Last week due to bathroom tiling duties, SWMBO kindly offered to 'do' the car for me. Now being a typical bloke I must admit to being a bit cynical, but lo and behold, within an hour, it shone like new, hoovered, waxed and given the Wonder Wheels treatment. This was compounded further in the office car park the following day when I was complimented on the appearance and had to admit it wasn't my doing for once.
Given the abundance of Eastern European car valeters doing such a fine job for so little money (SWMBO didn't get a penny by the way), does anyone absolutely insist on always doing it themselves still?
I must admit, I had several fag breaks to "see how she was getting on".
{make / model dropped as this appears to be a general question, and not specifically Ford Mondeo related}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/06/2008 at 01:37
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Yes i absolutely always wash my own vehicles, you know exactly how its been done, which chemicals and are they removed correctly, hose round underneath etc.
Apart from a few weeks ago when i had the impressive 'Stu' round to fully valet my old and loved MB, the cleanliness of the mushroom leather was quite striking and rather shaming.
Apart from Stu, i wouldn't trust anyone else to take care.
Enjoy taking care of the things in life that have usually been diligently pursued, and the cars..:)
Was your tiling as good as SWMBO's car washing?..:)
Edited by gordonbennet on 16/06/2008 at 23:10
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< post snipped following complaint >
I did make SWMBO do my car the other week. After picking her up from a girls night out she sadly threw up everywhere (inch deep in the passenger footwell, yuk). Sadly she didn't make as good a job as it sounds your car has had.
Edited by PoloGirl on 17/06/2008 at 20:58
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Mine goes through the car wash, I'm not wasting my time & life washing a load of shiny metal. Modern car washers do an excellent job and the one I use recycles its water as well. Once in a while the paintwork will get a layer of polish which takes no more than 30 minutes and that's it.
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Last time SHMBO took the initiative to polish a car I came home to a right mess. She couldn't understand why a bottle of T Cut was not having the desired effect and was difficult to use.
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I am the only person who washes my car - often several times a week. I don't trust anyone else to keep it immaculate.
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I am the only person who washes my car - often several times a week.
How on earth do you find the time to wash it several times a week ? Mine only gets washed several times a year, and I'm retired.
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MichaelR.
I agree with you. even if the car has to wait an extra week because of bad weather or lack of time, I like to wash it myself normally with plain water, as I normally have the car polish under the dirt and car washes will often gradually remove the polish as some have a strong "cutting edge"so they give quick easy shines (but in their case the paint is mostly left less protected. A neighbour who used to have a BMW coupe ( which he really took care of) brought it in to a hand car wash at a shopping centre. They destroyed his alloy wheels and all the lovely chrome strips around his car. The surface coating had been removed, even though they swore they used the right alloy cleaner. I always use "Wonder Wheels". Excellent stuff.They warn you to use it only every second wash. Keep doing it yourself. I swear by Wonder Wheels for the Alloys and both the Autoglym Super Resin polish (for the shine)and then the Autoglym Sealant for retaining the shine and protecting the painwork. After nine years and over 157,000 reliable miles, people still rave when they see how good my car looks. When I take the trouble to clean it!!
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at the risk of seeming really dumb........ what does swmbo mean?
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SWMBO = She Who Must Be Obeyed. A phrase attributed to Rumpole of the Bailey, a TV series in the 70s/80s featuring a somewhat grumpy barrister played by Leo McKern. It is a reference to the novel She by Rider Haggard. More here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_%28novel%29
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lo and behold within an hour it shone like new hoovered waxed and given the Wonder Wheels treatment.
Crikey, that was quick. I can't wash and polish my car in an hour.
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"Crikey, that was quick. I can't wash and polish my car in an hour. "
Neither can I. Something called 'girl power' I'm led to believe.
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I never did it in the 15 years I worked in London because I never had off-street parking. Now I've got a garage and plenty of space I actually enjoy doing it. I washed it last Thursday, I washed it yesterday cos it got covered in tree sap at the weekend and I hosed it down this morning after a muddy journey to play-school. It's also partly because of the glorious weather and partly because I'm having a quiet spell work-wise. Someone has left their car with us while they're off on holiday, I'm tempted to wash that.
