Video: How to wash your Ferrari (the right way)

F-Chatters,

After countless requests, we finally got the opportunity to put together a video on how to properly wash and dry your Ferrari without inducing swirls and marring.

There IS a big difference in the proper procedures! When you do it right, your Ferrari looks fantastic. When you do it wrong, you get swirls...

In this video was assumed that most people wouldn't have or be using foam guns, so we showed the procedure without it. If you do use a foam gun, do the exact same procedure as shown in the video, but simply foam down the area first before washing.

In addition to the video, I am including a link to a full article I just published. This text version goes more in-depth, and it also has the video embedded into it as well.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Video: How to wash your Ferrari
https://youtu.be/-p8FOcHAFZA?list=UU_VTADI0mH-WIq25oZWmQEg

Article on how to wash your car:
How to wash your car | Esoteric Car Care

 

Great vid

 

Let's try this link instead:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p8FOcHAFZA[/ame]

 

WHAT?! No more dish soap and wash rags?!

"Oh the humanity!"



On a serious note.

Great video! Very informative, and well done. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and sharing it.

 

Very informative - learned some new techniques. I actually enjoy washing my own cars. Very therapeutic. Curious how many other owner do it themselves vs. Paying others?

 

Thank you!

Thank you! And as for the dish soap, rags, and bath towels...keep them out of the garage!

Thanks, and glad you picked up some new techniques and ideas.

 

Great video, thanks for putting that together!

A couple of follow up questions. For drying on my normal car I have been using a product called "the absorber" which is a synthetic chamois. It seems to work extremely efficient and well. Just wanted to get your thoughts on this product and if you feel it would be safe to use for drying a Ferrari?

Also, was curious on how you handle the glass engine bay? Do you have to be cautious with the hose with regard to how much water/soap gets in through the screens when washing the glass, back deck and roof?

Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks, and glad you enjoyed it.

The chamois may absorb a lot of water, but in my experience I don't find them to be as soft and non-marring as a high quality microfiber drying towel. Also since they seem to last forever, people tend to use them long after they lose their softness, which would mean swirls, swirls, and more swirls!

The engine bay and cover are designed to safely drain water. When doing normal washing, I wouldn't worry too much...just use common sense and you'll be good to go. Then when done you just need to open the engine cover and thoroughly wipe down that area too so you don't risk water spots.

I hope this helps!

 

Any idea when the drying micro fiber towels will come in that have been out of stock for some time? Thanks.

 

I don't have an update from the factory on when the SoftDryer towels will ship. But in the meantime, we do have the WaffleDryer towels in stock...which is what we use daily in our shop.

Gyeon Q2M Waffle Dryer Microfiber Towel. 24 x 32 - Esoteric Car Care

 

Thanks again, very helpful info!

I have never tried a waffle microfiber drying towel like you use. Is one good for drying the whole car or do they get too soaked? Or maybe a better way of asking, can it be wrung out and continued to be used like a chamois or is it necessary to have more than 1 towel?

Thanks, just trying to get an understanding of what sounds like a better approach!

 

nice video Todd! Very informative!

 

Great tips and vid, thanks.

How particular are you about maintaining segregation of the towels afterwards i.e. the washing machine?

Also, every micro fiber towel I've ever used seems to collect contaminants as if it were made out of Velcro. Any suggestions?

 

Make sure you are using a dedicated Micro Fiber cleaner specifically designed for MF and avoid laundry soaps. Many contain perfumes and softeners which adversely affect MF towels. Always wash them separately from any other towels, fabric, pads, etc. and dry on low heat setting with no dryer sheets.

 

Best way is to not put them in the dryer. Just lay them over a rack to dry. They dry in about an hour

 

We will typically use several towels during the drying process. Yes, you will most likely wring them out during drying to get as much water out as you can.

Thanks, Eric!

It goes without saying that your detailing microfiber towels should be washed separately from any other type of laundry. You'll want to use a dedicated microfiber wash (hot wash, cold rinse, dry on lowest setting with no dryer towels). I will separate out dirty, general purpose towels from my drying towels and buffing towels.

If you wash them like this, they shouldn't collect many contaminants. We still inspect every single towel after after single wash/dry just to make sure nothing has gotten in them that could potentially scratch the surface.

There's no problem putting them in the dryer as long as you follow the instruction that I listed above. If you have just a few towels, "hang drying" them is easy. But if you use a lot of towels...not so much.

