[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

For heavy dust and dirt always use a damp cloth and never a dry cloth

Gently remove the dust with the damp cloth moving horizontally or vertically in one direction and not in circles . Once done you can use a soft dry cloth to finish up and dry teh car.

Damp cloth or wiping with any cloth is not recommended on a dusty car, There are special stuffs like waterless car wash sprays and quick detailers for that purpose.
No matter in what direction you wipe it, Indian dust will scratch the surface.

ALWAYS WASH A DIRTY/DUSTY CAR THE TRADITIONAL WAY, NEVER WIPE IT.

[-NUT-case]

Originally Posted by sohail99

Great advice regarding car care Rudra Ji

btw I'm facing a huge problem now-a-days!

there seems to be loads of dust accumulation on my car everyday!
and since I recently got my i20, I'm kinda obsessed in seeing its 'just out of showroom' finish everyday!!


Though I wash it every week with Meguiars's Gold Class car shampoo and wax with turtle-wax, the very next day its covered with heaps of dust!!

I know for a fact that straight away wiping the car, which is dust-laiden will cause scratches!

And I cant afford to wash it everyday as I need to leave early in the morning everyday!

Is there any product such as California Duster available in India, more specifically.. in Delhi?

Though I can order it frm abroad(it'll take too long for it to arrive to me!), but I need it as soon as possible, as the dust problem is becoming a real pain to manage!

Please suggest some solutions!

Originally Posted by akshay_b

Damp cloth or wiping with any cloth is not recommended on a dusty car, There are special stuffs like waterless car wash sprays and quick detailers for that purpose.
No matter in what direction you wipe it, Indian dust will scratch the surface.

ALWAYS WASH A DIRTY/DUSTY CAR THE TRADITIONAL WAY, NEVER WIPE IT.

akshay .. I was replying to sohail99's question . Please read the post fully before answering. I was suggesting it because it is not practical to wash his car everyday morning before going to work. BTW waterless car wash is exactly that .. cleaning the car without using water and hence you are essentially wiping a dusty car without washing it using the detailer solution to dampen and loosen the dust/dirt before removing it. They are used as an alternative between washes .

Dust , be it Indian or American or from any part of the world will scratch the paint. By wiping it away and not rubbing it around you reduce the chances of causing swirl marks.

By your suggestion we will be driving around in dirty cars for the whole week and a clean car on weekends.

[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

akshay .. I was replying to sohail99's question . Please read the post fully before answering. I was suggesting it because it is not practical to wash his car everyday morning before going to work. BTW waterless car wash is exactly that .. cleaning the car without using water and hence you are essentially wiping a dusty car without washing it using the detailer solution to dampen and loosen the dust/dirt before removing it. They are used as an alternative between washes .

Dust , be it Indian or American or from any part of the world will scratch the paint. By wiping it away and not rubbing it around you reduce the chances of causing swirl marks.

By your suggestion we will be driving around in dirty cars for the whole week and a clean car on weekends.

If damp cloth was the solution, There wouldn't have been waterless car wash sprays and detailer, Detailers and waterless car wash sprays have detergents and lubricators which water doesn't have, using waterless car wash sprays will dissolve the dirt particles and create a lubricating surface so that the dirt particles are glided off rather than scratching the surface.
Water will just moisten and create a paste of dirt. This is the reason why people use car shampoo so that the dirt is dissolved and create a slippery surface.

Read this Waterless car wash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[-NUT-case]

Damp cloth is not the solution but it is one of the ways to clean dust. The detailer and the waterless solution as well as shampoo does the same job but obviously better than plain water as you have explained. Some of them also have polishing agents as the wiki article says and if it has polishing agents we don't want to use it everyday. If everyone can afford to buy a detailer and use it everyday it would be a perfect world.

Xenos

This is available in india and costs nearly Rs 300 and gives you 3-4 washes. So u need atleast 4 to 6 bottles per month if u wipe your car everyday which works to about Rs 1500 per month. If you buy a detailer from Turle or Meguire it will cost u somewhere about Rs 500 to 1000 per bottle . From what you say , it has to be either waterless solution or car wash and nothing else, which doesn't sound very practical in everyday life.

I have Megs ultimate detailer , Mothers instant detailer and Turlewax platinum detailer with me and use it . BUt not everyday because it is not practical.

Maybe someone with more experience in maintaining cars than both of us do can give their advice.

