gregturek

Well, maybe more noob than pro.

I was washing my ‘23 CGTS for the first time and learned an interesting lesson. First what is a guy in Chicago doing washing a car in January? The Chicago Auto Pros detail shop opened a detail supplies and DIY wash facility with all the high end cleaning tools needed to properly wash your baby. It’s called the Bays.

I was using a foam canon to soap up the car when the corner marker lights started flashing, randomly. Then at the back if the car the rear hood unlocked. It turns out the front hood also opened. After having a WTF moment I remembered my key was in my pocket. I knew this might be a problem wiping/drying the car, but not though the foam from the foam canon 6 feet away. Whenever I soaped the door handles and the car would lock or unlock, and the trunk/frunk would unlock when soaping the appropriate locations. It turns out the pressure sprayer was doing the same thing when I was initially wetting the car before soaping.

luckily I didn’t get too much water or soap in the trunk/frunk, but it could have been a mess. Talk about technical unintended consequences! REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE KEY FROM YOUR POCKET BEFORE WASHING YOUR BABY.

Xxyion

do you have the Entry and Drive option specced? I assume if you don't this wouldn't be an issue?

VVG

I have not done a full water wash on any of my cars in about the last 10 years. I pressure rinse the major muck and grime off the car, then use Griot's Spray-on Car Wash with high quality deep pile microfiber. Even on black cars this has produced simply spectacular results.

1. Pressure rinse off all the major muck and grime, underbody, wheel wheels, brake dust, etc.
2. While wet, coat the car with liberal amounts of Spray-On Car Wash, working one panel at a time.
3. Wipe using a soaked folded microfiber towels using linear passes and turning frequently. Folded into quarters, one towel will give you 8 passes.
4. Buff dry with a microfiber drying towel.

That's it. At the end, you will have a full cleaned and spectacularly finished car. You can then apply whatever top product you like, but will rarely actually need anything. About 2-3 times a year, I refinish with a silicone dioxide product over my initial professional ceramic coating.

gregturek

yes. Should have mentioned that up front.

dnimi123

CarPro Reset or some specific ceramic spray be better than a rinse/wax since your car has a ceramic coating??

BudgetPlan1

Ideally you’ll want to avoid any products that have waxes, polymers or similar elements in the formulation; won’t hurt your base coating but will mask the beneficial surface properties of the coating.

manifold danger

I wish someone would open a DIY wash facility near me. For me it's warm water in the rinse buckets and thick rubber gloves.

And yeah I learned to leave the key in the car a long time ago.

BoxKing

His car wash routine is clearly dated, and not recommendable; with the exception to steps 1 & 4, while step 3 is debatable when performing a "regular wash" but in his case not recommended.
The outlined process is basically a glorified water-less wash method. I see far too many DIY detailers going about their wash routines in a careless fashion, I think its due to being misinformed about the properties of ceramic, and feel most ppl don't realize that ceramic coatings need to be properly cared for.

Every 3rd or 4th wash use a soap with decontamination properties, and thats safe for coated vehicles (foam cannon preferred). Wash the car, followed by a spray down with Iron X. Rinse, blow dry or use plush microfiber(s) drying towels, then apply the sacrificial top layer product of your choice (Polish angel is my current go to). This will help restore ones ceramic coats properties

In between washes, use a soap like reset/bathe... wash, rinse, dry... adding another layer of your sacrificial coating product if you wish during or after drying, though to me this is overkill.

nineball

electric leaf blower - best way to dry your car. learned that years ago from washing my bike and trying to dry all the nooks and crannies on a v-twin engine....

Bill Mitchell

All three of my vehicles have keyless entry, the Cayenne, Cayman and BMW 540i. I learned a long time ago to put the key in the car while washing, on else the doors would constantly lock/unlock. Very annoying.

VVG

What soap do you recommend to wash a coated car, and do you actually wash, or just spray on with a foam cannon, allow it to soak, pressure rinse, and blow dry, in a basically touchless method? Is this really sufficient to remove dirt from the surface of the car such that you can then apply a top coat product without scratching? My method produces great results to my eyes, but I am always open to learning better techniques.

VVG

Or get a Metro Vac Master Blaster heated dryer.

Bents

This is the way.

LALTX

Another here who would like to know what soap to use on ceramic coated car.

LALTX

In fact, I searched but couldn't find a thread for How to best wash a car/ceramic coated car.

Would love to hear other people's process. Thanks