I'm pretty much the same for timing. 2 hours or a little under is what it takes me.
I think a lot of people undersell setup and cleanup....
How fast can you wash an "average" size car?
- Thread starter yakky
- Start date
I'm pretty much the same for timing. 2 hours or a little under is what it takes me.
I think a lot of people undersell setup and cleanup....
Breese147
New member
- Dec 28, 2014
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+1on setup and cleanup. That alone used to account for 20 mins of work for me. I’ve been using self serve bays recently and I’m about 1hr and 30 mins for the same process. Now that these cars are getting at least some form of protection though im hoping to get it down to 1hr and 5 mins
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Breese147
New member
- Dec 28, 2014
- 452
- 0
+1on setup and cleanup. That alone used to account for 20 mins of work for me. I’ve been using self serve bays recently and I’m about 1hr and 30 mins for the same process. Now that these cars are getting at least some form of protection though im hoping to get it down to 1hr and 5 mins
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5 minutes to get hose setup;
10 minutes to get brushes and bucket ready for wheels;
10-15 to wash wheels. incl barrels and inside of wheel wells;
15 minutes to get power washer out and set up and fill up 2 buckets;
30 minutes to foam; dwell; rinse; foam again (I like the foam); 2 bucket wash; rinse;
10 minutes to blow out seams, wheels, wells, etc.;
10 minutes to do a QD wipe; and
20 minutes to put everything away.
So, just under 2 hours...for either my wife's Pacifica or my 300C.
10 minutes to get brushes and bucket ready for wheels;
10-15 to wash wheels. incl barrels and inside of wheel wells;
15 minutes to get power washer out and set up and fill up 2 buckets;
30 minutes to foam; dwell; rinse; foam again (I like the foam); 2 bucket wash; rinse;
10 minutes to blow out seams, wheels, wells, etc.;
10 minutes to do a QD wipe; and
20 minutes to put everything away.
So, just under 2 hours...for either my wife's Pacifica or my 300C.
UncleDavy
Active member
- Aug 22, 2017
- 1,609
- 16
It depends on how dirty the vehicle is and what type of treatment it requires. Just a basic bucket wash on the exterior only including tires, wheels, wheel wells and dressing will take me about an hour. I can do it 45 minutes if I don't have to scrub the tires multiple times. Just a rinseless wash in the garage on the wife's Buick will take 30-45 minutes. Many times those sessions turn in 2 or 3 hour operations because I usually can't stop at a basic wash. I see a spot on the glass so then all of windows inside and out need cleaning. Then the floor mats need scrubbing, then the interior needs dusting and a coat of 303. While the doors are open I notice that the door jambs need a wipe down. While I am at it, I may as well scrub the seats with Optimum Shampoo Gel and treat them with 303. Then if I decide to break out the polisher, it turns into a 9 hour event.
I like the comment that Oz made about it being therapeutic. I really enjoy the activity of cleaning and polishing the metal, plastic, leather and rubber on a car. If I was detailing for a living, then I would find ways to speed through all of the processes.
I like the comment that Oz made about it being therapeutic. I really enjoy the activity of cleaning and polishing the metal, plastic, leather and rubber on a car. If I was detailing for a living, then I would find ways to speed through all of the processes.
Finick
New member
- Jul 31, 2017
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It definitely depends on a lot of things.
This time of year, my rinseless washes can take quite a while. Between needing to presoak and have a little more caution because of the roads being treated here, and just going longer between washes in general, I'd say I could spend like 45 minutes to an hour doing a rinseless wash on my car. That's not including the wheels and tires (I do these far less often in the winter, it's just too freakin cold and windy sometimes.)
I guess it's also worth noting that I generally don't wash my wheels/tires everytime I wash my car, but usually like every other 2nd or 3rd time. It just depends how they're looking. When it gets warmer and I can finally go in there and apply the new Optimum tire coating, hopefully I'll be even less inclined to get in there and scrub them. I'll normally just wipe down the face of my wheels if I'm not in the mood to deal with them. Granted, I drive an Altima so it's not like I'm rocking some 20" wide open wheel design. You can barely even see in the barrel, but I notice that it gets dirty so I still clean it sort of regularly.
In the warmer months though? If I go out there and rinseless wash my car once or twice a week, I can get that done in like 15-20 minutes. Maybe 20-25 if you count filling up the bucket and lugging everything downstairs/back upstairs. It really doesn't take long if I do it often enough. The biggest time saver is doing it often enough that I don't feel the need to presoak the panels, and I can just take a towel from the bucket and get to it.
A bucket wash isn't something I could really give a time estimate for because I do them so infrequently.
Waterless washing takes me a bit longer than rinseless washing because I'm still not fully comfortable with the process yet.
This time of year, my rinseless washes can take quite a while. Between needing to presoak and have a little more caution because of the roads being treated here, and just going longer between washes in general, I'd say I could spend like 45 minutes to an hour doing a rinseless wash on my car. That's not including the wheels and tires (I do these far less often in the winter, it's just too freakin cold and windy sometimes.)
I guess it's also worth noting that I generally don't wash my wheels/tires everytime I wash my car, but usually like every other 2nd or 3rd time. It just depends how they're looking. When it gets warmer and I can finally go in there and apply the new Optimum tire coating, hopefully I'll be even less inclined to get in there and scrub them. I'll normally just wipe down the face of my wheels if I'm not in the mood to deal with them. Granted, I drive an Altima so it's not like I'm rocking some 20" wide open wheel design. You can barely even see in the barrel, but I notice that it gets dirty so I still clean it sort of regularly.
