[wilful]

The chap who washes my car quit and I am back to the grind. With the monsoons on, it has become a real backbreaking task (for my aging bones). I bought a car cleaning sponge stick locally, which can be fixed to a hose. It works fairly ok - reduces stress a bit. I looked around the web and came across something called an Auto Wash Stick (made in... where else but China). It looks tempting and I was wondering if any other BHPian has used it.
Here is a video link for the product - it is available on Amazon.

Video --

‪The Auto Wash Stick‬‏ - YouTube

Worth spending some money on it you think?

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by wilful

The chap who washes my car quit and I am back to the grind. With the monsoons on, it has become a real backbreaking task (for my aging bones). I bought a car cleaning sponge stick locally, which can be fixed to a hose. It works fairly ok - reduces stress a bit. I looked around the web and came across something called an Auto Wash Stick (made in... where else but China). It looks tempting and I was wondering if any other BHPian has used it.
Here is a video link for the product - it is available on Amazon.

Worth spending some money on it you think?

Any idea what the material is made of? For I don't think you'd want swirls on your car while keeping your bones and back intact

[wilful]

Originally Posted by Shubz

Any idea what the material is made of? For I don't think you'd want swirls on your car while keeping your bones and back intact

I understand it is sponge. Unfortunately Amazon does not ship the item to India and further, when I checked with the manufacturer's site, the shipping cost comes to around 30 dollars while the item is under 25 dollars - prohibitive! I have abandoned the idea. Instead I bought something called Smart Mop locally. You can fix a hose at one end and the water spurts through the sponge on the other allowing you to get rid of the mud blotches at the bottom end of the car without bending too much.
Am putting some pics of it.

[Atlantik]

I have used one amzing car cleaning product - called DWG ( Dry Wash & Guard ) , made in USA , excellent results , no swirl marks . And best of all ... if the car is not muddy ( too dirty ) u don't need water to wash it . Just apply ,rub, and it is hining . Looks great and the guys claim paint protection also !! approved by major car manufacturers in india

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Atlantik

I have used one amzing car cleaning product - called DWG ( Dry Wash & Guard ) , made in USA , excellent results , no swirl marks . And best of all ... if the car is not muddy ( too dirty ) u don't need water to wash it . Just apply ,rub, and it is hining . Looks great and the guys claim paint protection also !! approved by major car manufacturers in india

Sounds good! (No swirl is the USP) Pictures? web link etc please?

[riturajsharma19]

My Punto Active underwent its 1st service yesterday. Apart from the normal service the guys also 'updated' something with the steering. All good till here.
Now the bad part - while washing the car, I normally noticed minor scratches in the paint no matter how clean a cloth I use and I had started to ponder on some sort of a paint protection done. While servicing, the dealer recommended the waxoyl paint protection, available at their dealership, to be done after the normal washing was complete. I inspected the products - a normal sort of routing was to be followed - using a clay bar first, then applying wax and finally sealing it off with a sealant. Now the obvious question - why did I do it at the dealer and not somewhere like 3M? To answer this, I reside in a small town where products and services like 3M are unavailable. Whatever is available is fake. After letting work start at the dealership (1st service+paint protection+removal of water residue from the glass), I went back home to return in the evening to collect the car. The paint protection did leave a shiny effect on the finish, but on close inspection I found the finish being covered with swirls. Now, while washing the car myself, I took particular care to not induce swirls. I was mad as you can imagine, the paint protection actually marred the finish of my car. Actually there was no problem with the products and the regimen followed, what was wrong was the dirty rags that those idiots used to wipe the car . On top of that I paid about 3k for all this

Now the swirls could have come while wiping the car after the wash or during the treatment later. What I actually wish to ask is whether I can use a polish or something similar to remove the swirls, considering that a sealant was applied? I haven't mentioned the fact that those idiots also induced scratches on the ORVMS trying to remove water residue marks. I have come back really disappointed and disgusted at the careless way these dealerships treat cars.

Suggestions solicited. Thanks in advance.

[mayankk]

maybe they have sealed in the wax prematurely?
the swirls could be unbrushed wax marks.

you could get a complete un-treatment() done, and order stuff online to do it to your hearts delight on your own.
would take about a full day (when you do it to your own car), but the satisfaction, and savings, mostly satisfaction, is completly worth it!

[ragzv]

Any decent rubbing compound machine job will substantially reduce the swirls. If you're going to do this yourself would suggest you buy a orbital sander and a polishing pad. A normal rotary machine polisher, if handled incorrectly can burn away the topcoat and even paint.

[hyper-VTEC]

I am a happy person from yesterday evening. I received ONR and microfibre towels from Ebay and am all excited to wash my car. Got rid of the foolish car cleaner.

