who hand washes their car?

[KCZ]

I have 2 SUV's that get put through the car wash at least weekly to remove mud, salt, and debris. Twice a year and as needed, they get hand-washed and waxed in a fairly futile effort at paint protection. My Evora has PPF on the front, and it's always hand-washed and waxed. I use Blackfire shampoo and polymer sealant on the exterior, and Griot's interior cleaner for plastics and leather wipes for the seats, as well as some other specialty products, incl Poorboys' Bug Squash remover. Two buckets and a good tire brush and wheel woolies are essential. I have a lot of products, and I bought a wheeled garage cabinet for storage that I can just move out to the driveway on wash day.

I had PPF put on the front of my Z and the remainder ceramic-coated with Opti-coat. At the advice of the installer, I'm using Opti-coat products on this.

There's a car wash near here where I used to take my 350Z. You pulled into a bay, got out, selected the cycles you wanted (Rinse-Soap-Rinse-Sealant, whatever) and used a high pressure hose with a wand on it to wash the car. It generated a lot more pressure than my garden hose and was awesome at removing brake dust and pine needles from under the wipers. I don't think I'll do that with my new Z because I'd be afraid the water would lift the edges of the PPF.

 

[bpeckham]

Imma need all the advice and skill mentioned in this thread to clean up this pterodactyl poop.

 

[Georges1]

Looks like you got caught in a bombing run. LOL I take water and a soft cloth with a little car wash liquid and gently rub it off. Use a lot of water. I do the same thing two or three times and then just take clear water and wash off any soap or other residue drying with a microfiber or other type soft towel. No need to wash the entire car unless you just want to.

 

[jdm-rhd]

ihe insects have been brutal this year. what are you guys using to get the bug guts off?

 

[MacCool]

ihe insects have been brutal this year. what are you guys using to get the bug guts off?

My cars have clear bra on the forward edges...I spray with bug spray, then foam soap, let it sit, then use a pressure washer., followed by Rejex to minimize subsequent adherence. If they're really bad, I scrub down the clear bra with some Plexus or similar plastic cleaner. IMHO, the Rejex is the main key. I like Rejex because it seems to last longer than waxes. There are probably other polymer sealants that would work just as well.

Bug splatters are a major nuisance on an airplane. On mine I use Mother's Foaming bug wash, let it sit a minute or two, then wipe off with a wet cloth, followed by wiping down the leading edges, forward cowl, and propeller with Rejex to minimize subsequent bug guts adherence. No pressure washers on airplanes.

Like most automotive chemicals, brand choice is driven almost entirely by marketing, not merit. IMHO, there is no magic bug removing chemical that's better than another. If there was, that's what everyone would use and there wouldn't be a thousand such chemicals on the shelves at any given auto store. I've found the keys to be:

• don't let the dead bugs sit...they will etch the clear coat
• protection is key
  • clear bra
  • Rejex or some similar polymer sealant

 

[SavedByFaith_]

ihe insects have been brutal this year. what are you guys using to get the bug guts off?

CarPro bugout, spray area, let dwell a little, microfiber agitation if needed, rinse off.
Typically doing this as part of a prewash before a foam canon and one bucket method.

 

[Joel Campbell]

I hand wash my Z and use only Adam’s products - Adam’s Mega Foam car wash applied with an Adam’s Foam Cannon for the body and wheels, a simple garden hose rinse, and then an Adam’s Air Cannon Jr. for drying with warm, clean air and their microfiber drying towels where needed. I hand apply and polish/shine the entire car with Adam’s Ceramic w/Graphene coating once a year, and honestly, with the ceramic I could just rinse and dry it with little to no Mega Foam and it looks brand new every time. Highly recommend all of Adam’s products - I was new to them last year when I got my Z, but could not be happier with the quality and performance of all their stuff!

 

[jdm-rhd]

My cars have clear bra on the forward edges...I spray with bug spray, then foam soap, let it sit, then use a pressure washer., followed by Rejex to minimize subsequent adherence. If they're really bad, I scrub down the clear bra with some Plexus or similar plastic cleaner. IMHO, the Rejex is the main key. I like Rejex because it seems to last longer than waxes. There are probably other polymer sealants that would work just as well.

Bug splatters are a major nuisance on an airplane. On mine I use Mother's Foaming bug wash, let it sit a minute or two, then wipe off with a wet cloth, followed by wiping down the leading edges, forward cowl, and propeller with Rejex to minimize subsequent bug guts adherence. No pressure washers on airplanes.

