So, after getting up this morning and having my morning coffee, I venture outside to detail and have some fun cleaning my new MINI. This would be the first time cleaning it since we brought it home from the dealer 11 days ago.

I wash it with dishwashing liquid to get rid of most of the dealer's wax they put on it. I then wash it with Mystique wash. It works well, although I haven't met one that doesn't work well! I wash it with my old mitt (microfiber doohickey thingie) because my starfish ultra cool one from DP is on backorder.

On to the drying. I get one of my monster waffle weave drying towels and have a go. This was my only downer in the whole series of events. I wasn't too impressed with either one of these towels. I mean, they did just okay, marginal, and did more smearing of the water than I've ever seen before. I reverted back to my 100% cotton white bathtowel to get the water off and dry it completely. What did I do wrong? Should I wash them first before using them? I do have hard water, sheeted it on and off, washed/dried it in the shade (75 degrees, no wind), and did everything normally. Hmmm?

I then Epic'd it and used one of the applicator sponge thingies and loved that applicator. Way cool. I put it on by hand and then buffed it out by hand using the double sided microfiber buffing cloths. That was the coolest thing ever...I'm going to order 200 of those and make pillows out of them, clothes out of them and walk around rubbing against them!

I used the wheel cleaner/shield, the Clarity glass cleaner on the glass followed by the glass fiber towel rubdown, and stepped back to admire my work. Wait...I forgot to get out the Black Wow. I used several pea sized drops, not on the MINI, but on my wife's Escalade's rear bumper and running boards. Whoa Nelly, what a difference that made! Simply awesome.

My daughter climbed inside and Claritied the insdide of the glass and fluffed a bit inside.

It was a great morning spending some quality time with the little MINI. I must take her to the movies this afternoon to see "The Kingdom" as it was filmed just down the road.

OK, so what did I do wrong? Steps I need to include next time? (Obviously Black Wow the MINI instead of the 'Lade.)

 

Wash the waffle weaves and make sure to not use fabric softener. That should help.

 

The fact that the mini is so small and i have two waffle weaves makes life a lot easier. I use one to get the majority of the water and then i use the other to get what is left behind. When towel one gets soaked you can ring it out and continue to use it to the majority of the work.

Did that make any sense?

 

+1. always wash your MF towels before use.

 

Also - Hydro helps the waffle weave dry better / easier. Honest. Though Ken will disagree.

 

Of course because we all know that Ken HATES Hydro

 

+1 to all the above, wash the towels, don't use fabric softner, use two towels and now that you have waxed, use Hydro to maintain your work.

You probably will not have to wax again until Spring time unless you are suffering from MOCD.

Remember to treat your trim with the BW, I have to do the same since I'm getting a little 'cosmo' staining.

 

I actually prefer this waffle weave drying towel:

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1003&SKU=11117

One of those will easily do your MINI, especially if you sheet the water and spritz with Hydro.

But it sounds like you did a nice job for a newb. Where's the pics ??

And, next time you do the major detailing... say in 6 months or so, you'll be wanting to use some polish. You might get away with a fine polish like Finish but more likely, you'll need some Swirl. And if you really want to be serious about your paint's finish, you'll want a PC buffer.

 

you're crazy not to use Hydro with your drying towels!!!

 

Thanks fellas.

The PC is, well, Christmas is coming and I already have a list!

I will wash the towels (sans softener...I hate that stuff anyway) this weekend and try them out the next time I wash her. That way, I'll get to try the Hyrdo too!

It was fun. My daughter, through her 10 year old eyes, noticed I had stopped working on the MINI and said, "at least it isn't the truck!" Too true.

I'll post some pix maybe this weekend. Egads, it'll be all dirty by then, I guess I better wash her up again.

Edit: PS. What does Swirl do? How do you apply it?

 

the waffle weeve works really well if you do nto open it up. I keep it folded into 1/4th size.

I use hydro 1 out of 2 washes. When you hydro and WW, it works 10x as good for a one swipe dry.

Also, always use an open, slow pouring hose after you wash as it co-adheres all the mist droplets and makes your car 80% dry. I have perfect water though on Long Island so maybe that is jharder to do around you

 

One thing I do after I wash is go over the MINI with a "california bar" I think it's called (it's basically a big squeegie thing)...but I leave some water on the car. Then I go with the hydro and the waffle weave towels and it seems to work fine. I do use two waffle weaves, but that's just me.

And yeah, you can count on washing at least once a week (once the obsession fully grips your mind and body)

 

Dangit you beat me to it.

