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Just did the first car wash of 2007 with a jet wash and soapy water, but the paintwork looks dull. I only wash my car twice a year (when I can't see out of the windows any more), so how I make it shiny again? Preferably in the quickest, laziest way possible.
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You wash your car that often? Quickest and laziest way is the way I do it when I can be bothered- automated car wash that takes car through on a conveyor (the 'full works' programme, waxes it etc).
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Sorry, I am no help what-so-ever. I fall at the other end of the scale washing the car every weekend.
Spending more time than is healthy on it.
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Automated car wash might not work as he would have to get out of car to get a token - might pay you to wait till scouts have a car wash day and give them a quid :-))
Dave
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Put £2 a week away and have the car fully valeted twice a year. That way you don't even have to wash it!
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Still relying on the following:
"Don't bother polishing your car - it wastes fuel! Scientists have discovered that rough surfaces can be more aerodynamic than shiny ones by helping vehicles slip through the air more efficiently. If the bumps are the size and shape of tiny cylinders, they keep the air flowing around the car. "This goes against conventional thinking," said Swedish researcher Jens Fransson."
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This research alludes to mild levels of dirt, that is perhaps thinly and evenly dispersed across a surface, in a similar fashion to the indents in a golf ball. If the dirt has accumulated and now resembles coarse emery paper then I don't think that the theory holds.
I think that 'soapy' water may be the problem. Best use a proprietary detergent. I use the Halfords stuff that somes in a blue bottle (I forget the name at present). If the car is especially dirty then I pressure wash that first to avoid scouring the paintwork.
Once so cleaned, the black paintwork on my 9-year old Alfa still looks shiney.
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Colin
Isn't that the old golf ball thing? Golf balls have dimples to make them go further than if they were smooth. I wouldn't want golf ball type dimples all over my car. Maybe the old vinyl roofs made cars go faster, they must have had that sort of scale of roughness.
I guess the snow in Sweden rules out playing golf so he didn't know. Sensible man, much better things to do with his time evidently.
JH
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Why don't airliners have golfball-type dimples?
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>> might payyou to wait till scouts have a car wash day and give them a quid :-))
lol it will cost you a bit more than a pound now, but to be fair my cubs do a real good job and are very thorough, with adult supervision of course!
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Temporarily not a student, where did the time go???
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but the paintwork looks dull.>>
Why are you surprised?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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This twice a year business - you don't mean EVERY year, do you?
--
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I only wash my car twice a year (when I can't see out of the windows any more) >>
Doesn't sound like you do many miles, then. You'd be better off by bus/train/taxi.
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>> I only wash my car twice a year (when I can't see out of the windows any more) >> Doesn't sound like you do many miles, then. You'd be better off by bus/train/taxi.
I only do about 8000 miles a year now, but most of it involves carting a bike around + assorted junk and friends from university, and I live on Dartmoor where a bus service is non-existent. It doesn't get used all that much in Leeds apart from visiting my grandparents in Rochdale, and it's far cheaper to drive over than to take the train. (Return ticket is £20 off peak + £10 taxi fares at the Rochdale end, and £4 bus fare at Leeds. Round trip distance: 70 miles)
I also enjoy having my the radio on, leaving when I feel like it, the pleasure of driving, and not having to travel with the commoners on trains and buses. And with the greatest possible respect, I don't appreciate people making decisions on whether or not I should own a car based purely on how many times a year I wash the thing... ;-)
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">and not having to travel with the commoners on trains and buses.<"
Yes, some words of truth shining out from within a rather dreary thread.
Doesn't biannual mean once every two years ........
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">and not having to travel with the commoners on trains and buses.<"
Agreed, one of the worst aspects of public transport.
Doesn't biannual mean once every two years ........
Nope, it means twice annually.
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>>>> Doesn't biannual mean once every two years ........
>>
>>Nope, it means twice annually.
Why doesn't it mean every two years ? Like the logic that I suppose is involved in the word "bicycle" compared to "unicycle".
