Does Your 11th Gen Need a Bath? How do you wash your car?

[Stryxx]

New car, most will take it to the car wash and call it good, but I like doing things myself and would rather wash it myself. So, to help me and others here, how do you guys wash your cars? 2 bucket method, something more basic or more of a process? What products do you like to use and would recommend? Show off your 11th Gen while its being washed or right after!

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[HawaiiPunch]

Check out the subreddit r/autodetailing if you are starting out, they have a very comprehensive wiki on basically anything you could think of asking for starting out.

I usually do 2 bucket wash and spray detailer at a minimum, probably once a month. Once the weather warms up I do a wash, bug remover, take the rims off and clean them with cleaner and a brush, clay bar, and a 2 step compound and polish. Finish off with the turtle wax hybrid solutions ceramic spray.

I also do not drive my car much, maybe 3-4000 kilometres per year and most of that is in the summer so it doesn’t get too dirty usually.

 

[zeroptzero]

I don't like bending over and touching the water and soap and vehicle, I like the idea of a foam cannon, soap it up and wash it off, but it doesn't work as well as a good scrub.

 

[Rad Ray]

Griot's Garage has some good info on detailing from basics to advanced. See: https://www.griotsgarage.com/how-to/wash/. Also, I've found that AutoGeek is well-priced for most quality detailing products (see also their "Geek Center"). My favorite line of products are made by Pinnacle, especially its Black Label Reserve Line - super expensive but the quality shows. Finally, if you have a black or red vehicle, then Pinnacle Black Label Concours Reserve Wax is outstanding.

 

[qwertypop]

New car, most will take it to the car wash and call it good, but I like doing things myself and would rather wash it myself. So, to help me and others here, how do you guys wash your cars? 2 bucket method, something more basic or more of a process? What products do you like to use and would recommend? Show off your 11th Gen while its being washed or right after!

Like @HawaiiPunch mentioned, the subreddit is a good source. Their Discord is pretty active as well and the people there are quick to respond and help answer your questions. Fair warning though, it’s a bit of a rabbit hole. Quality microfiber towels are in your future.
I have a very similar approach to HawaiiPunch although I do some rinseless washes in between when I don’t have time to do the whole nine yards.

 

[madbikes]

The #1 rule will always be avoid auto/machine wash and foam brushes at all times.

 

[HawaiiPunch]

Like @HawaiiPunch mentioned, the subreddit is a good source. Their Discord is pretty active as well and the people there are quick to respond and help answer your questions. Fair warning though, it’s a bit of a rabbit hole. Quality microfiber towels are in your future.
I have a very similar approach to HawaiiPunch although I do some rinseless washes in between when I don’t have time to do the whole nine yards.

I picked up P&S absolut

Like @HawaiiPunch mentioned, the subreddit is a good source. Their Discord is pretty active as well and the people there are quick to respond and help answer your questions. Fair warning though, it’s a bit of a rabbit hole. Quality microfiber towels are in your future.
I have a very similar approach to HawaiiPunch although I do some rinseless washes in between when I don’t have time to do the whole nine yards.

Picked up P&S Absolute rinseless wash and holy what a game changer. You’re right about the rabbit hole though lol

 

[CVCC]

I'm rather old fashioned when it comes to washing my cars and my finish looks beautiful. I mix Turtle Wax car wash soap 10%ish to 90% water in a qt spray bottle and the night before wash day pre treat any bugs stuck to the paint. Usually 2,3 X that night. Next morning drive the car up on 1' long pieces of 5/4 decking boards to get the tires elevated slightly. Get the small Ryobi pressure washer out, micro fiber mitt that just got washed with the old bath towel for drying. Give the whole car a coat of the soap/water mixture and carefully hit the bugs and any flung mud with the pressure washer. Then with the hose wet the car and the wash mitt. Give the mitt a liberal squirt of Turtle Wax soap from an old dishwashing liquid bottle. It's hard to use too much soap. Starting at the top wash in one direction usually front to back. Circular motion created scratches. Do the top horizontal surfaces adding soap as needed. Rinse the mitt thoroughly and then start on the sides. Do only the top half of both sides. Rinse the mitt again, more soap then the rear and front. Then do the lower half of the sides. It there is visible dirt use the hose on the mitt as you wash to rinse away any abrasive dirt. I then use a soft brush for the underbody, wheels and inner fenders. Don't ever let water dry so keep everything wet until the final rinse. Sometimes I use my battery leaf blower to move most of the water off the paint before drying. Old bath towels washed and dried with no fabric softener or drier sheets are spread out and pulled the same direction as the wash mitt. I'll do all the flat surfaces then take a second dry towel and remove what little water left. Use very light pressure and back and forth.