I have a question. I will use 2 towels to do the process, first towel use to apply Water + ONR (solution) on a single panel/door at a time and use second to wipe it dry. Should the first towel be dripping wet when i apply ONR or should i wring out the excess solution and use a moist towel to apply on the car?

Also can i use this solution on windshield as well as tyres and alloys? Hope it would not react with the tyre rubber or anything.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Advice for the young at heart...

So, given the basic categories here I start step by step of cleaning a car.

Washing: Don’t pour buckets of water on your car. It’s of no use and a serious offence when it comes to water conservation. Actually speaking, you don’t need more than two (ok, let’s make it three) buckets of water to clean your car on a normal day (I’ll talk about abnormal day little later).
Use separate cloth for body and wheels. Those yellow/brown shade cloth which we get on every traffic signal is useless. Instead, buy that other cloth (mostly blue). Dip that in boiling water with detergent to get rid of unwanted starch and lint. In this process the cloth will become softer also.

Dear Rudra,

This is an excellent thread, which gets lost amongst others that discuss the same topic.

Can you do something? Like merging these threads. In a chronological order perhaps.

But thanks a lot. Bye.

[unk9ja]

Originally Posted by trammway

I second that option, I have been using Bosch Aquatak 100 Plus for close to a year now and I'm pretty happy with the way it works.

Here is my Bosch picture
Attachment 539836

The Bosch Aquatek is available on a generous discount for Bosch employees till 31 march 2012. If you have a friend of yours working for Bosch, you can contact them for details. However the bills will be supported in the employees name only.

[aghosht]

Originally Posted by unk9ja

The Bosch Aquatek is available on a generous discount for Bosch employees till 31 march 2012. If you have a friend of yours working for Bosch, you can contact them for details. However the bills will be supported in the employees name only.

Any idea what it actually costs and the amount of discount available for Bosch employees?

[unk9ja]

Aquatek 100+ MRP 13625INR Offer 8250INR
Aquatek 100Euro MRP 10235INR Offer 6250INR
In addition to above, the following are also on offer
Shrub and hedge cutter ISIO2 MRP9000INR Offer 5600INR
Hand lawn mover AHM38G MRP7280INR Offer 5100INR
Dremel 300 with 55 accessories MRP6406INR Offer 4900INR
Skil DIY drill gun kit 6510 MRP2600INR Offer 1800INR.

The above information is not for marketing of Bosch and only intended to keep the fellow Bhpians informed about the offer. Mods may delete the post if they think otherwise.

[shankar.balan]

I wash the vehicle or get it done once a week or once in ten days.
We use buckets rather than a hosepipe to try and conserve water.

Typically a bucket or two over the vehicle (with a mug) to soften the dirt etc.
Then a sponge dipped in a solution of water and Sonax Car Wash fluid in a bucket to shampoo the car fully from top to toe including the Alloy wheels which luckily in my case dont generally become filthy with muck.
We use a separate sponge for the glass areas. We also take care to pinch the front and rear wiper blades and clean them so that any and all residual muck gets removed properly.

Then we allow it to rest for a few minutes and wash everything off with mugs of water, while wiping the surfaces nicely with the sponge.

Leave the car to drip dry for a bit and then wipe all the excess water droplets off it with a nice micro-fibre towel - again separate ones for the body and for the glass areas.

The insides luckily dont get all that dirty so a mild vaccuum clean is sufficient overall.

The dashboard and all surfaces are wiped down nicely with those lovely Armorall wipes to keep the vehicle looking shiny and loved and smelling nice inside.
The leather seats are wiped over with the "Leather Care" polish solution from Armorall OR Meguiar OR Formula One or whatever, so that the leather areas remain well cared for and supple at all times.

At the end, the Tyres are given a quick Tyre Foam Spray using that Formula One spray can. I find this is very effective on the black plastic and rubber areas as well - such as my bumpers, mud flaps etc - and it does say on the can, that one can use this spray on those areas too.

Typically it takes around an hour and a half's good work - usually accomplished on Sunday mid afternoon's or so.

Worth it, in my opinion, keeping one's car nice and clean.

If and when my dogs have been out consistently in the back of the car there is some hair fall etc which cannot be helped. But mostly the hair etc falls on those special dog mats (yoga mats) and cloth which I spread over the rear area so it is a simple matter to remove them and shake them out nicely.

Once in a while - say once a quarter or so, it is worth getting the 3M treatment done for the car by spending Rs 550/-. A proper clean up job inside and outside shows that you care enough about your vehicle!

[joshuthomas]

amazing advice. I unluckily fall in the god only can help category with a black ford figo! Anyways thanks a lot for the great tips and will try to start with the sunday wax!

cheers
Joshu