kage65

For all you folks in the southeast US, does the pollen affect how you detail your car? My only concern is scratches or swirls from pollen when drying the car off. Or are the pollen particles too small to scratch or swirl?
I use a blower but still use microfiber to get the rest of the water off. It's times like these when full ppf is so nice to have. ( I have but only on the front)

Tempus fugit

After blow drying, I pull the car into the garage and close the door. I then use a microfiber cloth with detailer solution and gently wipe. If I had a cover, I'd put it on the car immediately as the pollen keeps settling even inside the garage. I'm extra careful not to touch the paint during pollen season.

Bxstr

If there is still water on the surface and you are using a detail spray as you dry you should be fine.

garfunkle

I try to time my washes to just after a rainy day to minimize. A ceramic coating helps. Spray the car down to knock off the majority and then using a foam cannon will help lubricate.

kage65

Now debating on waiting to wash until the season is over, and just using quick detailer to get the bugs off the front. But with that one could say it's also bad to leave dirt and grime on the paint for such a long time.. uh guess it's hard to win.

jlayco

I follow the exact same procedure as Tempus Fugitive.

Colvin84

Agree with above and highly recommend getting a Gyeon silk dryer towel - pricey for a towel, but works very well. Need to use proper towel technique to protect paint, essentially you drape on and then pull off. No pressure/rubbing/etc.

BlueShell

Pollen doesn't change my washing routine. I am a convert with rinseless washes because it's so much quicker and is as good as my previous Gary Dean two-bucket wash method. And rinseless wash methods also allows you to wipe dry panels immediately after you wash it so you there's no time for pollen to get mixed into the panel as you dry. Lastly, rinselsss is less messy since you don’t have to spray the car, so you can theoretically do this in your garage.

I’m also a geek of the /r/autodetailing subreddit so I’m always tweaking my method (specifically to make it faster and easier because I'm getting lazier every year). I have no affiliation to any of these brands, and it's just from my research and years of trial and error.

If your car has any sort of protective coating on it, whether a wax or a sealant, the pollen isn't going to damage your paint or clear coat in my opinion.

Anyways, here's my routine with some optional steps depending on how dirty the car is and how much I need to "renew" the wax/sealant coating:

1. Optional: Spray down water to remove grime if the car is extra dirty

2. Fill a bucket with 3 gallons of water

3. Mix 1oz of Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash to the water (Optional: Add 2 squeezes of AMMO Boost -- this helps cut down on water spotting since our water is pretty hard)

4. Soak microfiber towels in Rinseless wash solution

5. Optional: Pre-treat each panel with Ammo Frothe Dry Foam for additional lubricity if time permits and car is extra dirty

6. Clean each panel with towel soaked in solution from top to bottom (fold towel to fourths and roll as you wipe) - discard towels once all sides are used

7. Dry panel immediately with clean damp microfiber towel with AMMO Hydrate

8. Optional: Dry panel with AMMO Reboot instead of Hydrate if you need to "renew" your sealant coating

9. Optional: Spray wheels with Adam’s wheel cleaner if there is extra brake dust build up

10. Mix in Ammo Brute Wheel soap with water

11. Clean wheels w/ Ammo Brute solution w/ wheel brush and rinse

12. Apply AMMO mud

This exterior wash takes me 20 to 30 minutes.

SConn

Can I ask why you wash your wheels last? Shouldn't that be first?

BlueShell

In the past, I’ve used the leftover body wash solution to wash the wheels. So it’s just old habits.

Do you suggest I should change it up? I know Larry at AMMO suggest interior, wheels, then exterior.

SConn

Yup.. That's the only reason why really... Cause Larry says so. 🤣

The way I understand him, he uses a "top down method", but you risk splashing your clean paint when you clean your wheels last, so if they're already clean, you can proceed with the top down wash and not worry about getting anything on your clean paint.

But I'm also still against waterless washes. After paint correcting several vehicles, I just don't want to risk swirls by an accidental improper waterless wash.

BlueShell

Yeah -- I might start switching up the sequence to build a new habit. Larry is quite the guru

It took me a lot of convincing (which means a lot of YouTube videos) to buy in to rinseless washes (note rinseless and waterless is different). But seeing as my car has a full PPF and Ceramic coating, I decided to give it a shot and it's been working really well so far. Ammo Frothe pretreatment also gives me the additional lubricity which helps me feel secure in not scratching or marring the surface.

SConn

Larry is amazing, but he's so detailed, when I first started following him a few years ago, I actually got discouraged. I had to really build up my knowledge base (and hands on experience) before a lot of what he said clicked. I actually started with The Junkman several years ago. Way more basic, but I think he builds a foundation that is less intimidation. Then Larry refines the process of detailing. I have a lot of his stuff as well, but not the Frothe yet Love it, and I'd say worth the money!

good2go

How do you drive it in the spring, I rinse, dry and drive again. If I'm in a hurry, I will drive through a car wash, to save time.