Rained on dirt seems to be sticking to the wax coat

[Blue_Thunder]

Spent 7 hours cleaning the outside of the car on Friday. My longest session on that car by about 4 hours!

Gave it a good rinse down first, followed up with an Auto Glym shampoo to lather up the car (Ming Blue S4), clayed using Meguiars quick detailer, polished out a few of the swirls and scratches with a combination of Farecla (I think) somethingorother and Meguiars Scratch-X for the smaller scratches and finally gave the car a healthy coat of Harly wax.

Even managed to give the engine bay what I imagine was it's first ever clean with some generic engine cleaner, although after splashing all over the wings and bumper, wish I had done this first... d'oh!

Once the paintwork was done, I dressed the black plastic and gave the wheels a good once over with Auto Glym wheel spray and a Megs wheel brush I found in a bargain bin. How I ever managed without a wheel brush before, i'll never know!

I was most chuffed with my efforts, although sadly my photography skills leave a lot to be desired and all the pic I took came out garbage.


After a brief thunderstorm yesterday, I went down to the car to find that the rain had dried and left dirty spots covering the whole car.
So, off I went to the local petrol station to use their pressure washer.

I gave the car a coating with the 'foam lance', then rinsed off with the high-pressure rinse. I had thought that would be sufficient and also didn't want to risk taking any wax off with the 'shampoo brush'. Thing is, none of the dirt seems to have come off. If I rub it with my finger, it comes straight off, so will I need to sponge my car clean?

Do I have to treat a freshly waxed car differently? Have I put too much wax on? Any help would be appreciated. I hope to keep it very clean this summer!

ps. thanks to those of you who replied to my dirty Milltek thread, but after 7 hours, I just couldn't bear the thought of more cleaning! (besides, I had to replace the interior of the car as well)

 

[WX51TXR]

Heavy dust sometimes needs a careful hand wash using a lambswool mitt (not a sponge) in order to be fully removed, particularly if has baked in the sun since falling onto the car. Wax finishes don't need any special care, but touchless washing only ever works when you use hot water and hot foam, and I guess the garage system wasn't running on hot water?

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Odd, it was hot water in the garage machine. Well, maybe not hot hot, but not cold.

Ended up spending about 45 mins rinsing it down with a sponge to get everything off the other day, then after some light rain again last night, the car is filthy again.

Could I have used too much wax or not polished it off properly? I kept going until there weren't any visible bits of wax, and it was a good finish after the 7 hour marathon session.

The whole experience has almost put me off using a soft carnuba again.

 

[WX51TXR]

I've not personally used Harly Wax, but I've never had problems with similar soft carnauba's. Did you do a wipe down with quick detailer 30 mins after applying the wax? This would have ensured all remaining traces of the carrier oils would have been removed - failure to do this may have left the finish a little more tacky than it otherwise should have been. Does seem odd mind, particularly given the hot water system used at the garage. Bit stumped to be honest!

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Not heard of using the quick detailer after the wax. I'm a newbie to this obsessive cleaning business... but the bug is biting fast! I'll make sure I give that a try next time.

I'll try running a hose from a 'known source' (ie: a tap) this weekend. You can't rely on your local petrol station!

Thanks for the advice.