I finally am in a house where I can wash my cars and want to start doing so.

Any recommendations for:

1) soap/cleaner

2) wax

3) leather interior

4) cleaning cloths

You'll get a lot of recommendations here for a lot of things. Here's a few items that I am a big fan of.

-Super Clean degreaser: dilute it 8:1 and use for interior cleaning, 4:1 for tires and wheels. This stuff is awesome. Buy a big jug from Walmart.

-Nanoskin Clay mitt.

-meguiars detailer line for spray wax, soap, and dressing. Forget the actual names. Get the big jugs

-optimum no rinse in a spray bottle for as detailer/window cleaner

-P&S Beadmaker

And stick with the 2 bucket wash method. Search amazon for a grit guard to put in your rinse bucket.

P.S. take the tags off of your microfiber towels if they have them. I like the big pack of yellow kirklands towels. Amazon or Costco

There is a whole subculture related to car washing....it can get out of hand very quickly.

If you aren't going to bother with paint correction the simplest route is
Purple power rv wash in two bucket system. Followed by meguiars Fast finish for wax.

Buy a good wash mit and a drying towel.

Keep you microfiber cloths separated between painted surfaces, interior surfaces and everything else.

I am not going to take this to an extreme. Not looking for it to be a hobby/passion but do appreciate cleaning my own cars vs running through car wash.

If you do a basic spray on wax or something, and always hand wash instead of drive through, your car will always look better than 99% of cars on the road.

I do like a foam gun. Gilmour or Chemical Guys are readily available on Amazon.

That's how i feel. Without being too obsessive and not too much time I will still be better than most cars on the road.

I feel like I am all over the map on this and most likely over complicating lol but our faucet is pretty far from our driveway. Need 75 ft hose.

Does anyone use those flex/expand hoses? This will only be used for car wash. I assume it should be more than sufficient and allow me to store away easily.

Search Obsessed Garage on YouTube or go to obsessedgarage.com. He takes things to the extreme but I've learned a lot from him and I've bought several things from him and his stuff is top quality. Definitely pick up some P&S Beadmaker like another poster mentioned. Spray it on after you wash and dry and your car will be baby butt smooth.

I also recently started using a foam cannon attached to my electric power wager for amazing foamy suds.

Does no one use a chamois anymore?

Also I cannot recommend the Ryobi electric power washer that costs about $99 at Home Depot enough. May or may not want to use it on the exterior finish of your car, but it is not so powerful as to damage anything. If not the finish, it is great for wheel wells and undercarriage. Damn handy for other things around the house too.

Mequiars has Gold car soap and then they have wash + wax. I assume the former is all I need. I plan to do a good solid wax next weekend and then will maintain with a spray after that.

Used to use a chamois but have switched to microfiber towels for drying.

Here's a video about what I was talking about

Seems like everyone online says to use this with power wash? Do you just apply with mit? You Vehicle and Boat. Right?

It will work just fine with a bucket and a mitt. I have an electric pressure washer and a foam cannon that I use at home but we've used it from a bucket to wash a horse trailer before and it still works great. Also, if you're looking for ph neutral soap, I love Adams Car Shampoo.

If you park in a garage and want to keep the car looking sharp, keep a bucket of a rinse less car wash ( I love wolfgang) filled with microfiber towels handy.

It takes about 15mins to wipe down car.

We keep our cars parked in garage. We typically look for covered parking when possible. Both vehicles get limited sun / element exposure.

Here's what I do, copied from my post in this thread that also has pics. The weekend after I posted the pics I added a layer of Petes 53 wax. It's gorgeous. Lots of metal to push around due to the size the of the vehicle, but its a fun. I also use a Subaru power washer I picked up at Costco.


I haven't experimented outside of Chemical Guys. This is the first vehicle that I got into hand washing and stuck w/them because its a 1stop shop.

I used their synthetic clay bar mitt (too lazy to use a regular bar).

Black Light hybrid glaze and seal applied after wash/clay/wash

Jetseal sealant on top of the glaze

In between steps I spray Hybrid v07. I have a big jug of this to refill my spray bottle. Spray/wipe off/quick buff w/micro-fiber towel. I also use it in b/w washes to clean off road dust and my wife's grubby fingerprints because she's incapable of closing the door touching only the handle on the outside.

THis weekend I'll add a coat of Pete's 53 wax on top. Layering the different products adds depth to the shine.

I usually only do the full suite - clay/glaze/seal/wax once a year. Otherwise I usually just wash only, sometimes wax or glaze/wax since its time consuming. I really need to invest in a DA polisher. The hotter or colder it gets the more likely I am to just sprayfoam wash w/the pressure washer and go.

https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/2707619

https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/2628419

I went a little more basic. I didn't want to go buy a 75 foot hose or pressure washer etc.

1) wash: optimum no rinse

2) tires: Carfidant tire

3) wax: Mequiars ultimate fast finish

4) chrome: turtle chrome and polish


I used the two bucket method and overall happy with results. The wash struggles with the tougher grease but I was able to get it off. I think with each passing wash I will like it more. Happy with all products used.

If you are using the optima no rinse, just use a stack of microfiber towels and you dont have to worry about the second bucket.

Like I said in early post, I keep a bucket of no rinse in the garage and wipe my play car down every time I take it out.

Just fold the towel in quarters and flip/fold to a clean each section of a panel.

This is what I do. I get warm softened water from the house and fill my bucket then add about 2oz ONR. Toss in about 8 clean microfiber towels and toss them in the bucket. I then wipe until all sides are dirty and toss into a dirty towel bucket. When the car is done, I'll use the dirty towels to clean the wheels.

I'll finish with a quick wipe down with Lucas Speed wax and boom, done in 10-15 minutes

I have three towel levels.

Paint - new /clean towels
Interior - older towels that have been burned in the dryer or someone else used. I make a large 'X' on them with a sharpie.

Wheel/engine bay - interior towels that wont get clean or are otherwise ****ed. These get a sharpie '+' in addition to the 'X'

So you soak the towels, wipe the car wet and effectively wipe until dry again? No drying towels in process? I used two microfiber mits to apply and rub on car and then used clean microfiber towels to wipe off remaining until dry.

One panel at a time.

Take a towel that is wet with onr and clean the panel, flipping and folding as needed to keep a clean side of the towel.

Then dry that panel with your waffle weave drying towel.

When you run out of clean sides, get a new towel.

I am enjoying the Optima No Rinse. I washed both cars easily this weekend and solid results. I do struggle with some of the tougher "grease" spots but none that didnt eventually come out. I pulled my wife's car out and did it first but started to warm up quick...i was able to wash my car in the garage with no issue at all which is a game changer in texas heat...

Get a spray bottle, put some ONR in the bottle at a higher concentration than what you use in the bucket. Spray areas that need some extra work before you get to it.

Good idea. I will give that a shot!