Themixguy

New to the 997, do I use my Zymol auto wash for all? Wheels tend to need extra scrubbing with a brush but still have residue when wiped off...

Favorite glass/paint soap?
Favorite wheel soap/routine?

Thanks!

Racetwin2

My routine is as follows:

At least a wash every week. Sometimes twice. I drive it ca three times per week.

1. Rinse with plenty of water and a soft brush to rinse off majority of dust/dirt. Since I wash it so often id does not really get dirty.

2. Two buckets with soap, new sponges and grit collectors in the buckets. One sponge/bucket for the top of the car and one for the lower part. I use normal car shampoo. Last time it was Turtle wax with PFTE. Have tried at least 15 different good ones without major differences. I don't believe in going to extremes here. At least not if I wash the car so often.

3. Rinse the car and immediately dry it.

4. Wax. Also here I dont spend a fortune but I use a good basic hard wax. I wax the car every second wash wich is at least once per week and I find it worth the time since its easier to wash off dirt/insects and paint dont scratch so easy in everyday use.

5. Wheels. I always use wheel cleaner. Here I find the biggest difference in quality of products. Some of them are just like normal petroleum based anti grease sprays - Useless! I find the ones that loosen the grit and creates a red/purple sludge the best. They are usually like gel when you spray them. Still I am not picky and Im not prepared to pay 30 dollars for a spray if this one (Sonax in my case just now) for 10 dollars does the job perfectly. Also the calipers look super good. The huge advantage is that with the good sprays you never need to grind with a sponge or similar. A normal soft bruch is really enough. I also rinse thoroughly since wheel cleaner is agressive.

I dont use any special cleaner for the wind screen/windows but I use a dedicated "glass wax" with silicone since i find it also protects a bit and makes the windscreen more slippery

Quadcammer

Waxing once a week? Wtf? Holy useless.


Um, I wash with a foam gun and a mit and dry with microfiber. Maybe once every couple weeks, if that

Dennis C

I wash my 997 when it's dirty. I don't drive it every day, so it doesn't get too dirty.

I use a two bucket method also, but one is a soapy water bucket and one is a rinse bucket with a grit guard. I wash the top of the car first, and work my way down. I use a merino wool wash mitt. I only use water on the soft top.

I wash the wheels last. I use horse hair brushes on the outside and wheel Woolies on the inside barrels. I use soapy water and it works well. I find that wheel cleaners are often very harsh, and they can damage or stain the paint/clear coat on the calipers.

Once the car is clean, I remove excess water using a California Jelly Blade first, followed by compressed air. I do the final drying and buffing with a microfiber towel that is specifically designed to dry cars (I buy mine at Griot's Garage).

I wax my car a couple of times per year. I'm trying different waxes now, and leaning towards synthetic products. I also like to use paint glaze occasionally. On the soft top, I use Ragg Topp products twice a year.

In the winter months, I use Griot's waterless car wash. It works well.

Batman33

Re, waxing once a week: maybe useless for the car, but maybe useful for him! Think about it.


In order I: spray wheel cleaner, foam entire car, wash wheels and tires, throw out dirty suds and mitt rinse bucket water (separate buckets), wash car from top to bottom with dedicated "mitts" and new (separate) suds and rinse water buckets, rinse entire car and then and only then (and here's the best part...the best thing about car washing I've ever learned) blow dry the entire car with an electric leaf blower top to bottom...no water spotting...no water running out of nooks and crannies after the fact to ruin your wash job...no risk of damaging paint using a less than absolutely clean cloth by mistake, etc. Its great.....neighbors look at me like I'm crazy, except for the car guys who "get it"....you know the ones who might wax every week! ha ha.

Quadcammer

I've thought about it and stand by my statement.

Racetwin2

Quadcammer: I know I will not make you change your mind but:

For me waxing once per week is easy. I have a cab so it's really only from below the windows and down.

My wife has a convertible as well so I can swap between cars, wax mine while hers is drying up. Hers doesnt get waxed as often though

Its kind of meditating. Car has personality and beautiful shapes.

Waxing makes me see all things with the car and the paint. I see/feel stone chips and small problems early and can fix it.

Wax dissolves small dots of asphalt residue which normal car soap and sponges wont fix

Waxing keeps the car slick. My youngest 5 YO daughter still fancy writing things with her bare fingers on dirty painted car surfaces.

Preaching done

Bruce In Philly

I start with my head and then work down very quickly.... then I start on the critical task of soaping and polishing her b--bs.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

extanker

automatic car wash every couple of months or sooner when it gets hard to see out the windshield......no HBO drama. i will share this thread with others though.......meditating ......dat bezzz a good one and of course the touching of the shape and feel of the car.....................wow. some people are REALLY way too close to their car

TommyV44

Bruce,

I'd start with the b**bs first! That's just me!

Tom

VanSant62

Optimum No Rinse 1 bucket method
Mine lives in a garage and doesn't get any real dirt for that I would use the two bucket method with grit guards.
I load up the bucket filled with solution and 9 micro fiber towels, I use the Green Optimum with wax,
I use one towel per panel and have a couple for wheel wells, wash dry with waffle towel, done in 15 mins.
Wheels - Sonax, the stuff is great, stinks like it works! apply light brush, hose off dry. If im up to it tire dressing with foam applicator

F308gt4

I also use Optimum No Rinse with Wax.

My car gets washed weekly, and I'm in SoCal, so it really doesn't get that dirty. I mix up the Optimum a little stronger (quick detail ratio, I think it's 6oz/gallon? ). I use it in a half-gallon garden sprayer.

I spray each panel with the Optimum mix, and wipe down. I use one towel for each section of the car, and a separate towel for the wheels. Works really well.

If the car is really dirty, I will use a bucket, similar to the method described by the poster above. But, I find that probably 95% of the time, the garden sprayer method works fine for me.

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S....

From the cheap and easy seats: I use Dawn all the time.... I know... too harsh. The CW is Dawn is to be used rarely and then only to strip wax and contaminates before a major buffing and waxing. I don't do this anymore.... Dawn all the time with a healthy squirt into a large bucket.

I used Dawn for about 125K miles of use on my Boxster S where for most of its life, it sat in a car port, outside, in Center City Philly where city grit and crap always left a nice crust on the car (requiring a heavy hose down before applying the most super-fluffy terry sponge I can find). I also buffed the thing a bajillion times with a random orbital with some sort of polish, then Zaino. I even burned out the bearings on two Pep Boys cheapie orbitals before I finally purchased a pro Porter Cable unit. So if Dawn was so strong and buffing with a chemical abrasive so awful, why did my car look like this after around 150K miles? https://goo.gl/photos/ZGT3hnmom5jQm2Lj6

Peace
Bruce in Philly

VanSant62

Your car looks amazing, I always read, use Dawn to strip old wax, paint correct (clay bar, whatever), then seal,and wax, Dawn is for stripping old wax. If dawn was abrasive all the those ducks and other oil saturated water life would be pissed off!! LOL.

Bruce In Philly

Thanx...... my friends think I am fanatical about how I care for my toys, however I draw a hard line at "livability" and "usability". If caring interferes with either, I ditch it. Using Dawn, for example, takes of bugs and brake dust better than weaker stuff and makes washing easier so I wash more often. I like photography so I take my Porsche into the Jersey salt marshes...... if I can't use the car, then I won't own the car.

Peace
Bruce in Philly