I go over with the water blade and get 80% of the water off. Then use a microfiber waffle weave to dry (they work better slightly damp, weird i know). I use that to get the majority of the remaining water off the outside, then dry inside the doors and boot, then pat the wheels dry (if you rub it will pick up everything from the tires onto your nice towel, just pat it). Then I get another clean waffle weave and touch up spots that I missed or that were cause by the car "crying" (water pouring out of the tight places, and trim work).

That should make things easier for ya. I'm about to retire my three year old worn and battered water blade and replace it with a jelly blade. I used one and loved it, so you should go look for one of those. You can buy them at walmart or any other general auto store, in various colors. About $15 I think and WELL worth it.

edit: also, if i'm doing a detail that will involve wax or polish, I take a shop vac and set it to blow and run it all over places on the car that hold the water. Grills, lights, belt line, etc. It speeds up the crying process and also gets all the water out that will vibrate out and run down the car right before you make a pass with your PC making life difficult.

 

I used to use the Jelly Blade. But no more.

By taking the nozzle off the hose and sheeting the water, I found that it leaves just the right amount of water behind to use Hydro. And then just one of Griot's waffle weave towels does all the drying.

Of course, the MINI does have a couple of spots that will trickle water for the next hour or so (the edges of the boot lid, the rear license plate, the chrome slats of the grille, the gas cap, the sideview mirrors), that I go back an hour later and finish the drying. :impatient Can't have any water spots !!

 

I haven't used hydro yet, so I dont' want any water left over. Sheeting the water works well too, but I found the blade just gets that little more off. It's whatever works best for you. I have a never kink hose (really, it's only happened once) and I can't fold it to stop the water flow to take the nozzel off quickly, so I would have to walk around to the side of the house, turn the water off, take my nozzel off, turn it on again, and walk back. By that time I would have been done with a blade.

You can go out an hour later and be able to dry water? My water would have dried and spotted in 5 minutes. I always follow up with poor boys spray either after I drive soon after a wash, or in the morning afterwards, to get those spots off.

 

An hour... give or take. The spots are not set in. Of course, the car is in a garage where the water isn't going to dry quickly in the hot sun. Just a monster fluffy with a spritz of Slick on it... wipes right off.

 

i need to get a kink-less hose myself. when temps goes down even the
'kink-less' ones you get locally kinks.

any recommendations?

 

I just bought the 100' rubber hose from Griot's, ken. I've had it for about three weeks or so.

It's really nice... doesn't kink a bit and it's very sturdy. I'm betting it lasts me 20 years. And I use a garden hose for a lot more than just washing all the cars. Check it out !

 

Maybe I worded that wrong. They haven't spotted yet, just dried and you can see the deposits from the water, and that happens pretty quickly (5 - 15 minutes) and requires a spray and wipe. I detail in the garage too. I think it just the ridiculously hard water we have (fixing that after winter with some kick *** filters)

 

yah, i was looking at that myself. I should probably invest
in that. thanks! (for me, 50yards would do. )

 

Yeah, I need a new hose, too...

I have a jelly blade - and still use it sometimes. But lately I've been using my 30' of air hose and huge volume of air from my shop compressor and my blow gun to blow most of the water off the car - especially all those nooks and crannies that hold water (grilles, gaps, around taillights, around cabrio boot hinges, inside mirrors, etc. Then hydro with the waffle weave. Works great and you don't end up with drips/runs as soon as you move the car...

 

I'm starting to use the shop vac more and more now to get them out. Just depends on what kinda mood i'm in when I clean the car. I really want to get some high power blower that mounts on the wall and I just grab the hose when I need it and kick it up high rather than carrying a shop vac around with a extension cord dragging through water.

I got my hose at lowes. It was either $25 or $50, and the only reason I'm not sure is becuase I was thinking of a 100' hose rather than a 50', but went with the '50 becuase I was already well past $1500 in my shopping cart (new house)

 

for cleaning the interior of a fairly well kept car, you only need
like a small 2-2.5hp handcarry type shopvac.

 

Here's what Santa is bringing me this year:


http://www.frontgate.com/jump.jsp?it...7748&k=ZZ50867

 

^^^ That's exactly what i'm talking about! Man I want one of those!

Correct, and I have two that I use; a hand held and one larger one on wheels that follows me around. But the whole testosterone thing comes into play "Haha your puney 2 hp vac is not match for my 50 horsepower industrical strength vac! HAHA watch as I blow dry this car!" *blows mini across the garage and through the wall leaving a cartoon out-line* ".... see look how dry it is HAHA! Do you yeild to my superiority!"