Share your RX-8-specific washing & drying tips and tricks!
 

I notice there's a lot of specialty threads in here -- questions about what the best wax to use is, how to remove scratches, how many hundreds of dollars I'd have to spend to get a top-of-the-line random orbital buffer... Claybarring only needs to be done once or twice a year, a thorough detail maybe once or twice a year depending on how anal you are, waxing once every month or two. But as long as the weather cooperates, I like to give my RX-8 a basic wash & dry once a week, since it only takes an hour on the weekend.

I'd like to get some feedback from all of you about the everyday washing and drying of your RX-8, and what little tips you've picked up along the way.

One of the biggest issues I've run into is keeping water spots from forming on the paint after you wash and dry it. It seems like even if you use a set of microfiber towels or chamois to dry the exterior completely, some water still remains hiding in little nooks and crannies. Then if you try to drive anywhere before it's totally dried, that water leaks out and leaves ugly water spots all over the side. Damn you brilliant black paint!
:cussing:

This is why I have to do two main things to keep the car looking spotless after it's washed and dried:
1) While car washes are nice for getting road salt off in the winter, or mud in the summer, nothing beats washing your car at home. Even if you pull into a parking spot after going through a $10 touchless carwash (with the airblowers and everything) and give it a thorough drying, you can't get all the water that collects in the side mirrors, around the door frame, in the front wheel vents, in the front grill, or around the rear headlamps. But if you wash and dry at home and let it sit in the sun for a few hours, the car gets a chance to air-dry all the water that collects in those small spots

2) In addition to just letting it air-dry, I speed the process along by running the edge of a towel through a few key cracks to soak up a bunch of the water that collects in those spots. I've highlighted some of the key areas in red:
(not my car, thanks to Don Juan Mair for the pics!!)
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2650/img2744kk2.jpg
* The side marker is one of the easiest spots to get, it doesn't seem to collect much water.
* For the door areas, it helps to just open the doors, crack the rear windows, and dry around the edge of that rubber seal and the rest of the door assembly. For some reason that seal really likes to hold onto water (until you actually start driving!)
* There's usually a small gap under the plastic part that holds the side mirror. Run one edge of a towel through there a few times to get all the water that likes to collect in there. Same for around the actual mirror itself.
* Finally, the fender vent grills. These things are a pain in the ass because they seem to hold onto so much water, and it's hard to get it out. I just hold a fluffy towel against them until I soak up as much of the water as I can.
* I didn't put up a picture of the front grill, but I dry these similar to the side vents. Hold a fluffy towel against the grill and try to soak in as much water as possible. This part usually doesn't matter as much because it's just black plastic underneath this part (for most of us at least) so if some water drips down, it generally doesn't show.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/9329/img2755nn7.jpg
* The rear section is a little easier. For starters, I pop the trunk and soak up as much of the water that has collected around the edges of the trunk
* Next, I pop the gas lid and clean and dry in there.
* Finally, around the tail lights. These collect water underneath the lights, similar to how the side mirror section does. I run an edge of a towel through the crack underneath the rear lights, which soaks up an amazing amount of water. I hope this also helps keep water from condensing inside those lights, as that is a really annoying problem.

After that's done, I usually focus on cleaning up the interior and windows. I take another look at the paint when that's finished to see if any new drips have formed anywhere, which I try and wipe clean.

Well, those are the keys things I've picked up. Any of you found some easier ways to get around those weird quirks you've noticed? Do you use blow dryers, or compressed air sprayers? Some miracle towel you got from a booth at the mall? Q-tips?

Mr. Clean wash system, which includes a de-ionized rinse setting. This virtually eliminates water spots. A must have imho.

http://www.homemadesimple.com/sites/..._carwash.shtml

A California squeegee and a high quality chamois as well.

http://calcarduster.com/dryBlade.asp

http://www.meguiars.com/?car-drying-...ofiber-Chamois

All available at AutoZone and the like.

On occasion I use my electric leaf blower to dry as well, especially on the pesky front side vents.

The real key is to wash/rinse in the shade on cool metal and the Mr. Clean rinse ensures even if I miss an area there's no spotting. You just have to make sure you completely supplant the regular wash water with the de-ionized rinse water.

The opening of the sunroof gets pretty dirty as it's often over looked. I usually open the sun roof after my car has been dried then I take a damp microfiber cloth and clean around the edges.

Fender Vents: Oh and you're right the fender vents are pretty annoying. When you're waxing they pick up white residue... I've kinda bypassed the problem by using Turtle Wax Ice as I can just go over all the plastic bits on the car and they come out looking refreshed and shiny.

Tires:Also while washing the car I make sure to use a stiff brush to scrub the tire sidewalls. By ensuring a clean tire sidewall I've noticed my tire dressing lasts twice as long.

Rims:While we're on wheels, I also recommend waxing your rims. Keeps the brake dust off longer and they are much easier to clean the next time around.

