Sponges are a big no-no if you want to keep a scratch free body, you may as well rub the paint with fine wet and dry - a microfibre mitt cleans without scratching if you keep it wet.

I have tried the snowfoam method and was not impressed. Basically the car needs to be clean for it to be effective!

Back to the well tried method- mitt and bucket. Works better and you have a much cleaner car.

Edited by sandy56 on 14/07/2018 at 08:42

I have started using the basic automated car wash which costs £1.99 The results are amazing as I usually follow a car that has been covered with snowflakes and these are recycled on my car. The windscreen is crystal clear as the team do not use the soap brushes before entering the wash line.

Last one I used gave the car micro scratches which was still there when I sold it, I now use a handwash at a garden centre, who use micro fibre cloths and pressure wash, I have been using it for 2 years now and is very popular

I did try Tesco car wash, but they kept getting large Queues and car was never ready, ie if they said 20mins it was over an hour, then they started missing bits which on a white car stands out, after a lot of complaints tesco sorted it out but not used them since

Takes me twenty minutes to get two cars spotless, another ten mins each if i'm deep cleaning the wheels with Bilt Hamber's Autowheel (the stuff that turns purple when it's done the job).

I use a high quality but gentle TFR (Surfex, also from BH), which through my pressure washer forms almost a snow foam type lather, allow to do dissolve the muck, a quick once over with a very soft long handled wash brush, then high volume lowish pressure (not low volume high pressure as found with domestic pressure washers) of pressure washer rinse finishesoff the job.

It's no hardhsip to do this weekly, i probably deep clean the wheels twice a year because the dirt never gets ingrained, and neither of us drive on the brakes anyway which judging by the state of most car's front wheels, i think most people do.

A good pressure washer is well worth the investment, forget the usual domestic makes they do not have enough water flow rate to do a proper job, they rely on pressure alone (for as long as that aluminium water pump lasts) hence why they damage paint so easily.

Edited by gordonbennet on 14/07/2018 at 23:30

Local Rumanian carwash - about 6 of them & 1 speaks English. The rest are please, thank you, £5 please.

First car is rinsed with a lowish power wash.

Snow applied,

Rinsed

Snow applied, sponges & lots of water

Final bucket of water over windscreen then Car dried with microfibre cloths, mirrors etc

Wheels cleaned by spray, then powerwashed & hand finished.

Compared to the others they do a consistent job - the Boss is always there 45/50 yrs old- looks like an enforcer for a gang - bald, small facial scar (s) built like a brick $***house with muscles & tattoos. He finishes the car wiping inside door jams & collecting the cash. He takes an hour off in the middle of the day to go to the gym!