I go to a “wand” style and go through the following routine:
Presoak the entire vehicle. I’m not sure that this step is necessary.
Power wash with soap.
Power rinse with water.
Spot free rinse. The water in our area is very hard and the demineralized water seems to not leave as many spots.
If my truck is really dirty, I’ll add step 1A of using the foam brush on the whole thing.
TBH, my approach is pretty tiring, especially if I use the foam brush. I’ve found that automatic car washes don’t work very well on large trucks such as mine or if a vehicle is very dirty. There are no places that will wash for you in my area so that’s not an option for me but if you use one, I’d like to hear your opinion of them.
I take it to Sal and company on the main drag in town and tell them I want the 3-star wash, wax, ArmorAll, etc. deal with pina colada scent. Then I read a book until it is finished.
My SUV–a 2001 Kia Sportage–does not get dirty, except for the windows and the cover of the spare tire on the back. I don’t know why, I don’t know what they put on it. For the first few months we had it, even the windows did not get dirty. It’s like it just shakes the dirt off, like my dog.
So I just hose off the spare tire cover occasionally, and wash the windows when I get gas.
The other car gets wanded, but not too often (it lives in a garage).
Take it to the local car wash and order the $12 special on Tue. They vacuum & damp-rag the interior, wash and wax the exterior, including the filthy wheels, shine up the tires, then dry the whole thing & do the windows inside and out. Takes 10 minutes flat.
I go to the semi-automatic car wash two blocks down. I empty out any thrash, use their vacuüm first, then I drive up to the guys. They presoak me and spot clean, and then I drive on the conveyor belt and through the automatic washing street. A guy at the end of the street gives me an quick extra dry, opens my doors and cleans the thresholds. He also removes te plastic thingie the other guys put on my back windshield wiper. All of that costs me 8 euros, 11 USD. I do that about once a month. It’s one of our regular mom-son things we do on Wednesday afternoons, and we sometimes bring my sons playmate with us. Kids love driving through a car wash. “Oh look, it’s the giant octopus again !” the kids shriek in delight as the felt washing mop descends over the hood.
If I feel fanatical, about once every three months, I bring out a bucket of warm suds and a sponge, and spot treat the upholstery. Then I take out a packet of wet car-interior tissues and clean the dashboard and steering wheel. Sometimes I end with lightly febrezing the interior.
OTOH, my husband brings the car to the garage for maintenance.
I used to hand wash, wax and detail the heck out of my car every month or so. Now I usually go the automatic route and maybe hand wax once a year or so.
This. OR, since I’m in socal and it apparently has never ever rained in the past 8 million years, I wait until the wife can’t stand it anymore and she takes it to be washed.
Drive through at the gas station for $7 just to get it cleaned off. About $20 for hand washing and vacuum. $100 and up every couple years for a real detail job with an obsessive compulsive guy.
Day to day I drive a company car. My Jeep sits most of the time. Every time I fill it with gas, I get the supreme car wash where I buy gas. It is about ten bucks with tip each time.
Yep. Hand wash, full vacuuming, ArmorAll everything that needs it including the tires, the works. And that’s just the 3 star wash. I haven’t inquired about the 5 star yet.
Automatic car wash when it’s dirty and I feel like it.
Definitely no cleaning products or Armor All on the inside - I find the smell bothersome, and a film appears on the inside of my windows that’s hard to get off. Vacuum if needed, which is practically never. Coffee filter + water to clean the windows inside if needed; thus far, only when someone decided to use armor all on the dash.
