Somewhere I read, maybe here, that the paint on the MINIs is a bit softer than usual. Does this relate to your comment?

Also, do you have any experience with a product called Rejex? A friend of mine has a BMW and it is mentioned with some frequency on the forums that he visits. It is recommended (by the BMW guys) particularly for protecting alloy wheels, but can be used for bodies also. To me, brake dust is certainly a problem, but perhaps worse are the attacks from road salt in this part of the country. Is there anything that is really good against road salt?

 

Regular washing!

The best thing, IMHO, for salt is getting it off of the car as regularly and frequently as is possible. When I lived in the Northeast, I'd run through a touchless car wash w/ an undercarrage sprayer as often as the weather would allow. I also kept a good coat of synthetic sealant on the car (used NuFinish back then... cheap and easy).

 

Oh well... looks like this thread lost it's "Stickyness". Too bad. Perhaps if Zaino was a paid sponsor of NAM...

 

Yes, curious...

 

I agree! Don't let it sit on your paint. This is even more important in areas that now use magnesium-chloride on the roads. That stuff is really brutal on both paint and trim.

Washing as soon as you can and keeping a durable synthetic wax on throughout the winter is your best defense, IMO.

-Heather

 

Heather and all complusive cleaners,

I need some info to clarify my cleaning process for the winter - especially the salt part. I did read about the 2 buck method for the winter (at home) or spray wash place (with your bucket, mit and mystic) - but noticed a comment about not washing the car below a certain temperature. Is this true? Is mystic strong enough to remove the salt/grit of winter? Has anyone really washed their mini by hand in the dead of winter?

If I take the car to a brushless car wash, how do I maintain the wax? Do I just use the wax spray at the car wash? I've been using epic.

I truely don't know what I will do when I can't clean honey-bee. Any recommendations for withdrawal symptoms?

Thanks everyone

 

For any place that has Real Winter, Gawd, I hope not...

 

I did once hand-wash my car (years ago) when I had the day off from high school because of snow... It wasn't a MINI, but the compulsive genes run deep! :D

 

I'll let Heather speak to the proper product to use from their line (I've got products that I like already and I'm not an expert in their line... I've met Heather and the folks from DP at MOTD a year or so ago and they know their stuff), but a 2-bucket wash when the car is very gritty is great. If I don't do the 2-bucket method, I'll at least rinse like crazy, do a quick light-touch wash with lots of soapy water to remove the bulk of the grit, rinse well, rinse out my bucket and then do a final wash with clean water/soap.

The big worry with cold washing is that a wash introduces water to areas of the car that usually don't see water. If this stray water freezes, you may wind up freezing your locks/doors closed or other very inconvenient things.

It probably isn't good to be smearing ice crystals around on the finish either, if it takes you a while to get to drying the car in very cold conditions.

If Epic is a sealant, you should be OK to do a few good coats at the end of the fall and then plan a good wash/clay/seal again in the spring.

When I win the Lottery Jackpot, I'll build an indoor wash station and invite all of my MINI buds over for a mid-winter wash-a-thon! You could change your oil on one of my 4-post lifts as well! :D

 

I hand wash down to about 35F, below that I go to a coin wash, and JUST spray off the salt/gunk.

Mark

 

I agree with agranger in that hand washing in cold temps primarily presents issues of convenience (or inconvenience, depending on how you look at it!) more than anything... freezing your locks, your hands, etc.

Beyond that, we often hand wash here in pretty cold temps (I don't remember just how low). HOWEVER, we do wear thick rubber gloves under our wash mitts to save our hands! I also recommend a 2-person wash if possible... even if that means having a spouse or friend there just to help dry quickly. It's just less painful that way!

That said, many of my winter washes are at the coin-op spray wash just to spray off the road additives ASAP (they use mag-chloride here in Colorado ) like lotsie does. I hand wash in between spray washes, whenever possible, because let's face it... the spray washes (sans mitt) just don't clean well enough! (note that you should never hand-dry the paint unless you've hand washed it... or there is a significant scratch risk).

