Preventing Scratches While Washing/Drying

[AZViper08]

Well, after reading thru dozens of threads over the past couple months on how to "prevent" fine scratches from occuring while washing/drying, I tried the CD test with my towels and washing mit prior to doing my first wash and wax. To my surprise, my microfiber towels will leave very fine scratches on a CD. The towels I have are the softest I've found and even have a satin edge instead of the nylon type. So, my question is this. Is it even possible to completely eliminate ALL fine scratches that occur when washing/drying? Another member here recommended air drying (which I tried on another vehicle and it worked great!), but I know I'll need to do some light hand drying with a microfiber towel as well. I'll be using Meguiar's NXT products for wash and wax, and curious if it will fill in these light imperfections I'm so worried about? My car is a GTS blue, and I'm trying to take all precautions possible. My gut tells me there's no way of eliminating these fine scratches and that "repairing" them over time with a quality polish is the only cure. Is this correct?

 

[bluesrt]

Well, after reading thru dozens of threads over the past couple months on how to "prevent" fine scratches from occuring while washing/drying, I tried the CD test with my towels and washing mit prior to doing my first wash and wax. To my surprise, my microfiber towels will leave very fine scratches on a CD. The towels I have are the softest I've found and even have a satin edge instead of the nylon type. So, my question is this. Is it even possible to completely eliminate ALL fine scratches that occur when washing/drying? Another member here recommended air drying (which I tried on another vehicle and it worked great!), but I know I'll need to do some light hand drying with a microfiber towel as well. I'll be using Meguiar's NXT products for wash and wax, and curious if it will fill in these light imperfections I'm so worried about? My car is a GTS blue, and I'm trying to take all precautions possible. My gut tells me there's no way of eliminating these fine scratches and that "repairing" them over time with a quality polish is the only cure. Is this correct?

i think u could not have said it better..

 

[AZViper08]

Thanks bluesrt. What's kinda funny is that I can't believe I'm so worried about something that is so minor. There's so many other things in this world that I could be worried about, and I'm stressing over fine scratches!

If anyone has microfiber towels that have passed the CD test, please let me know. I didn't see anything within the microfiber towel thread within this section of the forum. Would also love to hear from any users of the NXT products from Meguiars.

 

[goldcup]

I have a Sapphire car and I havent found anything that doesnt scratch.
Pressure is the key do not use any and you will find fewer scrathes from any operation.Lots of people brag that they never "wash" their car.If the fine scratches or swirl marks bother you, you have to use water and lots of suds if you use the quick detailer on a car that hasnt been washed first you will scratch it period!I have found that the only way I can prevent scratches is to wash the car and use very little pressure to clean.I also use a electric leaf blower to dry initially and then of course micro fiber to finish.Good luck and if you drive fast enough no one can see them anyway!!

 

[Kmrumedy]

I also found a good tip that eliminated some of the scratches was during the wash cycle. I was told to use 2 buckets for cleaning. One for the suds and the other with just water to rinse and clean the mitt before I put the mitt in suds. It worked great.

 

[AZViper08]

I heard about the two bucket technique as well and started using it. That, along with using the blower, were two I've never heard of prior to joining this site. Very helpful.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

If you are using a quality wax that has Carnuba in it the only real scratches will be on the wax and easily polished out with another application. All of the other suggestions about dual buckets and air hose or blower drying will work also. I have found that you need a little water left over when towel drying to help lubricate the surface. If this is not there even the Microfiber towels will scratch when dry. A microfiber towel will not leave water spots if it is kept just damp while wiping down the car.

 

[ViperTony]

The NXT wax does hide swirls and some light scratches. I used to use it on my daily driver but found that the NXT wax seemed to attract more dirt than my carnuba wax.

 

[bluesrt]

If you are using a quality wax that has Carnuba in it the only real scratches will be on the wax and easily polished out with another application. All of the other suggestions about dual buckets and air hose or blower drying will work also. I have found that you need a little water left over when towel drying to help lubricate the surface. If this is not there even the Microfiber towels will scratch when dry. A microfiber towel will not leave water spots if it is kept just damp while wiping down the car.

this is true,my dog set his front paws on my rear bumper and lightly scratched the surface,i had a high quality paint sealer on it,the scratch wiped right off with final detail.no traces of my dogs nails at all.

 

[AZViper08]

Never thought of that before and appreciate the advise on keeping the towel moist. Thanks.

 

[Newport Viper]

AzViper08....Here are many reviews on tips on Meguiar's products here.

Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online - Powered by vBulletin


I use Meguiar's NXT stuff because it is simple and easy. Wipe on wipe off...no extra mixing. Two coats is plenty.


Interesting thread here if you are looking for covrage. Look at black vette halfway down first page...
CorvetteForum at Meguiar's! - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online


Oh, and this will help too....Home Page - Grit Guard : Home of the Grit Guard Insert - Grit Guard : For Scratch-Free Cleaning

 

[rcl4668]

The dual wash bucket approach helps a lot. Also, while washing with your wash mitt, use a soft touch as others have said but also try to wash in linear movements as opposed to swirling the mitt in a circular motion. Same goes for when drying, polishing and waxing by hand. You will still make small scratches but the linear straight scratches will be less noticeable than circular scratches which will give you that "spider-web" or swirl-like appearance.

