Do you clean your own car?

Poll

Do you wash your own car?

Ya, or nay. You'll see people offering hand car washes everywhere but do you trust them or do you enjoy doing it yourself :ninja:

Reply 1

StriderHort

I did mine myself the other day just as the sun came out funnily enough. I don't go for the whole waxing/polishing deal, But I do get satisfaction just from sponging it down, I like to keep clean alloys as well.

I'm cautious about carwashes as my way (Glasgow) is rife with crap dodgy ones and are frankly owned by the sort of people you can't complain to. I just hear too many horror stories...my boss recently got hit with £2000+ damage to a Porsche from over enthusiastic jetwashing. (In fairness this cost is mostly down to Porsche bits being sooper expensive to replace)

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

8472

Original post by StriderHort

*shivers*

That's one of my biggest fears. It's bad enough having picked uo some scratches and marks from my car just be parked in public.. Let alone giving it to someone to end up with its paint ruined :eek3:

Reply 3

TensorTympani

I washed mine yesterday.

Original post by 8472

Ya, or nay. You'll see people offering hand car washes everywhere but do you trust them or do you enjoy doing it yourself :ninja:

Reply 4

Cleverboy1991

I do clean it every few weeks or so, the exhaust and rear bumper gets black and dirty with soot as I drive a dirty diesel so that can be hard to clean. yesterday I used a carpet washer on the seats on floor of the car and it feels a lot better, took about 2 hours but the water was black so shows how dirty it can get.
I carpet wash it about 1 or 2 times a year

Reply 5

Kinyonga

Raaaaaaaaiiiiiin

but otherwise yes, I wash it

Reply 6

8472

Original post by Cleverboy1991

What carpet washer do you use? :holmes:

I kind of really need to my seats as they haven't been done since I bought the car and had it valeted a few years ago :ninja:

Reply 7

IWMTom

Given its warm outside again today, it's a perfect excuse for me to detail my car in preparation for the summer months.

Give me strength.

Reply 8

PhoenixFortune

I washed my car myself yesterday. I've never been tempted to go to a car wash of any kind, just because 1) I don't want to pay for it, and 2) I feel like I do a more thorough job because it's my own car.

I also had to shampoo my back seats (previous owner's unidentified slippage + moisture from the recent cold/rainy weather = surface mould and tide marks :eviltongue:

), so I knew yesterday was a good day to do it as the heat would help it dry out.

Reply 9

8472

Original post by IWMTom

Given its warm outside again today, it's a perfect excuse for me to detail my car in preparation for the summer months.

Give me strength.

It's unfortunate where I live right now that the sun is constantly on my car so the surface gets too hot to do any real work on. Have to wait for cloudy days or sunset :ninja:

Reply 10

IWMTom

Original post by 8472

It's unfortunate where I live right now that the sun is constantly on my car so the surface gets too hot to do any real work on. Have to wait for cloudy days or sunset :ninja:

I'll be getting it washed and prepped whilst the sun's out and sorting some bits and pieces inside, then it should be okay to polish - if not, I'll have to put it in my garage, but space is a bit limited :frown:

Reply 11

8472

Original post by IWMTom

Aye.
First time I ever did a full detail I was just so excited to have all my products and give it go.. Clay bar + hot paintwork. You can imagine the marks left by slightly clay infused water :indiff:

Reply 12

IWMTom

Original post by 8472

Got half of it done before I packed in. Sun was a *****.

Reply 13

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

Sometimes i wash it myself, sometimes i pay to have it washed.
I always clean inside myself though.

Reply 14

8472

Original post by IWMTom

Got half of it done before I packed in. Sun was a *****.

Slightly cloudier today. Hopefully shall clean after work :crossedf:

Reply 15

NX172

It's pretty time consuming but given the opportunity I'd always prefer to wash my cars myself. Otherwise it'll be done at a top car wash (I wouldn't accept anything less than snow foam+2 bucket method) or get a detailer to do it properly.

I wouldn't use the cheap eastern european-run car washes for a car I care about. They're all about speed and low cost. You'll find nothing but poor wash techniques.

Here's a before and after I got my daily car polished. you can see it was heavily swirled before from when the previous owner looked after it. This is what happens when you use a cheap car wash. Also, avoid machine washes like the plague.