Swirls after cheap hand carwash! :(

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mr.raw

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I use the cheap hand car wash places here in Cardiff.
Two weeks ago after i had one done i noticed massive swirl marks and scratches to the paintwork.

£5 wash will probably meant i need the bonnet sorted now :(

To stop this happening again i decided to get off my lazy *** and start to wash it myself.

The downside is i live in a flat with no hose etc, but i used to use two buckets when i used to clean my old civic properly over 10 years ago so i am sure one flight of stairs wont kill me:)

Spent a few notes on amazon and got the following:

Kent micro fibre wash mitt.
Large Kent drying towel.
Autoglym bodywork Shampoo.
Wonderwheels cleaning kit.
Triple Wax alloy cleaning brush.

I had been thinking of getting some kit and doing my own car and the swirl marks spiked my enthusiasm!

I will see how i get on and probably look in to Waxes etc.

No more £5 washes! lol.
 
I need to get mine seriousely sorted, also guilty of the cheapo washes mostly due to not having a lot of free time
 
Not just swirl marks, the aggressive TFR they all use screws up (fades/whitens)all the black plastics eventually:mad:
 
You do know Wonderwheels is an acidic cleaner?
 
I hate to say it but all these so-called hand wash services will wreck your paint work in the end, you have know way of knowing what chemical are being used on your car. A few near me were found to be using industrial washing up solution which may be good for your plates etc ,but will ruin paintwork very quickly.
Car bodywork needs proper care and attention so be nice to it, go cheapo and its going to go wrong.
 
Some petrol station jet washes have a Turtle Wax pay as you use system where you can snow foam, hot shampoo, air blow dryer etc. Could be worth your while trying to find a local one. I can do my Avant taking my time for around £8. I take my own shampoo and a bucket and mitt. Bung in a quid,snow foam the car and use the time remaining to fill the bucket with water and start the hot shampoo cycle. Then I use my own stuff to clean the car. Bung in another few quid and hose it all off before drying it with the air blower.
 
@sidibear - do you know how to search for those kinds of garages? I've been trying to search around me, and have found one with a 'spray' (Google street view shows someone using it and it looks basically like a hose) which is a start, but it would mean lugging stuff down there...? Just wondered if someone has compiled a list / directory?
 
I have had a quick search and didn't find anything. My local is a BP garage and it has the usual roller car wash and the jet wash next to it.
Try the linky below and filter the search results, I just used CF10 as a postcode search. Put in your own postcode as it might find more.

http://www.bp.com/en_gb/on-the-road/united-kingdom/find-nearest-bp.html
 
As a quick short term fix, you could clay the car (clay mitt form halfrauds is around a £10 and only need to clay infrequently not every time), use some Autoglym SRP (around £10 for a big bottle from Amazon) and then wax/seal (I use FKP1000 - around £20 and so easy to apply, and you would also need some polishing pads maybe another £10). That should keep it looking good for several months at a time. You can skip the sealant but then the SRP wears off within the month.

Longer term solution is to DA polish (either yourself or get someone else to do) which would save you having to SRP it (but you could still SRP it for the extra shine).
 
Cheers for the posts guys. Took my car to the bodyshop and further inspection reveals stone chips galore and some smaller marks from Bird Dung that i left too long on the car. My problems were then multiplied via the cheap hand wash place. I am having the Bonnet sprayed next week.

At least i have been spurned on to get off my *** and get cleaning now!?:)

I'm going with two big buckets and 3 trips up and down the 1st floor stairs for now, but I am heavily looking at detailing products and procedures :)
 
Why don't you find a local detailer and get them to have a look? I've got some swirling on my doors and when the car is back from the bodyshop I'm having this corrected-he is a friend of mine and we're doing the car together so it's not costing me much, but maybe thats an option over a bonnet respray? And that way you could get the whole car done, have some decent protection put on it so as long as you look after it, cleaning wouldn't be so much trouble in the future....? Just a thought!

Detailers can do some amazing things if you use a reputable one!
 
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Yeah, I would look to detailing before a respray. The thing with some chips is that you can't stop them from reappearing, so maybe it's better to learn how to fix them. If you check out chipex or paints 40,they have cheap sets to do just that. The swirls should go with a machine polish.
 
If you value the paintwork on your car steer clear of hand or machine car washes. If you live in a flat then find a local detailer and just get your car cleaned less often to offset the cost.
 
scotty76 said:
Maybe try Optimum No Rinse.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/optimum-no-rinse-32oz/prod_773.html

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=195294
Click to expand...

This^^

I've been living in a flat for three years and Optimum No Rinse is the answer. I corrected my Mondeo 18 months ago and the paint is stll pretty good despite almost never having seen a hosepipe.

I buy it by the gallon, spray the car with a dilute solution from a spray bottle, then wash with a noodle mitt and a big bucket with three capfuls of liquid in (I live in a hard water area, may not be as bad where you are) You don't need the second bucket with this method.

Anyway, once washed, I dry off with a big microfibre towel and the car looks mint. 18 months on there is hardly any marring, certainly less than the handwash inflicts, and probably not much more than my old Snowfoam, pressure wash and 2BM prouced.
 
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Blue Oval said:
This^^

I've been living in a flat for three years and Optimum No Rinse is the answer. I corrected my Mondeo 18 months ago and the paint is stll pretty good despite almost never having seen a hosepipe.

I buy it by the gallon, spray the car with a dilute solution from a spray bottle, then wash with a noodle mitt and a big bucket with three capfuls of liquid in (I live in a hard water area, may not be as bad where you are) You don't need the second bucket with this method.

Anyway, once washed, I dry off with a big microfibre towel and the car looks mint. 18 months on there is hardly any marring, certainly less than the handwash inflicts, and probably not much more than my old Snowfoam, pressure wash and 2BM prouced.
Click to expand...


I like the idea of one Bucket there mate :)
Explain about the dilute solution though please? Is it a separate product?
 
mr.raw said:
I like the idea of one Bucket there mate :)
Explain about the dilute solution though please? Is it a separate product?
Click to expand...


It's all in here: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=195294

Most people usually have a spray bottle or garden pressure sprayer with a mix of ONR and water. They than have a wash bucket, again with the ONR and water mix. The idea is to spray the car first, leave it for a few minutes and then follow up with the wash bucket. In contrast to a traditional wash you work one panel at a time rather then doing the whole car. So spray one panel, wait, wash one panel, dry. If you read the guide linked above all will become clear.

Or have a watch...

 
^^^ What he said :)

It's good stuff, if the weather's really warm then I do one or two panels at a time, if the weather's quite cold then I can do the whole car before moving on to drying.

The main thing is that if you buy it by the gallon then cost per wash is very low (I use three capfuls per wash) and you're no longer at the mercy of a hand car wash, despite living in a flat :)
 
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