Hello everyone and thanks for looking. Friend of mine just got a used Eclipse and asked me how I go about cleaning my truck. I wrote this and sent it to her. I know it's not all inclusive but I thought I'd ask you guys how you thought I did. We went to a few stores and bought all Meguirs products the day before.


Here we go...

1. Rinse down the entire car w/ the hose. Pay special attention to the really dirty areas. Wheels, tires, wheel wells, and the lower part of the car.
2. Fill a bucket w/ water and the car wash. Drop in the scrub brush, old sponge and an old rag.
3. Use the bleech white and spray down the wheels and tires. Do one of them at a time and scrub the wheel/tire w/ a scrub brush. Use your old dirty sponge and clean the inside of the wheel well. Use the rag to get the spokes of the wheel if necessary. Rinse well. Move on to the next tire.
4. If the lower portion of the car and lower bumper are really dirty, use the old sponge and get off the worst of the grime. Rinse the sponge out well before you do this. Resist the urge to pick at tar and bugs with your fingernail. If there's one on there, dab a little bug and tar remover on it. WD-40 works well for this. Use WD-40 to get crud off of plastic. Rubbing alcohol will work too. Don't get that on the paint! If you use any of these on paint, it will remove wax. Not important if you are planning on waxing today.
5. Now is a good time to rinse the car again. DO NOT let the car start to dry, you'll get water spots. Less important on a light color though.
6. Pour out the water in the bucket and rinse it out. Put new water and new car wash in w/ your wash mit.
7. Start washing the top of the car, hood, and windshield. Keep the car wet. Move on to the fenders. Start at one corner and go all the way around. I usually do one section at a time, but your car is small so you can get away w/ a whole side at once. Get the mit soapy and make sure the car is wet. Wash well until it is very soapy. Turn the mit over and rewash the section. The car should now have a good lather that is not running off the car. Rinse the car from top to bottom. If you're using one bucket, rinse the mit well before putting it back in the bucket. The 2 bucket method is best. Once you get all the way around to the front, if there are any squished bugs on the front now is the time for the dryer sheet. Take a dryer sheet and dunk it in the soapy water. Wipe off the bugs. Rewash the area and rinse. Discard dryer sheet.
8. Keep the entire car wet.
9. Once complete, spray the car down VERY WELL. Soap is the enemy.
10. Let the car drain a little bit. Water should not dry on the car, but most of the water should run off.
11. Start drying. Take your drying cloth you bought and fold it into quarters. Switch to a dry portion when the current one gets wet. Ring out the rag or switch to the other one as appropriate.
12. Go over the car again and make sure water hasn't ran down from the windows and such onto a part you already dried. (less important on a light color). Open your doors and clean and dry the door jams and door edges well.
13. Car should be clean and dry.
14. Use your glass cleaner and microfiber towels to clean the windows. Start on the inside if you're going to clean the inside. Use 1 towel for scrubbing and 1 for drying. Do not soak the windows. A little spray or 2 will do fine. You might want to pre-moisten the scrubbing towel w/ cleaner. Moist not wet. Don't forget the side and rear view mirrors. Also a good time to get the plastic covering your gauges. Crack the window a little to get the edges of the glass. Roll window back to closed.
15. Apply your wheel cleaner. Allow to dry. Apply tire shine carefully so you don't soak the wheel. It's ok if a little gets on there. Wipe away the chrome polish to a high shine. Apply chrome polish during this step to any other chrome.
16. Hit your fender wells w/ a spray of the tire shine.

If cleaning the inside, I do this now. Vacuum out the entire car and remove any stains in the carpet. Treat the seats with your leather cleaner/conditioner. I use a 2 part cleaner/conditioner called ZYMOL. I think yours was one product so wipe it on, let it dry, and buff off w/ a clean soft towel. Different towel for application and removal. Use the quick interior detailer and wipe everything down. I use a different towel for each step. No two cleaning products should be on the same towel and you should use a different one for application and removal as well.

If you are waxing, I suggest leaving the tire shine until after you remove the wax. None of the dust sticks to the tires this way.

 

17. Apply wax liberally but not thick with a foam applicator, not a rag. A nice thin coat in an overlapping circular pattern will give best results. Allow to dry to a haze. DO NOT WAX in direct sunlight. Don't get the wax on plastic.
18. I remove the wax w/ a buffer. Let the buffer do the work. Do not push the buffer onto the paint. Just hold it there. Be mindful of the power cord and don't let it hit the paint. Draping it over your shoulder will work. Ensure the buffer pad is clean and free of dirt. You don't want to run a piece of stick all over your car.
19. Change the buffer pad and lightly go over the entire car again. All the wax should be off, but this step will reduce swirling.
20. Take a soft towell and get all the little cracks and crevices you couldn't get w/ the buffer.
21. Look at that awesome shine!
22. Take a shower and go to bed, or drive aimlessly around in circles so everyone can see! DO NOT roll down the windows! You'll get streaks from the water in the door panels.

Hurry home, it will rain soon.

Wash your microfiber towels separately with the drying cloth you bought. This will keep them lint free. All of the other towels can be washed together.

Yes, I know the dryer sheet isn't for everyone.

 

Step 1. Pull up to the car wash

Step 2. Insert 5 dollars and select wash

Step 3. When light turns green, pull into wash

Step 4. When light turns red, Stop and put the car in "Park"

Step 5. When light turns green, Put car in "Drive" and apply gentle pressure to the accelerator

 

One big correction - always start from the top and work down. Even then, use separate buckets (the two bucket system) for soap and rinse solutions.

 

I wouldnt use the bleach white on rims too much, they make the wheel fade. I would use wheel cleaner in place of this. The bleach is very good at cleaning tire and white letters. I also recommend top to bottom and clean wheels, and dirty areas last

 

EEEK! You use the auto wash? Actually that's a lot better than getting out there with that dirty brush in the bays.

 

I never use the brush.


I only use the Pressure washes, Some thing about those twirling scrubbers just bothers me...........

 

The California Squeege works great and is much faster than towels. I only use the towels to touch up where the squeege won't get.

 

MY CLEANING PROCESS:

1) Hot Summer Day

2) Dirty Truck

3) Hoses, soap, buckets, sponges and towels

4) 10 Hot babes in skimpy bikinis on a hot summer day washing my dirty truck with hoses, soap, buckets, sponges and drying it with towels.

5) me with a bunch of beers laying on a beach chair watching this happen

if you dont agree, i dont care, more hot babes for me

 

1. Spray truck down with my 3700 psi 13hp Troy Bilt pressure washer to remove dirt/bugs etc.

2. Wash truck from top to bottom with Turtle Wax wash mit, Meguires The Gold Class soap using the two bucket system (not as important to me because my mit really doesn't pick anything up when I spray it down with 3700 psi, lol). Extra seperate mit is used for dirty areas such as tires, rims, and wheel wells etc. This mit will get dirty and get's sprayed with hose before even goin into the rinse bucket.

3. Rinse truck with Mr. Clean's auto dry water filter.

4. Hand dry truck with a big micro fiber towel.

5. Tonneau cover gets sprayed with Meguires quick detailer and wiped down with the damp microfiber towel I used to dry truck (keeps it lookin' new).

6. Quick detail/wipe with same damp microfiber towel any areas that have any haze/water spots (normally don't need to do this step)

7. Apply Turtle Wax tire wax to tires.

8. Polish exhaust tips inside and out with Mothers aluminum and mag polish.

9. Apply Meguires NTX Tech Wax every few weeks (currently using the paste version)

10. Every few weeks or when dusty motor bay gets sprayed down with Fansastic with OXY clean then lightly rinsed with water.