How long does it take you to wash your rig?

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DeadlySheds

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I just spent 2.5 hours washing my truck. That was just a wash & dry, without wheel cleaning or door-jambs. That seems wicked excessive to me, but I can't see how to save much time.

Here's my process (two bucket method/grit guards/lambs wool wash mitts)
- High pressure rinse off.
- Roof/windshield wash. Rinse
- Hood. Rinse
- Drivers side door down to bottom of window. Rinse
- Passengers side door down to bottom of window. Rinse
- Rear window. Rinse
- Drivers side bed halfway down. Rinse
- Passengers side bed halfway down. Rinse
- Tail-gate - Rinse.

Switch out rinse water & Change wash mitt

- Bottom half of total drivers side. Rinse
- Passenger side ditto
- Bumpers & touch up.
- Total rinse
- Dry (1/2 hour).

I realize it's a truck so it's more area to cover...but am I being a little too particular?

I sometimes see guys washing trucks with a boar hair 'broom' on a stick. Is this as safe as mitt washing? I'd imagine that could speed things up.

Thanks,
Colin.
 
I can do mine pretty fast... hose out the inside... hose and wash the outside... dry and done. No roof and only one window.

JimmyWithSlots003.jpg





:D
 
It takes me about 1 1/2 hours to wash and dry it correctly....:props:

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22 seconds.... That's how long it takes to get the 5 spot out for the kid down the street to wash it for me....

OK just kidding I would never let someone else touch my truck, last time was about the same as you 2.5-3 hours, I really should switch to the two bucket method instead of wash part of the truck, dump and rinse, wash more, dump and rinse... Usually go through 5 buckets unless it is really dirty.... I need to get a pressure washer though, and a steam cleaner for the underside.
 
Nice rigs guys & thanks for the info.

I guess I'm not too far off the mark, I just read a lot here about guys doing full details with interior in like 8 hours, and I simple can't see that being possible for me.

On a side note, apparently I'm also a slow polisher. I tried my PC out for the first time today and it took me 3 hours to figure out what combo worked best on the tail-gate. I'm still only about 90% happy with the results, but not bad for my first try (turned out that Optimum polish II with a LC orange pad, followed by optimum finish polish on a green pad looks pretty good). I'm going to head out to put some Collinite 845 on now..
 
Fast wash for me is 40 minutes. That's a wash and dry of the outside, including a quick wheel cleaning, and wipe down of the door jambs. And I can probably squeeze a window cleaning in there too. But that's for my Charger which I keep pretty clean anyway. A more normal time is 1.5 hours. That lets me vacuum the carpets, pay more attention to the interior, touch up under the hood, get some spray wax on there, etc.
 
It took me about 1 1/2 hours to do my 4 door Wrangler last night, and I was rushing hard because it started sprinkling 2/3's through the wash process (had to pull it in the garage to dry obviously). I imagine 2-2.5 hours would be a good average for me if I was "taking my time". Here's how I ended up doing it last night because I was rushed. Normally I would not do such large sections before rinsing except for the roof which is a tougher textured paint instead of the normal glossy scratch prone stuff on the rest of the vehicle. Usually I break the sides up in to 4 sections on each side not two. The rest I do as noted. I work from the top down and turn the mitt over when I get near the bottom............

(note: I used the two bucket method with Dodo BTBM and 1oz of ONR)
Spray off vehicle
Wash roof, rinse
Wash hood and windshield, rinse
wash pass. front fender & door, rinse
wash pass. rear door & fender & side window over fender, rinse
wash driver. front fender & door, rinse
wash driver. rear door & fender & side window over fender, rinse
wash grill & front bumper, rinse
wash rear window/gate/bumper, rinse
OPC and scrub wheels, tires, spot clean wheel wells, rinse

sheeting rinse of whole vehicle
dry windows, dry roof, dry rest of vehicle
dry jambs
window cleaner inside & out on all windows & mirrors
tire dressing

I was in a hurry because of the weather, let's just say I had a good sweaty workout combined with my washing hehe.
 
woah you guys rinse right after you're done washing each panel?... Is that better than just washing the whole car first and then rinsing?

My wash routine is just rinse the car, foam gun, rinse again, 2 bucket wash whole car, then rinse again; then wheels + tires.

Without wheels and tires, the whole thing should take me just roughly 1 hour if i take my time
 
HellDemon said:
woah you guys rinse right after you're done washing each panel?... Is that better than just washing the whole car first and then rinsing?

My wash routine is just rinse the car, foam gun, rinse again, 2 bucket wash whole car, then rinse again; then wheels + tires.

Without wheels and tires, the whole thing should take me just roughly 1 hour if i take my time
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I rinse each panel as I wash it out of habit. In the summer when it's warmer it's easy for the washing solution to dry on a panel so you want to rinse it right away and break the vehicle into sections. In the cooler winter months it's probably fine to do the whole vehicle as long as the washing solution you use is gentle on your wax/sealant.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I can do mine pretty fast... hose out the inside... hose and wash the outside... dry and done. No roof and only one window.

JimmyWithSlots003.jpg





:D
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Never pictured you as a lifted truck kind of guy, always pictured you as a cool guy in a convertible hotrod like the one in your sig:D sweet truck BTW.
 
Takes me 11/2 hrs with a spray wax, clean windows, door jams. 1hr 45min to do all that and a quick interior cleaner.
 
Jomax said:
Never pictured you as a lifted truck kind of guy, always pictured you as a cool guy in a convertible hotrod like the one in your sig:D sweet truck BTW.
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The 1959 Corvette in my Avatar is a customers, I just seem to have pictures of me doing grunt work on cars so I use them. I have a saying,

"If it has paint it gets polished"


Even if it's low down... :D


The Jimmy is my daily driver, it has a 454 BBC and 4:11 gears and gets it on. It's incredibly fun to drive. Building a new truck right now... it has doors and a 454 too. It's a vintage 1978 3/4 Ton 4x4 with 1-ton running gear plus slotted mags. I've already rebuilt both the front Dana 60 and the rear Corporate 14 bolt front and rear ends.

I've had my share of all kinds of cars and my favorite are the ones I can bolt together myself and can take a hit and keep on going and have plenty of power to do whatever I need it to do when I need it to do it.

Torque and real steel all the way...


:)
 
After a while you get use to it, should take you ~20-30 minutes now,
since you already got a pressure washer, get a foam canon
 
If I do a quick wash on my HHR, just the outside your looking at about an hour, including wheels and tires. If I am doing a full detail interior & exterior it will take me about 3-4 hours.

It's a small vehicle though and since I'm OCD about it I keep it pretty clean. Of course working out of it as a mobile detailer the interior has been neglected a little bit!
 
Usually 1 hour on my 4 door mid size sedan and a 1 1/2 or longer for larger vehicles.
 
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