What is your wash and protect rota?

Do you have a link to these ones Richard? I was thinking of putting some more rainwater storage in, and those look ideal :+1:

Thanks, Steve.

I wash every day including behind my ears and under my arms. And i also shower when i feel thr need.:grin:

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We also have two 750 litres tanks around the back called the tombstones the water comes off the garage and conservatory roof this is for all are plant and veg watering that also got a auto pmp fitted run by 12 volt battery

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Dont forget the ……… underparts! ( For younger members this is an allusion to a slighty risquĆ© washing powder ad at least three decades ago)

Not many days I don’t have to clear seagull Sh!t so car gets cleaned a bit at a time. If it rains I’ll don the waterproofs and give it the full Monty. Being metallic grey it doesn’t highlight swirls, dust or mud. I’ve only owned one black car; enough saidšŸ˜€

Do like to keep wheels clean so twice a week with damp cloth.

I’ve tried all sorts of products but today it was the same old story.
I still drop my chamois in the pile of dirt I’ve got out of the wheel arch and when I come back from rinsing it out those big black flies with dangly legs have dived bombed the car, leaving their mangled corpses all over it.

Yes, it’s in this post with my first rwb shown

Beware, these can be damaged by frost and it’s good practice to drain them before a frost spell. I was caught out and had to replace this one. I noticed the moulding design has been subtly improved to remove the weak spot.

These three rwbs are now protected from the sun, wind and unexpected snap frosts by some surplus but tough Wickes bubble wrap packing. I might eventually get around to enclosing them more attractively!

My original inadequate 80 litre barrel hidden behind the shed (catchment area) and raised fish-pond has survived four decades, but then it has thicker plastic and is well out of the sun and wind. Never fully drained! And I know it’s OK because its overflow tops up the pond

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Just got back from Lidl and purchased this below, for 1ltr @Ā£2.99
I thought it was a decent price so grabbed it being as I’m out of my Wilko cheapo special.

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Gave my car the full Monty today. Full suds, then clean water and a wipe over. I hate cleaning my car. You make it immaculate then go and drive about in the Uk? Anyways, it looks tidy and that’s good enough for me.

Edit: found a tiny rust spot on the NS wing so good reason for cleaning the :sport_utility_vehicle:

Here’s a funny coincidence.
You post that, and on the same day as you post it, we find an unused, identical bottle of the stuff in our garage.

I give my car a good going over with pre-wash, gave it a few minutes to loosen the dirt, rinse it off then hit it with snow foam and use detail brushes to get into all the nooks and crannies etc, then with the car still covered in snow foam I do a contact wash with a microfiber wash mitt. After that it gets rinsed off with the pressure washer and dried with a microfiber drying towel. Once that’s done I lightly run my fingers over the bodywork and if I feel like the paint’s contaminated I’ll clay the entire car using a decent quality clay bar and lube. I then check to see if there’s a lot of swirls etc in the paintwork I’ll give it a going over with the DA polishing machine depending on how bad they are I’ll either use a heavy cutting compound with a course cutting pad on the polisher, a light one with a fine cutting pad or heavy followed by light (with the respective pads) to get as much of the fine scratches/swirls out. Once I’m happy I swap to a finer pad on the DA polisher and apply sealant to the entire car. The stuff I use tends to last for about 6 months or so so it means I can get away with basically rinsing and drying the car to keep it clean.
Glass gets hit with a decent quality glass cleaner, clay barred to lift any embedded mank, glass cleaner again to remove the clay lube and finally sealed with a hydrophobic coating to help keep it clean/clear in bad weather.
Trim is done with a ceramic trim cleaner which makes it look like new again/protect it from UV damage/fading and lasts for ages
It’s a lot of work but I only have to do it once or twice a year and then it’s just a case of giving it a maintenance wash/dry to keep it nice and sparkly, occasionally redo the glass and it’s all good.
And in any case I really enjoy doing it and it makes the car look like it’s just rolled out of the showroom and imo it’s worth the time and effort because you can get right up close to the car and (hopefully) spot anything before it’s too late.

Interesting, you use snow foam as a shampoo with a mitt. I always thought snow foam was a pre wash?

A lot of people use it as a pre wash by just slinging it on, giving it a few minutes and then then blasting it straight off but I’ve found it can leave behind some areas of dirt so I prefer giving it a going over with a microfiber mitt after it’s had a couple of minutes to dwell really helps to get rid of any stubborn dirt especially when I’ve already given the car a good going over with a citrus based pre wash spray to loosen everything up first.

I guess as long as you are removing dirt first with some form of pre wash you don’t have to worry about scratching the car with the dirt in the snow foam?

That’s the way I look at it, as long as the mitt’s rinsed off in water on a semi regular basis then it should be fine.

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Wheels first - Turtle wax wheel cleaner, scrub tyres, brush wheels, rinse.
Pre wash - Bilt Hamber Touchless (I buy 5 litre tubs, great value if diluted properly) sometimes use the pressure washer sometimes a pump up foamer. Leave 5 minutes max (I never wash in the heat of the sun), rinse.
Wash - currently Gyeon Bathe + (really slick), wash mitt, rinse.
Protection/Drying - a mist of Gyeon Wet Coat all over, rinse, large fluffy microfibre towel, leaf blow nooks and crannies and wheels.
Additions - tar spot remover if I see any, tyres dressed with Turtle Wax graphene and for a longer lasting body detailer Gyeon Ceramic Spay.
For the soft top - rinse, apply Mequiars Convertible cleaner, scrub and rinse (would normally do this before the full body wash).

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Good info, are you not supposed to use normal cleaner on soft tops?

Nope, convertible cleaner contains stuff to help keep the soft top waterproof and protected from UV as well as to remove any stains, dirt or moss from the material that can degrade it over time.

I’ve learnt something, thanks. What is a good general purpose product to use?