OK I know it is a dumb question, but I have never washed a car before. I tried one of those touchless drive through deals & it left a line of dirty water down the center of the truck. So I started reading a bit on this board & checked out www.learn2.com. I have 2 options I guess
1. wash it in the street in front of the house (mom won't let me drive it up onto the lawn =[, & we don't have a driveway.) I don't really like this cause it isn't a quiet little side street (5 lanes w/ cars every 5-6 min. in the evening). Also there isn't shade on our side of the street for very long @ night.

2. take it to one of those do it yourself quarter wash places. On learn2.com they said this is a bad idea because you never know how hot the water is & the pressure might be too high.

So what would you suggest? I would like to do it myself in front of the house I think this is the best option. What kind of equipment do I need? (sponges, mitts, hose attachments, waxes, soaps, etc.). I guess I could take it to the quarter wash place, fill a bucket with water, use my own mitts & stuff & just use the sprayer to rinse it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Want to get this baby clean so I can take more pictures. Oh, & I want to wash it tomorrow so any hints on where to buy the stuff to wash it would be helpful.

Thanks


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:: MM F-150 XLT SC SS 4x4 SB ORP 3.55LS 5.4L :: Deep Wedgewood Blue / Silver / Dark Graphite :: Cab Steps :: Elec. 4x4 :: Keyless :: 6-disc :: Power Seat :: Capt. Chairs :: Soft Tonneau :: Slider :: Tow pkg. :: Splash Guards :: Hood Deflector ::

 

I start out by going through the do it your self wash just to get the bugs ooff the front and any dirt from the underbody, then I usually go through the automatic touchless wash or wash it by hand. Yea, the touchless will leave some streaks, so I use Maguires Quick Detailer to get rid of any leftover bugs or water streaks and spots. That's pretty much it. Hope this helps.

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My 2000 F-150

If it looks good
you'll see it
If it sounds good
you'll hear it
If it's marketed right
you'll buy it
But..if it's real
you'll feel it

 

This issue has been brought up many times on this site! I've always washed my own vehicles and after a lot of experience and lots of research I have a system down that works great for me.
1) Keep your truck waxed. It makes washing a lot easier. Use white towels that are 100% cotton. They have to be made in the USA, if not they usually won't be 100% cotton even if they say so. Use a good car wash soap, don't use dish soap, it will strip off all your wax.

2) I start out with the wheels and tires. First, I use a brush on the tires with a product called Comet. (you'll find that with household cleaners, it's a powder used for cleaning sinks etc.) Clean the tires, then use a rag and soap on the wheels. After this is done I rinse out the bucket and start with a new bucket of soap/water and a clean 100% cotton wash rag.

3) I start washing the roof and back window, use the hose to rinse off the soap but don't use the sprayer, just let the water run out of the end of the hose, this seems to rinse the soap off very well and it will work in your situation because of the traffic on the street.(don't want to get the other cars wet!) After I rinse the soap off I dry the section I've just done, this prevents water spots. If you don't use a nozzle on the hose you'll be able to wash other sections without getting the ones you just dried, wet.

4) I start with the roof and rear window, then the tailgate/bumper, one side of the bed of the truck, one side of the cab, then the other side of the bed, the other side of the cab then I do the windshield, hood and both fenders at the same time.

This has worked very well for me and I'm sure you'll get other opinions but I don't have swirl marks and I never have any water spots. This way actually seems to go pretty quick also!

One other thing that works great is to use a leaf blower to blow the water off your truck before you dry it.
Good luck, sorry for the long reply!

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98' F-150, Off Road, Short Box, Blue, 4.6, K&N, Auto, Captain Chairs, Dual Exhaust
Alpine CD Player, (2) 10" Rockford Fosgate Subwoofers and a big ol' Arctic Cat
sticker on the rear sliding window!!!!! Soon to be chipped!!!

