My Car Wash

[Funnyguy263]

I guess you can call it that..but I was wondering if people can rate the products I use..its the first time I'm trying this out, before I used to take the car to the car wash and all that. Now that I own this Corolla, I want to do things a bit different. This is what I do...

1. I first start by cleaning out the inside, my car on the inside is the floor and all that is clean usually. But sometimes I use a vaccum. I then use the Eagle One 20/20 Vision Glass Cleaner to clean the inside windows of my car. After that I use the Armor All Protectant Wipes to clean the dash and all that.

2. Then I go on to outside cleaning, I usually do this during sunset around 6:30 PM Eastern(VA). I use my hose and put it on Shower to rinse it. I use Jet to clean the "hubcaps"(lol) and the brakes. I use Armor All Car Wash, and start to clean the hood with a Car Wash Mit, I think rinse the front of the hood using Shower and move on to the sides. I keep on going until I'm done cleaning it. I use the car wash mit to also clean the hub cabs to take out the dirt and grime from the inbetween and all that.

3. Drying it I use Towels, which I bought from Kohls. I apply Black Magic Wet Tire Foam to my wheels and then starting the polishing. I use Turtle Wax Ice, its what the type the people at NAPA told me to get.

Now heres my problem..and it PISSES me off..
My car has these STREAKS if you look close enough at it..and no matter how much I scrub some of the grim on the bumper will not come off. I need help as you can tell..

Other questions:
If I use this Car Wash by Armor All will it ruin my paint?
Same for the Wax & Towels & Washing Mit..
Also: Does RainX protectant stuff really work? The stuff that says if you apply inside your car you won't get any fog, and if you apply to the outside the rain just "slips" off I guess?
What would I need to clean the rims? (Brush wise)

Any suggestions? I'm pretty much open to anything. I really do like the Black Magic Wet tire foam, best stuff I've ever used..

[humanoid]

Use a clay bar to get rid of the "streaks" and grime on the car. Get that at your local auto parts store. Don't use that AmorAll crap, it does nothing but collect dust and dirt on your dash. Dilute some Simple Green with water, spray on a micro fiber towel and wipe down. I'm guessing your dash isn't that dirty to begin with so a dry micro fiber towel will just do. Don't get those crappy MF towels from Wal-mart or places like that. Get them online from pakshak.com or autopia.com. To protect your dash use 303 Protectant, it will be the best thing you have used hands down.

[Funnyguy263]

Ok, where can I get 303? How about Simple green? Other than that I'm doing fine?

[humanoid]

303: http://www.autogeek.net/303.html?gcl...FQIpFQodr0dhog

or

http://www.303products.com/main.php

Simple Green you can get in any auto parts store, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

As for the rest, it sounds like you're doing OK, but I'll let other knowldegeable ones chime in on this too.

[Funnyguy263]

http://www.303products.com/shop303/i...FTOKEN=8979050

Would that be the correct one? Don't want to buy the wrong ones..lol

[humanoid]

Yup, dems da ones!

[Funnyguy263]

Jeez. 20$, man this stuff better be worth it..I can't get it for weeks tho . Broke can you say? Stupid car payments!

[humanoid]

What size did you get? You can get the trial size one and see if you like it first before getting the larger bottle. Don't take my words as gospel, these are just my opinions on what works for me.

[Funnyguy263]

I haven't bought it yet. So your saying I should go with the 8 oz. Pump Bottle 303 Aerospace Protectant first to try it out? I mean by the looks of it, you know what your talking about.

[humanoid]

I'll let Pb, the local TN detailing guru answer some of your questions. I've done a lot of trial and error with a lot of detailing stuff and finally found the combination of stuff I like. Yeah, just get the 8oz bottle first and test it out first. You can use that on all plastic, vinyl and rubber. It won't shine like ArmorAll does, but it will protect it better. If you really want all of your detailing questions answered, try posting over on the autopia.org forums too.

[xet]

I bought the rainx stuff it worked decently on the outside making the water bead and run down. My car always fogged during winter nights because of the temperature so i tried the rainx inside and it didnt do jack

[PhatRoyale]

Rain-x is good stuff, I use it on my side and rear windows

[Tommy]

Dont use bath towels from khols. bad idea, as soft as they might feel, theyre actually very scratchy and not as absorbant as a real drying towel.

those streaks your talking about are likely scratches, which can be caused by those towels.

[eyeball96]

Funnyguy!

I use mostly Mequires products..Cleaner wax, Quick Detailer, Hot shine tire coating, and their leather cleaner for the interior. For windows..Stoners is the bomb!
Eagle 1 all wheel and tire cleaner for the rims and tires. There's lots of opinions of whats best tho. For the money these have worked well for me. Oh yeah, I always clean the rims and tires last!!

[Pb]

Get rid of the Armorall stuff, and the bath towels. The bath towels are probably causing your streaks, and swirls too.

Your car wash technique is important if you want to keep swirls to a minimum.

Read the Detailing Sticky at the top of this forum.

Do some shopping on http://www.autopia-carcare.com/ or http://www.autogeek.net/