So did my first car wash today after a month of driving. Wondering if anyone wants to share Tips and Tricks on Car Washing and Detailing here. I'm kinda new to it.
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Spent a bit on 'stuff' to get it done. Had had a Karcher pressure washer from a few years ago but found it wasn't super awesome to use. Soap dispensing was barely noticeable. The short 20' hose was too short to reach around the car and was stiff so it would kink.
After watching too much YouTube, to be honest I spent a small fortune on car wash stuff.
At $200 bucks, expensive, what worked and what didn't? What I'd do again, and what I'd do differently.
What worked
Chemical Guys towels I can't recommend enough. They absorbed a TON of water, dried the car with one and a half and likely coulda made it work with just the one. Super soft. And washed REALLY nicely. Would absolutely buy them again. Tip ... rinse them before putting them in the washer.
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The Uberflex hose was a lifesaver compared to the stock hose I got with my Karcher pressure washer a few years back. Twice the length. Easy to maneuver. Would buy that again too.
Pressure washer nozzle tips. Pretty much need them cause the McKillans gun didn't come with any. Cheap. No complaints on quality or otherwise. Would buy these again as well.
Foam cannon orifice tips at 1.1 (whatever that means). Bought on YouTube recommendations. The default orifice on the Amazon foam cannon is believed to be 1.25. The smaller orifice is said to help make thicker soap foam. I didn't test this, just took their recommendation and went with it. For the $8 for two of them, I'd buy this again.
The Mequiar's soap. Made crazy suds. Would have no issue buying this again. It was also cheaper than some of the other recommended soaps. I'm not sure if you've seen what a foam cannon does but it basically covers the car in thick soap foam to the point you can't tell what color the car is. It's pretty crazy how good these foam cannons work.
On to what I might do differently if doing it again
The McKillans pressure washer gun. From reviews, not experience, my first choice had been the MTM gun. Reviews suggested the MTM gun had a grip that required less hand pressure to keep held. Why did I choose the McKillans? A sale put it at a price I couldn't ignore. $110 bucks on sale for $50. Came with some accessories, multiple length configurations (8", 23", and 38"), a quick connect coupler, and a 15mm to 14mm inlet adapter which I needed to connect the Uberflex hose to the Karcher. Worked out. But dollar for dollar if the prices had been the same I likely would have gone with the MTM based on reviews.
That being said, the McKillans gun needed FAR less pressure to hold than the original Karcher gun. My hand would cramp using the Karcher gun, this one was pretty good.
The Amazon Basics foam cannon. The problem I had with the foam cannon from Amazon wasn't actually how it worked. It worked phenomenally for the $26 CDN. It was the bottle size (1 liter). I found I'd get 80% of the car done and run out of foam. Now I may get faster with time and be able to correct that just with experience, but I would have liked to see it with a little larger bottle. Maybe one that flared out at the bottom for stability when sitting on the ground. And a larger opening. Doing it again I might look for a slightly larger bottle with a larger opening at the top to help facilitate filling the bottle when soaps in it. Suds are forced out the top when filling it, I think this may not be as big a deal with a larger opening. Speculation.
Keep in mind I bought this stuff to upgrade an existing pressure washer. If you don't have one you'll need to add that to your costs if you're thinking of doing something similar.
On to the disappointments
As far as the gear goes, I'm pretty happy with everything I ended up with. My disappointments are rather with the car, or the choice of materials KIA has chosen for the exterior.
I remember when I picked up the car that one of the things I almost immediately noticed was that the dealer had washed it but all the brushed metal trim had dirty water spots on them. I suggested in another thread that it looked like they'd washed it with a dirty rag.
What I found, and it was hot today, so things were drying quickly and again the brushed trim and all the black plastics were problematic when it came to water spots, thankfully not dirty water spots this time. The paint itself was fine, no issues there, but if I left it even ten minutes without drying it immediately we'd have some pretty visible and apparent water spotting on both materials.
I'm curious if anyone else has found this as well or if I'm either not doing it right or being picky. My old Suzuki had similar black plastic trim but I never had this problem with it.
I ended up rinsing it an additional time so that I could be quicker to get to the drying part. That resolved the water spots issue, but it was a pain in the ass.
Would love to hear what the rest of you are doing to care for your cars.
Spent a bit on 'stuff' to get it done. Had had a Karcher pressure washer from a few years ago but found it wasn't super awesome to use. Soap dispensing was barely noticeable. The short 20' hose was too short to reach around the car and was stiff so it would kink.
After watching too much YouTube, to be honest I spent a small fortune on car wash stuff.
