Car Wash "wax"

[Metallman56]

never ever ever ever get the wax they use at a car wash. i'm not talking the drive through car washes i'm talking about the do it yourself with a power sprayer car washes. let me go back and explain.

as some of you know in the summer i keep my car very clean, and very waxed. to me its not really hard to throw on a coat of wax. infact i'm starting to enjoy it. any who, i got a PC for x-mas. for some reason around here it was like 50* in january. so i decided to use my new x-mas present. i did the hood, but didnt have the products i wanted yet. anyways when i got done, it looked really really good. i was very happy with the results. it wasnt perfect, but it was only my first try. after that, when i drove in the rain at 30 mph my hood would almost be dry, cause water just couldnt stick to it. my whole car was very water repellent. normally i had to get up to about 45 mph with just the amout of wax i kept on it.

so i go to the car wash one day. i wasnt going to soap it just spray the salt and other crap off it. well, i was done and the thing was still on, so i figured, wtf i'll put some of there wax stuff on, what could it hurt? big mistake. so i sprayed it on, and left. it was raining that week, and i noticed that my car wasnt beading the rain up as it always has. so i looked at it, and it looked like it didnt have any wax on it at all. i had 0 pertection. i was very confussed on how this could have happend. and then it hit me. the car wash wax. that was the only thing it could have been. so i washed the car in the rain, let it rinse off, then dryed it off in the garage, and put a coat of megs tech wax on. that was about a month and 1/2 ago, and its really starting to fade. i need 1 warm day where i can wax the sh*t out of it, but right now it doesnt look like i'm going to get that day anytime soon.

please let my mistake be a lesson to you, and dont ever use any car was wax. i think theres more wax stripper then wax in it.

[Z3R0]

Thank you for that because I use car wash wax and now i know it is crap. But is Eagleone nanowax(spray) good to use with Turtlewax ICE spray detailer?

[BlackAttackGA]

Thanks for the heads-up. I use EagleOne Nanowax at home and I wouldn't settle for anything less.

[coupe]

Thank you for that because I use car wash wax and now i know it is crap. But is Eagleone nanowax(spray) good to use with Turtlewax ICE spray detailer?



Try not to stray off topic, thank you.


Live and learn metallman56, only thing i use at the coin ops is the high pressure water and even that is rare.

[Metallman56]

it wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt winter. this was like the worst possible time. just letting all you know, so it doesnt happen to you.

[Ajaxus]

jim, which car wash were you at?

also, if you want "warm weather" i got your hook up, we have a MASSIVE kerosene heater at my parents, we can let it run in the garage for a bit and let it warm up then put your car in, and apply the wax there...just a possibility if you still need this done asap..

[Metallman56]

i dont know the name of it, but its on edison east of movies 14, but before Grape road, on the north side of the road.

getting the car inside isnt the problem. there are actually a few problems with trying to wash in the winter. if my car is too cold, or the sun isnt out, then the water freezes. so you cant really dry it off too well. if its warm enough to dry, then i have to worry about driving it home. it would have to be a warmer day, which means the snow is melting, which means the roads are wet, which means other cars tires fling up water, dirt, salt, and god only knows what else. cant wax with any of that crap on my car. thanks for the offer AJ, but i've just got to wait for the "perfect" day. come on June!

[coupe]

Thats why i dont wash any of my vehicles in the winter. Its to much of a hastle and counter productive. My truck hasnt been washed and waxed since Nov. 24th and it looks like hell right now. As long as you take great care of your vehicle during the seasons that you can then winter wont hurt it much. During the winter just do your best to not touch the paint and pray for warmer weather.

[Metallman56]

wednesday might be the day. its suppose to get up in the 40s, which is all i need. hopefully, the roads will be dry on my way back home. otherwise, its a waist of time.

[Ajaxus]

ah, i was gonna say, if it were a drive and shine you'd have no problems sprayin their stuff on your car, lol


coupe, im gonna have to show you a drive and shine sometime, they are the gods of the drivethru carwash, and their products=top notch.

[Metallman56]

i agree with AJ on this. drive and shine is the best car wash i have ever been too. however they still put swirls in the paint AJ.

[coupe]

Ive never seen one or heard of one. Im not a fan of anything touching my paint that i havent inspected first. I would run my truck through one though if i had one in my area. Its getting polished out again in the spring anyways.

[Metallman56]

i'm a little confussed. well i'm a lot confussed. maybe one of you can help me determin the cause. i dont go to normal stay in your car car washes anymore. i go to the ones where you use a power sprayer and do it yourself. when i used the PC i used it on 1/2 the hood. i got most of the swirls out, but not 100%. but i did get most of them out. any who yesterday i went to the car wash, washed my car finally, dryed it off, and took it back to my place to wax it. before i started to wax it, i noticed hella swirls on my hood. just my hood. it looked worse then it ever has before. my first thought was it had to be the brush at the car wash. but when i use it, i go back and forth, not in a circular motion. and further more like i said its not on the whole car. my roof looks fine, and so does my trunk lid. and hell, so to the sides and fenders. its just my hood. Coupe i'm sure you've got some sort of idea, any suggestions or anything would be helpful. i really have no idea.

