How to wash without swirl marks?

[nirtime]

Hey all, I've seen the videos of auto geek and others who take their time to wash with several cloths and several buckets to avoid swirl marks in the paint. I know that's ideal but in trinidad it's a hard thing to do since the humidity of the atmosphere causes water to dry pretty quickly. It's also a very tedious method to fit into everyday life where you may have an hour or so to give the exterior paint a wash and when your vehicle is considerably bigger than an Audi R8.

For me I use 2 buckets and 1 cloth. I scrub the cloth in the clean water bucket with my hands and that seems to work quite well but it takes a fair amount of time to wash a large vehicle this way.

My question is how do you wash in a practical way while saving time, minimizing hard water spots and still avoid swirl marks?

 

[admin]

To be honest I never taught your vehicle could get swirl marks from just washing your car. I usually take around one hour and a half washing it with turtle wax shampoo and wax ( really can not remember the name) , nothing special and in particular.

 

[nirtime]

It's quite possible. If your vehicle is dark coloured especially it's more visible.
While I don't get swirls that often it depends on your methods and clear coat hardness.
My toyota is very soft and if I make the mistake to rub a dirty cloth on this paint it scratches.
While I don't get swirls that much it's always good to find out how other people do it and I think you use the Turtlewax Wash and Wax, I also use that it's excellent.
I also don't switch cloths I use the same cloth to wash the whole body but I do it in stages rinsing the cloth in a fresh water bucket each time.

 

[Shadowhunter]

Woah. I learn something new every time I come to TriniMotors lol I never noticed swirl marks but from now on I'll definitely be looking out. I'm curious as to what methods others use to avoid this (now that I know to look for it lol)

 

[nirtime]

Shadowhunter they're obvious on dark coloured vehicles but if you look at any other colour in the direction of the light and tilt your head accordingly you'll begin to see the swirls and all the flaws of what seems to be a good and shiny paint lol

 

[Steven Ramadar]

After I wash I use a water blade. No swirl marks and car is perfectly dry and scratch/swirl free

 

[nirtime]

After I wash I use a water blade. No swirl marks and car is perfectly dry and scratch/swirl free

DUdeeeeeee perfect idea! I honestly think chamo drying causes me swirls and other marks now and then! I may just have to try that out.

 

[Steven Ramadar]

Ultimate Suppliers TT has them for $125 I think. Its worth the price IMO

 

[nirtime]

Ultimate Suppliers TT has them for $125 I think. Its worth the price IMO

I think i'm going to give it a lot of consideration. I plan on setting up a compressor with the air attachment too.

 

[Steven Ramadar]

You'll take a video and show us how that works out.

 

[nirtime]

You'll take a video and show us how that works out.

I tried it, didn't feel it was video worthy. For the most part the water beads just blow in whatever direction the air pushes them, it takes a while to get the water off as compared to using a big chamo but it has the advantage of being no touch thus eliminating the potential swirls.

For practical, daily use, I'll stick to my big chamos as I don't always have the time to fire up the compressor.

 

[BrotherHood]

I take nothing for granted when washing my vehicle. Scratches and swirls come by easily. I use three cloths in total. Firstly, i wash the wheels with a microfiber cloth. Then the body of the car: wash the top of the car (hood, windows, windscreens and down to the door handles, bonnet and trunk lid) with one mitt sponge, then another mitt sponge for the bottom (doors, fenders, front and rear bumpers. After I have washed the top of the car, I empty the soap solution, rinse the bucket and refill so I have clean solution for the bottom of the car. Simultaneously, I have another bucket filled with clean water that I rinse the mitt sponge with after each pass of it on the car. I use Mother's California Gold Wash & Wax.
After the washing, I dry with two chamois. One for the body of the car. The other for the door jambs, door and trunk sills.

I hate to see scratches on my car. I am somewhat picky or 'funny' when it comes to that. I therefore take the very long but necessary steps to avoid scratches and swirls. Approximate time: One hour and 30 minutes to two hours.