 

Z, Good tips.
If you do the Quarter wash, bring your own soap and bucket and a fluffy sheepskin mit plus something else for wheels.
Then fill the bucket with soap and let the hose fill it with out squeezing the handle on the nozle, or it will spay up in your face.
When bucket is full, wet down the whole truck, still do not squeeze the nozle
Then I do squeeze the nozle for the wheels cuz they are the worst, and this knocks off quite a bit of dirt.
Then using the mit and your soapy water out of the bucket start at the top and wash the whole Truck.
Then rinse with no pressure (don't squeeze nozle) because this reduces water spots.
Then use left over soapy bucket water to wash wheels good.
Then rinse wheels and check for missed spots.
Keys are:
Use different mits for body and wheels.
Don't ever use pressure on dirty Truck, this will make the dirt travel along your paint at a high rate of speed, resulting in scratches.
Wash towels twice, once with detergent and again without. Do not use fabric softener on your Truck towels!!

 

Great tips so far. Just a few more: buy a new mit, wash from top down rinsing several times, if water gets too dirty change it, wheels and lowers last ( they're the dirtiest ), use a brush or old mit for lowers so dirt does not scratch paint next time, keep your truck waxed, use only car wash liquid ( not dishwashing soap, it removes wax ), drying products ( towels or shammy's ) must be rinsed clean to keep micro-scratches to a minimum.

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2000 F-150 XL,RC,LB,5.4,4R70W,3.55LS,
4-wheel disc/ABS,Chestnut/Parchment,
Ford bedliner & gas/wheel/spare locks,
3" cold air box modification,Superchip,
Dynomax ultra-flow welded 3" cat-back.

 

go buy the Absorber from Wallmart to dry your truck with!!! This thing is great!!!

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2k F250 CC SWB 4x2 6 speed Diesel XLT Super Duty, Woodland Green
Power Mirrors, 3.73 LS, Captains Chairs, ARE tonneau top, rear privacy glass
TT Pkg, Class IV hitch, sliding rear window, running boards, mud flaps
265/75/16 AS OWL tires, am/fm/cassette/cd, rechargable MagLite
Clarion APA 5240 amp, Memphis speakers:Components front, 5x7 rear, 10"sub
SuperChip, Stepshields, Ventshields on windows, rubber bed mat
rugged liner bedliner on tailgate, quick disconnect jumper cables
unaFORDable (decal on tailgate)

 

I just know I'm gonna get blasted for this...

I take mine through a carwash once a week or so. It get's hand prepped using a mitt and is then sent down the track. They use a spot-free rinse that doesn't leave spots. It does a pretty darned good job. (it helps that a member of the WA Chapter of F150online.com works there...)

Cost is less than $4.00 per week and takes all of 5 minutes.

Tom in Tacoma

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1998 F150 XLT S/C 4.6L Auto, 3.55LS, 4X2, Moonlight Blue, all the factory bells & whistles except for leather seats.

• Lund Deflector
• Lund Premier Tonneau Cover
• K&N Filter
• Body-color painted Throttle Cover
• Blue wire-looms
• Pentaliner S/R
• Window tint
• Ford side-steps
• Infiniti component speakers - front
• Polk Audio speakers - back
• Superchip (OH YEAH!!)
• Flowmaster 50 Series 'Delta-Flow' w/ 3" pipe
• Clear turn signal lenses
  
• Next up - billet grill.

Tom in Tacoma

(Washington not Toyota)
Go check out http://communities.msn.com/SS97FordsPics for the second best website for F150's

 

I hate the quarter do -it -yourself washes. Those blasters take off the decals and pin stripping. I started losing my pin stripe on the drivers side. Which is fine, because I hate them, but it's the principle. Plus, most places like that frown upon or completely object to hand washing or bucket washing there; at least around here. I just use some Turtlewax concentrated soap, a big old sponge, a tire brush, and Wendel's <sp> Bleche White. This stuff is great for the tires. Not only brings the white lettering to brand new condition, but cleans off the muck and grime off the sidewalls. Excellent tire prep before adding a tire glaze or spray.

Scot

 

Thanks to everyone for the tips & help. I washed it in front of the house last sunday. Bought some of the "Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner". I could't find the sheepskin mitts anywhere (tried 5 or 6 stores) I could only find synthetic ones for $5 or so. I finally ended up going to the "bed & bath" section of the local department store to find some 100% cotton made in the USA wash clothes. I got the regular bath kind with the little loops on em. Is this OK? I couldn't find any "terry cloth" towels that were made in the US.

Thanks again to everyone for your help.