Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
How to wash a coated car - The Gentle Approach for Washing a Car by Mike Phillips
Now that your car has a paint coating applied to the paint, (not a car wax or a synthetic paint sealant), either a ceramic or quartz based paint coating... how do you take care of it?
The most important thing you can do is to wash your car as often as needed to prevent an accumulation of dirt and other foreign contaminants to build up on the paint. Coatings won't wash off so there's no fear of wearing the coating off as long as you're washing the right way. By keeping the coated paint clean you get all the benefits of the coating, these are,
Those are the primary benefits off the top of my head... more than enough to make most people want a paint coating on their car's paint.
But a paint coating is NOT an invisible forcefield protecting your car's paint. Even when a paint coating does reduce fine scratching my increasing hardness and slip you still have to wash and dry your car carefully. This brings me to what I call the Gentle Approach to washing a car. The Gentle Approach for washing a car is for a car that has had the paint perfected and is in new, like new or show car condition.
I also teach a method called The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car
but this method is for getting a car surgically clean BEFORE you put the car through any machine polishing steps.
There's a time and place for both methods and if you have a paint coating on your car's paint then you want to be using the Gentle Approach for Washing a Car to protect the coating and thus protect the features provided by the coating.
The Gentle Approach for Washing a Car is REAL SIMPLE.
Don't scrub the paint
Most people don't pay attention as to how they move a wash mitt over their car's paint. In fact, the uninformed car owner hasn't got a clue and you can tell when you watch them wash their car. When they wash their car they move or push the wash mitt over a panel multiple, multiple times. And this is not only unnecessary it also inflicts swirls and scratches into the paint. If the paint is coated, it inflicts swirls and scratches into the coating and probably the paint.
Here's why....
If there is dirt on the car and you loosen it with the first few passes of a wash mitt, to continue rubbing the mitt over the paint will grind this loosened dirt into the paint.
So don't scrub your car's paint when you wash it.
How should you move the wash mitt? When washing the car body panels,
Step 1: Start at the highest point, the roof.
Step 2: Standing at one side, start your mitt in the middle of the roof and then make only a few passes from side to side until you work the mitt outward to where your standing. The direction you move the mitt would be from front to back or from the front of the car towards the back of the car and then back to the front. A simple, back and forth movement with only enough passes to get you from the middle of the roof to the side of the car.
Step 3: Rinse your mitt off in a bucket of water (Grit Guard and Grit Guard Washboard optional), or spray the mitt off with a strong blast of water to remove any dirt gathered onto the mitt so you don't simply rub the dirt loosened of one panel and grind it into the next panel.
Step 4: Move to the other side of the car and repeat this to the roof. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 5: Repeat this to the hood and trunk lid. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 6: Repeat this to the vertical panels starting at the top working down. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 7: Wash the front of the car. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 8: Wash the back of the car - usually one of the dirtiest sections besides the lowest portions of vertical panels. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 9: Give the car a final rinse and then dry.
Drying your car
When drying the car either use a car dryer to blow the water off or use high quality drying towels and PAT the water off - don't wipe the water off.
Now follow me...
If you car has a properly applied paint coating - dirt already doesn't want to stick to the surface. So all you need to do is make a pass or two with your wash mitt to loosen any bond the dirt has with the finish and the FLUSH the loosened dirt off the panel.
If you loosen the dirt and the make multiple, multiple passes with a wash mitt you will grind the loosened dirt into the coating and into the paint and now in order to undo the damage you have to start all the way back at the beginning. That is, compounding, polishing, chemically stripping the paint and the applying the coating.
So S-L-O-W down and think about what you're doing when washing a coated car. This is how you can prolong the life of the coating and the beautiful finish the coating creates.
Tools I use to wash a coated car
A few weeks ago we applied Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Paint Coating to my wife's SL500. This last weekend was the FIRST time I washed her car since the coating had been applied. (I was in London for Waxstock for a week or I would have washed it sooner).
Here's the tools I use to carefully wash and dry the coated paint on the SL 500
Foam Gun to Wash
I love the foam gun, it's the only way I wash my truck and the wife's car.
Keep it Simple Simon
I like to keep car detailing simple. In the forum and the Facebook world lots of guys like to brag about how many steps they do when detailing a car. I like to brag about how few I do.
McKee's 37 One-Quart Foam Gun
Autogeek's Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt
These work great when you use them correctly. These are not the cheap ones you find at discount stores. You can throw these in the washer and dry and they won't fall apart.
McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel
Love this stuff. Works great when you wash your car/wheels often and it's safe for any surface or finish. It's the safety factor that is important to me as I don't want to refinish or replace the wheels on our rigs or anyone else's ride.
Speed Master Wheel Brush
You should see the wheel barrels on the back of the wheels on the Mercedes, they are just as clean as the face of the wheels because every time I wash the car I methodically wash the wheels including using the Speed Master Wheel Brush to clean the barrels and the back of the spokes by bending the brush.
Wheel Woolies Black Boar's Hair Wheel Brush
Love this brush, perfect balance of bristles that are not to stiff nor to soft. Worth its weight in gold when you regularly wash your car's wheels.
McKee's 37 Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator
This is actually the tire cleaner that's matched for McKee's 37 Tire Coating. I don't put a coating on the Mercedes tires but instead a dressing but the cleaner still works great.
Low profile tire brush
When it comes to scrubbing tires, a short bristle works better and is easier for you to scrub with. (that's two things)
Water sprayer with a great shower setting
I get these at the local hardware store. I really appreciate a GREAT shower setting for all kinds of car washing procedures like flushing wheels clean, flushing body panels clean and also for engine detailing when doing a traditional engine detail.
Note you can see the brass quick connectors on all my water tools. You can use the sprayer that comes with the Foam Gun but it doesn't work anywhere near as good as this $5.00 sprayer and with the quick connectors it makes the rinsing a lot more effective and in the big picture saves me time.
Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towels
I use approximately 4 of the 20" by 40" Guzzlers to dry the car and then also wipe down all the jambs. AT the time I did this wash we had just received the new McKee's 37 Turbo Car Dryer. In future write-ups I'll share this tool for drying a coated car.
Stretching
This my friend is called stretching. It's when after you're finished washing your car you open all the doors, trunk lid and hood to wipe dry all the jambs. Kind of looks like a human stretching out before exercising.
Perfect engine compartment
I keep all the plastic trim inside the engine compartment treated with Pinnacle Black Label Leather/Vinyl Coating. Keeps the engine looking brand new all the time with no greasy look, feel or residue.
With the top dropped this beauty is ready to roll!
Questions? Comments?
Now that your car has a paint coating applied to the paint, (not a car wax or a synthetic paint sealant), either a ceramic or quartz based paint coating... how do you take care of it?
The most important thing you can do is to wash your car as often as needed to prevent an accumulation of dirt and other foreign contaminants to build up on the paint. Coatings won't wash off so there's no fear of wearing the coating off as long as you're washing the right way. By keeping the coated paint clean you get all the benefits of the coating, these are,
- High gloss finish I call the glassy look.
- Maximum protection from any foreign substance that if the substance were to land on the paint it would cause damage.
- Fast washing since dirt is released easily.
- Fast drying since water wants to get away from the surface.
- Long lasting - Hey who doesn't like a product that lasts a long time.
- Increased scratch and swirl resistance.
Those are the primary benefits off the top of my head... more than enough to make most people want a paint coating on their car's paint.
But a paint coating is NOT an invisible forcefield protecting your car's paint. Even when a paint coating does reduce fine scratching my increasing hardness and slip you still have to wash and dry your car carefully. This brings me to what I call the Gentle Approach to washing a car. The Gentle Approach for washing a car is for a car that has had the paint perfected and is in new, like new or show car condition.
I also teach a method called The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car
but this method is for getting a car surgically clean BEFORE you put the car through any machine polishing steps.
There's a time and place for both methods and if you have a paint coating on your car's paint then you want to be using the Gentle Approach for Washing a Car to protect the coating and thus protect the features provided by the coating.
The Gentle Approach for Washing a Car is REAL SIMPLE.
Don't scrub the paint
Most people don't pay attention as to how they move a wash mitt over their car's paint. In fact, the uninformed car owner hasn't got a clue and you can tell when you watch them wash their car. When they wash their car they move or push the wash mitt over a panel multiple, multiple times. And this is not only unnecessary it also inflicts swirls and scratches into the paint. If the paint is coated, it inflicts swirls and scratches into the coating and probably the paint.
Here's why....
If there is dirt on the car and you loosen it with the first few passes of a wash mitt, to continue rubbing the mitt over the paint will grind this loosened dirt into the paint.
So don't scrub your car's paint when you wash it.
How should you move the wash mitt? When washing the car body panels,
Step 1: Start at the highest point, the roof.
Step 2: Standing at one side, start your mitt in the middle of the roof and then make only a few passes from side to side until you work the mitt outward to where your standing. The direction you move the mitt would be from front to back or from the front of the car towards the back of the car and then back to the front. A simple, back and forth movement with only enough passes to get you from the middle of the roof to the side of the car.