Yes, Prima Mystique will wash off winter salts and road grime. A 2-bucket method or dumping your water halfway through and refreshing it will help maintain a nice soap concentration and minimize your scratch risk. I also like to remind people to always keep their mitt chock-FULL o' soapy water and reload at every panel (or twice-thrice per large panel like the bonnet).

Prima Epic is quite hardy in winter conditions. It helps if you wash off anything that attempts to wear it down though... such as washing the salts/road grime off frequently. Frequent washes with a wax-safe soap such as Mystique will maintain Epic's protection best, of course, but even a harsher soap like those in coin-op spray washes are better than leaving the salts on the wax/paint. So, in most situations, Epic will hold up through the bulk of the winter. It ultimately depends on environmental exposure, wash frequency, etc. If you're washing mostly by hand with your own bucket of Mystique fairly frequently in the winter then Epic will protect your paint easily through the winter.

If you are able to do a hand wash in the winter, then spritzing a coat of Hydro on the paint as you dry always adds a protective boost if you're concerned about wearing the Epic down too thin, too early. It's not always necessary but many people like the peace of mind knowing that their paint is definitely protected. Or, it could be a necessary booster if your MINI is outside in harsh weather 24/7 in the winter and is subject to lots of road additives like mag-chloride or a similar scenario.

agranger- May I come to your indoor wash station too?? I have my fingers crossed for your lotto win.

Hope that helps!

-Heather

 

Heather and all,
Thanks for the info. I am now ready for the winter. I really like the idea of a garage with indoor washer...that would be cool. Oh well back to reality...standing in the driveway wearing long johns, heavy sweater, hat, gloves and ski jacket while my neighbors think I'm nuts for washing my mini.

 

 

That's NOT a pretty picture...

 

I don't think I ever came back to this post even though I should have a long time ago. When I first got my Mini I looked all over to figure out the best way/products to take care of it. I stumbled upon this post and it was a TREMENDOUS help. I've since jumped on the Zaino bandwagon and although it takes a long time to do, it is SO worth it. I've had professional collision repair/painter's comment on how good the paint surface looks. Either way, thanks Agranger for your detailed descriptions. I've read over them probably 10 times!

 

Ah Grasshopper, you have never used the original Blue Coral back in the day. That took a Looooooog time AND a lot of effort. Today's polymer-based products, even going back to when NuFinish came out many years ago, just don't seem to require the same physical effort. They do, however, favor multiple layers.

 

Don't dis the NuFinish. I often recommend it to people who are not willing to submit the time and energy it takes to properly maintain a finish. It's quick, easy, cheap and readily available (much like myself)! :D

 

No, it's just that things seemed to change about that time. It used to be that the measure of a wax was how hard it was to apply and polish. NuFinish came along and it looked very shiny and didn't require a ton of time or effort. It wasn't really a wax in the traditional sense and it changed the paradigm...

 

Resurrecting this thread - easily the best write up on detailing I've ever seen. Wish I had this info years ago! Thank you agranger and BradB!

 

Thanks!! My MINI is gone but the detailing never stops!

 

Wow, I thought I was OCD....

 

This is extremely helpful!!

 

Wow! Way to bring back a 7 year-old thread! :D

I was thinking about this post this weekend. Jango won 'Cleanest MINI' at the Metroplex MINI Show-n-Shine last weekend (there were probably 30+ cars there). This proves that good maintenance and detailing practices can keep a car looking beautiful despite 6.5 years, 4 trips to the Dragon, 80k miles, a few Auto-X events and over half a dozen DE weekends. Considering that I was in competition with cars that were less than 6 weeks old, let alone 6 years old, I was pretty happy!

I'm a creature of habit... I'm still using the same products, except for maybe a change of glass cleaners (I found a simple glass cleaner that was easily available and said it had no ammonia and was safe for tint) and mechanical polishes (I now use Sonus SFX polishes). The rest of the gear and product remains the same. I've heard of several new products that are supposed to be better than Zaino, but it still gives me beautiful results and lasts a long time. I've never seen a better shine on my Pepper White color than what Zaino gives me, so I'm still sticking with it.

 

BTW: If you purchased one of the new Goodwood MINIs, I'll help with the first coat of Zaino in Dallas if you let me take off my shoes and run my toes through the lambswool mats!

 

Second that.