 

[agentf1]

You need to buy quality towels from someplace like We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing. LAZaino.com also sells awesome DFTowels and 100% cotton towels. NONE of my towels will scratch my paint ot a CD under any conditions.

You should also consider getting a 220 mph elec leaf blower to help dry your car. When my car is properly Zaino'd and it always is I barely have to touch it with my waffle weave towel after blowing it off.

Of course make sure you use the two bucket method for washing and a quality real sheep skin mitt for washing with a good soap like Z7.

 

[bluesrt]

how about the waterless carwash foam,those people need a axx wippon!

 

[Canyon707]

I hardly ever wash my 04 black vert. It really never gets that dirty. I use a few different detail sprays and they seem to work fine. Mothers is my latest but, still a fan of Adams. I wax with NXT which I like and it works well. I also use meguiars fine cut 80 and a portor cable orbital with a mild cutting foam pad. There are no scratches or swirl marks. I also have overhead lighting that shows all defects from any angle. We all know how tough black is but, I am happy with the results.

 

[Freddog11]

A liberal amount of detail spray applied to your microfiber towels will help lubricate and cut down on the scratches too.

 

[BlknBlu]

I have never washed any of my show cars. I just make sure that I have tons of Detail spray and occasionally clay bar the whole car using a detail spray as the lubricant. I have a microfiber CA duster in between detailings too.

Bruce

 

[wallbanger]

YES there is a way and Hemi killer has the right idea....

When you first get your car use a sealant... highly recommend Zaino, then you can add a wax as a top layer.. highly recommend wolfgang..then you just clean the car with a lot of detail spray and a microfiber towel(you will need more than one) . This technique works on the paint, clear bra and the chrome wheels(have sealant on also)

There is one detail spray which is absolutely amazing...FK1 425 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ultra Slick Poly Wipe Spray Detailer - Anti-Static[/FONT]...it goes on oily so scratches are rare but drys in seconds....ABSOLUTELY AMAZING STUFF..revolutionized the way i clean my car...also takes off tar and buggs but with no petroleum distillates.. it also maintains the wax finish on the car unlike washing

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Fk1 also makes a great chrome sealant for my rims...FK1 2180 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ultra Poly Wipe Sealant[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Anti-Static)

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Just fyi ,,, the nxt wax even the 2.0 is good stuff but not durable... go with a sealant and top with a wax...any fine scratches that do occur will disappear when once a year you re-add the sealant, probably should just wax every 6 months or so... even more often if u use nxt

Autopia Review: Car Wax: Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Paste
[/FONT]

 

[texas_venom]

Use a leaf blower to dry it. Saves times and scratches...

 

[ViperCr8zy]

I'm a big fan of Adams products. Their detail spray is top notch - far better than the 'oily' Meguiars products I used to use (sorry Barry - love the show, though!). I recently bought a high-end GM product as a daily driver while my ACR sleeps for the winter Anyway, a clay bar, a Porter Cable and some fine machine polish with a semi-aggressive pad followed by wax took out all the damage the wash boy did to the car on the lot. I got a heck of a discount, and knew what I was looking at, but when I showed the sales manager all the scratches on every one of his new cars caused by the wash crew, he seemed oblivious!

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

I'm a big fan of Adams products. Their detail spray is top notch - far better than the 'oily' Meguiars products I used to use (sorry Barry - love the show, though!). I recently bought a high-end GM product as a daily driver while my ACR sleeps for the winter Anyway, a clay bar, a Porter Cable and some fine machine polish with a semi-aggressive pad followed by wax took out all the damage the wash boy did to the car on the lot. I got a heck of a discount, and knew what I was looking at, but when I showed the sales manager all the scratches on every one of his new cars caused by the wash crew, he seemed oblivious!

I'd like to do my kids (soon to be) daily driver.
I have the Porter Cable, even though I've never had to used it and a bunch of various and diferent color pads that I bought with the PC, how does one know which pad to use?

 

[ViperCr8zy]

On use of the PC, go to Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detail Supplies - Adam's Polishes and watch the video. I did my black GT500 that had only ever been washed 3 times prior (and still has less than 500 miles on it). I was nervous using the clay bar and then the PC on that car, but the results are fantastic and far better than the untouched factory finish. On the GT500, I used the white foam pad with fine machine polish and then back to black for the wax. On my daily driver that was scratched from the dealer, I used the white pad but it wasn't enough so I went up to the green pad. I could have even used the orange pad, but it's definitely got some cut in it and I wanted to be conservative. The key for me is taking your time and working from least aggressive to more aggressive as needed once you assess what the lighter pads are or aren't doing for you. Good luck!

 

[Tito Tw]

Hello Guys, I'm the new kid on the block not a viper owner but a viper lover and hope to some day own one I like to share some of my experiences with the detail lovers.

