How do you wash your Mav?

[Sylvester]

One week in and my truck is almost ready for the first car wash. I am wondering how do you all wash your trucks. The first car wash at the dealership already left some swirl marks in the paint and I want to avoid to get more in. Any tips, especially with the bed cover on?

Sponsored

 

[Z_ealot]

One week in and my truck is almost ready for the first car wash. I am wondering how do you all wash your trucks. The first car wash at the dealership already left some swirl marks in the paint and I want to avoid to get more in. Any tips, especially with the bed cover on?

Don’t have a truck, but all my vehicles that I’ve ever owned I’ve always taken to the do it yourself type car washes where they have the high pressure spray nozzles that can blast most any dirt off the car, only thing I would make sure to stay away from at those type of places is the foam brush as they are usually filled with all kinds of grime that can eat through your paint quite easily, same thing with auto car washes, those big rollers they have that come down on your car are notorious for holding on to whatever rocks or dirt that were on the last persons car before you

 

[Brian_J]

2 bucket method w grit guards. Adams blue soap. Adams h2o gloss and guard sometimes as a drying aid. Various waxes and dressings and sprays.

 

[jewc75]

I use a pressure washer with foam cannon, 2 bucket method with grit guards, and have different Chemical Guys products. Need a solid mitt for washing. I also use a blower to dry the cars off.

 

[Stetson]

I run my cars through a touch less car wash around the corner from my house. If they are extra grimy I follow with some hand washing.

they probably don’t get bathed enough…but they look ok generally

 

[projectvortex]

Don’t have a truck, but all my vehicles that I’ve ever owned I’ve always taken to the do it yourself type car washes where they have the high pressure spray nozzles that can blast most any dirt off the car, only thing I would make sure to stay away from at those type of places is the foam brush as they are usually filled with all kinds of grime that can eat through your paint quite easily, same thing with auto car washes, those big rollers they have that come down on your car are notorious for holding on to whatever rocks or dirt that were on the last persons car before you

This

Never go through automated car washes, even touchless. One will grind your paint, the other will use caustic soap to eat away at the dirt.

 

[Retiredguy]

Two buckets, wash mitt. plenty of soap and water. Dry in my garage, Apply protectant to tires and clean windows inside and out.

 

[Aherpa]

One week in and my truck is almost ready for the first car wash. I am wondering how do you all wash your trucks. The first car wash at the dealership already left some swirl marks in the paint and I want to avoid to get more in. Any tips, especially with the bed cover on?

I run my vehicles through the no-touch car wash with a basic wash (no wax) and then park it and use several microfiber towels to dry it and, when it needs a wax, I park it in a shady spot and use Griot's Best Show Spray Wax with microfiber towels. After every 3-5 washes, I use Griot's Speed Shine in combo with their Synthetic Clay.
It sounds like a lot of messing about, but the spray wax applies quickly and only needs to be done 2-3 times a year and the speed shine adds only about 15 minutes to the car wash. The Synthetic Clay is a great applicator for Speed Shine and it really helps get a glassy finish without a ton of work.
Usually, I can get the car washed, waxed/or speed shined while my wife is grocery shopping or picking out a book at the library.

 

[CLH917]

Naked. Ohhhh you meant about the truck…


Foam cannon! And too much of chemical guys products.

 

[slooose42]

I absolutely hate those little bitty swirl marks that look like small spider webs. Tell the dealer "not" to wash it. seriously. They send some hourly person to either send it through a car wash with brushes or the guy washes it with out any concern about the spider webs.....that's what happened to me and it's taking me forever to get rid of the webs. I use a car wash soap that has a little wax in it and a bucket that has a strainer in the bottom so you don't bring the dirt up on the cloth that you are using. Then dry it with micro fiber towels . They make large micro towels that work good for that majority of the water then use the smaller ones to finish. Don't use bathroom towels if you don't want spider webs. It works for me

 

[LC48]

Foam gun, two buckets with grit guards, Griots pink soap, leaf blower then terry towels. If I am not doing any more than that I can knock it out in 45 minutes or so.

Dark colors are gonna show swirls or scratches before lighter colors for sure, mine is Carbonized Gray so I am hand washing I nly 9n this one.

I found an extendable wand that has multiple spray nozzle choices and the head angle can be changed too at a local Tractor Supply that works perfectly for an under body spray off, it will extend to 6 foot so you can reach all the way across - may not be too useful in Cali unless you are running off pavement much.

 

[Texchappy]

I’ve become a big believer in rinseless washing. Took a bit to overcome the concern but now I’ve been using optimum no rinse and similar products since 2007.

 

[tcw8848]

Wondering the same. Want to wash and protect the new truck. Seems like everywhere I look, I get different answers. FYI my truck is black.

I think my plan right now is to wash, clay bar, apply sealant and allow to dry, and then finally a quick spray wax to finish the process.

Then, try to do a weekly or bi-weekly wash and wax. Applying sealant about every 6 months.

Car detailers- Let me know if this sounds like a good process!

 

[Flomounier1]

Just washed mine 2 days after I got it. Not that it needed to be washed but I wanted to wax it so it needed to be washed first.

On all my cars I use just a single bucket and a microfiber wash mitt/pad/sponge. I find the 2 bucket method to be ineffective unless your car is super dirty and a lot of crap is getting embedded in the sponge. The pre-soak removes most abrasive stuff on the paint. For the hard bug marks, I have a small little piece of microfiber cloth I put my thumb nail under and scrape it off while wet and soapy. I blow off the majority of the water with a leaf blower and then use either a soft %100 cotton flannel style dish towel or a microfiber towel to dry the rest.

My favorite soap is Chemical Guys Mr. Pink.

I only use liquid spray wax on all my cars. I've had bad experiences with hard waxes or "Ceramic Wax" sprays. My favorite product is Griot's Garage Best of Show wax. I use it every other wash and water beads up nicely and bug marks don't stick as hard. It's also super easy to apply and you can't really do it wrong. Just spray and wipe with a microfiber towel.

For glass cleaner, I only use brand name Windex. I've tried Chemical Guys streak free glass cleaner, the white foamy aerosol glass cleaner, and invisible glass and none work as good as windex.

For tire shine, I use Turtle Wax aerosol spray from Walmart. It never gets gunky and it's not too artificially shiny.

For interior detailing spray, anything should be fine but I prefer Meguiars Interior Detailer or Chemical Guys synthetic detailer.

And if black plastic trim ever gets dull, Cerakote ceramic trim coat IS THE BEST. (Confirmed by Project Farm on Youtube).

 

[FriscoTXJoe]

If we keep talking about how we need to be gentle and kind with our Mavericks, the guys driving the big trucks are going to laugh at our "trucklette"......

Sponsored