Helful Tips!
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Don’t wash your car in the sun, if at all possible. There are a few reasons for this. The main reason is that the temperature of the paint’s surface gets very high (upwards of 150F) and this tends to ‘soften’ the paint. Washing and drying a very hot surface will increase the possibility of marring the surface. In addition, the hot car surface will significantly increase the creation of water spots. If you simply do not have shade and you live in a sunny area, you might consider investing in a car tent.
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When drying your car, the typical method is to wipe the microfiber towel over the surface – this has the potential of introducing some minor surface marring if you apply too much pressure. One method to avoid this is to completely open the towel, lay it on the surface of the car and ‘drag’ it across the surface without adding any pressure (except for its own weight). Another method is to ‘pat’ the car with the microfiber towel to avoid any and all dragging.
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Don’t let water dry on your car. Depending on the climate (temperature, humidity, sun, clouds, etc.) you may have to wash the car fairly quickly to prevent water from drying on the surface.
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After rinsing the soap off your car you will most likely have a lot of water beading. This occurs from polymers that are added to the car wash soap as well as the existing sacrificial layer that you have on the paint surface. As a result of this beading, your drying towel may become saturated too quickly (you can just ring it out). One way to circumvent this is to remove your spray nozzle from your hose and let the water from the hose ‘sheet’ the water beads off your car’s surface.
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The fact is that, while the intent is to minimize surface marring to a maximum, simply touching your car’s surface will impart some level of marring. Washing a car without touching the surface is not possible, even with a pressure washer (which is not recommended). Drying a car without touching the surface is possible, however, with a leaf blower – simply work yourself around the car continually blowing hot air over the surface.
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Be careful not to apply too much pressure on the wash mitt – you are trying to remove the dirt/grime from the paint surface without marring it. As such, while moving the wash mitt over the car’s surface, try to imagine that you are applying sun screen to badly sun-burned skin…light pressure is all that is necessary. For stubborn spots, let the soap soak a bit longer than usual – let the soap do its job.
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If you have a cloudy film on the paint surface after drying then you most likely used too much soap in your soap/water mixture – reduce the quantity of soap in the future to prevent the formation of a film. A measuring cup is essential when measuring the amount of soap to use.
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You should remove tags from all towels as these will mar the surface of your car’s finish.