How to properly wash your car exterior for finish and protection

 Wash your car exterior like a pro!

 Find the right location:

• Avoid washing the car over dirt
• Concrete or equivalent flooring is best
• Heavily shaded area, without leaves or birds is best
• Access to a water hose

Get the right supplies: 

 

 

You can use the supplies you like best, but here is what I use and get good results with.

1. Wash bucket (or two, for two bucket method)
2. Multiple microfiber towels
3. A microfiber sponge (or equivalent non scratching sponge)
4. Latex gloves (or equivalent)
5. Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
6. Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax (if needed)
7. Meguiar's Smooth Surface™ Clay Kit
8. Meguiar's Wheel and Tire Cleaner
9. Meguiar's Scratch-X
10. Meguiar's Ultimate Polish (if needed)
11. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (if needed)
12. Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax (or paste)
13. Meguiar's Black or White Wax (if needed)
14. Meguiar's PlastiX
15. Mother's Chrome Polish
16. Armor all outlast trim restorer
17. Armor all outlast tire glaze
18. Rain-X

Directions: 

1. Fill wash bucket with water and proper mix of car shampoo
2. Spray the car down with hose water (do not try to remove anything that is stuck on to avoid scratching, just rinse the car with water)
3. Use a clean microfiber towel or two and absorb the water/shampoo mix
4. Gently scrub the car with the soaked towel until the finish is clear and free from contaminants or stuck on particles
5. (if you are using the two bucket method, have the second bucket filled only with water)
6. Re-soak towel as needed(for two bucket method rinse towel off in water bucket before re-soaking in shampoo)
7. Once the car has been fully cleaned with the shampoo spray the wheels and tires with Meguiar's wheel and tire cleaner
8. Put on some latex (or equivalent gloves)
9. Use the microfiber sponge to scrub the wheels and tires
10. Remove gloves
11. Again rinse off the car with hose water
12. Dry the car off with clean microfiber towels
13. Open the clay kit
14. With the included quick detail solution, spray the car and use the clay as stated in the instructions to create a smooth slippery surface.
15. Now that the paint is clean and contaminant free, it can be restored
16. Using Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 and a clean micro fiber towel, buff out any evident scratches or swirl marks that are seen
17. If there are many scratches and swirl marks all over the car skip step 16. and use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and buff the whole car
18. Now the paint should be completely clean and free from damage
19. If you have a dark colored to black car use Meguiar's ultimate polish to polish your car to a super shining reflective surface
20. Otherwise it is time to wax the car
21. Open the ultimate liquid wax (if you have a black car use black wax, if you have a white car use white wax, or ultimate wax will work on all colors)
22. Follow the directions and completely wax the car
23. The cars paint is now complete and protected
24. If the windows are very dirty, clay can also be used on the windows to make a containment free surface
25. Use a new microfiber towel and the bottle of Rain-x and coat the windows following the instructions
26. If you have chrome use mothers chrome polish and follow the instructions
27. If you have faded black plastic exterior parts use Armor all outlast trim restorer and follow the instructions
28. Coat the tires with armor all outlast tire glaze and follow the instructions (be sure to get the whole tire and move the car to get the area that was on the ground)
29. Lastly use Meguiar's PlastiX to buff plastic light housings to bring out clarity and shine follow the instructions

Maintenance: 

With your car completely washed to a perfect finish and protected by wax, all you have to do is keep it maintained, all these steps are only required once every season of the year.
But, using Meguiar's car wash, or even better, wash and wax, you can keep your car looking perfect in-between deep cleans. Some people wash there car once a week other more, BUT NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO A CAR WASH!
A car wash will use the wrong soap and remove all your hard work, also car washes with brushes just end up scratching your paint or cause swirl marks. Car washes really don't actually clean the contaminants from your car, your still left with a dirty car in the end.

Preventative modifications: 

Mud flaps are a great add-on that can help keep road debris, mud, and rocks from scratching your car.
Car Bra can protect the front of your vehicle from rock damage.
There is also clear plastic coatings that can be applied to rock prone areas.





This advise is only to be used as informational, I am not responsible for your car!