The lazy way to wash a car...

[Kari]

You can now wash your entire vehicle with some sort of Armor All wipe...so long as it's not TOO dirty. They make car wash wipes, glass wipes, cleaning wipes, and protectant wipes. So, for about $12, you're good to go.This is especially good, I think, for people like me who tend to miss spots when they "really" wash it, like I did tonight. I had so many little missed spots...but it wasn't enough to warrant dragging the whole assembly out again, so I just got out a wipe and went over the spots I missed, and also removed the water spots that were left over. Cleaned all the glass inside and out with glass wipes, went over the dash, doors and console with the cleaning wipes and then the protectant, and my Vibe looks lovely now. The best it's looked since I bought it.I'm not much of a car washer...so these wipes are definitely a really neat thing. Just thought I'd share!

[NSimkins]

quote:You can now wash your entire vehicle with some sort of Armor All wipe...so long as it's not TOO dirty. Looks pretty neat - here's a link to info from the Armor All website:http://www.armorall.com/prodcat/pages/c ... _1.10.html

[Kari]

I went to Wal-mart to buy "real" car washing soap as I do not trust my mother's laundry detergent washing method, and it takes me too long at the do-it-yourself thing plus their brushes are too rough for my liking, and I ran across all of this stuff. Still bought real soap and a sponge, too, obviously, but this stuff was really neat. The cleaning and protectant wipes for the interior come in a 2 pack for $5 at Wal-mart.

[NSimkins]

quote:I went to Wal-mart to buy "real" car washing soap as I do not trust my mother's laundry detergent washing method.You would make many people here cringe if you told them you washed your vehicle with laundry/dish washing soap... that's definitely not recommended. Glad you see the light. Do your mom a favor and buy her a bottle of car wash soap too. I'll have to check these things out the next time I stop at the store. Seems they would work pretty well for those days when you get a light rain or dirt from the dew in the mornings.

[Kari]

Yeah, I read all about the dishwashing soap thing...Mine's been washed once with laundry detergent, but I didn't do a very good job and only did it to get the mud off, so I don't think I interred any permanent damage.

[ragingfish]

Laundry detergent and/or dishwashing liquid strip the wax right off the car!If you used either one to wash your car, make sure to rewax pronto!

[Kari]

The way I can't even manage to get the whole car washing it, I'm not real sure I want to attempt waxing it...

[ragingfish]

I used to be anti-wax too...sounded too labor intensive, too much work. But I did it once, it was very easy, and now I do it monthly!I do the mothers 3 step system:clay barsealer/glazewaxI skip the clay bar a lot...only need to do it once yearly...I plan to try to do it every 6 months...mainly, right before winter, and probably again right before summer...It's VERY easy to do...just need some orbital motion going...It's a bit sticky, but you can tell if you missed spots real easy. After a few minutes, the wax dries to a white haze. Anywhere there is no haze, there is no wax! Very easy...Just DON'T WAX THE CLADDING or any other plastics! I learned about that one the hard way...

[Kari]

So when you say I "stripped the wax" with the laundry detergent... (even though it was like 2 drops in a great big bucket)...did I really do anything, if I've never waxed the car before?See, a lot of my problem is that I'm like...5 feet tall. I have to have a step ladder to wash the top of the car, and even then I have trouble reaching all the way to the middle. That's a big part of why I'm not real big on waxing it...I think I'd have trouble getting to it. :How long does it take, though?

[ragingfish]

To do it right, and do it well, leave a full day.To reach the roof, simply open the moonroof, and stand through it! 'Tis what I do! THen I use a stepladder to reach the back end...