How to Safely Wash your Zed

PawnSacrifice

Veteran
 South Oxfordshire
This is taken from another forum with Elite Detailing's permission - I know many will think this level of detail ludicrous and prefer to just get out and drive! Others on go to even greater lengths. Anyway...

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Here is the correct, safe and effective way to wash your Pride and Joy without causing any damage.

Elite Detailer Car Care Products
1. Label your buckets "WASH" and "RINSE" with a permanent marker. This is important.
2. Fill bucket "WASH" with cold/luke warm water along with the shampoo with the correct dosage as instructed on the bottle and then place clean grit guard at bottom of the bucket.

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3. Fill Bucket "RINSE" with cold/luke warm water. If vehicle is very dirty, put a small amount of shampoo in and place grit guard at bottom of the bucket.
4. Inspect Lambswool Wash Mitt making sure it’s clean and place in Bucket “WASH”.
5. Hose/Pressure wash vehicle down thoroughly.
6. Place Lambswool Wash Mitt onto roof and wipe in straight sweeping back and forth movements.
7. Rinse wash mitt in bucket "RINSE" by rubbing wash mitt onto the grit guard and then inspect the Wash Mitt.
8. Now “re-shampoo” wash mitt by dunking back into Bucket "WASH".
9. Repeat process 6, 7 and 8.

It is important to regularly do step 7 while washing the vehicle.

Here is the formation for washing the vehicle: Roof, Glass, Bonnet, Boot, Wings and Doors but leaving the bottom 6 inches around the vehicle untouched. This includes the sills, lower wings and lower rear quarters, lower front and rear bumpers. Now with a separate Wash Mitt you should begine washing the front end and work your way around the vehicle. This separate Wash Mitt should be used for this purpose only and should not be cross contaminated with the Wash Mitt you had previously used.

Do NOT use the Lambswool Wash Mitt on your wheels.

The above formation may read a little tedious but I can assure you that once you have done this process a few times then it will become second nature to you.
10. Now rinse vehicle off with hose/pressure wash thoroughly.
11. Now mist the entire vehicle by spraying the Drying Aid Quick Detailer. You will notice the water running off the vehicle as well as looking slightly streaky.
12. Now using the Drying Towel dry vehicle gently without pressing down. Let the cloth do all the work. Again dry in the exact same order as the wash formation working in straight lines. Take your time and don’t rush.

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13. Any left over streaks can be buffed off seamlessly using one of the buffing Microfibre Cloths.
14. This step is optional but well recommended, Mist a clean Microfibre Cloth with Zaino Z-6 or Zaino Z-8 and wipe over vehicle. A little goes a long way with the Zaino Range so only lightly mist the Microfibre Cloth. You should be able to complete an average sized car with approximately 6-8 squirts.

Below is a picture illustrating the importance of using more than one bucket for when washing you pride and joy. You can clearly see which is the "Rinse" bucket and which is the "Wash" bucket. This process is far safer than using a single bucket because the likelyhood of you rubbing grit and dirt back onto your car is reduced.

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Wheels and Tyres:
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When washing wheels and tyres, it is important to not cross contaminate. It is often best to wash the wheels first. You should use a separate Microfibre Wash Mitt for this process and not the mitt which was used on the paint work. It is also important to scrub your tyres. Please take a look in the Wheels and Tyres section for a selection of products.

Do NOT go from wheels and back onto the bodywork and do NOT use the same drying towel on the wheels as you do on the bodywork.
I hope this guide helps you guys and doesn’t read too confusing. It really is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
If you would like to buy the products used above then please take a look below.
Basic Wash Kit A Compact Basic Kit
Elite Detailer Wash Kit As approved by Gurcharn of Elite Detailing. (As seen in the Wash guide)
(http://www.elitedetailer.com)

http://www.elitedetailing.co.uk - Providing a Specialist Detail Service for Exclusive Vehicles.
 
What's an 'Exclusive Vehicle'.......? Or is this a 'posh' way of saying mines bigger, better, faster, more expensive etc etc than yours? Because nothing puts me off a dealer, supplier, franchise or whatever than language like that.Anybody else.....
 
In fairness the portfolio is largely what I would consider to be exclusive... but that's probably just what's on there. VW Golf perhaps at the not so exclusive.

