After owning "Dory" our 2022 Sidewalk Edition convertible for 2 months, I noticed today that it needs cleaning. One easy solution is to take it to my dealer, who washes it well for free whenever it is there for any work.

However, the rest of the time, I live in a homeowners association which forbids using a hose or bucket to wash a car. A microfiber mitt works well to remove surface dust, and I suspect the same Finish Line Super Bicycle Wash I use on our bicycles would also work on Dory to remove dirt the mitt doesn't get off by itself.

Local car washes all use brushes, and I wonder how the top will do with how they clean?

Once cleaned, I'd also like to apply wax, if I can do so without too much trouble.

I'm in Southern California, so snow isn't a consideration.

So what do others do?

 

I understand why HOAs exist, but they really irk me. Glad I don’t have to deal with one…

Do you have a garage? There are “waterless” car wash products that work pretty good, but most use a bucket for rinsing. I would park the car in the garage, keep the door shut, and use a waterless product. If you haven’t already had a ceramic paint product applied, might consider that too. Will make car washes much easier.

 

Yes, we have a garage, so can work inside it without the HOA knowing (although I'm on the HOA board.) Thanks for the reminder.

Turns out Dory had "paint protection" as a dealer add-on when new, 21 months ago. Whether that was just extra profit for the dealer or a real ceramic paint protection that lasts for up to eight years remains to be seen.

I used plain water on a microfiber mitt this morning to get the last of the current dirt off Dory, and doing so was easy enough that I suspect real wax or paint protection is still in effect.

There are a half dozen local mobile car cleaning services I could hire too, so I may eventually try one of those.

 

To keep my cars clean I use a local DIY car wash with a bay and a spray nozzle and a brush on a stick fed with soapy water.

But I seldom use the brush.

What I do is go over the car with the wand set to soap, the rinse, then no spot rinse. I give dirty areas -- the front of the car, the windshield, A pilars, mirrors -- extra attention and remove whatever they have accumulated -- mostly bug stuff -- by blasting the stuff off.

I avoid letting the car go too long between washes and I'll even hit a car wash to rinse off bird mess. Especially with a soft top car. I never let my Boxster sit long at all with any bird mess on the soft top.

As for cleaning the top I just treated it to a good rinse using the no spot rinse setting. This setting has the water spray at its lowest pressure.The canvas shed what bit of dirt it had accumulated with just no spot rinse. Now I might have with the wand some distance away used the soap setting at least early on in my ownership but really since I avoid parking under trees the top didn't get all that dirty. Just the occasional bird mess. And just water removed this.

Once in a while just using the wash wand doesn't remove some grime. I'll get the brush and use the nozzle to thoroughly rinse the brush then use it to clean areas that have grime the nozzle spray -- even in soap mode -- can't remove.

I have *never* run any of my cars through an automated car wash. The fear of those heavy brushes and what they might do to the paint and in the case of my Boxster the top canvas and its plastic window had made avoiding using these automated car washes.

And my body shop buddy told me automated car washes use "hard wax" and that's not the best wax to use on a car.

To apply wax the car's painted surfaces must be super clean. Really I think before a wax the car needs to be clayed. And it is clayed *after* it receives a thorough wash.

This link might be of some interest to you:

https://www.caranddriver.com/car-acc...-clay-bar-car/

Keeping the car waxed with a quality soft wax helps the cleaning. Bugs and most grime just get blasted off from the spray.

Be sure to thoroughly rinse the car with the no spot rinse. And give those wheels/brakes a good spray down. This removes brake dust and from the piston dust boots which if left in place can result in brake noise. Unfortunately though the spray won't remove the dust from the wheels and periodically you'll need to give the wheels extra attention which means using a bucket and water and something you can "scrub" the wheels to remove all the dust.

 

Hello @straz, I’m in a similar situation, living in an apartment with offsite parking and no free-flowing water.

I’ve been using AMMO NYC’s hoseless system for multiple years and it works like a charm

Theres a kit or you can purchase the items separately. On their YouTube channel Larry (the owner) goes into a lot more detail about each product and how they work together.

https://ammonyc.com/products/hoseless-lift-kit-150

Hope this helps -Rich

 

I've used this stuff: https://www.meguiars.com/professiona...-gallon-liquid

There are videos on this product on YouTube. have a look.