Keeping it Clean
 

Hey Guys,

I haven't had time to put in the work that I want to yet, but I'm having a hard time keeping my car clean.

Before I get to that, maybe unrelated but, I daily my car, and drove all winter.
First wash this spring, I noticed some surface rust around the rear end and chassis behind the exhaust.
No, I didn't oil the car, I know I should have. I'll deal with it and I'll make sure I oil in the future.

Next issue:
Every time I get out of the car, I stand up and touch the door to close it, and get a static shock. I read this may be from my tires? Stock setup. But this static is probably contributing to the above and below issues.

Here is the frustrating part:
I want my car to be clean, and stay clean.
I went out at lunch yesterday to gas up and get a carwash.
So awesome to do the entire transaction from my phone. Go Apple Pay!
Anyway, figured I'd get a carwash too.
Shell station, touchless wash, never an issue last year.
So the car is clean!
And then it rains.
But as I'm driving home, I realize that my car is still wet.
I'm looking at all the other cars, and none of them still have water on them despite it literally JUST raining, but my car still has water sticking to it. The hood is covered in water spots just sticking there.
By the time I get home, the water has evaporated and now I have dust where all the water spots were.

So here are my thoughts and questions:
Does anyone still buy those electronic rust preventing devices that you attach to the frame? Is that still a thing? Where do I get one?

I can't afford new tires this year, as much as I'd love to get some new rims and wheels, so how can I ground my car with something less conspicuous than those grounding straps? Assuming the static shock is being caused by the tires.

Last question: I have everything I need to put on a nice coat of wax on the car but with the issues I've described, is it even going to get the result that I want?

Here she is after the first wash. Yes, it snowed after this picture, so I didn't look crazy not taking my winter tires off right away!
http://i.imgur.com/Ukxzne8.jpg

Your car will always be dirty in any condition, I spend thousands in professional detailing and it looks like shit right now. Your best bet is to get it opticoat/cquartz/ceramic pro, paint corrected and nicely sealed and call it a day. Do the occasional quick clean up.

Cars live outside. It is dirty outside. Cars get dirty. Wax it. Wash it. Wax it. Wash it. It never ends until you just don't care anymore.


The rust control modules work beautifully on pipelines and ships. They are not worth shit on cars. The car will last at least 10 years before the rust even remotely starts to become an issue. These are not 1980s Chryslers.


The tires do not "cause" static. Dry air combined with friction cause static. The tires just insulate the car from the ground so that it cant discharge. Changing tires does not eliminate static. The trick is to touch the metal part of the car as you get out. If touching already then the charge just passes through you to ground and you never know it. You get the arc when you get out and then reach to touch the metal and the charge jumps from the car to you. Grounding straps may help but are not always effective due to the area of the car that collects the charge.

I'm a Detailer.
My car is usually dirty. I don't have time to wash it every day.

Look into doing ONR washes. ONR is Optimum No Rinse. There's two types of detailers, those who use ONR and those who have yet to hear or it.

If you can't afford tires the. You can't afford an Opti-Coat which starts at $995. However even a simple wax will help. Your car is for sure contaminated as well, so you'll need to do a decontamination before the wax.

Unfortunately the only way for the car to stay clean is to wash it every day.
As far as the water spots go, that's because the car is contaminated. It's still "dirty". Think of it like hoping in the shower but not using soap or scrubbing yourself.

Final note: stop going to any sort of car wash, whether it's touch less or coin operated. They're terrible for your car.

Just a question, why would a touchless car wash be terrible for my car? I can understand that it wouldn't be as effective and optimal as a hand wash, but in what way is it bad for my car? Im sure it's better than have dirt stay on my car.

Most likely the terrible chemicals that they spray on your car, I think it's fine if you go through it once a while.

How do I decontaminate my car?
Car soap, water and elbow grease?

Wash and claybar?

Find a nice day and wash the car, then decontaminate the panels with a claybar (never used one myself, I use a polish compound once a year), then wax it to seal the finish. Afterwards try and hand wash your car once a week under a shade. Use a detailer spray in-between washes.

At least you can wash it at your driveway, I don't even remember when they started to ban this within the City of Toronto. I've been washing at self washes / auto car washes ever since.

I wash and wipe down my car more often than a sane person would (meaning a $2 bucks run at the self wash will get cleaned already), so I never run into problems with water spots and such. These days I drive it for a day and the car is all dusty again (as if I live in the Philippines or something smh).

I really appreciate folks that keep their cars near spotless, and all the bits are shiny but that's just not me.

That's pretty much me. 25K miles or more a year means there is no way I'm going to keep my car clean.

One of the things I like about red is it never really looks dirty, as much as just dull. Then you wash it and bam, bright again.

My car gets washed about once a month. Sometimes I do it, sometimes a brushless car wash does it.

It looks great from 15 ft, as good as it did the day I bought it. Parts of it are not so great from 3 to 5 ft, but most of that is paint chips. If you pull out the lights and start looking for swirls, you are going to find them but they don't bother me.

If I keep it long enough, it will get a respray. It will be paid for by the money I saved by not trying to obsessively keep it clean.

I appreciate the input everyone.

For whatever reason, all the video advice I can find in searching is all from warmer climates.
Getting local ideas and advice is awesome.

I literally park my car every day next to the clay bar and wax kit in the garage. Just have to make time to use it.

Thanks guys!

A lot of touchless drive-thru car washes use a LOT of "quick dry" chemicals in the water, so that the water dries faster. This can be bad for your paint/clear-coat.

Those bastards.

[QUOTE=krayzie;2655063]Find a nice day and wash the car, then decontaminate the panels with a claybar (never used one myself, I use a polish compound once a year), then wax it to seal the finish. Afterwards try and hand wash your car once a week under a shade. Use a detailer spray in-between washes.

At least you can wash it at your driveway, I don't even remember when they started to ban this within the City of Toronto. I've been washing at self washes / auto car washes ever since.

I wash and wipe down my car more often than a sane person would (meaning a $2 bucks run at the self wash will get cleaned already), so I never run into problems with water spots and such. These days I drive it for a day and the car is all dusty again (as if I live in the Philippines or something smh).[/QUOTE]
Bolded is my regime.
Red is also included.
I have the cleanest dirty car you can get.