what do you use to wash your car?
 

what do you use to wash your car with? im not talking about like soap.. like to wash off dirt and all like those hand mitts? whats good to clean the dirt off?

what?

I use a 100% microfiber towel for the body using only pure baby shampoo. Yes, no more tears. :p Baby shampoo is easy on the paint, suds up nice and is cheap. Been using baby shampoo on my Miata(s) for over 10 years with no issues. I use 1 MF towel on the upper body, 1 for the lower body and a regular cheapo sponge on the wheels/tires.

my10ae: You might actually save more if you used car soap. Considering that most car soaps are less than $5-6 these days, you're probably paying more per fluid oz with the baby shampoo, intriguing idea that it is.

Benny: I use a chenille sponge (looks almost like the sponge version of a mop, but with shorter strands). Traps the dirt well and doesn't allow the dirt to scratch your car as much as an ordinary sponge. Not sure where you are located, but if you have a Big Lots around you, you can get them for $1.50 there. They're about double that at Wal-Mart.

I've heard of baby shampoo on window tint before but never the whole car. Interesting.

Go to Target. They have everything you need and the pricing is good. I'd recommend a soft brush for the wheels also.

I use a sheepskin mitt.

I use a 100% white cotton washcloth and/or a boars hairs brush.

thanks guys great help!

that's amazing. I'm going to go out and find some of products you suggested. I have a black 8 as well and i've learned to hate it when it's dirty, and then fall in love with it all over again when I clean it.. :)


MrJynx

How about using a pressure washer? With a soap dispenser, and wetting it first, does that do a safe job?

I use the Mr. Clean Auto Dry system, with a Chenille Handmit. I addicted to using that thing! It does an awesome job with no hand drying, and with no waterspots left afterwards.
Which is good, because as much as I need to wash my car (Brilliant Black :cool: ), I never have enough clean towels ready to dry it off!

Dgerald,

I've read about people using a leaf blower to blast the water off after a wash. That might cut down on the towel usage. I plan to try it in the near future.

Mr. Clean thats all i got to say

I have tried using a leaf blower that I bought from Home Depot to dry my car. It cost about 35-50$ range, I got it a while ago. Anyways, it just pushes the water back and forth and doesn't dry much. I just recently started using the Waffle Weave drying towel from Fiber-Works and it's great. Absorbs the water quickly, and believe it or not, it does it in a lot less time than using the damn leaf blower. It could be that my leaf blower doesn't have enough HP, but it's a lot cheaper to go with the microfiber drying towel.
:D

Has anybody tried using a terry towel to wash the car, or would a sheep/wool mitt be better for the clearcoat during the washing process?

I use a mit to wash mine. I rinse the mit all the time with the hose. That is, dip mit in water supply (bucket), wash a bit of car, rinse that bit of car and direct the intense hose spray on the mit for even longer, dip mit in bucket, etc. When done, the mit goes in the laundry. I also use the mit on the wheels, but they get done last.

I don't like pressure washers on cars. They don't get the paint clean, and are dangerous on radiator and oil coolers. They will bend the fins closed! They also force water into lock cylinders. They are good for cleaning wheelwells, the engine compartment and the underside of the car, which is too rough for hand cleaning. Do avoid the rad. when doing the engine!

I don't use soap on the car. I use water. Just water!

I'm wondering if there is a concensus on what to use for cleaning/drying a dark car (Shinka). Microfiber and 100% cotton are both noted (the bugget wash lists both). The Zaino site insists on 100% cotton.

Without starting a war, comments for a newbie...........

100% cotton is pretty much the safest thing you can touch your car with.

But some microfiber towels are very good also, but then I've heard that some can be bad and scratch.

I prefer the cotton towels personally.

I usually use a microfiber mitt to wash and then dry with microfiber towel.