But yeah, that seems to be one of those words like "executive" which people tend to shove into slogans to appear more highbrow - and usually it would put me off to the point of not looking! Also, outfits seem to this if they say something is exclusive it means that they can make it expensive! Screw off, thanks very much, I'll go to these guys instead where they aren't A-holes!

My favourite of their "exclusive" portfolio... Pagani Zonda F Clubsport!
http://www.elitedetailing.co.uk/Portfolio/Pagani/Zonda-F-Clubsport-Roadster-Dark-Blue/68
If I had one of those you could call me what you want! (Many do anyway!)

Misguided use of language aside, these guys seem to know what they're doing!
 
i think the 2 bucket guide should be in the owners manual of every car, cant stand swirly paint work from using those sponges and one bucket!

there are all manor of products but ive stuck to the mid range stuff, bog standard shampoo, autoglym super resin polish and hd wax. use a lambswool mitt to wash. bought some good quality cloths for polish/waxing and a good large drying cloth.

best product ive used is bilberry wheel cleaner, use that on the wheels at the start along with a good wheel brush and it takes all the brake dust off.

you can get very good results by hand, my z4 has been the cleanest thing ive owned lol! its filthy after a weeks driving and in need of a wash, polish & wax.
 
acerboo said:
to be very safe DONT LET THE DEALER NEAR IT with a sponge!!


:thumbsup: Never let the Stealers wash it.

As said above use this method a good wax some decent MF cloths and you can have a lovely car plus a well clayed polished and waxed car is so much easier to clean and use a good wheel wax or sealant and the wheels are a breeze to clean i can clean mine with hot water if i have to as the brake dust is never baked on.
 
PawnSacrifice said:
2. Fill bucket "WASH" with cold/luke warm water along with the shampoo with the correct dosage as instructed on the bottle and then place clean grit guard at bottom of the bucket.

There's mixed feeling about grit guards and some feel that they can actually do more harm. I think it's better to just a have a big bucket and wash your mitt in the top 6 inches of it.
 
Nice post Pawn and great help for those wanting to make sure they don't want to inflict any swirls. Best thing I've ever bought for cleaning the car is a foam lance, snow foam rocks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S7X0r7FjB0
 
I'm trying to improve my washing methodology.

My goal is to emulate the Polish guys in Tesco car park who can wash and rinse an entire car in ten minutes with an old pair of underpants and a pint of black water.

Now thats quality! :thumbsup:
 
lacroupade said:
I'm trying to improve my washing methodology.

My goal is to emulate the Polish guys in Tesco car park who can wash and rinse an entire car in ten minutes with an old pair of underpants and a pint of black water.

Now thats quality! :thumbsup:

Have you joined DetailingWorld?

X2 about the foam lance... removes most dirt reducing the chance of it ending up on your mitt and causing swirl marks.
 
peddy said:
lacroupade said:
I'm trying to improve my washing methodology.

My goal is to emulate the Polish guys in Tesco car park who can wash and rinse an entire car in ten minutes with an old pair of underpants and a pint of black water.

Now thats quality! :thumbsup:

Have you joined DetailingWorld?

Life's too short! :rofl:
 
acerboo said:
to be very safe DONT LET THE DEALER NEAR IT with a sponge!!
Worse than that...

When my Clio was in for warranty work, I told the Renault dealer under no uncertain terms to wash my car. Came back and the idiotic feckers had washed it, not with a sponge, but with a brush on the end of a hosepipe. I never did get rid of the scratches across the back window as a result of that :thumbsdown:

Detailing World :o scary place/people but actually quite helpful at times.

This is my favourite detail thread: Animal Dyson Detail :rofl:
 
lacroupade said:
peddy said:
lacroupade said:
I'm trying to improve my washing methodology.

My goal is to emulate the Polish guys in Tesco car park who can wash and rinse an entire car in ten minutes with an old pair of underpants and a pint of black water.

Now thats quality! :thumbsup:

Have you joined DetailingWorld?

Life's too short! :rofl:

Why? Are you an old fart with a walking stick (or there abouts)? :poke:

If time is not on your side then I would recommend at least having a quick look at the newbies section. There's a thread listing all the useful how-to threads... you should check it out.
 
lacroupade said:
Not about not having time on my side....its a car? :P

yeah i know... I was joking! lol

You mentioned wanting to improve on how you take care of the car which is why I mentioned it in the first place.

EDIT: Unless you were being sarcastic? (yes the Tesco bit was, but thought you were being serious when you said "I'm trying to improve my washing methodology.")
 
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