In the blog entry “Wash Like a Pro:  Overview”, we discussed some car washing basics and offered a brief overview of the different kinds of DIY washing that are possible.  These include:

• The “Prep Wash”,
• The “Foam Cannon” wash,
• Waterless washing,
• The ceramic maintenance wash, and,
• The traditional “bucket wash”.

Preventing Scratches

Most folks who like to wash their own car do so because they are concerned that the automatic car wash puts in too many scratches.  Let’s be clear:  anytime you touch the paint of the car with any item, you are likely scratching the surface because automotive paint--although durable in its primary mission to protect the substrate from corrosion—is delicate on its surface. 

Even wiping clean paint with a microfiber towel can scratch the paint, although these scratches are probably so small that they are not visible to the naked eye.  This is not to say, “you should never touch the paint”.  Instead, the point is that home car washing does not guarantee “scratch free”.  However—and here is the main point—we can employ washing techniques that minimize the amount of scratching while washing.

The Bucket Wash

The traditional Saturday morning home car wash popularized in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s typically involves a bucket of sudsy water, a large sponge, a free-running garden hose, and a genuine chamois to dry.  Modern times have led to vast improvements in home car washing techniques.  Let’s go over some best practices that will minimize scratching during the bucket wash.

First, we want to park the vehicle out of direct sunlight.  Also, it’s advisable on hot days to perform the wash in the early morning hours or early evening, when the ambient temperature is cooler and the sun is weakest.

Park the vehicle in a spot that ensures that the wash run-off will drain into a lawn, shrubbery, or dirt.  We don’t want rinse water laden with washing chemicals to go down the storm drain or into a nearby stream or the like.  If you are using a garden hose, please get a trigger nozzle that automatically shuts off the flow of water when released.  This will save water and money.

Get It Together

Start by assembling all the items you will need for the wash.  Pull out the garden hose to the length that it will be needed to walk all the way around the vehicle.  Install the shut-off nozzle and charge the hose by turning on the water.  Grab a step stool if you have a taller vehicle.  If you use a leaf blower to help dry the vehicle, get that ready to go (but keep it away from water during the wash if it is a plug-in model).  Set your Proje’ DryPro Microfiber Towels on a clean surface ready to be grabbed as soon as the final rinse is done.

The Body Wash Bucket.  This bucket is for holding the soap and equipment for washing the main body of the vehicle (NOT the tires).  Set up your Proje’ Wash Bucket by diluting the proper amount of Proje’s Vital Car Wash Soap, and then drop in your Proje’ Microfiber Car Wash Mitt.

It is important to understand why we use soap designed specifically for washing cars.  The old school method was to use dish detergent.  Now, when you think of dish detergent, you realize that the better detergents brag about their ability to remove grease from pots and pans.  This same effectiveness will manifest itself stripping wax or sealant that may be on your vehicle paint!

Car wash soap, especially Proje’s Vital Wash, is strong enough to remove dirt and grime from the painted surface, but does not have harsh ingredients designed to erase protective wax products.  Moreover, high quality car wash soap helps lubricate the paint surface during agitation with the wash mitt.

Another source of scratches is solid grit or loose contaminants removed from the car surface during washing.  The Bucket Grit Guard, placed at the bottom of the bucket, helps reduce scratching from grit because it does not allow your wash mitt (and other scrubbing devices) to come into contact with any debris or grit that may have come off the car while scrubbing it with the wash mitt.  The contamination sinks to the bottom of the bucket and is separated by the plastic screen.

Some folks like to have a second bucket (with a grit guard) filled with plain water to rinse off the wash mitt prior to each “re-load” dip into the soap bucket.

Wheel and Tire Bucket.  To wash like a pro, you will also need a separate bucket (with a grit guard) for the wheels and tires.  In this bucket, make a solution of Vital Wash Soap, which will become “rinse water” for your wheel washing equipment.  Such equipment includes the Proje’ Rim Cleaning Brush, Inner Barrel Rim Brush, and a dedicated (not used inside the car) Easy Reach Crevice Brush for lug nuts.  Then hang a bottle of Red Line Wheel Cleaner on the rim of the bucket and your “wheel and tire bucket” is ready to go!

It is important to understand that the purpose of having a separate body wash bucket and wheel/tire bucket is so that the equipment from each never enters the other bucket.  This will help keep the body wash bucket and wash mitt “pure” and uncontaminated with the junk we expect to be cleaning off tires and wheels.

Final Wiping and Dressing.  After the vehicle is washed and dried, you will want to come back and perform some final wipe-down efforts to make sure all the surfaces are streak-free and sparkling.  This will include window cleaning with Proje’s Genesis Glass Cleaner and Waffle Weave Microfiber Window Towels.  Some folks also like to wipe down the painted surfaces with a quick spray wax like Proje’s Show Shine or Surge Quick Detail Spray, using Proje’s Plush Microfiber Towels to wipe off.  This extra effort will add some gloss and remove any leftover drying streaks from paint and trim.

And, of course, we’re going to want the freshly cleaned tires to shine as well.  For this, we will use Proje’s Fusion Tire Dressing applied with a dedicated (never used for anything else!) Tire Dressing Short Handle Brush.

Summary

Reading this article, one sees that the pro-style bucket wash is not as simple as it seems and includes many ingredients to ensure success.  Fortunately, Proje’ has everything you need to wash like a pro.  In the next blog entry, we will go over the actual step-by-step bucket wash process that makes it easy, fast, and effective.