I woke up at 6:30 a.m. yesterday to give Kirky a quick wash and some Hydro love - since I was hosting Seder last night and I had to get everything done before sundown.

Around 5 p.m. I noted a distinct and quite thick layer of dust all over the car - there is road construction going on behind my house with many hours of jack hammering and I am going to assume that's the culpit.

Should I just hose it down?

Not happy!!!

 

I use a California Carduster. Works really well. I've only used mine to combat pollen. Buddy of mine who has a red mustang cobra show car suggested I buy one. He uses it all the time. I used mine this morning with great results. Be sure to follow the instructions. I got mine at Pep Boys for about $19.

 

yah, calduster in the shade would be good... but i seldom use it on my
dd's that are parked out doors.

if you have time, it would be better to hose it down completely and
just dry with Hydro.

 

I use the duster, too, for light dust that accumulates during the day. For heavier stuff churned up by construction (or Texas dust storms) a wash is probably best. If you can keep up by lightly dusting three or four times a day...maybe...but for heavier accumulations the duster might do more harm than good.

 

That's what I was afraid of, looks I'll be washing again this evening!

Thank you all!

 

I agree with those that say a wash is in order.

Mark

 

i have the issue BAD here in socal. your options are to either dust once or twice every day or QD every day or both.

if you go past a day or 2 (at most) you better just wait until the weekend to wash.

it sucks and i deal with it weekly. sometimes within a couple hours my car is covered in a film of dust. i have a bad feeling about the dust and driving, like it must introduce scratches into the paint. but, there's nothing you can do even if you garage the car at night, you still have to work and most jobs (like mine) don't have covered parking. what can you do?

 

Car Cover?

 

car cover can just make it worse and introduce some serious scratching if there is a serious dust problem.

 

+1 to a car cover being a bad idea. i'd suggest a wash as often as possible.

 

If you get the RIGHT car cover, it's a good solution.

I have two of them. One is great, doesn't allow a THING through it, never found so much as a speck of dust after being parked all week with the cover on.

The other one ? You can have it just for the asking. Rain goes through it so I sure don't trust it to stop any other contaminants. And this is the heavier cover of the two.

Edit: Reminder... no car cover will be a good idea if you don't have very clean paint before you put it on.

 

Yeah I use a cover when it gets really bad here (usually late summer/early fall, when everything is REALLY dusty and dry and the wildfires start). I have an Evolution cover from Griot's...it fits like a glove and nothing is getting through that thing!

 

well, i think the problem is the dust on the car not the cover. then again it depends on where you live and the dust conditions. what i mean is, here in the socal valley, i can wash and wax and within say 20 minutes i have a fine film of dust over the entire car. so putting a cover over that is sort of futile and bad. i'm sure putting on and removing the cover will make more tiny scratches. then you go to run an errand and there's more dust. in essence you'd spend you're entire life removing dust .

my solution is to just use klasse and and the duster and some QD. i don't entirely trust the duster though-it's just me i guess. if i'm busy and let it go more than a couple days then i just say screw it until the weekend. i feel the klasse adds some protection from the dust.

that's just me though.

 

Yeah I don't use the cover unless the car is spotless first. During that time period I tend to dust at least twice a day (when I leave in the morning, and when I get home at night), and then QD at night after dusting, and THEN put on the cover.

OH...and I got a Griot's MF duster...compared to the Cal Duster, it works wayyyyy better, plus you can throw the MF head into the laundry to clear the dust.

 

I'll let you in on a little secret: From day to day, my car is dusty. Thanks to my 100 mile commute and that my shop is alongside a major freeway with millions of cars a day on it--dust is inevitable--and it's the bad kind that glitters thanks to brake dust and clutch dust that litters the freeways. If I QD it, I will scratch it really bad, and if I QD it often, in no time I will be seeing major swirls, so it's best to leave it alone, live with it, and wash it once a week. Otherwise I'd have to wash it every day.

Do this--wash your car, take some nice photos of it--and enjoy the pix!! Regardless of how your car looks right now.

 

^^ thats wat it comes to on daily drivers. enjoy the clean picts.

 

Well, at lesat we know what Octanes Desk Top picture is :D

 

picture of heather?

 

You guys are such pessimists.

I wash once every week or two (or after it rains) and use Hydro. I dust when it's dusty. I QD regularly with Slick (sometimes daily) to remove bugs, etc. After several months of this, it starts looking a bit swirly (OK, the boot will look a lot swirly) so I polish and Amigo.

Result - a clean car almost all the time that my coworkers comment on continuously. Daily Driven. A few swirls that only I (and other lunatics) notice.

Of course, having a metallic, lighter color is my ally in this endeavor. Having dark colors is your curse.

 

this is what i've felt about using the duster and QD too much. it can't be good.

 

holding a PC and some hydro and some BLACK WOW .

 

that might be too much stimulation for OG.

 

Haha, well maybe...I should have just not even tired to guess...

Wow, I had no idea what I started...how much I have forgotten...

 

It certainly doesn't show Meguiar's products!
Shhhh, I don't want Nick getting upset with me!
It's not. When we talk about trying to minimize the damage to our paint through daily care--it's cumulative and dependent on the color of your paint. I can see scratches in my paint just by wiping it with QD after it's been polished. It's not worth it.

Haha, a Large McDonalds Ice Coffee, 3 times a day on 2 hours of sleep is too much stimulation for me, lol.

 

cool. but, what creates LESS damage do you think? dusting and QD too often? or thick coats of dust being sheared off at highway speeds? that's my other concern. IMO that would be akin to rubbing down the paint with sandpaper .

BAH there's nothing you can do i suppose except a good polish etc. when the time comes to hopefully reverse the damage. i guess that is why we have the products in the first place!