CHAOS detailing blog: Weekly wash and meet prep tutorial!

[Chaos311Clarity]

Ok, well I finally got around to taking the pictures for this write up and its time I share my technique and tips. I'll try not to get too in-depth with the
terminology. The main goal here is to shed some light on how to properly wash a car. Also, Keep in mind that everyone has their own technique so mine might
not match up exactly with your favorite detailer.
First things first, you've got a dirty car.
The car in question here is a 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. The color shown is "friendly" to dirt in that it doesnt show up that well, but i asure you this
car is not clean.
Some before pictures.


notice the dirt laying on the bumper and trunk.

bugs and the like

more dirt...

and the heavily dusted wheels.


PRE-TREAT
I like to start out with a bit of pre-treating. After a normal week of driving (about 200 miles or so) you will start to accumulate some crud all over the
car. Some of that stuff requires a bit of chemical help to loosen up for the wash.
Here are the products I like to pre-treat with....

from left to right:
Poorboys APC (all purpose cleaner/degreaser) cut 4:1
P21S total auto wash cut 4:1 (strong citrus based cleaner)
Poorboys Bug Squash cut 4:1
P21S Wheel Cleaning Gel (not cut)

Treat the wheels first, so that the product has ample time to dwell on the wheels and do its thing.

Make sure to get every bit, even the inside.


Use the bug squash and spray the front and other body panels where you may see some bird crap or bug guts or things of that nature.

Then give the wheel arches a spray of the APC as well.

[Chaos311Clarity]

Engine Bay

Once you've got the pretreating products dwelling, you can move on a bit to the engine bay. I like to do this before i wash the car because it doesnt matter
if you splash a bit onto the paint before you wash it. It is essential that you know what to cover and what doesn't need covered in your engine bay before
attempting this.
Before:


You'll want to start by giving the engine bay a good spritzing of the P21S TAW. Scrub the stubborn/caked on parts with a brush.
After being sprayed with the TAW:

Let that dwell a bit and then rinse with low pressure.

Once you've done that, you can start drying it off a bit.

Take a microfiber drying towel and dab up all the excess water, this may take some time to get the technique right and find out where water likes to sit.
When you have it dry to your satisfaction, go ahead and close the hood and get ready for the wash.

The Wash
Ok, so you're all set to wash the car. There are 2 ways of doing this. The one bucket method and the 2 bucket method. A lot of folks prefer the 2 bucket
method because it reduces the chances of swirling, so that's what ill be using today. The only real difference is that when using 2 buckets you have a wash
bucket and a rinse bucket, with the one bucket method they are one and the same.
So here are my 2 buckets.
The one on the left, is going to be my rinse bucket. The one on the right, my wash bucket. The Orange goo in the bottom is my favorite soap, Poorboys Super
Slick N' Suds. The yellow thing is called a "Grit Gaurd", its meant to kind of scrub out the dirt from your wash mitt and keep it at the bottom of the
bucket.


Fill them both up with water. I like to use warm water in most cases. Your rinse bucket doesnt need anything besides water. The wash bucket needs to be
filled up so that youve got some good sudsing going on. I usually toss my mitt in to let it soak while i hook up the pressure washer.

Now, don't be worried about not using a pressure washer. Not everyone has one and a regular hose with a proper nozzle will work just fine. I prefer the
pressure washer because i feel it makes the job a good bit quicker.

The next little toy I like to use is called a Foam Cannon. Very similar to a Miracle Grow garden sprayer, it mixes the wash mixture with high pressure water
and creates a nice thick foam to spray on the car. There are low pressure foam guns available as well, the most popular being the Gilmour.
Here is a picture of my mix...

The reason this stuff is colored a bit weird is because i have several products in it. The main one being Poorboys Super Slick N' Suds, then a bit of bug
squash, and a little bit of ONR (optimum no rinse).
Here it is attached to the pressure washer gun.


Now you can crank up the pressure washer and get started.

[Chaos311Clarity]

You want to basically cover the entire car in foam now.
Here are a few snaps of the process...



Now let that dwell on the paint and start to remove the contamination.

If the car is dirty enough, you'll see some of the dirt sliding off with the foam. This is exactly what you want.
Notice the dirty line of foam under the side skirt?

Also, Notice that the brake dust is now running off the wheels a bit from letting the gel sit on it for a while.

I usually let the foam dwell until i see most of it has run off the car.
Its then time to rinse.
For this first rinse I use a high pressure. That will help get some of the loosened dirt off the paint.