In the warmer months though? If I go out there and rinseless wash my car once or twice a week, I can get that done in like 15-20 minutes. Maybe 20-25 if you count filling up the bucket and lugging everything downstairs/back upstairs. It really doesn't take long if I do it often enough. The biggest time saver is doing it often enough that I don't feel the need to presoak the panels, and I can just take a towel from the bucket and get to it.
A bucket wash isn't something I could really give a time estimate for because I do them so infrequently.
Waterless washing takes me a bit longer than rinseless washing because I'm still not fully comfortable with the process yet.
Calendyr
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- Jun 9, 2013
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Bill D
Active member
- Mar 3, 2006
- 2,481
- 17
It takes me an hour fastest to wash something the size of a Honda Accord or Mercedes E class. This is with simply foaming the car with a foam gun and rinsing. No agitating. The majority of that hour includes washing the wheels, the insides and the faces. If I were washing with multiple mitts on a more filthy car, I would say it would take me two and half hours and that’s rushing it. Rushing is one thing I never want to do while washing a car though.
Eldorado2k
Well-known member
- Nov 9, 2015
- 14,545
- 645
You outta find someones vehicle to practice on. A company car or your sister in law... Somebodys car that nobody really cares about and have at it going as carefree as you can and then you will find out what can or can’t happen. Personally I’m not as careful as some people make it out to be and I’m not creating a swirl fest on any car I waterless wash. The key is spraying plenty of solution.
Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
Here's the deal....
There's a HUGE DIFFERENCE between washing your own car that you regularly wash and clean, including the wheels, behind the spokes and the wheel barrows, and washing a stranger's car, like a customer's car that I most case... is neglected.
Make sense?
To wash my own car - I can do it in about 30 minutes. At least if the car is small. Now days, I'd say about an hour, but that's because the car is no longer small. Here's my article on this topic,
Wash and dry a car in less than 30 minutes!
To wash a stranger's car, or customer's car that is NOT regularly washed and detailed, including the wheels that have NOT been thoroughly cleaned like I clean my own wheels, then 2 hours minimum.
To wash and clean just 4 wheels and tires is a minimum of 1 hour. If they are extremely covered with baked-on brake dust and your goal is to get them as clean as possible without removing the wheels, then it will take longer than an hour.
I go over this in my detailing classes. I go over a ton of topic in my detailing classes.
WaxMaster1
Active member
- Jul 1, 2015
- 1,261
- 0
Here's the deal....
To wash and clean just 4 wheels and tires is a minimum of 1 hour. If they are extremely covered with baked-on brake dust and your goal is to get them as clean as possible without removing the wheels, then it will take longer than an hour.
Exactly! With my wheel procedure alone.....
Spray tires with APC type product
Spray wheels (face and barrel) with wheel cleaner and let dwell
Agitate tire sidewall
Speedmaster or Wheel Woolie on barrels
Special mitt for face and behind spokes
Lugs
Rinse thoroughly
Mist McKee's Hydro Blue or silmilar on Barrel and face, then rinse
and three more times takes a lot of time. For me at least.
TTQ B4U
Well-known member
- Jan 20, 2016
- 5,504
- 70
My own personal cars take :45 to 1:00 to complete regardless of whether it's a bucket and hose or rinseless. All depends on how detailed I get, especially around the barrels of the wheels.
On customer cars, I allot for 1:30 to 2:00 max to get the vehicle completely cleaned, decontaminated and dry so that it's ready for the polisher. That's all-in everything. Usually it's about 1:30 on the average poor condition vehicle. All this is with a bucket and hose method. I often find the original condition when it's brought to me as the money making opportunity when it comes to saving time. Many times the vehicle is in fairly good condition where I'm not spending a ton of time removing tar, baked on brake dust, etc. If I can get it done in less than 2hrs, I'm golden.
On customer cars, I allot for 1:30 to 2:00 max to get the vehicle completely cleaned, decontaminated and dry so that it's ready for the polisher. That's all-in everything. Usually it's about 1:30 on the average poor condition vehicle. All this is with a bucket and hose method. I often find the original condition when it's brought to me as the money making opportunity when it comes to saving time. Many times the vehicle is in fairly good condition where I'm not spending a ton of time removing tar, baked on brake dust, etc. If I can get it done in less than 2hrs, I'm golden.
dcjredline
New member
- Mar 26, 2012
- 3,340
- 0
Just like I thought, most here arent TRYING to make it faster. Autogeeks usually worry more about quality than speed. Of course speed is a factor but not the first consideration. Most times I give myself 1-2 hours for a real wash on a neglected car, I can do it much faster on my own cause 1 I dont have to be as picky and 2 its usually kept better than most already.
mc2hill
Member
- Feb 19, 2009
- 559
- 6
I will quote myself to make this clearer. I can clean the car and wheel faces in 20 minutes, but that does not include the setup, just the wash. And if I 'deep clean' the wheels (scrub tires, clean wheels with a wheel cleaner) it takes much longer. And I keep the car protected, so it is much easier to clean this way. We rarely drive on anything but paved roads, and we don't have bad winter weather.
I don't claim to be nearly this fast with a clients car, but if I am polishing I will do a rinseless wash, clay towel, dry, and wipe with with Eraser panel by panel, so that takes about 30-40 minutes.
snowracer21
New member
- Jul 21, 2018
- 35
- 0
It takes me a minimum of 2 hours for the smallest of cars, and over 3 hour for larger trucks & SUVs, to complete a full 100% wash. It seems the last 5% takes the longest, and is the most labor intensive... You know, cleaning baked on bug guts off the plastic pieces around the grill, headlights and fog lights... little brushes and q-tips galore!