Washing my Coated Vehicle
The number 1 question we get after one of our VCC details is "How do I keep my car this way?" Especially so after a Ceramic Pro treatment. So we wanted to put together a quick guide to after car care for these specific details. First thing to remember here; avoid HARSH and stay CLEAN. Put back the "soft cotton" rags you are using to scrub your pits, and the Dawn stays in the kitchen! Here is a list of things you need to get started.
Supplies
1) Buckets
qty : 2 Required 3 Optional
Get 2, 1 for wash, 1 for rinse, 3rd bucket can just be an extra bucket as this one will be the wheels and tires
The point here is to never take the filth from the vehicle you are washing to the same bucket you are using to "wash" the vehicle with.
2) Grit Guards
Qty : 2
Grit GuardFor your existing buckets (these are included in link above)
3) Wash Mitt
Microfiber is preferred. Qty : 2
Incredipad(one of my favorite mitts)
4) Microfiber Towel
Qty as many as you can muster!
General Purpose Microfiber Kit
5) Brushes/applicators
( get 2 of these, 1 wheels and tires and 1 for body)6) Soaps/Wheel Cleaner
Again, one that is made for washing CARS
With a coating the soap you choose should not contain any waxes or fillers. These will cause the coating the be hidden underneath the "wax" and will need to be removed to allow the effects of the ceramic coating to shine
Diable Wheel Gel - Chemical Guys
7)Quick Detailers
Quick Detailers will become your best friend with a coated vehicle. Bird Bombs, Bug Guts, Finger Prints wont stand a chance! Great for dusting when a wash just isnt needed yet.
8)Drying
Drying is the easiest and fastest way to remove standing water from a coated vehicle
http://www.detailedimage.com/wax.php?id=60203&url=detailedimage.com/DI-Packages-M29/Waffle-Weave-Drying-Towel-3-Pack-Special-P946/">Drying Towel - Waffle WeaveLocation:
Shaded area of your driveway or at a local self serve car wash.
Setup
Fill all 3 buckets and place the grit guards in the rinse and soap buckets
Add roughly 3-5 oz of soap to your soap bucket. Grab the grit guard and agitate till enough foam bubbles to indicate soap and water have mixed.
While SHIFT from shine supply is our normal go to soap, make sure your soap does not contain waxes, sealants, or other "gloss enhancing" fillers
Add the wheel cleaner to the 3rd bucket
Place all Mitts, body brushes, and 2-3 Microfibers in the soap bucket
Place all wheel brushes into 3rd wheel bucket
Start:
Wheels
Since wheels and tires are one of the hardest parts of the wash. Brake dust, road dust, most modern vehicles wheels get very dirty very fast. To avoid any water spots from forming due to time spent on wheels. Start here.
Spray down all 4 tires and surrounding wheel arches to get as much of the road debris off of them as possible.
Spray down all 4 wheels with the wheel cleaner of choice to finish off remaining debris as the wheel coatings make cleaning very effective
Agitate any remaining dirt and filth from tires using assorted brushes. Pay attention to corners of spokes and lug nuts
Can also use this on exhaust tips and suspension pieces that might be visible.
Body
Rinse from top to bottom.
Take 1 clean mitt to begin your wash. Each wash mitt should be flipped 1 time then returned to the rinse bucket.
You should be able to get about 2 panels per cycle. We normally start at the roof and work down.
Since most of the dirt will be focused on the bottom of the panels, try to only wash half way down before rinsing the mitt out.
Pop your gas cap and take the body boar's hair detail brush and clean one of the most overlooked areas.
Take a microfiber towel and make sure all your wheel arches and side view mirrors and all the other hard to reach areas have been cleaned.
Rinse Entire car and overview your work. This is normally where any "missed" spots are going to show. Take a microfiber to the wheels for any areas that you can see remaining dirt.
Finish
For a coated vehicle we recommend blow drying. This is the fastest and most effective form of drying and using a waffle weave or other drying specific towel to ensure all water is removed from the vehicle.
That's it, should only take about 30-45 minutes to fully "detail" a vehicle after the Ceramic Coating treatment.
Throughout the week:
keep a clean microfiber cloth and some of the Throttle/EcH20/ONR mix to attack any dust, bird bombs, bug splats and you will keep that car shining!
Author
Kyle
Owner/Operator, IDA Certified Detailer, Car Enthusiast, Father of Twin Boys, and Husband.
