Assuming my brand-new Clubman has been Banana Glossed within the last 30-60 days, what is a reasonable routine when I get back to my garage after a soggy commute home? Spritz it with Hydro and dry it? Wait till the weekend and simply wash it again? Hit it with a QD and give it a once-over on my way into the house? The car will be wet and have picked up some road grime, despite mud flaps. It seems logical to want to dry it, but since it will likely be a little dirty, not sure that would be wise.

My thinking is if I can keep it from getting horrifyingly dirty with a consistent but *short* routine, I might do better than just waiting until it's a mess and then putting the Big Wash off because it's more time than I have available. Next thing you know, it's Spring and my car looks like a petri dish. So far a California Duster has worked for a 30-second wipe-down of road dust, but rain is another story...

 

Living in Seattle I'm definitely gonna want to know.

 

Ditto for Vancouver, BC.

 

Any amount of dirt/grime on the paint will leave scratches/swirls. Car wash soap/shampoo, like any kind of soap, lifts dirt and floats it off the surface as you wipe it off. QD/Hydro also do that, but unless it is a VERY light dusting, you will end up having to use a lot of product to get the same effect you would from using soap. Another issue is that every time you wipe anything on the paint, you risk causing swirls. So if your going to be wiping down a dirty car almost every day, swirls will happen.

I would just wash it once a week. Takes me less than a hour to wash/dry/Hydro 2 MINIs.

Mark

 

Has anyone tried Griot's Spray-On Car Wash cleaner? Seems like a good idea. A good solution to our situation or too good to be true?

 

I've had my eye on that as well. I too would be very interested in a first hand report.

 

I agree w/ lotsie....wash it!!! If you were parked and it rained (no splashing about in road grime) yes, I think you could just dry it, assuming the car started out very clean. Once that dirt gets on there, though, the only solution is a good washing.

 

I guess you could just dry a clean car that had been rained on, if you lived where the local environment had pristine air conditions. Urban air environments are full of all kinds of air borne particulates, that would settle on the car. That is what water spots are, dried particulates, suspended in the water, that are left behind after the H2O evaporates.

Mark

 

Yeah, it makes sense that once dirt is involved, washing is the only way out. I am mightily interested in one of those 'rinseless' type washing solutions though, as something that might be accomplished in my cramped single-car garage. ( I love my folding mirrors!)

 

I like the Griot's Spray-On Wash, but it will cause some swirling if the car is truly dirty. Granted, if your MINI is your daily driver, you're going to get swirling no matter what you do. So it may be 6 of one, half dozen of the other. I have a crappy situation for actual washing right now, and I use the Spray-On if the car is just barely dirty. If it's actually dirty (like after a lot of driving in the rain), then I just wait for a clear day and wash it up