Wifey occasionally hoovers after one of the kids drops a bag of sweets but she's never washed it.
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I wash my car and I also wash SWMBO's Beetle.
I'm a guy - its my job!
And if I am doing that, it means I don't get dragged to shops etc.
Seriously though, after a long hard week at work, I genuinely do get "therapy" from spending a good 3 hours or so washing, polishing etc the car.
In fact I am in rented accomodation just now and it doesn't have an outside tap. I have told the kids and missus that we can't install the dishwasher as there is no pipework for it.
Its nothing to do with the fact that the spare pipe under the sink now has a Hozelock attachment on it .......
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I am the only person who washes my car - often several times a week.
Do you have OCD by any chance ? It sounds obsessive to be cleaning a car that often.
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I'm the only person that washes my car. I do it on average once every 40,000 miles, and it takes about 10 minutes with a cold hosepipe and brush. :-)) No OCD here.
I did think about washing it last weekend, but given that I've only had it 20k miles and it's already been washed once I thought this was pushing it a bit, so had another glass of vino tinto instead.
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If I get chance to do mine more than once a month, it's been a quiet month.
Weekend is my time with the kids and with my friends (working hours mean I see them for a total of about half an hour during the week). I like a clean car as much as the next man, but really in the scheme of things, I have far more important things to think about and to occupy my time.
Cheers
DP
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My eight year old son does our cars to earn extra pocket money. Resultantly they get done quite often and sparkle. I got him a little step so he can reach the roof. Well, we don't have a conventional chimney so it seemed to be a good compromise !
Edited by Shoespy on 17/06/2008 at 11:57
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I've occasionally been known to go out in a rain storm and use the sponge side of the window squeegee when I can no longer remember whether my car is grey or just looks it.
Windows on the other hand; early morning condensation/rain is an excuse to go round all the windows with a squeegee. Time well spent.
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Only very occasionally would I use a car wash, (and only a handwash at that, run by guys who also do detailing). If your paintwork is in good shape, it makes sense to keep it that way.
My preferred MO?
Spray car with snow foam, leave five minutes, jet wash.
Do wheels.
Spray again with snow foam and then go over car with a wash mitt (keep bucket of clean warm water for rinsing mitt in. I find a mitt is much less likely to scratch than a sponge).
Rinse off with jet wash / hose.
Dry car with chamois (rinsed in warmish water) or 'silicon squeegy' (prefer traditional chamois.
Wax perhaps every couple of months, and clay once or twice a year.
Edited by drivewell on 17/06/2008 at 16:41
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A customer of mine lives next door to his brother. He keeps his Vectra sparkling clean, and the brothers car, a Mondeo, generally looks lika a shed. When I called on him one day he took me out to show me the Mondeo. His brother was out for the day, and to shame him into cleaning the car the guy had washed and waxed the car from front to back - but only one half of it, even going as far as putting tape along the centre of the car to get a clean line. It looked quite a sight.
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Thanks gordonbennet, dont be shamed, leather that colour is always hard to keep clean, especially when it just looks like a nice patina - even I was suprised at the actual colour.
A credit to Merc that your leather is in such good condition despite its age - Ive cleaned newer cars with badly cracked bolsters at only 5 years old.
Even though Im a car valeter, my main reason for looking after my cars is simply because I believe in taking care of things that you save up for and work so hard for, just like I do with my home. Its also nice to sit in a car and not have to wonder what you just sat in or put your hand in the door pocket and withdraw it with a sticky melted sweet etc!
Polishing a car a sort of therapy for me, I love the sense of satisfaction and that depth of glow a polished car has.
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Stu, any chance I could get your contact details? I'm moving up your way in the near future, and may require your services for our two cars. Email details should be in my profile.
In terms of geographical area - how far do you cover?
Thanks,
Matt
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