Step 3: Rinse your mitt off in a bucket of water (Grit Guard and Grit Guard Washboard optional), or spray the mitt off with a strong blast of water to remove any dirt gathered onto the mitt so you don't simply rub the dirt loosened of one panel and grind it into the next panel.
Step 4: Move to the other side of the car and repeat this to the roof. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 5: Repeat this to the hood and trunk lid. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 6: Repeat this to the vertical panels starting at the top working down. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 7: Wash the front of the car. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 8: Wash the back of the car - usually one of the dirtiest sections besides the lowest portions of vertical panels. Rinse the mitt after each use before using it again.
Step 9: Give the car a final rinse and then dry.
Drying your car
When drying the car either use a car dryer to blow the water off or use high quality drying towels and PAT the water off - don't wipe the water off.
Now follow me...
If you car has a properly applied paint coating - dirt already doesn't want to stick to the surface. So all you need to do is make a pass or two with your wash mitt to loosen any bond the dirt has with the finish and the FLUSH the loosened dirt off the panel.
If you loosen the dirt and the make multiple, multiple passes with a wash mitt you will grind the loosened dirt into the coating and into the paint and now in order to undo the damage you have to start all the way back at the beginning. That is, compounding, polishing, chemically stripping the paint and the applying the coating.
So S-L-O-W down and think about what you're doing when washing a coated car. This is how you can prolong the life of the coating and the beautiful finish the coating creates.
Tools I use to wash a coated car
A few weeks ago we applied Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Paint Coating to my wife's SL500. This last weekend was the FIRST time I washed her car since the coating had been applied. (I was in London for Waxstock for a week or I would have washed it sooner).
Here's the tools I use to carefully wash and dry the coated paint on the SL 500
Foam Gun to Wash
I love the foam gun, it's the only way I wash my truck and the wife's car.
Keep it Simple Simon
I like to keep car detailing simple. In the forum and the Facebook world lots of guys like to brag about how many steps they do when detailing a car. I like to brag about how few I do.
McKee's 37 One-Quart Foam Gun
Autogeek's Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt
These work great when you use them correctly. These are not the cheap ones you find at discount stores. You can throw these in the washer and dry and they won't fall apart.
McKee's 37 Foaming Wheel Cleaner Gel
Love this stuff. Works great when you wash your car/wheels often and it's safe for any surface or finish. It's the safety factor that is important to me as I don't want to refinish or replace the wheels on our rigs or anyone else's ride.
Speed Master Wheel Brush
You should see the wheel barrels on the back of the wheels on the Mercedes, they are just as clean as the face of the wheels because every time I wash the car I methodically wash the wheels including using the Speed Master Wheel Brush to clean the barrels and the back of the spokes by bending the brush.
Wheel Woolies Black Boar's Hair Wheel Brush
Love this brush, perfect balance of bristles that are not to stiff nor to soft. Worth its weight in gold when you regularly wash your car's wheels.
McKee's 37 Tire & Rubber Rejuvenator
This is actually the tire cleaner that's matched for McKee's 37 Tire Coating. I don't put a coating on the Mercedes tires but instead a dressing but the cleaner still works great.
Low profile tire brush
When it comes to scrubbing tires, a short bristle works better and is easier for you to scrub with. (that's two things)
Water sprayer with a great shower setting
I get these at the local hardware store. I really appreciate a GREAT shower setting for all kinds of car washing procedures like flushing wheels clean, flushing body panels clean and also for engine detailing when doing a traditional engine detail.
Note you can see the brass quick connectors on all my water tools. You can use the sprayer that comes with the Foam Gun but it doesn't work anywhere near as good as this $5.00 sprayer and with the quick connectors it makes the rinsing a lot more effective and in the big picture saves me time.
Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towels
I use approximately 4 of the 20" by 40" Guzzlers to dry the car and then also wipe down all the jambs. AT the time I did this wash we had just received the new McKee's 37 Turbo Car Dryer. In future write-ups I'll share this tool for drying a coated car.
Stretching
This my friend is called stretching. It's when after you're finished washing your car you open all the doors, trunk lid and hood to wipe dry all the jambs. Kind of looks like a human stretching out before exercising.
Perfect engine compartment
I keep all the plastic trim inside the engine compartment treated with Pinnacle Black Label Leather/Vinyl Coating. Keeps the engine looking brand new all the time with no greasy look, feel or residue.
With the top dropped this beauty is ready to roll!
Questions? Comments?