[coupe]

i'm a little confussed. well i'm a lot confussed. maybe one of you can help me determin the cause. i dont go to normal stay in your car car washes anymore. i go to the ones where you use a power sprayer and do it yourself. when i used the PC i used it on 1/2 the hood. i got most of the swirls out, but not 100%. but i did get most of them out. any who yesterday i went to the car wash, washed my car finally, dryed it off, and took it back to my place to wax it. before i started to wax it, i noticed hella swirls on my hood. just my hood. it looked worse then it ever has before. my first thought was it had to be the brush at the car wash. but when i use it, i go back and forth, not in a circular motion. and further more like i said its not on the whole car. my roof looks fine, and so does my trunk lid. and hell, so to the sides and fenders. its just my hood. Coupe i'm sure you've got some sort of idea, any suggestions or anything would be helpful. i really have no idea.



Actually *swirl marks* arent circular at all. They are actually thousands of microscopic scratches. They *appear* circular becuase of the way the light refracts the light source back to your eyes. Most light sources are circular ie: sun, incondescents, street lights ect. and that is why they appear circular. Get your self a magnifying glass and take a real close look at them.

Another thing about polishing with a PC is if you dont work the polish long enough the deminishing abbrasives wont fully break down leaving you with *swirl marks* that are just filled in with the oils that are in the polish. Becuase of this it appears as if you removed all the *swirl marks* when in fact you just filled in alot of them. This is a common mistake people make with a PC. When polishing for paint correction have a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol (sp?) mixed 50/50 with distilled water in a spray bottle. After you finish polishing a section spray and wipe that section with your IPA solution and inspect for swirls. If there are swirls still remaining hit that section again. Make sure you have good lighting for your inspection. This is why i live by my 1000W halogens and my Brinkmann dual xenon spot light.

BTW, i wouldnt even consider using a brush in the coin-op bays, the sheer thought of it gives me chills.

[KhellendrosxS]

BTW, i wouldnt even consider using a brush in the coin-op bays, the sheer thought of it gives me chills.


True that, my old S-10 got the brush once and f'd up the paint something fierce. After that I only ever did high pressure rinse to get the dirt off before I took it home to wash it. Since Ive had my GA it has never seen a drive in car wash.

[Metallman56]

ok. i'm pretty sure its not the PC. only cause i only did 1/2 the hood, and my whole hood looks like sh*t. not to say i'm sure i used it right, cause i really had no clue what i was doing. but this is my whole hood.

i bet it was the brush then. maybe i just put more pressure on the hood then any other panel.

ok Coupe so what would you do if you were me? i live in a apartment, and have no means of washing my car at home. should i bring my own microfiber sponge to the car wash, and wash my car that way?

[coupe]

ok. i'm pretty sure its not the PC. only cause i only did 1/2 the hood, and my whole hood looks like sh*t. not to say i'm sure i used it right, cause i really had no clue what i was doing. but this is my whole hood.

i bet it was the brush then. maybe i just put more pressure on the hood then any other panel.

ok Coupe so what would you do if you were me? i live in a apartment, and have no means of washing my car at home. should i bring my own microfiber sponge to the car wash, and wash my car that way?


If i was in your situation i would look into Optimum No Rinse (ONR). You could wash your car at your appartment in the parking lot or at the coin-op place. Search *ONR* at auotpia.org and see how these guys use it, its pretty cool stuff.

[Ajaxus]

if you aren't down with ONR then i would recommend taking either a mf or a wool mitt with you to the car wash when you do it yourself. a bucket would also help so you can rinse the dirt off.

[Metallman56]

so let me get this straight on this ONR stuff. i just read abuot it, and they said nothing about rinsing your car off before you apply soap. is that right? i just dip my microfiber in a bucket with this stuff, put it on one section at a time, and dry it. and thats it?

[Ajaxus]

ever wonder why they love this stuff for winter applications? lol


i believe that's it, to answer your question.

[coupe]

Yup thats it lol

[bballr4567]

I have to use a coin-op too but I wet the car down with a low rinse then I wash it down with soap and hit it with a wool mitt. I usually wash one area and then use the nozzle on low rinse to wash the mitt out as much as I can. It also helps if you go on a day or time when it isnt busy because the managers at the car washes dont care as much.

[Metallman56]

just wanted to make sure that i was right before i tried it. nothing wrong with double checking.