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Found this on Tiscali Dictionary:
"biannual or biennial
A biannual event happens twice a year: We make a biannual visit to the in-laws: once at Christmas and again in the summer. A biennial event happens every two years: The school was due for its biennial inspection. (A biennial plant lasts two years.) "
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"Why doesn't it mean every two years ? Like the logic that I suppose is involved in the word "bicycle" compared to "unicycle"."
Starting to get confused. Following on with this logic would a bisexual be someone who
A - has sex twice a year
B - has sex on a bicycle
?
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>>Why are you surprised?
Where did he say he was surprised ?
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What's wrong with getting it washed gratis when it rains? Helps to give the lights a wipe if the roads are salty though. Number plate can be as mucky as it likes
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I used to also wash my car twice a year, however I've discovered a way to cut down the unnecessary winter wash. Since I moved up north, the snow has given my car a free wash every January, and it comes up gleaming after that (the snow melts a sort of grey colour...). What a waste of water washing a car every week. an occasional wipe of the side windows is all that's required (the other windows have wipers).
If only people paid as much attention to their engine as their paintwork, all these "my cambelt's just snapped on 90,000 miles, should I sue the garage for not changing it" threads would never exist ;-)
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Oh dear! Not another thread with someone tantamount to boasting that it is clever to neglect another aspect of car ownership.
When people say such things about their cars I often wonder what other aspect of their lives are neglected similarly?
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The only way to make it shine again will probably be to give it a quick polish with something like Super Resin Polish, plus, if you do this properly this time, then the next time you clean the car in about 6 months it should be easier to clean! ;-)
Personally though I would just go for the option of getting it valeted once or twice a year though.
Blue
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I dream of washing my car(s). Unfortunately due to my Water Companies inefficiency we have a hosepipe ban (and I'm sorry, but a bucket and sponge alone just isn't good enough), and so I am forced to keep our local immigrants in tax-free earnings at £5 a pop to have a clean car.
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Hosepipe ban still.......... blimey !
Our reservoirs are brimming in the North West - something to do with rather a lot of rain in the last couple of months though !
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Hosepipe ban still.......... blimey ! Our reservoirs are brimming in the North West - something to do with rather a lot of rain in the last couple of months though !
Well, I have written to Thames Water expressing my annoyance as to why we are not being kept up to date with any news about an imminent repeal of the ban as, if not soon, then never, I would assume, especially if we keep on building houses and flats everywhere, where there is some wee bit of spare ground going for the greedy developers to get their mits on.
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Yeah.We have a hosepipe ban(not that I took any notice of it).Our nearest main river (Cherwell) burst its banks before christmas.Something to do with all that wet stuff falling out of the sky.Thames Water T*ssers
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When people say such things about their cars I often wonder what other aspect of their lives are neglected similarly?
Not at all. Let us look at this in perspective. In the current climatic conditions, the car can get filthy inside 250 miles, and I mean really filthy. As I do 250 miles a week, what would you far sooner I do, spend an hour washing my car, or have my weekly shower? There is a the chance that as I may stay a little bit cleaner and less smelly by not washing my car, I could extend my showering options to once every two weeks.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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or you could combine them into one event, give the neighbours a thrill.
JH
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or you could combine them into one event, give the neighbours a thrill.
I once suggested that the wife tried it, in the interests of saving water of course.
She is stil not talking to me.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The Opel gets washed twice a month on average. Also gets a three-monthly full-monty polish.
When it gets its 10 000 k services, it also goes in for a steam-clean of engine bay and full detailing of paintwork, plus scrubbinmg of seats/carpets. Looks stunning when finished !
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Seen this product demonstrated a couple of times on the shopping channels. Seems to be just what you need & you can dispense with the soap & water too!
www.netparts.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=produ...A
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Product says it needs no water. I don't know anything about paintwork but I bet after washing a dirty car without water you will wreck your paint work due to the grit in the dirt. This grit will rub away at the paint work if you attempt what the website says. The product may work O.K on a recently cleaned car though.
Who is brave enough to try the product??
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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Seen this product demonstrated a couple of times on the shopping channels. Seems to be just what you need & you can dispense with the soap & water too! www.netparts.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=produ...A
That link doesn't work for me and neither can I get to the netparts website - however I'll try again later.
