Urban DD - advice appreciated

[tyre11c0rp]

hi all, here's my situation.

2006 TB IX SE that's a DD, and I track it 1x/month as well.
To make things worse: I live downtown, and rent a garage space (i.e. nowhere for me to work on the car).

I take it to a detail shop 2x year... but in between those times, I'm generally just scrubbing it at a carwash. Yes, I can see you all cringing. And the detail shop cringes when I bring it back.

After reading some of this forum, I'm wondering if there is a way I can take better care of my car *between* details with some simple products, and a late-night trip to the self-car wash (you get to control the water gun).

Does the below (or similar) set of products look like an appropriate solution? Any advice appreciated!! I just picked out some products semi-randomly from a car-wash-advice thread.

thanks!


wheels--
wolfgang tire and wheel cleaner
13" good grip wheel brush

washing--
2 buckets
sheepskin or MF wash mitt
pinnacle bodywork shampoo

drying--
MF towel - supreme guzzler

car in action: http://www.redmistphoto.com/gallery/...88_DtDEB-XL-LB

[FJF]

Originally Posted by tyre11c0rp

After reading some of this forum, I'm wondering if there is a way I can take better care of my car *between* details with some simple products, and a late-night trip to the self-car wash (you get to control the water gun).

If you do a self-wash with the 2-bucket method, using the products you listed, it's relatively easy to maintain a detail. I can recommend the following:

Optimum Car Wax

Duragloss Aquawax (check the site for OTC locations)

Prima Hydro


You may also want to check the recommended towel thread for some MFs to use in conjunction with the above.

[getcha]

If you are washing your car every week, once you get the wheels clean and dust free, weekly washing with just regular car shampoo is almost always more than enough to maintain clean wheels. Once you get them to a standard, dedicated wheel cleaners are pointless. But they do help to get them clean from nasty

2 buckets
sheepskin mitts (eurow brand is my personal favski)
Meguiars gold class wash- best OTC and top 5 overall
2 grit guards
Duragloss aquawax or optimum car wax- spritz a couple times per panel and dry with
Exceldetail waffle weaves(all are amazing and probably best I have ever used)

For maintenance and protection - I would really recommomend Collinite 476s- its at harbor freight for 12 dollars and some change.
Its probably the most durable wax you can buy its cheap and looks really good too. Its a go to for daily driven vehicles for me and people I detail for. Good on wheels too

Keep in mind a good coat of protection always makes a vehicle easier to clean.

[tyre11c0rp]

thanks guys!

[FJF]

Read up on washing/drying technique, if you haven't already. Most major detailing sites have online tutorials. Here's an example:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-d...ng-drying.html

The way a car is washed/dried is arguably more important than the products used. Typically, many of the swirl marks and hairline scratches are caused during the washing/drying process.