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Just wondering how hard it really is to clean and have it look clean a black car, cos i always hear that its mean't to be a pain.
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No harder to clean than any other car, but shows up a layer of dust within minutes of finishing the job. Looks dirty again within a day's driving.
Does look brilliant when freshly washed and polished though!!
Based on 3 yrs with a Panther Black Focus.
Cheers
DP
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thanks for quick reply so what the best way of cleaning a car
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Wash it carefully all over with warm soapy water, then rinse. Use cotton wool buds for those hard-to-reach little intimate places.
Or if you can't be bothered with that, put it through the carwash and get a fine patina of small scratches all over it and the wireless aerial bent and the wipers ripped off and bits of plastic from the car wash stuck under all the bits of trim. Looks great afterwards.
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Just finished doing my (black) C5's once-a-year major clean today! This is why it's 'once-a-year' -
1. Wet car thoroughly with hose.
2. Wash off loose dirt using brush on the end of the hose.
3. Shampoo with warm water, sponge and bucket.
4. Rinse off thoroughly with brush on hose again.
5. Dry with chamois.
6. Quick clean up of tar spots etc with white spirit.
7. Apply Meguire's paint cleaning stuff - polish up with clean cloth.
8. Apply Meguire's Polish - buff up again with clean cloth.
9. Apply Meguire's Carnuba Wax - finish off with yet another clean cloth.
10. Clean alloys with 'Wonder Wheels'
11. Clean glass with Autoglym Glass Polish.
Drive a mile down the road..........start all over again!
In answer to your question, a black car is a devil to keep clean, but with serious polishing there's nothing to touch it. I tend not to clean it too often, though because, lack of time apart, it just adds unnecessary swirls. I have never put the car through a car wash - fatal.
Graeme (Ready for bed!)
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Buy a silver car.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Just finished doing my (black) C5's once-a-year major clean today! This is why it's 'once-a-year' - 1. Wet car thoroughly with hose. 2. Wash off loose dirt using brush on the end of the hose. 3. Shampoo with warm water, sponge and bucket. 4. Rinse off thoroughly with brush on hose again. 5. Dry with chamois. 6. Quick clean up of tar spots etc with white spirit. 7. Apply Meguire's paint cleaning stuff - polish up with clean cloth. 8. Apply Meguire's Polish - buff up again with clean cloth. 9. Apply Meguire's Carnuba Wax - finish off with yet another clean cloth. 10. Clean alloys with 'Wonder Wheels' 11. Clean glass with Autoglym Glass Polish.
This is practically my weekly car wash routine, with the exception of steps 7 & 8 which are monthly......... :-))
Plus claying every 2nd month.
OCD - me.....?
Steve
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My advice:
Don't use a sponge - use a wash mitt.
Don't clean or polish car using circular movements; encourages swirls.
Scratch-X helps remove swirls and fine scratches - but it's hard work and takes time.
Use a good wax that lasts, and keep it topped up whenever you can.
A clay bar gets rid of tar spots and other contaminants and leaves the surface ready for polish (use before Scratch-X if using the latter).
Solid black is a tougher job to keep looking good than metallic - I currently have both.
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I've owned two cars in metallic black. They needed cleaning more often than my silver cars, for sure, but I'm convinced that they were distinctly easier to live with than brilliant black.
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Arnie (my 300C) is Pealescent Brilliant Black and looks absolutely lush when clean - sadly it's a state that doesn't last for long.
If you're going to have a black car, please accept that if you want to keep it looking good, you'll be spending more of your valuable leisure time giving it a 'weekly' clean rather than a 'thrice weekly' clean which you could get away with if your car was a bit more muck friendly.
As for the best method ? I use a good quality car washing shampoo & conditioner (lovely term), warm water & a washmitt, a blade to take the excess water off with and a good quality chamois leather -- and because I clean Arnie most weeks it doesn't take a great deal of time to do to get a good result.
** the biggest job is getting the brake dust off the wheels with the wheel cleaner., it probably takes me longer than washing the rest of the car
MTC
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Black is really tought to keep looking tip top, but the return is fantastic.
Learn and religiously follow the "safe wash technique" this will help to reduce the amount of marks induced during the wash stage. Wash the car regulally so that your cleaning a car that is not too dirty, cleaning it whilst filthy will also potentially induce damage as you are moving much more dirt over the surface of the paint.
www.polishedbliss.co.uk have some very well writen guides from wash technique, to wax aplication (and all the stages between).
Pull up a chair and a brew though, it's a long read.
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No harder to clean than any other car, but shows up a layer of dust within minutes of finishing the job. Looks dirty again within a day's driving. Does look brilliant when freshly washed and polished though!!
An even bigger nightmare if you live in a hard water area and are constantly battling with getting limscale marks of the freshly rinsed paintwork. I have a no black or very dark coloured cars policy at my house !
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