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Not much of a loss oldgit. The products claims sound like the website is selling snake oil. It is hard to see if the products live up the their claims why they not considered compulsary to buy. The engine treatments are a case in point.
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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Biennial? It should be so lucky. The carwash doesn't get the real filth off of course, just the superficial muddy stuff. All the oily fingermarks, bird poo and other inner city stains remain. I keep meaning to run it past the asylum seekers in the Sainsbury's car park - they do a nice job on my wife's car for a fiver - but I'm too inefficient to get it together, and fear that the rust spots will get even worse and stand out more.
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Hmm Imo any semi efficient human can wash and dry the average size car in under 30 minutes. Those claiming an hour either have a super large car, are very very pernickity or just plain inefficient.
madf
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Not much of a loss oldgit. The products claims sound like the website is selling snake oil. It is hard to see if the products live up the their claims why they not considered compulsary to buy. The engine treatments are a case in point. ----------------------------------------------- Torque means nothing without RPM
I didn't want the product but was interested to see whether it was similar to that shown on one of the digital shopping channels (Yes, I know, I'm a sad old git).
This was alleged to be a Carnauba based liquid suspension cleaner/polish which you just spray and wipe all over the filth and which is supposed to suspend the muck in the product (Yeah!).
However you try and couch this nonsense, it, as you say, is all snake oil and the fact remains that the inevitable grit contained therein is going to scratch your paintwork when it comes to applying it and then polishing the dry film off.
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... Preferably in the quickest, laziest way possible.
Probably not the answer you want to hear, but more frequent cleaning 's the 'laziest' way, since then
you don't have to spend time seeking out miracle cleaning products or ingenuous restorative methods.
Prophylaxis is better than cure!
Mind you, I've yet to apply that to the washing-up.
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I am currently conducting an experiment as to how long I can NOT wash my car for. 25 months, 47,000 miles so far and counting. It didn't really seem to get any dirtier after the first 30,000....:-)) I think I may scrap it rather than wash it when the time comes.
Mind you, I did have to give in and Dyson the inside a while back, as after carting a load of garden waste to the tip it smelt like a compost heap inside (or was that all the pie wrappers, not sure.....)
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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I only wash my car twice a year (when I can't see out of the windows any more), .........
Shame on you. Car windows should be cleaned as soon as visibility through them is significantly impaired, and not left until you can't see out of them any more.
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L\'escargot.
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Whats the point in making it shiney if, once it becomes dirty again in 3 days time, it'll stay that way until the summer?
I couldn't let my car get into that state - I clean it as often as possible. Only been able to do it once a week lately which is nowhere near my usual routine of at least twice a week. I like to keep it in pristine order.
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You take very good careof your car if you wash it once every 3 or 4 days! Over the summer I wash mine once a month. Paradoxically I wash mine less over the winter since although it gets dirtier, I know it will get dirty after washing it in about a week - so what's the point?
I always try to keep my windows, numberplate and headlights clean though. I wonder why plod doen't pull more people over for having dirty windows/number plates this time of year.
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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My comments about washing when the windows are too dirty to see out of was a bit TIC- I do keep windows, lights and numberplates fairly clean, the rest of it gradually changes from Vomit Gold to mud coloured over time.
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Vomit Gold to mud coloured
To be fair I can see why you wouldn't wash it.
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If I wash my car, and then leave it parked on the street around the corner from my house, it will be dirty before I next need to use it. Don't see the point.
And an hour..... five minutes. 2 buckets of hot water with Halfords shampoo (if you rinse the sponge in bucket one, and then again in bucket two, then you are putting clean water onto the car, not dirty), and 4 buckets of cold water to rinse.
Never get the wax impregnated water onto the windows. You'll regret it... Wash the windows with washing up liquid.
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I keep the windows and lights clean, but the Mondeo has only had two full washes in the 18 months I've had it.
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I wash my pickup and van at least once a fortnight. For me its about image and reesale value.
I usualy vacume out the interior, wipe the dash etc with a damp microfibre and wash the mats at the same time. I will then do an under the bonet check.
The above takes no more than 3 hours for both vehicles. I never bother waxing although I do use a good quality wash and wax solution.
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