I can't power wash my car properly!!!

Peter B

I have a power washer and every now and then power wash my car.

I usually give it a power wash all over, cleaning out all the obvious dirt especially the wheel arches and under the bumpers. Then I sponge it with hot water and fairy liquid. Afterwards I wash the soap off with the power washer again.

After it dries it definitely looks better but it seems to have accumulated some dirt again. There seems to be dirt on the parts I washed.

Anyone know how to avoid this? Do you power wash your car successfully and if so how?

Any tips?

Thanks

matt-dublin

rinse, wash with a sponge, rinse again, bring for a drive to dry out and then polish.

yer only man

fastrac

Fairy liquid is not for washing cars

Mr Benevolent

If you're blasting a power washer into the wheel arches then dirt will be thrown everywhere. Also, Fairy Liquid is not the greatest cleaning agent for car paint and may leave sticky residue if the car is not perfectly clean..

matt-dublin

or pay the fella 7.99 in the top floor of dun laoghaire shopping center for a wash, he's usually pretty good!

Seperate

I bet i know whats going on... you're only using one bucket?

You wash a dirty panel on a car, rinse the sponge in the water, wash another panel and repeat the process? So you're constantly rubbing dirty water on the car.

You need to use two buckets; one for shampoo, one for rinsing the dirty wash mitt.

You need a decent shampoo, and also a wash mitt. As said above, fairy liquid and a sponge isn't any good for car paint.

furtzy

Rinse, wash, rinse,wash, rinse the two bucket method & dry with chamois....always with the chamois

Invest in a good cod oil tanned chamois and it will last you a life time. Don't buy the crud they sell in the motor factors

Fairy liquid is not for cars...it contains salt to use as an abrasive...so deffo not for paint work

I find the Halfords own brand car shampoo pretty good for the money

Peter B

Apologies, I had to confirm with my sponger colleague and apparently we don't use fairy liquid. We use something called "Concept Chemicals and Coatings Limited". It is supposed to be used for car washing I believe.

Seperate

Peter B wrote: »

Apologies, I had to confirm with my sponger colleague and apparently we don't use fairy liquid. We use something called "Concept Chemicals and Coatings Limited". It is supposed to be used for car washing I believe.

If it is 'Profile' then its a decent enough shampoo. It kinda looks like fairy liquid too, in fairness.

See my post above about using dirty water to wash the car....

cian1500ww

Don't use Fairy Liquid, it can damage the paintwork as it has salt and other such ingredients in it. Get some proper car shampoo from an auto factors.

matt-dublin

Just noticing your sig:
http://www.detailer.ie/

you work in a detailing company and u don't know how to wash a car ????

:P

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

MetzgerMeister

Make sure when you first powerwash the car that you get all loose dirt off it first. Do under the wheel arches etc. on the primary powerwash. Then use the 2 bucket method. Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash is excellent stuff and smells lovely Also after you sponge a panel, don't let the shampoo dry up. This isn't good for the paint and will leave dirt, streaks and marks behind after final powerwashing.

Waxing a car every time after washing makes it easier to get dirt off the next time too.

matt-dublin

whoops

corktina

the problem could well be limey water.....leaves a residue no matter how much you rinse...try washing it on a rainy day and leave the rain rinse it...(then chamois with a clean leather and polish.....) I use the mthod above of going for a drive to dry off the worst of the water if it aint going to rain...

MetzgerMeister

corktina wrote: »

I use the mthod above of going for a drive to dry off the worst of the water if it aint going to rain...

Or you could give it a wet wax

R.O.R

einheisserschre wrote: »

Or you could give it a wet wax

Sounds dirty! Tell me more......:D

MetzgerMeister

R.O.R wrote: »

Sounds dirty! Tell me more......:D

Straight after washing the car you can wax it without drying it! The more water on the car the better. Turtle Wax "Wax-It-Wet" does this. I wash my car once a week and use this stuff every time. It's not as good a waxing as using Meguiars on dry paint but it gives a geat shine and protects the paint for 2 weeks at least.

It's very easy to use. You just wash the car, rinse it off and spray this stuff directly into wet surfaces. Then using a microfibre cloth, dry the car.