 

[nirtime]

I take nothing for granted when washing my vehicle. Scratches and swirls come by easily. I use three cloths in total. Firstly, i wash the wheels with a microfiber cloth. Then the body of the car: wash the top of the car (hood, windows, windscreens and down to the door handles, bonnet and trunk lid) with one mitt sponge, then another mitt sponge for the bottom (doors, fenders, front and rear bumpers. After I have washed the top of the car, I empty the soap solution, rinse the bucket and refill so I have clean solution for the bottom of the car. Simultaneously, I have another bucket filled with clean water that I rinse the mitt sponge with after each pass of it on the car. I use Mother's California Gold Wash & Wax.
After the washing, I dry with two chamois. One for the body of the car. The other for the door jambs, door and trunk sills.

I hate to see scratches on my car. I am somewhat picky or 'funny' when it comes to that. I therefore take the very long but necessary steps to avoid scratches and swirls. Approximate time: One hour and 30 minutes to two hours.

I bought some of the Mother's after you said it worked well and is more concentrated on another thread. It really does work well!

I am the same way, I hate to see any kind of scratches/marks and with a Black vehicle with soft clear coat, I go through torture. I also do what you do except I don't empty the solution and that works but one thing people overlook is using dirty cloths. Micro fibers need to cleaned properly, I leave mine to soak after I wash them in some breeze and when I need to, I will try using some vinegar in my cleaning solution to keep them soft and plush.

Its amazing how much sand and dirt can come out from a cloth that is only rinsed under the pipe after washing for a few times. If done for a prolonged period, it causes some terrible marring and scuff marks to develop on the clear coat as rinsing alone between washes doesn't remove all the trapped sand in the fibers.

 

[BrotherHood]

That soaking cloths thing is a damn good idea/thing to do.
Never heard of the vinegar. You apply vinegar to the carwash solution?

 

[nirtime]

That soaking cloths thing is a damn good idea/thing to do.
Never heard of the vinegar. You apply vinegar to the carwash solution?

The vinegar is applied in the soak solution to keep the microfiber plush but I haven't tried it out yet, I'll likely do it tomorrow with 2 of the older cloths and see what difference it makes. Of course that would need to be cleaned out b4 using it again with the car wash.

I'm also getting a separate bucket to keep my body cloths permanently in some cleaning solution, I tried an experiment with 2 new cloths and found that light dirt stains from washing came right off after it soaked for about one hour. The other, which I used closer to the bottom, more heavily soiled areas, that one also came back pretty nice with a few light stains remaining.

I think I'll do a write up about it, seems worth while to keeping the car swirl free.

 

[BrotherHood]

Point taken. Will try that soak method.

 

[nirtime]

Point taken. Will try that soak method.

Soak it in some breeze in a bucket and you'll just see the water turns dark after a while lol.

 

[nirtime]

As an update, I have played with mixing the car wash soap and it turns out that using the recommended amount in the more concentrated soaps really works wonders.

Just by using the required amount of Mothers California Gold Car Wash I instantly noticed a marked difference in the amount of the lubrication and foam. Combined with using separate cloths as per what brotherhood has said, it makes for a scratch free wash on soft clear coat providing the vehicle is properly rinsed prior to washing.

Be mindful when drying as well as dirty chamos will also inflict marks in the paint. I usually rinse the chamo under running water when drying the lower portion of the body.

 

[Mad racer]

Yeah there are many of the washing component other than swirl marks which we can use to wash our car.Its easy to wash with turtle wax and shampoo.Its good to use.

 

[nirtime]

Yeah there are many of the washing component other than swirl marks which we can use to wash our car.Its easy to wash with turtle wax and shampoo.Its good to use.

Its not bad. I prefer the Mothers soap, it does a better job cleaning.
I am yet to try the Mothers Wash and Wax but I imagine its even better than the regular California Gold I currently use.