Pressure Washing, Car Wash, Microfiber towels, Clay....

I hand wash using bottom strainer bucket and Meguiar's products for years with good success.

The below '96 Tacoma has original paint with a fine finish remaining after 23 years.

 

You got some expensive taste my man

 

Reading through the posts I’ll probably get shunned but I just use a $140 Sunjoe pressure washer off Amazon. You can get a 90 degree tip which is really nice for underneath. If it’s really dirty I’ll power wash as much as I can then use Mcguiers liquid gold to wash then rinse. If I have time I’ll dry it. Otherwise it’s just going to get dirty again so who cares if it gets hand dried every time. It’s a truck, not Porsche. It looks better with some dirt. I wash it a couple times per month. If I have the time I’ll try to wax once a year.

 

It makes me feel good. Not certain it’s worth the extra coin though. My challenge is that my Cayman came with XPEL or something all the way to 1’ past the front glass. Haven’t quite figured out how to make that shine like the rest of the car. Wife’s Bimmer is Arctic white, or whatever, and for a flat white it’s pretty impressive after a good wash/seal/wax.

 

Whatever keeps you goin haha. Same with me and folding knives. Might wanna check out AmmoNYC on youtube if you havent heard about him, I vaguely remember watching a vid about clear bra and that stuff.

 

For an electric power washer look at Greenworks. Inexpensive and has plenty of power. The Sun Joe's are fine but they don't use all industry standard connections as the Greenworks do. Not that big of a deal, just something else you need to think about when buying accessories. If you want top of the line, look at Karcher or Kranzle. $$$.

As to method, I use the powerwash with foam cannon and suds it down and let it drip off which carries away a lot of the loose dirt. Then rinse with low pressure nozzle and two bucket wash then rinse, again with low pressure nozzle. If I'm in a hurry and the truck is not too dirty, the second foam cannon application gets wiped with a mico fiber mitt and then rinsed. I usually finish by applying

$19 Meguiar's G190526 Hybrid Ceramic Wax - 26 Oz Spray Bottle

Meguiar's G190526 Hybrid Ceramic Wax which is then just rinsed off and then towel dried. Usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour which includes pulling out and setting up the powerwash, and then storing it away when done.

 

Foam Cannon is key

 

Yall need to jump on the waterless wash train. ONR is amazing.

I used to do two bucket method but the waterless wash saves so much time. Only thing you need is a lot of microfibers.

 

That's fine if you've just got a light dust on you truck. If you've got dirt splashes and other such dirt, I'd be afraid of scratching the paint with the waterless system.

 

http://www.autopia.org - dig in!

 

I second the recommendation for Meguiar’s liquid wax. Easy to apply and remove. And you don’t have to worry about getting a little on plastic or rubber.

 

https://www.obsessedgarage.com/
i just buy it from Matt. It’s worked amazingly on my Taco, M3 and R8
He has all different types of packages for what you want

 

Oh yeah I forgot to add I do take my truck through a pressure washing bay to blow off most of the dirt if its too dirty.

 

Foam cannon first, pressure wash next, Adams soap with microfiber mitt 3rd, blow dry with electric leaf blower, adams microfiber last. PS, this is the way I do it now that I have an Adams ceramic coating.

I highly recommend the adams ceramic, mostly because I can put it on easily, by myself, and it's not very expensive.

You do want to do any polishing or buffing before hand. With a new truck, I would definitely ceramic coat it right away. It is sooooo nice to watch that rain water dance off your hood going down the highway.

 

Let’s get some pics of that thing posted on here!

 

Get it ceramic coated and don't worry about it. Just keep up with maintenance washes. If I had the cash laying around I would totally do it. My old superwhite paint needs some help. However, I use a two bucket method, chemical guys foam cannon, and a touchless dry (I use a leaf blower), just be careful not to point it at the ground while drying it off or it will ruin your wash.

 

I usually buy light colored vehicles (white & sliver if possible) so it's easier for me to clean them.

I rinse down the vehicle first (getting most of the grit off), then wash it with Dawn in maybe 3 or 4 Home Depot size buckets to keep grit to a minimum (rinse with lots of water).

Dry with Costco microfiber towels and my vehicles always look great ... this has worked on the last 12 Toyota trucks and a few Toyota cars and my present RAV4.

If it gets tooo gritty ... a little clay bar or liquid cleaner works fine and then an easy application wax or sealer.

Years ago, I had a show car, 1970 Chevelle SS 454 (black lacquer) and I had to try to keep that car dust free and it was horrible to clean.

PS ... Leaf blower works great on outside .... and after cleaning the inside, I use the leaf blower on the inside (especially under the seats) to blow out the fine dust.

 

I use Shinesupply now.

Prior was Wolfgang~

 

checkout https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGRyY0QUPHBdl2EnPphB9WA Obsessed Garage
or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE0kcuDlwjfP2982jVH6WkQ Pan the Organizer

I've learned alot about carwashing and detailing from these guys and now I'm almost to that obsessed level of detail. It's more of a hobby to me now and has become lifestyle habit.

 

Griot's, best car care products IMO.