Keeping Your Car Clean on Trips - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

GhostofAkina · 12-10-2012, 02:11 AM

I'm going on a trip for the holidays to visit my family for about 2 weeks. It's about 500 miles away and I'm taking the coast so it's gonna get dirty along the way. My questions is do you guys clean/wash your car on long trips? Do you take your supplies with you? Or do you just let the dirt and grime accumulate until you get back home? I want to travel light so I'm thinking about just taking 2 buckets, my mitt, soap (maybe just enough for a wash or 2 in a shampoo bottle) and some microfiber towels. What do you guys do on long trips?

jstans84 · 12-10-2012, 04:06 AM

^^^ is what I do.

atledreier · 12-10-2012, 04:35 AM

Hose off the worst at a gas station every now and then.

Edit: Just realized how WRONG that sounded... Lol

itsibarra · 12-10-2012, 05:11 AM

I drove about 1000 miles during thanksgiving weekend.. It would've been very time consuming to keep her clean, and also thought that spending time with family was more important than keeping my car shiny. However, when i got back home and washed her, the bucket looked like someone dumped pepper in due to all the bugs accumulated on the front bumper, lights, etc. lol.

I usually take a few microfiber towels and quick detailer for minor stuff, but my trunk was full since i drove 3 people in the car.

BMWDavid · 12-10-2012, 06:02 AM

I run my car through a touchless car wash on trips. Works great...

SubaSteve · 12-10-2012, 06:27 AM

Get some waterless wash and some quality waffle weave microfiber towels. You shouldn't have to wash it unless it gets really dirty as long as you maintain it with the ww.

Mr. Sparkle · 12-10-2012, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GhostofAkina

I'm going on a trip for the holidays to visit my family for about 2 weeks. It's about 500 miles away and I'm taking the coast so it's gonna get dirty along the way. My questions is do you guys clean/wash your car on long trips? Do you take your supplies with you? Or do you just let the dirt and grime accumulate until you get back home? I want to travel light so I'm thinking about just taking 2 buckets, my mitt, soap (maybe just enough for a wash or 2 in a shampoo bottle) and some microfiber towels. What do you guys do on long trips?

I did I-95 with my GF earlier this year from long island to daytona beach FL. Did basically what you described.

Filled a few ounces of rinseless wash (ONR) in one of those travel size squeeze bottles. This allowed me to wash on the road without a hose (fill buckets from the hotel tub if you have to). I also mixed up a little diluted ONR in a small spray bottle for bird bombs and fresh bug splatter along the way

brichard0625 · 12-10-2012, 11:49 AM

this is what u need to bring lol.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1997-Lar...item23258b6abc

pheoxs · 12-10-2012, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brichard0625

this is what u need to bring lol.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1997-Lar...item23258b6abc

Pretty sure I still have one of those from when I was a kid.

No one wanted to have water fights after I got it

brichard0625 · 12-10-2012, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheoxs

Pretty sure I still have one of those from when I was a kid.

No one wanted to have water fights after I got it

I seriously still have mine in my storage closet..used it for one summer...everyone hated me because they had the old school super soaker and i had this one. Didnt realize its still worth some money

GhostofAkina · 12-10-2012, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brichard0625

this is what u need to bring lol.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1997-Lar...item23258b6abc

Lol

whaap · 12-10-2012, 04:25 PM

I take an old bath towel and use a do-it-yourself car wash.

Greg Nichols · 12-10-2012, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWDavid

I run my car through a touchless car wash on trips. Works great...

This is my first go to, touchless will help greatly. They use a strong wash of either acidic or basic pre rinses, while they can diminish your wax/sealant they are SSSSOOOOO much better than a touch wash. re waxing is so much cheaper than re polishing. Find a high quality one and you'll be okay.

I would not wipe down a car EVER until its been washed first, then you could do a quick detail wipe down or a quick wax when you leave the wash bay. You'll need a quality microfiber towel or two. The reason i would take a quick wax is to help have a super fresh coat on to help with bugs and salt spray.

