I was out washing my MCS today talking to my mother on the telephone at the same time. It's a good time to do those check-in calls and banter about this and that.

So I was doing my regular, very careful wash and dry and my mother asked what I was doing and I told her. So she then described her washing method for her car. My mother is 77 and lives in Southern Connecticut. She gets her pail, her Woolite and......a mop! She foams up the solution and mops the whole car. Then of course comes the rinse and a cursory drying with old towls. The picture of her with the mop going over the car is so funny to me in comparison to my careful MCS washing with various wash cloths, special cleaning solutions and polishes, etc.

Just thought I'd share.

 

funny story.

btw, how many buckets do you use when you're washing your car?
hummmmm?

 

i use only one bucket, and then save it for my wife's car, and then save it for the next time

 

you baaaad!

you're suppose to use 2 buckets. one for soap, one with water to rinse the sponge/cloth after each application.

and get off your celphone...!!

 

Better then the story of the lady washing her car with a bucket of water and a broom.

 

my 318ti, 325i, Civic, X3 and MC shine fine with no more microscratches than it was delivered with.

 

I use 2 buckets and a sponge for each. I don't want that metallic brake dust rubbing into the paint on the body.

BTW, I do believe it is written in the NAM rules that if one ever thinks about using a mop to wash a MINI. They get banned.

 

Why do you need a second bucket when you can just use the hose to "power rinse" any abrasive particles from the rag (or sponge as the case may be)? Seems like the second bucket would get contaminated with grit too.

Rawhyde

 

power rinse actually pushes the gunk into the sponge. a gentle squeeze
and release is much safer. you can use a 3rd bucket with distilled
water.

 

I actually use a 4th bucket filled with air to dry my MINI so I don't leave water spots!

 

I watched my neighbor de-snow his Honda wagon with a pushbroom yesterday. I winced and looked away.

 

When you fill your "air bucket" do you scoop from the front yard or back yard? Or do you have a compressor to fill it up?

 

I fill the air bucket from my lungs because my exhaled breath has less rust-causing oxygen in it than your plain old front or back yard air.

 

<golf clap>

 

My parents only ever used dishwashing detergent on our family cars! YIKES!!

And to top that, my dad once touched up the paint on one of our old bombs---with a brush........

Ah but my poor 'rents had such crap cars. We had a '71 Pinto--pea soup green. Then when they got their 1st new car in years, they get.... a '76 Pacer. My dad hated that car.

 

My grandpa once painted an entire '63 Ford pickup truck with a can of blue latex house paint and a paintbrush. He was very proud of it! I had the privilege of driving it for a while in high school. Talk about yikes!

 

That's hysterical! And I believe my father used house paint too!!!!

 

I'll probably get run out of here for saying this, but I never use any soap/solutions of any sort. I just get the hose out, wet the car down really well, then wipe it all off with a cotton cloth, then dry it off with a drying cloth. I do wax it twice a year (right before winter, and right after). I guess I lack the gumption some (most) of you have.

 

that's too much work washing the towel. shampooing the car is much much
easier.

 

Don't feel bad, dansmini. . . I have been known to utlize used motor oil as a detailing product!

My Land Rover Defender has a matte black painted bonnet and the used motor oil does a great job of giving it a nice matte sheen that lasts for months!

 

Thanks Ken. Now I'm going to feel guilty if I only use one bucket. Just what I need - to be a little MORE **** about my car!!:impatient



Note: My wife's technique was to...never wash her car. I got her a Subaru wagon, and I browbeat her into washing it once a month. Washing my four cars was all I could deal with.

 

i have a 06 legacy wagon...i've washed it maybe 3 times since buying
it early Oct. it's covered with salt and dirt and watever. i don't plan on
washing it anytime soon. maybe if the forecast shows 3 days of
sun i'll stick it through the $8.50 soft cloth.

 

I have one technique for washing during the day (one facility), another for washing at night (two facilities), and yet another for washing when temps have dipped into the teens and the water faucet is shut off at my secret, perfectly awesome local car wash.

 

With winter now set in, washing is a whole big deal. Ya can't do it outside, so the wandwash is the way to go.

Spray down the car to get the road crap off, clean the underside , dry the door jambs, glass, and don't touch the paint. I will just wait till spring to wipe anything on my paint.

 

before I got the MINI, I had a Saturn. I would wash it only once or twice during the entire winter at the corner Mobil touchless carwash. I would do the same now, but with the ragtop, I really don't want all of that soap and stuff on it . Fortunately, there's a hand-wash place nearby. I purchased 10 washes at a discount so I can bring in the MINI almost every week to wash off the salt No buckets for me during the winter