 

[UJX]

I bought an Active 2.0 pressure washer kit with an upgraded wand and sprayer. Also got a foam cannon and a Ego blower. Pretty decent for an at-home wash. My steps are:

1. Depending on how dirty the car is, I will pre-rinse down the car to get large debris off. If it's not that dirty, I skip to step 2.

2. Clean the wheels with P&S Brake Buster with wheel brush. Maybe do the inner fender linings if I'm feeling sassy.

3. Using foam cannon and CarPro Lift, foam up the car and let sit for a few minutes.

4. Rinse off foam.

5. Using microfiber mitt, hand-wash the car using CarPro Reset.

6. Rinse.

7. Hand dry with microfiber towel (Rag Company Gauntlet) and use P&S Bead Maker for drying aid.

8. Use Ego blower to blow off any remaining water.


Sometimes I will use a bug remover and/or iron remover before washing if it needs it. If it's pretty clean but just dusty, I'll do a rinseless wash using McKee's 37 N-914.

 

[AshSerigala]

If I owned a FL5, it would be a different story.. As I probably wouldn't drive it all year round.

But my 11th gen civic is my daily. It manages anywhere from 10-15K miles a year, 90% of that is highway. Unless I wrap my entire car...my car gets so much marks/chips/etc from highway driving that I learned in the past ( when I use to handwash 'my daily' cars ) I still had a huge mess of scrapes/chips/dents/etc on the front..hood..roof..sides.. due to all the crap on the highways. Winter time especially, because they dump sand down, salt rocks can ding stuff, and a lot of gravel trucks arent 100% sealed and leak pebbles/stones. You learn quick not to pass a salt truck, In a previous-owned car I had a window get a huge crack from passing one..was ungodly loud when it happened xD

That all said, I've been shooting mine through a local carwash weekly and sure..if you squint and get on very extreme angles you can occasionally see swarfs, but what sticks out more is the above highway-driving marks. The ""Scratch and shine"" as people call it, is pretty much nothing compared to the pebble-filled,4+ months of extremely heavily salted roads of pothole-filled Michigan..

All that said, Having the gloss-black touring rims, I do multi-bucket, multi-rag, break-dust remover,wash, protectant/shine, and air-dry, and I easily spend almost an entire day 2-3 times a year,hand detailing the engine bay...usually fully detail the interior 2-3 times a year too and go through quiet a list of products and easily spend a full day on that too. Basically keep the inside looking like the car is never used xD Probably got like $280+ into cleaning supplies, yet I still carwash the exterior because yeah..the highway & winter F's the car up way more than a carwash. Granted I'm speaking of soft-foam brush washes, not the $5 gas-station ones with the hard bristles that literally shake the car around and rips your spoiler off. I run my spoiler, front-lip, everything through cuz those types dont latch/snag. But yeah. Own a pressure washer..foam cannon..all that stuff. Even had cars I strictly only ever spray washed no touching, and they still look scratched/dinged/chipped all over after 2-3 years of driving 60+ miles on daily on the highway.

We own Huskies, so I already own a high-volume speed adjustable blower that'll detail dry a car off pretty fast. MetroVac Air Force Commander, Costly..but they last. Same company makes larger units specifically for car detailing..Mine is just made for shedding the thick winter coat of a husky and making a tornado of fur all over the yard.

 

[egxflash]

I picked up P&S absolut


Picked up P&S Absolute rinseless wash and holy what a game changer. You’re right about the rabbit hole though lol

took a bit to get over the mental hurdle of using rinseless but I've done it a handful of times now and no swirls - just need to trust the science I guess.

I love how easy it is though - don't have to drag the pressure washer out, blower etc and it takes me a little over minutes to finish the car so I'm able to wash it more often.

 

[Shankmeyster]

Just started doing touchless a couple months ago. Wash with pressure washer first, then foam cannon, let foam run down until it stops then wash everything off and dry with microfibers. Go back and hit any water spots with detailer.

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