Periodic Cleaning Advice? (For city dwellers)

[leicaboss]

Hey guys,

My new car will be the first car I've ever owned while living in a city. While living in SoCal, washing a car was straightforward and parking was a cinch, especially with a large home garage.

Now that I'm in SF, parking is horrible but it's a price I'm literally willing to pay for because I'll be working on getting either a shared garage complex space or my own enclosed garage. However, I anticipate it will be harder to keep her clean.

With that being said what are some tools or methods I can keep handy to wipe her down to keep her clean? I figure some sort of microfiber cloth at the least. I'm worried about bird crap and sap, the usual suspects.

Thanks!

[BLTcookie]

A lot of members have been getting opticoat on their cars. It basically acts like a permanent layer of wax and last I heard people we loving it.

I live in San Jose and have to keep my car outside. I try to wash it at least once a week, if not every other week and I wax it every 3 months. Every 6 months I have been using a clay bar to pull any tar or sap off the paint. It still feels mirror-smooth!

If you want to go hard on keeping your car clean and without swirls, buy some dirt guards for the inside of your wash buckets and use 2 separate buckets while washing, one for clean water and the other for rinsing.

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[leicaboss]

Sweet thanks, Opticoat looks amazing. Any NorCal guys who can apply it well?

I'm wondering if there's a good spray or something I can throw in the trunk to keep handy with a good "rag".

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[Ammunition]

Originally Posted by leicaboss

Sweet thanks, Opticoat looks amazing. Any NorCal guys who can apply it well?

I'm wondering if there's a good spray or something I can throw in the trunk to keep handy with a good "rag".

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I got my car opti-coating and I don't regret it one bit. It's basically adding another permanent clear coating to your paint that is highly resistant to chemical etching, small abrasive mud and what not that might otherwise scratch your paint when it gets kicked up onto it, etc.

I picked up a dozen of these microfiber towels - http://www.carpro-us.com/blue-angora...towel-16-x-16/

I would try to get several microfiber towels of at least that gsm grade or higher if you wish. A lot of the lower grade gsm ones can still scratch your car (so I've been told). Those ones have the plush on both sides.

I also picked up the Ultima Waterless Wash bundle - http://www.carpro-us.com/ultima-wate...e-and-sprayer/

That comes with everything you need to have a readily-available high quality / safe quick detailer for bird droppings, bug-splats, mustard (I only mention that because I found a bit on my car once ), etc.

[uEih]

http://www.autogeek.net/af-cp1000.html

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeRYmvPsr7s"]Polished Bliss: Auto Finesse Citrus Power Demo Video - YouTube[/ame]

That video made me interested in this product. I usually use ONR for my car washed weekly and even with that I pre-rinse my car before using it. This product seems to break down dirt very well and although I can't tell you first hand, it seems pretty good. I usually don't touch my car or wipe it down unless I rinse it first, that's my personal way of doing it to avoid swirls.

[leicaboss]

Thanks so much, I'm still trying to figure out what products to get. Maybe I could buy stuff and bring it to a self service car wash stall? Basically just to use their water haha.

[Opethfan]

These guys have a good site you could check out. They have video's for almost all of their products. They have plenty of ideas for you
http://www.chemicalguys.com/

[Anomie]

I would look into garry dean wash method, lots of people use it. It's a waterless/rinseless wash so it definitely comes in handy if you live in a city and don't have access to water.

[BadMoon]

Optimium no rinse should work for you. Meguiars makes a new spray on car wash as well.

[leicaboss]

Hey fellas, thanks so much for helping me out here! I ordered a few things to get me started - has anyone ever tried Rain X? It was raining out in SF today and I couldn't help but notice the water beading up like crazy to the point where I couldn't see and wished it was like an Integra with the rear wiper haha.