[Chaos311Clarity]

Some pictures of that process...



Be sure to get the wheels and wheel arches.



See all the crap running off the wheels?


and here's what you should be left with... a mostly shiney, wet car.

[Chaos311Clarity]

Now you can start to actually wash the car.
Take the wash mitt (sheepskin in this case) out of the bucket and start lightly washing from the top down. You dont want to press super hard and grind the
remaing dirt into the paint so take it easy and be sure to get every section of the car.

Once the mitt gets a little dirty, or youve done a body panel or 2, rinse it in the rinse bucket.




RINSE
Once you're confident that you got every panel. Its then time to rinse. This time with low pressure. Again from the top down...

The reason i say low pressure is because you want the water to do the work. By using lower pressure the water tends to run off in bigger sections, leaving
less water on the car. It makes drying a good bit quicker.
This particular car has had every exterior surface waxed and has been decently maintained.... notice how the water just runs right off the glass and body
work?

Also, notice the good beading from a good coat of wax still remaining on the car.

[Chaos311Clarity]

Now, you're ready to dry the car. This is another section where you need to be careful and mindful of marring and swirling. If the drying implement (a thick
waffle weave microfiber towel in this case) gets dirty, you can inflict a LOT of swirls and marring.
Here is a picture of it..

and this is how i like to use it... folded into 4ths.

There are a few reasons for the folding. First, its a bit easier to control than a giant rag flopping around in your hand. Second, you can reduce swirls by
flipping it over if it gets dirty. Also, i find that if i stay mindful to get one section of the towel completely wet before flipping it, i do a better job
of drying. If the car is big enough, you may need 2 or more drying towels. I highly frown upon using bath towels because they can be very abrasive and really
do some damage.
I like to start with the glass first to avoid water spotting..

and then move onto the paint...

Another tip...
If your car has a spoiler, you may want to open the trunk all the way and let water drain out from under it while drying the car, this helps prevent runout
after you think youve gotten the car completely dry.



Dressing/Treating
We've come to the final stages. After drying the car, i like to let it drip/runout a bit to make sure i've got all the water. Once im absolutely sure ive got
the car dry. I move on to dressing/treating the exterior. First off, i bust out my Trim Restorer for all the black bits that may fade. Like the mirror peices
and cowl.
I usually apply a small dab to a microfiber cloth and apply. Sometimes several coats to get the desired effect.


I also apply this to the mudflaps on the STi to keep them looking new.
Next, i dress the tires with Poorboy's Bold N' Bright. (Sorry no pictures of this, but come on, its not that challenging)
Finally, I bust out my favorite quick wax/quick detailer and start dressing the paint. In this case, i'm using OCW aka Optimum Car Wax. It's an awesome quick
wax and leaves a nice wet shine to the paint.
Lightly mist the paint with the QW and then buff with a soft MF cloth to a shine.

Be careful not to use too much as it may cause smears and more work to get buffed up to a nice shine.

[Chaos311Clarity]

At this point you are pretty much done. Step back, and enjoy your work.

(it was getting dark so the pictures arent that good)





I hope this has helped a bit.
Thanks for reading.
- Jon

[Ben]

Nice write up man. I think that i'm going to invest in a pressure washer.

Is that pic before the last a security camera pic?

And where do you get your wax?

[Chaos311Clarity]

lol thanks bro, pressure washers own...


and it was a [shizzle]ty/blurry pic that i sharpened up with photobuckets editting tools...

and i get my wax mainly from my sponsor, glimmerglassdetailing.com... i also like zymol waxes but they are pricey

[SAdrmmr04]

i will 2nd zymol waxes, but yea they can get pretty pricey. great writeup for people who need to know how to properly take care of their paint

[kid_puma]

washing 101

[95_Black Riider]

sweet write-up man.. and nice work.. very nice work.

[Looby]

damn you kids and your non pollen and non lvl4 drought conditions!!!!! i cant even water my grass!(former grass)

if you lived here then 5 minutes after washing you car it would have been completely covered in pollen...(yes all that crap is pollen)


my car has not been washed in MONTHS!!! i actually brushed most of the pollen off.... yeah im not kidding its that bad.















anyway sorry to hijack your thread congrats on a clean car wish i could wash mine

[med_mx6]

Holy smokes, that's awesome. At this rate the shine is gonna easily outlast the car!

Just outta curiosity, what would you charge or expect to be charged for this level of detailing / washing?

[shqs89gt]

Nice write up JP.