The purpose of all this hub bub is to limit or eliminate possible marring to the paint surface. Anytime you wash or dry your car you risk appearance damage to the paint surface. On the road you just need to really not let bird bombs or salt air to dwell on the surface for extended time frames.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whaap

I take an old bath towel and use a do-it-yourself car wash.

I hope you meant this as a joke

A bath towel will mar the finish of the paint. Hell even a quality MF towel can, if you get stuff between the towel and paint surface.

I might go to some of the extremes listed of carrying a box of goodies, but you're not going to a judged car show you are driving? Keep it simple and enjoy the drive!

Cheers,
GREG

dsgerbc · 12-10-2012, 05:15 PM

I keep protective layer of dust the car accumulated on the first leg of the trip for the return. That way I only wash it once, lol.

12-10-2012, 02:11 AM	#1
GhostofAkina Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Drives: 2013 Scion FR-S Raven Location: California Posts: 72 Thanks: 28 Thanked 10 Times in 6 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Keeping Your Car Clean on Trips I'm going on a trip for the holidays to visit my family for about 2 weeks. It's about 500 miles away and I'm taking the coast so it's gonna get dirty along the way. My questions is do you guys clean/wash your car on long trips? Do you take your supplies with you? Or do you just let the dirt and grime accumulate until you get back home? I want to travel light so I'm thinking about just taking 2 buckets, my mitt, soap (maybe just enough for a wash or 2 in a shampoo bottle) and some microfiber towels. What do you guys do on long trips?

12-10-2012, 06:02 AM	#5
BMWDavid Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Drives: '89 911, '06 GTI, '13 BRZ Location: USA Posts: 313 Thanks: 40 Thanked 62 Times in 40 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I run my car through a touchless car wash on trips. Works great... __________________ 2005 Honda XR650L 1989 Porsche Carrera 3.2 Coupe 2006 VW GTI/DSG 2013 Subaru BRZ WRB Limited 6MT-gone but not forgotten 2014 Nissan Murano SV

12-10-2012, 11:49 AM	#8
brichard0625 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Drives: 2013 Scion Frs(Scarlet) Location: Bronx, NY Posts: 907 Thanks: 172 Thanked 386 Times in 177 Posts Mentioned: 4 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	this is what u need to bring lol.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1997-Lar...item23258b6abc __________________

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12-10-2012, 04:06 AM	#2
jstans84 Banned Join Date: Aug 2012 Drives: Scion FR-S Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 788 Thanks: 353 Thanked 345 Times in 180 Posts Mentioned: 12 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	^^^ is what I do.

12-10-2012, 05:11 AM	#4
itsibarra Senior Member Join Date: May 2012 Drives: Supercharged Car Location: CA Posts: 293 Thanks: 223 Thanked 119 Times in 68 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 3 Thread(s)	I drove about 1000 miles during thanksgiving weekend.. It would've been very time consuming to keep her clean, and also thought that spending time with family was more important than keeping my car shiny. However, when i got back home and washed her, the bucket looked like someone dumped pepper in due to all the bugs accumulated on the front bumper, lights, etc. lol. I usually take a few microfiber towels and quick detailer for minor stuff, but my trunk was full since i drove 3 people in the car.

12-10-2012, 06:27 AM	#6
SubaSteve Captain Cocoa Join Date: Jul 2012 Drives: CBS BRZ MT Location: MD Posts: 597 Thanks: 32 Thanked 282 Times in 161 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Get some waterless wash and some quality waffle weave microfiber towels. You shouldn't have to wash it unless it gets really dirty as long as you maintain it with the ww.

12-10-2012, 04:25 PM	#12
whaap Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Drives: '13 FR-S firestorm, 6 mt - '11 CR-V Location: Tucson Posts: 2,133 Thanks: 243 Thanked 1,387 Times in 657 Posts Mentioned: 36 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I take an old bath towel and use a do-it-yourself car wash.

12-10-2012, 05:15 PM	#14
dsgerbc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Drives: BRZ(sold), STI Location: A2, MI Posts: 1,915 Thanks: 176 Thanked 419 Times in 241 Posts Mentioned: 11 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I keep protective layer of dust the car accumulated on the first leg of the trip for the return. That way I only wash it once, lol.

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