What are some of the better cleaning products (soaps) to use when cleaning the exterior?. Someone told me: 1 tsp of mild dish soap to a bucket of warm water.

 

this is from the stratusphere website..

Exterior:

Products:

*I recommend Meguiar's products, Cleaner Wax, Gold Class Liquid Wax, Tire Shine, Etc...*

Cleaner Wax- A wax (usually paste) that has cleaning/abrasive agents to clean impurities out of your clear coat/paint
Clay Bar- A clay bar that works very well to remove impurities that cleaner wax cannot remove
Carnuba wax- Just a wax, nothing that will remove scuffs or anything from paint, usually used on newer paint, or after/between waxing with a cleaner wax
Rubbing/polishing compound- Used to remove small scuffs in clear coat... almost equivalent to wet sanding, but while also putting on a layer of wax-like substance
Car wash concentrate- What you will use to wash your car
Car wash concentrate for wax removal- Used to remove all old wax from your exterior, you can also use Dawn, but only in small amounts
Bug and tar remover- Exactly what it says... but you can use Simple Green which is cheaper and smells like spearmint, lol.
Tire Shine- duh.

Applicators/drying:
Terrycloth- can be soft or very abrasive. If you don't want scratches, don't be cheap. Used for drying, applying, or removing wax
Microfiber- another cloth used for drying, applying, or removing wax
Sponge- Used to wash, and in some cases apply wax
Wool mit- Used to wash, or remove wax dust
Bug sponge- A sponge with a net over it to remove tough bug guts and other nasty things you might find on your car
Tire Shine Applicator- A weird shaped sponge to apply a gel tire dressing

Tools:
Orbital buffer- Craftsman makes a couple, 8" and 10", not a fast circular motion, but orbital. Uses different bonnets. NEVER applicate wax with one, it sucks for that. Only for removing wax (terrycloth bonnet) and dust (wool bonnet)
Polisher

Complete exterior detail How-To:

Wash car using Dawn or other dish liquid, or special car wash concentrate to remove wax. I prefer to use a wool wash mit and dawn. Doesn't matter the temp of the water. Make sure to be very maticulous on the bottom 1/4 of the car, I usually use a bug sponge and simple green on the bottom 1/4 and pay special attention to the fender wells because road tar and paint usually spray onto this area, but make sure NOT to let the simple green dry as it can ruin your paint (same with any bug/tar remover). Try not to let any soap dry on the paint, rinse very well.

After rinsing, open the doors and clean out the door jams as best you can, bug sponge works awesome here, and you can simply wipe with wet sponge. Then close the doors and rinse the whole car down again.

If you have rims... You can use a rim cleaner, but most people won't have to, the bug sponge and soapy water does well. If you feel you need a rim cleaner, follow instructions on the container, and make sure you get the right cleaner for your type of rim. Remember, some brushes will scratch your expensive wheels, and some cleaners will ruin the finish (as well as provide you no help when they do ruin your rims, heh, read the disclaimers on the bottles)

Dry, Dry, Dry. I use a terrycloth towel I stole from the Courtyard in Elmhurst (lol, that is, until my brother stole it). A good quality terrycloth towel will not leave lint, and won't scratch. If you want, spend money on Microfiber... but try and not be cheap! The stiching on the outside of microfiber cloths can scratch your clear coat easily. Sam's Club has a package of 10 of them that are awesome and won't scratch your paint. Make sure to dry very well, including door jams, around mirrors, windows, under hood, and trunk because any moisture will screw you up when waxing. I usually dry as best I can, then let the car sit 10-15 min. to make sure all the water dripped out or dried up.

Wax. Choose your wax. For most cars older than 1 year old, I would use a cleaner wax once to twice a year... but for older cars, 3+ years old, use a cleaner wax 4 times a year using the wax removal washing method. If your car is newer, or it's between cleaner waxes, use a regular car wash concentrate to wash and use a nice carnuba wax.

Using a terrycloth (cleaner), microfiber (carnuba), or sponge applicator (either), apply a small amount of wax in a small circular motion, starting wherever you want. Make sure you are NOT in the sunlight, and the car's surface is NOT hot. The best temp. to do this is 65*-80* in a garage or in the evening when the sun is going down.

Once you get the whole car covered in a thin layer of wax and it is dry, take out your orbital buffer with CLEAN AND DRY terrycloth/microfiber bonnet and go to town, making sure to start and end where you started and ended waxing.
When you have done all you can with the orbital, use a clean & dry terrycloth towel or microfiber cloth to remove the excess wax, usually found around mirrors, door jams, trunk lids, hood seams, etc...

At this point you can say to heck with it and be done, BUT... I usually put the wool or clean microfiber bonnet on the orbital to finish and remove the dust from the car. You can also use just a clean terrycloth or microfiber cloth to do the same.

If you used a Cleaner wax, you can go ahead and apply another coat of cleaner wax depending on the age and condition of your paint... usually I'll do this if it's been 6 months or more since the car had been waxed, OR use a liquid carnuba wax as a second layer. Just do the same thing, minus the washing, cause that'd be stupid.

Now, some tire shine, and you're set!

 

Thanks for the tips.

I am going to buy Simple Green, a microfibre cloth, window drying cloths and some Dawn tomorrow.

I heard that you shouldn't wash your car in the sun (either sunrise or in the evening after it cools down).

 

Some products say you can use them in the sun but I've generally found that things go better if the surface of the car is relatively cool and in the shade.

Dish washing soaps like Dawn will do a good job of cleaning the surface of the car but they'll also totally strip any wax you have on the car. If you've going to wax it afterwards anyways, that's Ok, otherwise I'd use a car wash product that's not quite so harsh.

Have fun!
Steve R.

 

Yeah, it's true when they say you shouldn't wash your car in the sun or when the surface is hot. Water will dry before you can dry it yourself, causing water spots after.
Also, I wouldn't recommend using dish washing soap. They may be too "aggressive" for your paint. You're better off buying a soap meant for cars.

 

you should only use the dishwashing soap if you are trying to strip off the old wax otherwise just use car cleaning soaps