- 50' Uberflex Kink Resistant Pressure Washer Hose | $63 CDN
- McKillans Pressure Washer Gun w/Extension and Quickconnects | $50 CDN
- Pressure Washer Spray Nozzle Tips 5-Pack | $15 CDN
- Amazon Basics Foam Cannon | $26 CDN
- Foam Cannon Orifice Nozzle Tips 1.1 | $8 CDN
- Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo 1.89l | $16 CDN
- Chemical Guys Pro Grade Premium Microfiber Towels (12 16"x16") | $24 CDN
What worked
Chemical Guys towels I can't recommend enough. They absorbed a TON of water, dried the car with one and a half and likely coulda made it work with just the one. Super soft. And washed REALLY nicely. Would absolutely buy them again. Tip ... rinse them before putting them in the washer.
The Uberflex hose was a lifesaver compared to the stock hose I got with my Karcher pressure washer a few years back. Twice the length. Easy to maneuver. Would buy that again too.
Pressure washer nozzle tips. Pretty much need them cause the McKillans gun didn't come with any. Cheap. No complaints on quality or otherwise. Would buy these again as well.
Foam cannon orifice tips at 1.1 (whatever that means). Bought on YouTube recommendations. The default orifice on the Amazon foam cannon is believed to be 1.25. The smaller orifice is said to help make thicker soap foam. I didn't test this, just took their recommendation and went with it. For the $8 for two of them, I'd buy this again.
The Mequiar's soap. Made crazy suds. Would have no issue buying this again. It was also cheaper than some of the other recommended soaps. I'm not sure if you've seen what a foam cannon does but it basically covers the car in thick soap foam to the point you can't tell what color the car is. It's pretty crazy how good these foam cannons work.
On to what I might do differently if doing it again
The McKillans pressure washer gun. From reviews, not experience, my first choice had been the MTM gun. Reviews suggested the MTM gun had a grip that required less hand pressure to keep held. Why did I choose the McKillans? A sale put it at a price I couldn't ignore. $110 bucks on sale for $50. Came with some accessories, multiple length configurations (8", 23", and 38"), a quick connect coupler, and a 15mm to 14mm inlet adapter which I needed to connect the Uberflex hose to the Karcher. Worked out. But dollar for dollar if the prices had been the same I likely would have gone with the MTM based on reviews.
That being said, the McKillans gun needed FAR less pressure to hold than the original Karcher gun. My hand would cramp using the Karcher gun, this one was pretty good.
The Amazon Basics foam cannon. The problem I had with the foam cannon from Amazon wasn't actually how it worked. It worked phenomenally for the $26 CDN. It was the bottle size (1 liter). I found I'd get 80% of the car done and run out of foam. Now I may get faster with time and be able to correct that just with experience, but I would have liked to see it with a little larger bottle. Maybe one that flared out at the bottom for stability when sitting on the ground. And a larger opening. Doing it again I might look for a slightly larger bottle with a larger opening at the top to help facilitate filling the bottle when soaps in it. Suds are forced out the top when filling it, I think this may not be as big a deal with a larger opening. Speculation.
On looking for a replacement I discovered, that I may actually have the best option. I couldn't find one with a larger bottle and the ones that flared and had larger openings were significantly more expensive. What I may find myself doing as an alternative is buying a second Amazon Basics so that I can prep two bottles at the same time without having to go back in for more.
All in all I'm pretty happy with what I got for the money I spent. The soap is the only thing I'll need to replace anytime soon with those towels cleaning up so well, I anticipate a while before needing to do anything with those. Everything else I ought to be good for, for a good long while.Keep in mind I bought this stuff to upgrade an existing pressure washer. If you don't have one you'll need to add that to your costs if you're thinking of doing something similar.
On to the disappointments
As far as the gear goes, I'm pretty happy with everything I ended up with. My disappointments are rather with the car, or the choice of materials KIA has chosen for the exterior.
I remember when I picked up the car that one of the things I almost immediately noticed was that the dealer had washed it but all the brushed metal trim had dirty water spots on them. I suggested in another thread that it looked like they'd washed it with a dirty rag.
What I found, and it was hot today, so things were drying quickly and again the brushed trim and all the black plastics were problematic when it came to water spots, thankfully not dirty water spots this time. The paint itself was fine, no issues there, but if I left it even ten minutes without drying it immediately we'd have some pretty visible and apparent water spotting on both materials.
I'm curious if anyone else has found this as well or if I'm either not doing it right or being picky. My old Suzuki had similar black plastic trim but I never had this problem with it.
I ended up rinsing it an additional time so that I could be quicker to get to the drying part. That resolved the water spots issue, but it was a pain in the ass.
Would love to hear what the rest of you are doing to care for your cars.