Like most automotive chemicals, brand choice is driven almost entirely by marketing, not merit. IMHO, there is no magic bug removing chemical that's better than another. If there was, that's what everyone would use and there wouldn't be a thousand such chemicals on the shelves at any given auto store. I've found the keys to be:

• don't let the dead bugs sit...they will etch the clear coat
• protection is key
  • clear bra
  • Rejex or some similar polymer sealant

thanks for the detailed response.
my dad used to work for an aerospace company and when i was a kid, id help him wash some of the planes.

what are you doing for the bugs on the windshield? ...at least as minimizing the mess they can make during driving, if that makes sense.

 

[MacCool]

There's a car wash near here where I used to take my 350Z. You pulled into a bay, got out, selected the cycles you wanted (Rinse-Soap-Rinse-Sealant, whatever) and used a high pressure hose with a wand on it to wash the car. It generated a lot more pressure than my garden hose and was awesome at removing brake dust and pine needles from under the wipers. I don't think I'll do that with my new Z because I'd be afraid the water would lift the edges of the PPF.

I had PPF on my last Z for 10 years / 60K and used my 3000 psi pressure washer on it routinely....no local car wash would get rid of the bugs completely. Never had an issue with pressure washer and PPF, but I'm sure that could depend on the the quality of the the film and the quality of the installation.

 

[MacCool]

thanks for the detailed response.
my dad used to work for an aerospace company and when i was a kid, id help him wash some of the planes.

what are you doing for the bugs on the windshield? ...at least as minimizing the mess they can make during driving, if that makes sense.

For bugs on glass, I use any old glass cleaner and a pressure washer. If necessary, I even the grungy old squeegee at the gas station. I do apply Rejex to the windshield when washing which makes it easier to manage bugs. Once or maybe twice a year, I polish the windshield with cerium oxide and my Porter-Cable. It does a great job on those microscratches that show up so annoyingly when you drive to work in the morning into the sun.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cerium+o...880913&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_8755cxydo0_e

For airplane plexiglass, I clean with Plexus (if I can find it), polish with the Novus system and Porter-Cable, then apply....you guessed it....Rejex.

 

[jdm-rhd]

CarPro bugout, spray area, let dwell a little, microfiber agitation if needed, rinse off.
Typically doing this as part of a prewash before a foam canon and one bucket method.

how often are you doing this?

 

[jdm-rhd]

For bugs on glass, I use any old glass cleaner and a pressure washer. If necessary, I even the grungy old squeegee at the gas station. I do apply Rejex to the windshield when washing which makes it easier to manage bugs. Once or maybe twice a year, I polish the windshield with cerium oxide and my Porter-Cable. It does a great job on those microscratches that show up so annoyingly when you drive to work in the morning into the sun.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cerium+o...880913&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_8755cxydo0_e

For airplane plexiglass, I clean with Plexus (if I can find it), polish with the Novus system and Porter-Cable, then apply....you guessed it....Rejex.

sounds like i need to order rejex

 

[SavedByFaith_]

how often are you doing this?

Rarely.
I typically do a foam canon / one bucket wash every 2-3 weeks depending on drive time

After a drive, I do impromptu spot treatment depending on the area, with just diluted CarPro ECHO. This can be used for bugs as well

If it is a bad spot with bugs, I use bugout with a MF and spot spray with water and wipe it down with ECHO

Every 2 months I do a more thorough de contamination with iron x / tar before a full wash

Having these various schedules keeps the car quite clean, like a short / medium / long term detailing schedule.

 

[MacCool]

sounds like i need to order rejex

I've found Rejex to be a good polymer sealant. Its advantage, IMHO, is that it seems to last longer than others I've used such as Adams Paint Sealant. On glass, I compare it to RainX, which I think is terrible. It doesn't last long and gets gummy toward the end of its life. I'm pretty old-school and have no experience with the graphene-based ceramic coatings, although I am intrigued. The downside there is the much higher cost, and the fact that much cheaper Rejex is working OK for me relative to my needs.

 

[jdm-rhd]

Rarely.
I typically do a foam canon / one bucket wash every 2-3 weeks depending on drive time

After a drive, I do impromptu spot treatment depending on the area, with just diluted CarPro ECHO. This can be used for bugs as well

If it is a bad spot with bugs, I use bugout with a MF and spot spray with water and wipe it down with ECHO

Every 2 months I do a more thorough de contamination with iron x / tar before a full wash

Having these various schedules keeps the car quite clean, like a short / medium / long term detailing schedule.

thanks for the details.
so many products and options out there and it's been cool to see how everyone does things.