How often do you wash your car?

zeoniks

zeoniks

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Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Messages
629
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Car(s)
2007 Nissan Murano
I was just wondering how often do you wash your car and the products you use to complete the job. Any additional comments are welcomed.

I wash and wax my car about 2-3 weeks. I usually use two mitts (one for the wheels and one for the car itself) and for the detergent I use Turtle Wax ICE Car Wash. I usually clean the wheels first because it's the dirtiest part of the car, but I still have problem washing off the brake dust that accumulate in the front tires. Then I wash the car itself; I give it a good soaking and I go over the car twice with soapy water. I hose the car and the wheels down and dry it off with microfiber towels.

I after drying it the car, I go into detailing the car. I use Turtle Wax Platinum Paste Wax. It leaves the car with a smell resembling coconuts and it leaves an amazing shine on the finish. For the wheels I use Armor All Tire Shine to leave a nice, wet shine on the tires.

Then I go on cleaning the mats inside the car and remove any excess wax on the door jambs. I use Armor All Leather Spray to wipe down the leathers. For the mats, I just take them out, hang them on a clothesline and beat with a broom. I just vacuum the floors with a hand-held vacuum cleaner.

The last is to clean the glass and mirrors of the car which I use Armor All Glass Cleaner. I usually spray it on the towel and wipe the surfaces because it doesn't leave any streaks that way.

Now, it's your turn :)
 
I'm lazy, I'll run through the automatic touchless car wash about once a month or so.
 
I wash it every 2-3 weeks. I always use one of those diy carwash cabins, because i have no driveway, and my house is too far from the curb to be able to reach with a hose. I just use their water, shampoo and hotwax, although i'm on the lookout for a good carwax to apply myself. After waching i drive it back home and just use a chamois leather cloth to dry it. For the interior i mostly just use some hot water with soft detergent, nothing gets stains out better imho. And i use a normal glass cleaner for the inside of the windows.
 
I have some scratches on my car (some deep and some light) that I want to remove. Anyone know what would be the best do-it-yourself way to remove it?
 
^^^fine rubbing compound and A LOT of care.


Until my car gets painted, it doesn't get washed, since it's in primer. When it's painted, it will be treated nice - hand wash and lots of Zaino.
 
Once every two months, by hand.
 
I wash my car when it needs it. Recently I have been riding my bike and letting my car take a well deserved nap under it's car cover.

I don't have any handy car-washing facilities at my condo. There is a reserved parking spot for car-washing but there's no power for electric buffers. I usually take it down and pay $5 to run it through the tunnel wash. I pump some quarters for the vacuum when it needs it and every couple months I detail the interior.

I usually drive with the window down, but I noticed that my headliner has picked up a ton of air pollutants, especially over the rear seats. Anyone know a good way to clean a headliner?
 
I never washed the golf during the two years I owned it...

It had moss growing on the roof...

And no, I'm not kidding...
 
When it rains. :lol:
 
When it is dirty, to be honest.

I'll take it down to the automatic car wash once every couple of months, and maybe wash it once or twice by hand over the summer.
 
Once a week. And I only hand wash it, using a microfiber towel, Mequiars Gold Class soap, and heated distilled water. Yes, I am THAT anal.
 
On average I wash it about once a month, wax every 6 months. Wash with Meguiars Deep Crystal soap and a microfiber cloth, usually twice if I have time for it. Wax with AutoMagic Banana Magic wax. Regular tap water though.
 
I wash about once a week with a pressure wash during the spring/summer, and twice a month hand wash/wax. Less now this time a year since I've moved to Iowa, stays inside.

When I handwash I use Meguiars Gold Class wash with some sponge I found that doesn't ruin the surface, and that Absorber synthetic cloth to dry it off. NXT Paste wax for body and wheels. I used to use liquid wax, but found that it doesnt spread or come out as good as paste....though some people were saying that paste isn't good for black.

Glass I use Stoner Invisible Glass, I used to use windex but this stuff is seriously the best I've ever used. Interior I use Turtle Wax F21 with a microfiber cloth, though it does stink a bit :D.
 
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My old Acura got washed once every two months at most, at a regular semi-touchless carwash.

When I got my current car, I no longer wanted to take it to the crap automatic wash and didn't feel like paying $30 to have it handwashed. So I went and got myself some premium washing supplies to do it myself.

I try and do it once every two weeks, but the weather has been too crappy lately so I haven't given her a wash in a few weeks. But it's white so it has to be super dirty before it shows.

Edit: I am so bored out of my mind today, so here is a pic of my supplies. The Simple Green shampoo has a faint coconut smell to it which is nice if you like to sniff your car.

SPA0161.jpg
 
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Back before I sold my GTI I had two phases I'd go through with it.

When I loved it, and had lots of spare time, I'd wash it twice maybe four times a month by hand.
When I hated it, it would go weeks if not months without a wash. Winter time was the worst. It was a black car so after a wash it'd get dirty within a quarter mile. So I just stopped washing it and let it build up.
 
2 to 3 times a week, with a full car wash every weekend. (that includes waxing and polishing)

i spend too much time with my car :p
 
It's my mother's car, but she doesn't clean it. All I and my brother ever do is just wipe down the windscreen, mirrors, windows and rear hatch glass with bit of ordinary household glass cleaner when it gets too dirty to see through / in. With strict water restrictions down here, that's all you're allowed to do at home.

I could take it to the coin operated car wash, but I don't have time / can't be bothered.

It only gets full wash when it gets serviced, 'cause that's using someone else's water! :evil:
 
I drive a damn tempo right now, so basically never.

I forced my dad to let me clay-bar his Vibe GT. It was turning from red to orange so we needed to buff/wax it anyways, so i went ahead and Clay-bared it. Not nearly as labor intensive as i expected! Now the car is apparently much less prone to rust (for now) and the paint is smoother then its ever been! Its also nice that it looks red now :).

The MR2 is rather easy as its just a bunch of pretty straight lines, but as the car was already rusty i never really washed it as much as i would have otherwise. I think i kind of knew the car was dying.

I waxed the Tempo once when i got it (basically was forced to since it was a "gift" ;) ) the shape of the car made it surprisingly over-complicated and i hated it.


If i ever get a Alfa i probably will wash it much more then i am used to, partially to prevent rust, but more because thats the type of car i would love to spend time washing.
 
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