Washing your California

[Rhyddin]

Perhaps this is an easy one to answer but, having never owned a van before, I'm not sure.

I take my car to a hand wash garage every few weeks and they do it while I'm sat in it. I can see a price for a van on the wall but is this what you guys do?

Is the awning a problem? Are the roof seals ever an issue with a jet wash?

 

[teeboy]

@Home - quite regularly during the summer, rarely during the winter.

The roof gets washed every 2nd or 3rd wash

 

[GrannyJen]

I bought the butler one of those sponges on a pole and a set of steps.

 

[sapto]

Perhaps this is an easy one to answer but, having never owned a van before, I'm not sure.

I take my car to a hand wash garage every few weeks and they do it while I'm sat in it. I can see a price for a van on the wall but is this what you guys do?

Is the awning a problem? Are the roof seals ever an issue with a jet wash?

I asked a washing station once if it's possible to do so and they answered that the awning might be a problem so back to step one: I wash it myself at the "selfwashing-stations". Next week I have my regulary service appointment and I ordered a outside&inside washing too. I'm just curious if the result is the same as mine. However I like to wash my cali myself it's part of the fun!

 

[Alan]

I get great satisfaction cleaning my van myself
Wouldn't let anyone else do it while I'm able

Also hights don't bother me

Alan

 

[Alan]

Wish I could afford a butler though !

 

[GrannyJen]

Wish I could afford a butler though !

VW were going to offer it as an options pack...

"The convenience pack" bundled with self-wiping windows unless you have demisting mirrors in which case only available with the green privacy glass, assuming you have the optional laminated cabin glass and don't have LED lights without the MFSW.

 

[T6 CFO]

VW were going to offer it as an options pack...

"The convenience pack" bundled with self-wiping windows unless you have demisting mirrors in which case only available with the green privacy glass, assuming you have the optional laminated cabin glass and don't have LED lights without the MFSW.

Stop my option choices are in and your post gave me flashbacks!


Mike

 

[sapto]

this is my butler

 

[jts46]

Take mine to the local jet wash, a bunch of nice guys £7, good value

John

 

[Borris]

I wish I could trust someone else to do it properly, but I can't.

Ours is black so requires scrupulous attention to the wash process to avoid any grit causing damage. No one other than me cares that much to ensure that its going to happen.

So how you answer comes down to just how OCD you are.

These days, washing a car seems to take many different forms. You can do the full jet wash and two bucket wash yourself. Or you can take it down the local hand car wash and let a team of soggy bods give it the once over or there are even those people with the trolleys that you see in Sainsburys carparks who maintain they can wash your entire car effectively with two or three cups of water and a micro fibre cloth. I have also been shown a product that you merely squirt onto the dirt and grit and take it all off with one MF cloth and then buff up with a second. No water involved! This may be OK in the town but if like me, you live in the country, then very often you can find half a field stuck to your lovely motor car.

For me at least, unless you get rid of the grit and dirt first I am certain that you Will be damaging the paint regardless of what fancy chemical properties the manufacturers claim their gunk possesses.

 

[WelshGas]

Very good car wash , fully automatic, at the Magor Services on the M4 in Wales. I've never seen another like it. No rollers or brushes. Washes all over including underneath. Then dries using a Dyson like high pressure dryer.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=184300

 

[Sp0_0k]

Ours is black so requires scrupulous attention to the wash process to avoid any grit causing damage. .

Got a black car now. Never freaking again...

 

[Rhyddin]

Got a black car now. Never freaking again...

I feel your pain.

My Audi is not only black but non-metallic black and shows up EVERY bit of dirt. Looks amazing when clean but then, 10 minutes later...

I'll not buy black again and I'll not buy non-metallic again, unless in a bright colour (red, yellow, etc). Hoping my metallic Acapulco Blue will look cleaner for longer.

Live and learn!

 

[Rhyddin]

I wish I could trust someone else to do it properly, but I can't.

Ours is black so requires scrupulous attention to the wash process to avoid any grit causing damage. No one other than me cares that much to ensure that its going to happen.

So how you answer comes down to just how OCD you are.