[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

Damp cloth is not the solution but it is one of the ways to clean dust. The detailer and the waterless solution as well as shampoo does the same job but obviously better than plain water as you have explained. Some of them also have polishing agents as the wiki article says and if it has polishing agents we don't want to use it everyday. If everyone can afford to buy a detailer and use it everyday it would be a perfect world.

Xenos

This is available in india and costs nearly Rs 300 and gives you 3-4 washes. So u need atleast 4 to 6 bottles per month if u wipe your car everyday which works to about Rs 1500 per month. If you buy a detailer from Turle or Meguire it will cost u somewhere about Rs 500 to 1000 per bottle . From what you say , it has to be either waterless solution or car wash and nothing else, which doesn't sound very practical in everyday life.

I have Megs ultimate detailer , Mothers instant detailer and Turlewax platinum detailer with me and use it . BUt not everyday because it is not practical.

Maybe someone with more experience in maintaining cars than both of us do can give their advice.

I own a black car and i never use plain water or a damp cloth to wipe and i'm proud to say that there are very less swirl marks, I use the quick detailers ONLY if there's an emergency or if i'm feeling lazy and I guess owners of lighter colored cars are not bothered about swirl marks or scratches created by damp cloths.
I've used the water less car spray for 7-8 washes and there's more than 3/4th bottle remaining.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

I own a black car and i never use plain water or a damp cloth to wipe and i'm proud to say that there are very less swirl marks, I use the quick detailers ONLY if there's an emergency or if i'm feeling lazy and I guess owners of lighter colored cars are not bothered about swirl marks or scratches created by damp cloths.
I've used the water less car spray for 7-8 washes and there's more than 3/4th bottle remaining.

I always use a very damp cloth. I will wipe softly in only one direction, rinsing the blue cloth very often and never with a back and forth movement. And as soon as a section is completed (eg. the roof) I will wipe it dry with a soft turkey towel, and then move to another section. Hardly any swirl marks so far.

[-NUT-case]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

I own a black car and i never use plain water or a damp cloth to wipe and i'm proud to say that there are very less swirl marks, I use the quick detailers ONLY if there's an emergency or if i'm feeling lazy and I guess owners of lighter colored cars are not bothered about swirl marks or scratches created by damp cloths.
I've used the water less car spray for 7-8 washes and there's more than 3/4th bottle remaining.

As a owner of a light coloured car i am very much bothered about scratches in general . I don't have any partiality to scratches caused by any one method. Black colour definitely requires more care than normal. I was just giving a suggestion to sohail99's problem.

As Gansan also mentions , the method i suggested does work for those who do not have the luxuary to use only detailer or such to clean their cars.
A properly waxed car is more resistant to swirl marks as the wax coat protects the clear coat which is what it is meant to do.

Rinsing often during the cleaning is very important as that will remove the dirt from the cloth , as also is not letting the water dry on the paint. Hence Gansans suggestion of wiping dry the part you have cleaned and going to the next area.

You can use the detailer if the car is very dirty and you don't want to wash it . The detailer gives the paint a nice shiny look but it doesn't last long . Maybe a day or 2 at most. The turtles detailer gives the car a nice smell too .

The "3-4 washes per bottle" was quoted from the manufacturers website of the Xenos "waterless carwash" spray. Maybe you use less than recommended spray which may not be very good for the paint.

OFF TOPIC -> Btw your black santro looks very beautiful ! But 160 KM on a santro ....!!!! Isn't that taking a big risk mate?

[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I always use a very damp cloth. I will wipe softly in only one direction, rinsing the blue cloth very often and never with a back and forth movement. And as soon as a section is completed (eg. the roof) I will wipe it dry with a soft turkey towel, and then move to another section. Hardly any swirl marks so far.

Switch to wash mitts.

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

As a owner of a light coloured car i am very much bothered about scratches in general . I don't have any partiality to scratches caused by any one method. Black colour definitely requires more care than normal. I was just giving a suggestion to sohail99's problem.

As Gansan also mentions , the method i suggested does work for those who do not have the luxuary to use only detailer or such to clean their cars.
A properly waxed car is more resistant to swirl marks as the wax coat protects the clear coat which is what it is meant to do.

Rinsing often during the cleaning is very important as that will remove the dirt from the cloth , as also is not letting the water dry on the paint. Hence Gansans suggestion of wiping dry the part you have cleaned and going to the next area.

You can use the detailer if the car is very dirty and you don't want to wash it . The detailer gives the paint a nice shiny look but it doesn't last long . Maybe a day or 2 at most. The turtles detailer gives the car a nice smell too .

