DIY Auto Detailing Thread

[AgronAlum]

I’d love to get some advice from those who know what they’re doing. Even though i’ve heard many times that automatic car washes are bad for your paint. I have a membership to varsity car wash in Ames and absolutely love it. With having four young kids, I’m kind of fanatical about going through up to three times a week to be able to vacuum and wash down the inside and outside of my car.

I am noticing the swirl faint scratches in my paint and I’ve wondered about doing a quarterly buff with a machine in compound. My goal isn’t to have an My goal isn’t have a show car but I do care about keeping the vehicle in good shape.Anyone have any advice?

Touch car washes will cause swirl marks. The depth of the swirl marks will dictate whether you use a compound or polish and what type of pad. Being new, buy a DA polisher over a rotary. You are less likely to cause damage.

Chances are a polish and a polishing pad will do the trick without causing any damage by burning through the clear coat. Just don’t stick in one spot and follow the directions.

Quarterly seems entirely overkill IMO. Polish it, keep it waxed/coated and only take a machine to it when it’s necessary. Every time you take a machine to it, you’re removing clear. More aggressive compounds and pads will get deeper scratches but remove more clear in the process.

Watch YouTube videos. Everyone has their own opinion and there are 1000 ways to do things. Try it out and see what you like. Remember if you go too aggressive, there is no going back. Once the clear is burned there is no getting it back without a respray. Start light and go heavier if needed.

Edit: one more tidbit. Certain polishes and compounds will damage plastic/rubber. Make sure you follow the directions and cautions on whatever product you buy.

 

[0u812]

I’d love to get some advice from those who know what they’re doing. Even though i’ve heard many times that automatic car washes are bad for your paint. I have a membership to varsity car wash in Ames and absolutely love it. With having four young kids, I’m kind of fanatical about going through up to three times a week to be able to vacuum and wash down the inside and outside of my car.

I am noticing the swirl faint scratches in my paint and I’ve wondered about doing a quarterly buff with a machine in compound. My goal isn’t to have an My goal isn’t have a show car but I do care about keeping the vehicle in good shape.Anyone have any advice?

you will get swirl fast from automatic car washes that touch the paint. No way around that, and yes, they are definitely bad for the paint.

Maybe try a hand wash once a week in your driveway/yard. Water the grass, kids get to play etc. Do a full detail or have it done, and the hand wash (proper top down, two mitts, two buckets method) will keep it looking nice a long time.

I used to do the diy hand spray wash in the winter to keep the crud down and the salt/dirt/grime off in the winter too.

 

[Malty Flannel]

I’d love to get some advice from those who know what they’re doing. Even though i’ve heard many times that automatic car washes are bad for your paint. I have a membership to varsity car wash in Ames and absolutely love it. With having four young kids, I’m kind of fanatical about going through up to three times a week to be able to vacuum and wash down the inside and outside of my car.

I am noticing the swirl faint scratches in my paint and I’ve wondered about doing a quarterly buff with a machine in compound. My goal isn’t to have an My goal isn’t have a show car but I do care about keeping the vehicle in good shape.Anyone have any advice?

If you want to keep using the tunnel wash and are okay with correcting the swirl marks afterwards then a pretty simple single step compound/polish would be your best bet - something like 3D One combined with medium pad from any decent supplier - Rupes, Lakes, Menzerna, The Rag Co, Adams, etc. You can get the compound and pads easy on amazon. Get a 15dual action polisher with 5-6" backing plate; you can get good corded ones for well under $150. Harbor Freight supposedly has a very good one for the price.

The only downside to quarterly buffing is the wear on your clear coat. Everytime you buff out the scratches you're taking more and more clearcoat off and if you're doing quarterly, there's a good chance that in 5 years you'll actually take off paint.

 

[Malty Flannel]

you will get swirl fast from automatic car washes that touch the paint. No way around that, and yes, they are definitely bad for the paint.

Maybe try a hand wash once a week in your driveway/yard. Water the grass, kids get to play etc. Do a full detail or have it done, and the hand wash (proper top down, two mitts, two buckets method) will keep it looking nice a long time.

I used to do the diy hand spray wash in the winter to keep the crud down and the salt/dirt/grime off in the winter too.

Handwashes with kids has been fun to build in to our schedule; it's basically an hour of play time with them. I use a foam cannon and pressure washer and the kids have a blast playing with the foam, washing their scooters, etc.