I have been waiting for a day to get the salt and road spray off my baby. Took a trip to WalMart for some good car soap, a drying towel and the Meguiars wax (not for today but for when things warm up and I have time to spend grooming my car)... and did a full wash and dry. My roommate/brother was fascinated enough to grab a cold beverage, pull his Tacoma's tailgate down and watch me go to work... he had rebuilt his 1978 Camaro Rally Sport three times and now has a beautiful '67 Camaro that is his new baby so he understands the love. After a bath my Prius looks great and is tucked into the garage, looking beautiful.
Hi Ocean, not going to harp or preach too much or assume you didn't, but I've found good quality microfiber wash mitts helpful. When I first swipe a door panel, for example, I look at the mitt. If it's dark with dirt, I turn the mitt to a cleaner area. I use two buckets (5 gallon with grit guards optional) , one to rinse, some use three buckets. For drying, I go really quickly over an area with waffle weave towel, just to get water up, then spritz spray wax or Meguiars 'quik wax' and finish with polishing cloth, like would use to buff off wax. Doesn't take that long and makes the car pop when done. Also adds some wax that of course wears down over time and with washing. ok, that's it.
I like the microfiber cloths made for automotive applications... I have a few of them but bought a new one yesterday for the Prius (the truck has her own stuff). And I was looking for any dirt on the cloth... Looking forward to warmer weather so I can crack out the Meguiars wax... my brother had never heard of it and his '67 Camaro is babied beyond what I am doing...
You mean a wash cloth? I've never seen a cloth for washing. Usually mitt, sponge or brush. I use Griot's Garage microfiber wash mitts. I used their sheepskin mitt for a couple years, but kinda expensive and microfiber works just as well. Griot's Garage is a nice auto supplies catalog to have laying around 800-345-5789. They've never called asking for orders, not pushy. Have you heard of claybar(ing)? The kits are commonly found in auto parts stores, even Walmart. Basically clay removes stuff that washing cannot. It's sort of time consuming though. I consider claying before applying wax. You car likely doesn't have any bonded surface contaminants, but I bought a 2011 Accord Coupe that had been on the lot for a few months. It had a lot of what I think was rail dust (came out by rail from Ohio). I would wash the car, then clay, and black particles came up. Waxed. Clayed and waxed again maybe month later and more came off. It took a few clay / wax sessions to get it all off. anyrate, you may want to google a meguiars claying video sometime, consider it. btw, the Meg's clay kits come with a nice polishing cloth. Also come with cleaner wax, but I prefer their synthetic wax, I think tech 2.0.
I saw the claybar items but did not know much about the product or the process. My late stepdad waxed and polished his Cadillacs and his Lexus (my sister has that car now )... he would have the old fashioned Turtle Wax can and the applicator, would rub the wax in and after it dried he would buff it out and his Caddies glistened. I can get microfiber cloths a little bigger than a washcloth and towels here for auto purposes and they work great at getting that filmy grime off of the lower panels... they did not have any mitts for sale as that would have been my preference. My Prius has the Simoniz glass coat (my brother recommended it - he got it for his 2012 Tacoma) and I am pleased with how easily it is to clean versus my uncoated truck. Plus, in size, I can cover the Prius's bath a lot quicker than the truck's... and after being out in the snow and salt today, I owe her a good wash.
And the Prius is immaculately clean and in the garage with the salt and roadspray outside... Priceless.
