Just wondering.

I looked at my JBM carefully today and it looks to have a lot of scratches. I know generally JBMs are a pain to clean and keep scratches off, but I only have 1k miles on my car and I keep it in the garage and clean.

I suspect those yellow Costco towels that I use to wipe my vehicle is the suspect. Anyone else have this same problem? Any recommendations on clothes to wipe the car with. I do use the Zaino sprays with that yellow towel.

 

Black cars are a pain to take care of. What you see are probably swirl marks on the clearcoat. When the Mrs decided she wanted a black car (CS), we gave up all car washes except for touchless (high pressure variety only) and hand washing. 2 bucket method, grit guard, foam cannon and microfiber (waffle weave) to dry. Do not use spray detailers on a dirty car. That is what causes the swirls as well. The dust acts like a fine grit sandpaper and wiping it with any cloth (especially a terry cloth material) will cause scratches.

THe swirls can be repaired either by yourself or a detailer. However, it involves thinning down the clearcoat a little. As you can imagine, you can only do it so many times for the life of the car.

 

Thanks to V10M for a well thought, articulated, and knowledgeable reply. And good point on detail sprays, I will only use a detail spray for light dust, pollen, bird droppings, but I probably should not be doing even that. Though, I imagine that on a balance scale, wiping the bird droppings in a timely manner with detail spray is far better for paint brilliance preservation than waiting for the weekend to wash. If one counts passing vehicles down to children and family, I typically keep a vehicle 3 decades. I love black vehicles, but will no longer purchase that color since it "ages" 10 times as fast as a light colored vehicle, and perhaps 5 times as fast a "dark" color vehicle (blue, etc). The only color that might bring me back to purchasing a dark color for my next Cayenne Turbo (apx every 3 years now) would be including macademia color into the options. Again, thanks to V10M for the informative reply and cautionary note.

 

The only thing I would add to V10M's comments is drying the vehicle after hand washing. I have a silver CS but I am still very careful about drying the car. I bought an inexpensive electric leaf blower at Home Depot and use it to dry my all my cars after washing. Even a freshly washed vehicle will accumulate dust and particulates which will be ground into the clear coat if you dry with a cloth. Is this a little OCD; yes, but after you have spent the time hand washing with two buckets, foam gun etc, its a shame to wipe the car/truck with a cloth and potentially scratch the clearcoat.

 

If that is what is causing my scratches and swirls, I'm wondering if I should just use one of those big car dusters. Any opinions?

btw. You'd figure the spray would be soften the dust on your car and it wouldn't cause the scratches.

 

I wouldn't use those ca duster as the tend to just move the dust around. I avoiding a black car again after 2 and the maitenance needed to keep them look clean. Try a cr water system to wash your car and no hand drying needed which may be a big part of your issue.

 

California Duster works only if you follow the instructions on it. Basically, when new, you need to leave it on newspaper or something for a period of 1-2 weeks to let the oil on the fibers subside a little or it'll transfer to your paint and you'll see little (not permanent) oil streaks on your finish. And you must not "brush" your paint with it. It's suppose to glide very lightly on the surface and pick up loose dust. But it does have a tendency to push dust around a bit and form dust concentrations here and there. It's very difficult to consistenetly glide and not brush by accident.

The spray does soften the dust, but it's still present. Loosening dust is important and that's why the foam gun is necessary as a pre-wash step. Hose down the dust, foam gun the whole car a let it sit for little, hose off then proceed to wash with 2 bucket method.

+1 on WFBlue's drying method. The electric leaf blower is the best way to dry. Some people (a friend of mine) uses CR Spotless, which is actually a resin water additive in the rinsing stage before the leaf blower to minimize drying and waterspots. WFBlue, that's pretty intense for a silver car .

Note: when I referenced "hand wash" on my previous post, I meant personally hand washing. Not the commercial "hand wash" (vs machine) at your local car wash. Those guys will swirl up your black car really badly after just one wash.

 

V10M,

Very helpful post. Could you please expand on "2 bucket technique" and what type/brand of soap, clay etc to use? Also where can I get foam gun and what is the brand?
Thanks.

 

Two bucket approach; the junkman don't lie! Love how he "warshes".


Check Youtube for subsequent parts.

Foam gun: you can find them in many places:

http://www.autogeek.net/auqufofogun.html

 

I have a deoinzed water supply to avoid water spots on the body (CR spotless system)
I then bought a $900.00 Kranzle pressure washer to wash grime/bugs off (before applying soap on a foam cannon) to avoid scratches on the body due to exoskeletons of the dead bugs even though my usual wash technique is quite **** retentive utilizing a three bucket method using high quality microfiber towels (Costco towels ... Are u kidding me)
I then bought a heated duomax air blower for a touchless drying so that I don't induce any scratches or swirls during drying with a towel.

....and I do wash my car every weekend (95% of the time) and have been doing so for the past 4 years. when I go for an oil change I leave 5 post-it notes stating : No car wash please.

JBM still has some swirls but none that is to any extent that upsets me.

 

I stand corrected; I am not OCD.

 

LOL. I'm known in town as that Indian doctor who always washes his 4 cars and takes pictures of them lying down on the road in an awkward position when he is not seeing patients.

 

Junkman is great. Very in depth (and lengthy guy).

And no one beats the £5000 car wash.

 

Foam Cannon in Action!

 

ok V10M, I have to admit - that beats the Junkman. Who knew the foamer was so versatile, though my wife would never sacrifice a pair of heels for that.