 

This is the solution you want to use to properly wash your microfiber towels: Gyeon Q2M TowelWash - Esoteric Car Care

 

Todd , my whole car except for the roof and engine lid ( 458 spider ) came with clear bra . What's best for wash and wax if any ? The car is Nero.

 

Todd, what's your thoughts on boars hair brushes. I have one on a pole that I hook up to the hose that I do the initial washing with (using lots of water) and another brush I use with the two bucket method. I do get some very minor swirling in paint with these. Does the mf mitts leave no swirls at all?

 

You'll want to treat the clear bra no different than you do the paint. If it were me, I'd use Gyeon Bath for washing, and then protect it with Kamikaze Overcoat (much quicker and easier to use than wax, and lasts much longer!).

Gyeon Q2 Bathe | Esoteric Car Care

Kamikaze Over Coat | Esoteric Car Care

Boar's hair brushes are not something that I recommend...too much chance for debris to remain in the brush. A high quality MF mitt, a high quality sheepskin mitt, or one of the super-soft sponges we import from Japan are about as non-marring as you can possibly get. Combining them with the techniques in this article and video will ensure that you're being as safe with your paint as you can.

Esoteric Elite Car Wash Sponge | Esoteric Car Care

 

This is the first I've heard about grit guards. Very helpful video - thanks, Todd!

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I'm glad you liked it.

Grit Guards were actually developed by a Ferrari owner who was searching for a way to reduce swirls during the washing process.

I have them on my website here: Grit Guard Insert | Esoteric Car Care

 

Good tips on the towel washing and I follow them same as you mentioned in the previous post.

However, the trees and such in my vicinity shed a lot of trash year round so if I drop a microfiber towel it goes in the trash. Contaminants are nearly impossible to remove.

So, buying bundles from Sam's Club, am I getting what I paid for?

 

It's better to be safe than sorry for sure. All it takes is one small contaminant to seriously damage the paint.

Yes and no on those towels you refer to. I'd definitely wash them before first use, and then quickly move them from paint duty to general purpose duty (jambs, wheels, etc) as they will quickly lose their softness.

 

Hey Folks,
The purpose of this post will be to share some experiences working with Todd's method as described in this thread for properly washing the car.

Disclaimer: I consider Todd to be a friend and trust his advice. He has worked on my F car several times and I've been happy with his results. Most recently, his shop installed a Kamikaze Miyabi base coating with a Kamikaze ISM topper coat on my Rosso 360. I've dubbed this combination Todd's Special Recipe for red Fcars. My coating is "fresh" and was completed about 10 days ago. This is my first time washing the car since.

Leaving the Ault Park Concours this weekend, I got caught in a pop up rain shower. So, I had a few hours to myself on Sunday and I washed the car.

Todd suggested that I change from using Sonax wheel cleaner to just car wash soap and water with my brushes. This time, I used Sonax to start when the wheels were dry and cool, then rinsed completely, then used the diluted car wash solution & brushes to get the details. Overall, I'm satisfied with this approach - the wheels finished out nicely.

I used GYEON Bathe standard for the wash, and I followed Todd's instructions to the letter for the wash. I did not use a foam gun for this wash - I have ordered one and I also have GYEON Foam solution which I plan to use in the future. Also, I don't have a pressure washer - I used regular old garden hose water.

Using a selection of different wash mitts for different areas of the car, I was very pleased with the process. The GYEON Bathe product I used was diluted quite a lot - only 20 mL per 15 L (yes, that's 15 litres) of water. But, the foaming action of the soap was adequate - it went on really easily and came off super fast. Some of this might be because I have a fresh Kamikaze coating.

I don't dry my car the way Todd has shown in his video because I have a Master Blaster air dryer at home, and I've discussed it with Todd and it's preferred for my situation because air is more gentle than dragging a lubricated waffle-weave MF towel. Again, since my car has an extremely hydrophobic coating, the whole drying job was done in about 10 minutes - incredible. I was shocked with how easy the car was to wash, and how deep and reflective the paint was when finished.

I didn't need to apply any quick detailer spray (I have an expensive bottle of Kamikaze Overcoat which I did not need to use).

In summary, follow the instructions and use the right products - the car wash is quick and easy and you'll be pleased with the results.

Have fun fellas.