Regarding this thread I like to share the following, If I may

Rinsing Vehicle- Pre Wash I start off by rinsing all the loose debris from the top of the car working down wards. You want to make sure to get all of the loose grime off of the surface so you don’t have to use your wash mitt. What I like to do at this point is just hit all the surfaces including, wheels and tires.

I found out with this process we can avoid causing swirl marks, at least to a certain point. Very often as you wash you may be dragging loose grime which will scratch the vehicle's surface, these steps are by no means a solution, but rather a “preventative action.

Washing- Vehicle painted surfaces After the tires and wheels have been done and before wetting the paint, you will want to prepare your wash bucket and tools for the paint in this step you will use a Car Shampoo that is highly lubricated formula with unique foaming quality and quick rinse characteristics. Your goal is to SAFELY lift dirt and grime while helping to prevent swirls from washing. The Car Shampoo safely removes dirt and grime without removing waxes or sealants. The shampoo is specially formulated to be absolutely harmless and safe for your car surface.

The use of the wrong shampoo that doesn’t remove the grime and dirt combine with a low quality sponge/applicator will eventually leave Swirl Marks in your paint surface something that all of us try to avoid.The Car Shampoo must be PH 7 Balance, something that you don’t find on those purple gallon jug’s at you local store for $2.99 - one of the most common mistakes that customers make is to invest in a good quality wax only to use an inexpensive /low quality car shampoo. Using the wrong type of car shampoo will remove the wax that you had previously applied to protect your investment. Good Car Shampoo’s will remove dirt and grime without scratching and will not strip the wax like some brands do.

Drying Vehicle surface When you are done rinsing the car of all the soap, you want to remove the nozzle from the hose and do what’s called the “flooding” method. Flood the surface of the car from top to bottom with the hose. This turns those thousands of little beads of water into one big sheet, and it helps dry the car faster. After that is done, use you waffle weave drying towel from the top down to dry the rest of the car.

There should be very little water left on the surface of the car left at this point. Make sure if you see a spot of dirt you missed, or loose debris on the car, don’t touch it with your drying towel, re-wash the area and then dry.I usually use a couple of inexpensive micro fibers to dry the wheels and tires. Wheels can get water spots as well, so you want to make sure you dry those along with the paint.Using the proper drying tools is also important.

I like to use something called a “waffle weave” towel for drying which is one of the safest way to dry your car. Another common tool is the chamois and we can go as far as using leaf blowers to completely remove all the water from all the tight spaces and trim.

Of course theres MANY ways to do this jobs I have just taken the liberty to share what has work for me

 

[GTS Jeff]

Is this you How to Detail a Car | eHow.com

because most of your write up looks like it was copy and pasted from there

 

[Tito Tw]

Hello Jeff,

Yes, that is one of the many write ups that I have personally done,I copy pasted that portion because I felt that it could help with this question.

 

[agentf1]

I prefer to wash the tires first, this way water is not sitting on the paint drying and causing water spots.

Wash car with a quality soap like Z7 using plenty of water. Rinse car real good first. Wash top down doing the least dirty area first. Rub in straight lines with the wind and from top to bottom on the sides so dirt can fall and is not rubbed into paint. Use 2 bucket method and use a good sheep skin or mf mitt. Seperate mitt for wheels.

After rinsing I sheet water off car with nozzle removed from hose, this should leave very little water on finish if properly Zaino'd or waxed. Next hit with a 220mph leaf blower to remove remaining spots. If any water spots remain hit them with a soft waffle weave towel.

The less you have to rub it the less chance you will introduce scratches.

 

[viperbitesback]

Dri-Wash N Guard is the bomb, been using it on my Vette and Viper for years. I never wet the car and have no swirl marks. Easy to use but a little pricey. Black Vette and Emerald Green Viper, both dark colors with no noticeable swirling. Apply with a micro-fiber buff with a terry cloth of clean micro fiber.

 

[silverz06vette]

Dri-Wash N Guard is the bomb, been using it on my Vette and Viper for years. I never wet the car and have no swirl marks. Easy to use but a little pricey. Black Vette and Emerald Green Viper, both dark colors with no noticeable swirling. Apply with a micro-fiber buff with a terry cloth of clean micro fiber.

Sure man....as long as you like KEROSENE on your paint:

http://hazard.com/msds/files/ccs/ccspc.html

 

[silverz06vette]

If you happen to have a foam lance and a pressure washer.

2-3oz of Zaino Z7 and the rest of the 32 oz bottle filled with water.

Foam up the car.

Rinse w/ PW at safe distance.

Re-foam.

Wash w/ 2 bucket method.

Rinse again with PW at safe distance.

Final rinse with slow steam of water to remove 80% of water.

Remove remaining water with electric leaf blower.

Dry any leftover drops with high quality WW MFs.

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[Tito Tw]

Good Call High content solvent products will give a quick shine, that is true, but this will not last, and through prolonged use of products like these will cause the paint to deteriorate and become dull on the surface. Many of those products are in the market today but the average comsumer is not aware of it.