These days, washing a car seems to take many different forms. You can do the full jet wash and two bucket wash yourself. Or you can take it down the local hand car wash and let a team of soggy bods give it the once over or there are even those people with the trolleys that you see in Sainsburys carparks who maintain they can wash your entire car effectively with two or three cups of water and a micro fibre cloth. I have also been shown a product that you merely squirt onto the dirt and grit and take it all off with one MF cloth and then buff up with a second. No water involved! This may be OK in the town but if like me, you live in the country, then very often you can find half a field stuck to your lovely motor car.

For me at least, unless you get rid of the grit and dirt first I am certain that you Will be damaging the paint regardless of what fancy chemical properties the manufacturers claim their gunk possesses.

Agreed.

The east European guys who wash my car are great, though:

High pressure spray to remover dirt, application of some super corrosive stuff that gets my wheels cleaner than I can get them with half an hour of scrubbing, and then spray again. They don't actually touch the car.

Then the next lot spray on wax, sponge every inch of it and then jet wash it off before the final crew shammy cloth the whole thing and clean the door sills on the inside. £5 well spent.
I think a van is £10 though.

I'd trust them with my new Cali, if they can reach it all.

 

[WelshGas]

Jet spray on the sliding Windows can be problematic.

 

[Borris]

Another issue that we have in Kent is very hard water. The Black paint has to be towelled off straight away because if you leave any droplets on the vehicle it leaves horrid water marks. I am about to experiment with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar in water to shift these difficult calcium marks. I have also just ordered a filter to take out all of these impurities for a final rinse.
In short, black wouldn't have been our choice but it was a fully loaded ex demo Cali that we couldn't afford to pass up. Cleaning it is a lot of faffing about to make it look clean for ten minutes.

 

[Raggedroy]

Another issue that we have in Kent is very hard water. The Black paint has to be towelled off straight away because if you leave any droplets on the vehicle it leaves horrid water marks. I am about to experiment with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar in water to shift these difficult calcium marks. I have also just ordered a filter to take out all of these impurities for a final rinse.
In short, black wouldn't have been our choice but it was a fully loaded ex demo Cali that we couldn't afford to pass up. Cleaning it is a lot of faffing about to make it look clean for ten minutes.

I use rain water to wash and rinse with, it doesn't leave many water marks.

 

[Borris]

I use rain water to wash and rinse with, it doesn't leave many water marks.

Yes, thanks for that. I am going to install a water butt with an electric pump to feed the filter I mentioned. I have never spent so much on all sorts of car cleaning stuff.

 

[motacyclist]

Every Saturday morning there a big queue at our local wash centre. I can't understand why they do it, I can wash ours in about 20 minutes yet they're sitting there for an hour or so, then it's filthy again before they get home!

 

[Calicliff]

Adding to this, what products? I always use Autoglym?

 

[Raggedroy]

I had mine washed at a hand car wash a year or so ago, it was particularly dirty and I was away from home. Although they did a reasonable job the paint work was left looking dull when it dried and needed to be re-waxed. It would seem a chemical is used in the pressure washer that removes the grime and any wax or polish applied to the paint.

 

[briwy]

@Home - quite regularly during the summer, rarely during the winter.

The roof gets washed every 2nd or 3rd wash

Opposite for us, only in summer when it's really filthy and a lot in winter with the pressure washer especially underneath to get rid of salt etc.

 

[campandfly]

Very good car wash , fully automatic, at the Magor Services on the M4 in Wales. I've never seen another like it. No rollers or brushes. Washes all over including underneath. Then dries using a Dyson like high pressure dryer.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=184300

Yes used them many years ago in Australia. They still don't clean your car properly.
The advantage with them is that they don't have those fibre rollers that definitely will scratch a dirty car.

For me its all at home with the very occasional service station jetwash to get the worst off.
I mostly use Autoglym, Maguiars ,Armorall, Rainex and Mr Sheen

 

[Archie]

Just given our new beach a wash, polish and seal with my Xmas Autoglym. The T6 definitely seems easier to wash and polish than the T5 to me. There are no plastic trims in the middle of the doors and a cloth running over the new tailgate just seems to flow better without getting caught around the reg plate area. The standard beach 16 inch alloys aren't as easy as the old 17 inch thunders though.
Always do ours myself, partly cos I'm too tight to pay someone, and partly as its bloody good exercise! After washing, shammying, applying polish, buffing polish, applying sealant and buffing sealant my arms are nearly dropping off