potentially stupid question

And how does this relate to Ferraris?

 

Because most Ferrari owners use micro fibre towels to clean their cars. And yes I clean mine in the washing machine.

 

Yes, wash away.

 

Do you go to the car wash at all?

 

Never. I have a detail guy who comes to my house. In between details, I use cotton cloths and Speed Shine (Griot's, although other companies make similar products). For light rinsing, I use a sheepskin mitt and then microfibre towels for drying.

I don't trust (1) the detergents they use at car washes; (2) the cleanliness of their cloths and (3) the pressure they apply to the paint in drying. (My car is black metallic, so it takes some care to avoid hairlines/swirls).

 

Yes. I use liquid detergent and warm water.

 

Yes... Generally speaking, wash them only with other microfibre towels, and do not use a fabric softener. Another good tip is to tear off any tag that may be sewn onto your microfibres.

To keep this Ferrari-related, Costco sells bulk packs of microfibre towels for $12 or $13 (15+ towels, I think?) that are colored a bright yellow....almost like Giallo Modena.

Okay, I'm leaving now....

 

You can see the attentiveness that you show your car, its gleam and shininess are visible in your pictures. How often do you wash/clean it?

 

Thanks, but credit my detail guy and San Diego weather.

I use Speed Shine pretty much after every drive for dust and do the wheels with Griot's wheel cleaner/water after every few drives.

It gets a real wash maybe once a month, then a couple of clay/wax cycles every year. But again keep in mind that in San Diego the car doesn't get rained on.

(The other trick is to get black metallic instead of black. It's kind of a sanity thing... )
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Bullfighter, I also noticed your tires are also very shiny, what do you use to clean those? Armor-all?
This is my 1000th post, just letting everyone know.

 

NO! Armor-all spatters. I don't use it on any car.

Griot's make some non-spatter tire dressing, but I leave that to my detail guy. The photo above was at the Bella Italia show last week, so I had him prepare the car. To be honest, I'm not a fan of glossy tires so I don't do much to them between details.

 

Machine wash warm cloths separately, light detergent (liquid), no bleach, no softener, air dry preferred or machine dry on delicate/low heat.

I used to use these, http://classic-motoring.stores.yahoo.net/vipmicdetclo.html and now switched to these, http://www.detailingsupplies.net/Elite_Microfiber_Towel_p/mic_501_03.htm

I have two dozen of the first variety that after 2 years, still look and feel new. The Costco, PepBoys, Kragen, etc brand cloths don't last more than a dozen washes and used regularly, become quite rough and suitible for glass, interior, wheel rags.

I haven't found better cloths than these two brands. The durability of the the first set is professional grade. I can leave them FILTHY and black for days and they wash up spectacular with no hint of wear.

You get what you pay for. My two cents with the local parts store cloths.

Sunny

 

ditto

 

I have gone to the car wash a couple of times but I never wash my car just vacuum it.

 

I use the Mgquire's Micro fiber for buffing car polishers and car wax. And I also use Mgquire's water magnet towel for drying the car after being hand wash.

 

Make sure it's not dish detergent, like Joy, etc. Use one of the car wash solutions offered by the different car care products companies.

If you've got a good layer of wax on it, it shouldn't take much to clean up any surface dirt anyway.

I tried the Eagle One tire stuff on my Mercedes once and wish I hadn't. Looked too glossy and spattered off behind the wheels when I drove the car. Maybe they've improved it over the last couple of years.

 

I'll wash them, but I won't let them touch the paint again. They work really good for wiping down the dash, cleaning the leather, and cleaning the glass. I'm just a little too worried about that one random piece of sand that might have gotten stuck in the cloth, and the towels are almost dirt cheap so why not use a new one every time.

I tried the Eagle One stuff once. It seemed almost like baby oil in that it never dried and left beads of liquid in the crevices of the sidewall. Like Bullfighter, it slung crap onto the lower fenders and into the wheelwell when I drove. I use Turtle Wax F21 protectant (used to be called Finish 2001) on my wheels. Leaves a thin silicone coating on the tires. Just enough to shine and blacken but not so much as to fling off.

 

I've always washed mine and never had any issues. I just do one load of microfibre with my meguiars buffing towels, griots microfibre wash pads and microfibre drying towels.

Griots sells a "microfibre degergent" but I just use regular liquid soap and haven't had an issue.

 

You can wash your microfiber towels with the other car towels, but never dry your microfiber towels with any other non-microfiber item.
I've tried every car wash soap under the sun, and only Zymol "Auto Wash" and Griots car wash soap do it for me.

 

Bandit, even your clean fingertips leave scratches on a clean paint surface under magnification. Everything you touch to the paint, even clean brand new microfiber against clean paint leaves scratches, but infinitely finer and in the top coat of whatever protectant you use. It is perfectly fine to wash and reuse microfiber and your method works just as well.

 

Washing cars.....always a challenge to do it right.

As mentioned above, avoid dishwashing soap, unless you really want to remove the older wax layers. I wash in the shade also (big point in FL).

Only thing good about commercial car washes, some (all?) should have deionized (DI) water which, of course, will not leave hard water spotting. Use chamois after to avoid spots just in case.

Too bad our normal "house" water was not DI. Soft water is better than regular tap. Constant battle......

 

Hey......I hit 300!! Am I a karting now?(whatever that means)

 

You get karting at 50, and Formula Junior at 250. Next up is Formula 3 at 1000.