Hello,
I have just bought my 05 F-150 and well, this is the newest and nicest truck I have ever owned. And I want to keep this one that way. Yes on all of my other trucks I have washed and waxed and they looked alright, but I want this truck to look awesome. What would u all suggest to get started? And, is there any tricks to avioding water spots? And what do u all use on the interior? And any other tricks would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris

 

welocome to the forums

there is a ton of info here try searching you'll be impressed of the wealth of info here.

as far as water spots are you well water? do you dry your truck?

alot of guys on here are **** with their paint and use everything from electric leafblowers to high quality microfibre towels

also search blot dry method if your truck is dark and want to prevent swirls

heres also a good link to give your truck some pop!
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=284643

 

The search feature is your friend. I know there is a ton of threads on what to use in this forum and it can be too much info to look through. Maybe someone can create a sticky of just basic car wash, wax, exterior and interior steps. I’m sure the gurus of the Care and Detail forum like RockPick, Gipraw, Net Wurker, rustyzipper,SuperLB51, AsheFX4, and others could put together a real nice basic what to use sticky.
Some of the people mentioned above helped me put together this:
Wash with Dawn dish soap if your vehicle is older and has had a lot of wax and polish. You should only have to do this once every 2-3 years.
Otherwise:
- Clay (every 3 months or so)
- Wash with Gold Class
- Wax with NXT for first coat
- Wax with Meg's #26 , S100 or Mother's Pure Carnauba as a final step

Interior will depend on what you have. If it’s leather I know that it has been suggested to me to stay away from all-in-one products so I use leather cleaner and then a separate leather conditioner from Meguiar’s. I use Megs Quik Detailer wipes for the rest.

Good luck and welcome. :santa:

 

Thanks guys. Well, I am using spring water, the sistern at the house is fed by 3 springs on the property. The color is aspen green. Yes I dry it as fast as I can. With a chamis...( I know that spelling is wrong). And ususally wax it with Nufinish. Thanks for the link and everything else. Big Krakers, u use 2 coats of wax everytime?
Thanks,
Chris

 

2-coats ensures a uniform coating of the product across the surface of the paint. Many of us may even go 3 or 4 coats of various products to achieve a certain goal at the end. There is a limit on how many coats of products you can get on the vehicle -- it's called the Law of Diminishing Returns. Basically, it's such that you're removing the previous layer while applying the current layer -- make any sense?

If it makes sense, 4 is really the upper echelon on how many layers you'll get on there.

As for drying, blot dry only. Do not drag that chamois around the paint. Further, you may consider chucking the chamois. Yes, it's very absorbent but it doesn't have ANY nap to it and if you trap a tiny bit of grit or grime between the chamois and the paint, the grit/grime has no where to go but to be dragged around on your paint -- or blot pushed into the paint. When you go with a nice waffle weave microfiber towel, you effectively gain an upper hand on potentially eliminating that grit/grime from getting on your paint as the 'nap' of the towel can hold the crud and keep it from being drug around on your paint.

Another trick that many of us use is the 'flow dry' method. This doesn't get the vehicle totally dry but, it's VERY effective in eliminating much of your dry time.

To do this, simply remove the nozzle from your hose at the end of the wash. Starting at the top (roof), allow a medium-flow of water to simply flow across the paint. A natural sheeting action will unfold in front of your eyes which leaves behind a considerably smaller volume of water on your paint. Super simple, super quick, and saves a lot of dry time.

Take any step that you can to conserve your paint during the wash/dry cycles as this is where most paint problems are introduced to the paint.

For example, simple things like the 2-bucket wash method, blot drying, flow drying, and using a copious amount of common sense will go a LONG way in keeping your paint in stellar condition.

All of us get to a point - even with all these preventive measures - where we must polish our paint to remove those pesky swirls and such but, with the right techniques, procedures, and products, you can greatly eliminate the time removing paint problems and focus in on simply maintaining your great paint.

If you have SPECIFIC questions about anything, let us know.

-RP-

 

RP-- Sticky??? (Remember, my offer to help it along always stands...)

Welder691: I've posted a list of basics (3 posts long) 2x before. Look under my previous posts. Or, do a search. I believe the last one had something along the lines of a title like: 'RP and other Gurus' or something like that...

G'Luck!

 

Yeah... I haven't forgotten about it. I simply haven't had ANY time between normal routine and getting ready for the little one. I'm sorry. I will do it... it just may take a bit more time.

 

Thanks guys. I will do a search. I am just confuzzeled. here with the whole 2 bucket wash method and blot dryin. go ahead and laugh, im dumb...dont care.
Thanks,
Chris

 

Here it is. Check out this thread.

 

Don't worry about feeling dumb, we all do when reading the amount of knowledge that RP, F150, and many others share on a daily basis. These guys will make you feel like you can do anything. My wife and kids have started making fun of me for all the time and energy that I have started putting into our four vehicles. However, none of them are arguing with the results.

Keep reading and learning and hopefully you will gain the appreciation and respect for these guys as I have.

 

I'm gonna put in another plug for the Mr. Clean car wash. I've been using it on my truck for a couple months now and have been very happy with the results.

While at my dad's house in Ohio last week I decided to wash his truck for him and give it a good detail. He's on well water and it's very, very hard and requires you to dry it immediately or you'll end up with water spots. I used the Mr. Clean car wash on his and the only drying I did was around the window seals, mirrors, door handles and the emblems on the truck (areas where water usually builds up and drips). The rest of the truck dried on it's own and there were ZERO water spots. His truck is a forest or emerald green and it turned out fantastic. He was very impressed with it so I gave it to him. After I disconnected the hose from the Mr. Clean car wash you could see the little bits of stuff that is in his water, almost like little metal flakes. The Mr. Clean car wash kept that from going through the hose and onto his truck.

I also washed my truck 3 times while I was there and each time I had to do only very minor drying. I am more conviced that if the system works using his water then it can work in any water.

 

Cool thanks guys And thanks for that link. So I have never used that Mr.clean thing, r u talkin about the thing that Auto Dry system or some thing like that?
Thanks,
Chris

 

i believe he is speaking of the auto-dry system. I have one and have never used it on my truck. My sister used it on her car once and still had water spots. I suppose the combination of her car not having an adequate coat of wax, my incredibly harsh water, and her lack of intelligence when reading directions may have been the culprit. I'll go to the car-wash and pay a couple dollars rather than rust out any metal on my truck. Just my opinion though.

that being said i was in the same situation once. baffled by all the numbers and steps and waxes and polishes. luckily RP and F150sport03 helped me out. here is the thread there are a couple of great write-ups on the basics of washing and waxing. have fun.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...RP+other+gurus

 

I was about to post the exact same thing as the OP. Thanks for beating me to it.

I have had my 2004 F-150 for 2 weeks now and have been lurking here for a few weeks before that as I was shopping. This is also my newest and best vehicle I have ever owned and was wanting to keep it nice.

It's black and we all know how easy it is to keep that looking clean.


As far as the Mr. Clean auto-dry system. A guy at work also has a black F-150 and he swears by it. They are on well water as well and it still works like a charm. The only thing I've done so far is the pressure washer at work and some soap and water with a good towel but this weekend I'm going shopping for some Wash and some NXT. I just want the black to stay nice. Someday I might go crazy and go as deep into it as some of you. I'm sure if/when I do I will become addicted and then there will go the last of my very small amount of free time.

 

I know the correct way to wash, but I'm off the chart.

Rain-X shampoo. The ShMitt mitt. One bucket. A Leaf blower, and I'm done. Takes me a grand total of 10 minutes. I do use the 'flow dry' method for a final rinse.