What do you wash your car with?

[hogweed]

No, I don't mean "a sponge"... what do you put in the water? I've always used a handful of washing machine detergent, or a squirt of Fairy Liquid, but that's probably not the best, and can be difficult to rinse off...

[Gwynleym10]

oranges and lemons

[Cloggy Saint]

a car wash token

[Gwynleym10]

a car wash token

surely that would scratch it?


Seriuosly i tend to use cheap bubble bath or something, or try and nick some of my girlfriends expensive shampoo! my car then smells of coconuts......

If is o.k for the body, then its o.k for paint on a car

[Cloggy Saint]

a car wash token

surely that would scratch it?

[e30bemer]

i use the Meguairs range!
its very good!!
brings the car up a treat!
I have a bag fullof the stuff!
"borrowed" from my old work!

[JazzMan]

Meguairs Gold Class shampoo - works really well to a point where it almost looks waxed after drying (on silver). I also use Gold Class wax, but I am thinking of giving the 3 step stuff a go.

[Hyperion]

just normal car wash saop, from Rally or Wynn's. But i used to use dishwashing liquid , bad idea not good for the car paint, it will start to go dull.

[technoviolet]

Dont use fairy liquid bud,it'll fcuk up your e30's sexual orientation,it'good for casserole dishes but not paintwork.
I use meguires nxt wash,get it from halfords.very good and leaves your e30 smelling nice for the laydees

[e30bemer]

also use the NXT polish too!
its pukka stuff!
gives the car a mirror finish!

[coldo]

Swear by autoglym products.

Autoglym shampoo
Autoglym ultra deep shine polish
Autoglym wax

Car gets a general was/dry 3 times a week
Use all 3 on a weekly basis.
and t-cut every month.

Tempted to send it in for a proffessional buff/polish/wax soon though, when funds allow

[pacerpete]

I use celit bang and cif (jif) , no more nasty grease marks after that lot, ajax aint bad either !

[PeteE30Tourer]

Seriuosly i tend to use cheap bubble bath or something, or try and nick some of my girlfriends expensive shampoo! my car then smells of coconuts......

Nice one! I genuinely laughed out loud at this!

Very tempted to try the Mequires stuff - everyone seems to rate it these days. Trouble is, i dont get enough time to do a 17 stage process!!

[Cloggy Saint]

what do people use to clean headlinings? Mine is FILTHY

[Adam318i]

I use the Zymol car shampoo stuff, smells of Banana and Coconut

[BrAdZ]

Turtel wax.... I found it better than meguires & Autoglym makes everything shine!! hell i even use it on my van!!

[liam012]

jaysus dont use washing up liquid - it turns your red into pink your black into grey your yellow into ... i don't know

i must admit i bit the bullet and shelled out for autoglym everything - i have to say after walking funny for aweek from paying such a high price - got round to cleaning the car and their stuff works a treat

[Dominitry]

Just regular washing up liquid in a bowl, but i think it's time i went auto glym.

[E30Mark]

The Zymol shampoo from Halfords is ace! A bottle of this will last you years!

Plus it smells nice too

[billgatese30]

i use the zaino car shampoo.

its good as it tends to help the water run off the car quite well and doesn't have many suds either, so they don't leave scarmy marks as much if its a hot day and starts to dry before you can dry.

it also has some uv protection built in so it almost acts as a polish in itself




also strong fairly liquid is what removes layers of polish and wax...so be careful and don;t use too much.

[MISSY30]

Isn't the main ingredient in Fairy liquid Salt? Not really ideal.
I fancy some Zymol to wash my hair in!

[REEDY]

I use Turtle wax`s Car shampoo!!

Then use BMW polish!! (only coz its free!!)

Is actually pretty good!

[pomebastard]

Bollloxs it's all the same stuff with different smells!

[Rich_W]

What do I wash your car with?



No Im sorry, Im not following you.

What is "wash"

[e30_318i]

i use tfr (traffic film remover) that i have left from my old valeting bussiness. got about another 90ltrs left! does the trick with sap and bugs aslong as u steam the car off afterwards!

then a good coat of autoglm polish then som autoglm lifeshine paint protector.

the wheels i use tfr on and the window polish to polish them up and headlinings i used to use a wet vac and some vinal/leather seat cleaner.

[johnono]

i take it to the jetwash, and dry it with complimentary tissue

[RevBillyG]

The cheap halfords stuff works fine for me.

I was always told never to use washing up liquid as it contains salt which is extremely bad for your paintwork.

Ooh and I've recently been using one of those brushes that goes on the end of a hose. Stick a poostick in it (erm..that's a shampoo stick that you can get from Wilkinsons dead cheap), great foaming goodness that gets the worst of the crap of your car and wheels before you wash it properly.

[Simon13]

i cannot believe u muppets are washing your cars with washing up liquid and shampoo, u need a slap if u are

t-cut every month? that will f**k the paint work up nicely

how am i reading this on an enthusiasts website

Me i like meguairs seems very good for the money, found it a country mile better than autoglym products and on par if not better than some of the low range zymol stuff.

From what i have seen Zaino is top drawer if ure serious about keeping the car in showroom condition. But for me meguairs i love the wet look their carnuba (sp) stuff gives

[panesar_e30]

turtle wax does the job, tried and tested the rest.

[jonbuoy]

Don't rate Autoglym at all!! It's not that good in the sun light, dries too quick and is hard to get off. Would prefer Maguire's but sometime's funds are'nt there so i use the local hand car wash no brushes!! just spray gun and then Simonz car polish, fcuking good stuff and you don't need to polish it after the next wash, wipe over with a shammy and she gleeeeaaammm's

[c76jon]

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

fairy liquid will only strip any wax/polish that is on your car

tho i dont use the stuff meguires do some "kind" shampoo

zymol is good but the stuff sold in halfords is toss
go direct to zymol the one sold in shops is for mass market and it doesnt live up to zymols standards

autoglym!! dont get me started.this stuff is total wank .stay away.its hard work gives shite results .



dont use sponges or chamois leathers
they do more damage than you could imagine!!

john

[Jhonno]

what do you use other than a sponge n chamois?!!

[c76jon]

cars should be .....

washed with microfibre
dried with microfibre(waffle weave)

polish/wax if being applied by hand should be applied with microfibre
above should be taken off with micrfibre

windows cleaned with........................microfibre

good quality MF will not damage paint at all

spionges hold grit etc and you then put scratches into paint/laquer as you continue to wash

chamois do the same

john

[Jhonno]

microfibre? the stuff you get that comes in rolls?

do you throw it away after every wash

[c76jon]

no

thats stockinette and thats like 80 grit sandpaper

microfibre is a cloth that has millions of fibres that trap the crap and move it away from paint surface

you wash them in w/machine without fab/conditioner and use again

good suppliers do different thicknesses etc for different jobs

plusher is better for takin product off

and for washing

then less plush for glass and a "waffle weave" for drying

i can wipe an e30 down after washing with a good size w/weave towel and i wont wring it out once and car will be bone dry.the absorbency is amazing

if u use one you will never use anything else

john