The "3-4 washes per bottle" was quoted from the manufacturers website of the Xenos "waterless carwash" spray. Maybe you use less than recommended spray which may not be very good for the paint.

All i meant to say is waterless car washes are safe to use on a slightly dusty car but not heavily dusty or muddy cars. I use detail sprays after, say a 15kms drive after a proper wash. Now lets not flood this page with our talks, I just care about my car a lot and i jotted down my personal procedure to wash/dust a car

OFF TOPIC -> Btw your black santro looks very beautiful ! But 160 KM on a santro ....!!!! Isn't that taking a big risk mate?

Thank you, My car reflects the effort that i take to maintain it.
And yes 160 is too high, But hyundai claims santro to do 145-150 easily, May be i pushed it to 158kmph with Shell Super Petrol It was an intentional drive to test the top speed and deceided not to do such speeds in India.

[-NUT-case]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

Switch to wash mitts.

Wash Mitts are for washing not wiping!

All i meant to say is waterless car washes are safe to use on a slightly dusty car but not heavily dusty or muddy cars. I use detail sprays after, say a 15kms drive after a proper wash. Now lets not flood this page with our talks, I just care about my car a lot and i jotted down my personal procedure to wash/dust a car

Thats a perfect scenario to use a instant detailer.

Thank you, My car reflects the effort that i take to maintain it.
And yes 160 is too high, But hyundai claims santro to do 145-150 easily, May be i pushed it to 158kmph with Shell Super Petrol It was an intentional drive to test the top speed and deceided not to do such speeds in India.

Its very rare that a product outperforms the manufacturers claim for it in stock condition. Usually you see a top speed of 170 in a brochure and to get to that speed you need be going on a steep downhill drive with a tailwind of about 100kmph. Well done hyundai!

Over and Out!

[mkh]

I got some megs prods from the US...man they are GOOD...and 1/3rd the cost of what we pay here in india
I have seen a very good way to maintain car is to use the Ultimate Quick Detailer from megs, i am sure it will last min 2 months and its only about 500 rs from the US.
Another way i have seen is to use a high quality microfiber cloth and put into water( clean) and wipe the car if its dirty and not needing a wash
I use a california duster to wipe the dust once waxed which is in this season in bangalore when it does not need a wash and just has dust on it
I got some micro cloths from Malaysia which are cool, also got the Meguiars X2020 set of 3 now.
BTW if anyone needs micro fiber cloths from meguiars, PM me, i have extra set which came from the US and i can give them at the cost i paid in $s- about $12 for a set of 3.

[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

Wash Mitts are for washing not wiping!

I thought he uses that method to wash as i read "I rinse it often"

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

Its very rare that a product outperforms the manufacturers claim for it in stock condition. Usually you see a top speed of 170 in a brochure and to get to that speed you need be going on a steep downhill drive with a tailwind of about 100kmph. Well done hyundai!

Over and Out!

When a 1.3L swift can do 175kmph, a 1.1L santro can do 150 easily, There was no strong wind nor a downhill. How much can a santro do according to you?

[Gill]

Recommed me a machine to do the polishing and rubbing.It's hard not possible to spend 3-4 hous on every sunday.Is there any kit that comes with pads.
Is 3M finesse It(Swirl mark remover and wax) availabe in retail?

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by Gill

Recommed me a machine to do the polishing and rubbing.It's hard not possible to spend 3-4 hous on every sunday.Is there any kit that comes with pads.
Is 3M finesse It(Swirl mark remover and wax) availabe in retail?

It is not recommended to rub/polish your car every week. This will wear out the car paint in a matter of 2 years. Once in 3 months is the ideal time for polishing and rubbing using rubbing compound only if needed.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

I thought he uses that method to wash as i read "I rinse it often"

The rinsing is to remove any dust/dirt from the cloth. The blue cloth they sell at petrol pumps is best for this. I use it dripping wet - not just damp. And I use two of them- one for the body and glass, and another for bumpers (mine are black), wheels and under body as far as I can reach.

And of course, the car must be completely dusted with a soft dry cloth before the sponge bath!

[Gill]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

It is not recommended to rub/polish your car every week. This will wear out the car paint in a matter of 2 years. Once in 3 months is the ideal time for polishing and rubbing using rubbing compound only if needed.

Sorry for not being specific. I won't be rubbing(R.Compound) the car that often, Once in six month is fine.For Wax And polish I need the machine.It's fine to polish the car/m.cycle after 15-21 days.Any options?