applications of a seriously strong solution(50% instead of the 5 to 10 that the manufacturer recommends) of TFR to affect even a single stage paintjob, although it is a bad effect. The important thing is that you thoroughly wash off whatever you use with plenty of clean water.


Next is you don't need much cleaner if the car is washed frequently and has enough polish on it. I've tried lots from the sell a kidney to pay for 250ml down to spending the same for 20litres in a plastic tub marked car polish. The more expensive stuff does work better. Better in that it's usually slightly easier to apply and lasts slightly longer. Neither of those are worth the difference in my opinion, when 4 coats of wax polish is still just about effective 12months later, even when using a commercial steam cleaner when the car is filthy. And it's only the first coat that takes more than 20 minutes to apply.


I've tried clay bars, and all that does is add extra time to the job.


I have colour sanded, cut and buffed new paint, that was applied over carefully blocked surfaces. Mainly because I'm not a very good painter. If you get the finish right, the difference is small, and again isn't worth doing on anything that's actually going to get used.

[STEMO]

Hose to wet it, bucket of Fairy suds and sponge, hose that off, wipe down down with synthetic chammy, job jobbed. 

I've just had a coronary at the thought of Washing Up liquid on my paintwork.    It contains salt, not road salt admittedly but salt all the same.   

.......
Exactly. Works just like it always did before someone realised that if you call it 'detailing' you can sell loads of expensive crap to the gullible.

Although I sort of get your point, 'Detailing' is far more involved than just washing a car, even by the most cautious of methods. Detailing is aimed at the removal of high spots, low spots, swirls, holograms etc so that when bright light reflects on the paintwork, the reflection is a pure reflection, with depth to the paint and shine. Not so important on a normal use family car but definitely worth having done immediately prior to a ceramic coating. 

All of that stuff is great, as long as you don't want to actually drive your car anywhere.

[Keith ABS]

 Loaded my Bus onto a trailer to drag it all the way up to Wolverhampton in the morning to get the gearbox rebuilt by the TVP (Tragic/Vivaro/Primastar) specialist. Then back home again with "it" dragging the trailer with the D40 on it. D40 is so juicy, worse than an Omega!

[ronnyd]

Loaded my Bus onto a trailer to drag it all the way up to Wolverhampton in the morning to get the gearbox rebuilt by the TVP (Tragic/Vivaro/Primastar) specialist. Then back home again with "it" dragging the trailer with the D40 on it. D40 is so juicy, worse than an Omega!

What's a DH40?