Great point. One big problem I had last year with washing and drying was when it gets *hot* in the summer. Even at 10 AM with partial cloud cover, the sun can still really heat up the paint in August. This results in fast and uneven drying, and waxing can be almost impossible. I plan on parking in the garage overnight, rolling it out into the driveway to wash, then rolling it back into the garage to dry and wax. I'll have to buy a set of bright hanging fluorescent lights to make it bright enough to see what I'm doing, but it should be worth it.

Oh, and something else I've started doing. Since I live in Michigan and this is my sole daily driver, a second set of snow tires on alloy wheels is a must. This makes it easy to rotate the tires twice a year (at the same time you're changing them). When you do this, take the time to clean the old tires as soon as you take them off, and wrap them in something, I just use a garbage bag. Keeps them nice and clean and dust free all winter/summer! It's also much easier to clean the inside sections of the wheels once they're off the car and you can't cut your hand on the brake assembly.

In the winter, I find that the easiest way to keep the car clean is to keep a spray bottle of water + a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of car wash in the trunk, with a pack of microfiber towels. I start the car, then hop out and spray down/wipe off one panel, then use a quick detailer on that panel.

Doing this, I get at least 2 panels a day cleaned, and keep the brake dust and exhaust soot away easily. Also, it gives the car a bit of time to warm up. Just watch that you don't spray that stuff if it's <30 degrees out, cuz it freezes on the paint.. Not damaging, just annoying to get off.

dude nice rims ENDOR...

least invasive method for washing your car
 

washing your car

to dry i use my stinger wet dry vac i got from home depot for $30
i connect the hose to the back end which blows air and i use that go remove ALL the water from the side vents, gas tank lid, cracks and crevices

anyone else notice that guy has 1 leg? that's pretty cool. That's basically the method I use, but I use 1 bucket and rinse the wash mitt with water from the hose before I put it back in the soapy water

WALMART sells a $25 leaf blower. If your car has a good coat of wax/sealant on it, you'll get just very little dots of water to remove. It'll blow all that hidden water out easily.

I steal canned air from my work and use the little tube because I can squeeze it up behind the mirrors or under the trim on the rear door windows or the tail lights.

I'm surprised you guys don't like the quarter wash. I live by that place... Yea it's more expensive but way better for getting stuff off of your car. Plus it's covered and has giant industrial vacuums. You scrub alot less than you do with the hose, bucket, rag/sponge method and end up leaving way less swirl marks. But if you've already been bucket washing for awhile then it's too late for your paint until you decide to compound. I suppose this is more of an issue for us brilliant black owners. I can't stand swirl marked cars but I also spent a couple of years as a professional detailer back in the day.

One other thing that's often overlooked, leather lotioning. I try to do it 4-6 times a year, concentrating in summer when the moisture gets sucked out of the leather faster.

YOU should buy a shop vac and a pressure washer...

Wash = Luke warm water + quality car soap
Dry = California Water blade + high quality chamois

Shop Vac, yea I should but there are other things I want more (things that make horsepower!). Pressure washer, no way, for me not worth the money.

The quarter wash near my house is exceptionally well kept and has great facilities. I like to wash at night because of the lack of heat and direct sunlight makes drying without water spots much easier, but this also requires alot of light to see, which the quarter wash provides. I can't really get that in my garage unless I install some massive overhead lights.

I sometimes take a bucket/my own car wash/a couple gallons of distilled water to the quarter wash, just to use their cover, drain, vacuums, etc. Plus, it's nice to have a pressure washer on a stick for stuff like wheels, wheel wells, etc. I don't trust the products they use on my paint, cuz, if you think about it, how much can they be spending on soap if they're charging $2 a wash? So I figure I might as well just use my own.

i use an air compressor with a diffuser attachment.

Huh..... I have one at the end of my block..... forgot about that thing.... No scrubbing needed for anything when you're there? Got to for brake dust I'm sure....

I sit on my butt with windex and paper towels to clean wheels for whatever is left after a wash. :)

I have an electric pressure washer (1800 psi craftsman) to wash/rinse and for drying, a 6 hp shopvac (also craftsman) blows whatever's left by the california jelly waterblade.

High-pressure water is bad news for your paint.

Hey thanks for the Shop Vac blow tip. To think I've had my shop vac sitting next to me almost everytime I washed my car and I never thought to use the blow setting! LOL

if you have common sense (not saying that you don't) you wouldn't use that much of a pressure to wash your car. just enough to knock the dirt out and maybe a bit more to wash the caked up dirt around the wheel wells/undercarriage area.

^ i thought the same, i was thinkin of getting a high pressure...then i compared my normal hand wash with just the hose and a nozzle, to the high pressure at the carwash place, and i was more satisfied with the hand wash and normal hose and nozzle

I've used my pressure washer several times. I use the next to highest pressure nozzle. Still need to have someone running over the entire car with a mit. So why bother. Maybe a little faster, but only worth dragging it all out if you're doing more than one car.

Same here. Tried my powerwasher and spent more time with setup, etc. than it was worth.

As I cited at the top, the Mr. Clean system is my go-to most of the time.

I've heard something about that thing. Works like a champ... but something about it makes it attract dirt/dust quicker than using other products.

Plus it's more expensive...