To start, I'm actually a car-care detailing freak to be honest. The car I'm driving is hard to start with actually as there were so much swirl-marks, deep scratches and some sand-blasting on it. I tried alot of different techniques to remove it, and with some help from the Internet and the people I know.. I might just restore this piece of it's paint back to it's old shiny-condition I hope!
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The Rules:
(Droppings, insects, etc)
I know we all hate bird droppings, langgar insects time Magrib and such when it lands on our car. It's ugly, berigali and mana-mana lah. Its inevitable when a bird dropping gets landed on your shiny paint, but if it does happen.. Get this in your head - CLEAN IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! 24-48 Hours in that time period before that particular spot gets damaged by the acid from the dropping and leaving it enough time to eat the clearcoat away! Anything more than that, don't bother trying to clean it with generic soap and sponge. It won't happen! Use a proper polishing/waxing techniques to remove it.
(Use proper dry-cloths)
Some people use those tuala mandi (and mostly at Carwash di Gadong) to dry off the car. Well guess what, these types of towels are the main contribution of swirl-marks you get on the paint. The surface of the towel is not dry-cloth specific and could even trap sand/small stones between the surface. You don't want to imagine what happens when you wipe off the whole car with these contained in the towel.
If possible, get at least 3-4 proper dryclothes. There's alot of good ones I saw in our Supermarket, (PPG, Meguiars, Turtlewax) rather than those generic $1 towels. Personally I use PPG myself, but I only have one so I had to dry and wash the towel everytime at least to dry the surface of my car.
(Waxing)
The cheapest and the quickest way to restore back the shine of your car are usually applying a protective film which we either apply it by hand, or by machine.. is Waxing. I would recommend waxing at least once a month to protect the clear coat. And no, waxing does not eat away your clear coat. It's not abrasive, and does not 'levels' deep scratches to even out and so-called remove the swirl marks (Polishing does). Most waxes has a 'filler' to fill out these micro-scratches on the surface which in effect, seems like you removed the scratches.
And yes, the more wax coat you apply.. the shiny-er the paint becomes and more swirl-marks will be hidden. As far as I know, you SHOULDN'T apply another coat of wax within 48 hours prior after applying the first one. Doing so just removes the first coat again because of the time needed to embed on the paint and curing. So if you're going to apply multiple coats, let it cure for 48 hours then apply another coat. Repeat process until pinggang belakang rasa kan tecabut rasa nya.
(Polishing)
Though, I don't have much experience in this. Only tried a few times but I do know they help to remove most deep scratches from the car's surface. It's quite abrasive, so I wouldn't recommend to keep 'polishing' your car. I think do polishing at least twice a year. It's more than enough. Anything more would hurt and peel off the clear-coat!
(Carwashing Behaviours/Discipline)
I would like to go more brief on this and yes there actually a discipline in car washing! Have you ever thought:
- Where did you keep the dry-towels while washing the car?
- Is the detergent solution in the basin stays reasonably clean to actually dip back the sponge in and out to continue 'soaping'?
- Did you start from bottom and then upwards when washing the car instead?
- Do you have a habit of putting your hand on the car for support while washing?
- Do you let the soap dry on the surface, thinking.. "Ah baik tah ku sabun dulu semua, baru ku basuh" ?
- You have a pressure washer, do you let the pressure to remove the sand alone?
- Having a thought of "Pressing the sponge down harder" makes the car cleaner and easier to remove the dirts?
If there's at least "1" yes, then you should consider the effects!
- For the first one, you shouldn't have kept the dry-cloths on the floor, on the driveway, behind another car's bonnet, and etc. Afterall, that is your dry-cloth! You're not trying to grab small dirts and trap it there? I always keep mine in the car's passenger seat or somewhere where I wouldn't trap dirts easily on the cloth itself. A little common-sense would do!
- After awhile, the detergent inside the basin gets clouded up by the dirt and sand which gets trapped by the sponge or wash-mitt you're using. There's a method to prevent this altogether. The Two Bucket car wash technique. Fill one bucket with soapy water and fill the other with clean water. Each time you’re ready to reload your sponge with soapy water, dip it in the clean water first, to rinse out the grit and contamination you’ve just removed from your vehicle. Then dip it in the soapy water and continue washing.
- Always start washing from the top, and work your way downwards. I know certain internet websites should ask to wash the wheels first then the bodywork.. but to me, wheels are the most 'dirtest' part of the car. Imagine the wheel well, the brake dusts.. You don't want those to drag on your paintwork.
- Well this is just me I guess. I know we have to support ourselves from falling down to the ground while washing the lower parts of the car. To me, putting even a fingerprint means 'dirt'. Your washing the car, not putting up handprints on the car. This also especially useful and important when drying the car. Sometimes, our hand gets sweaty. Leaving a print behind to me doesn't look like a car that just has been washed! Windshields and side windows are the easiest to catch these handprints. Try to have the discipline, "No hand contacts on the surface of the car while washing and drying".
- Never ever leave a soap dry while washing the car. Have you ever sometimes noticed an annoying water-mark on the surface? This causes it. Certain conditions accelerate this effect like for example, washing the car on a streak sunshine (Panas kali ah jua), a bad or just not good enough car-wash detergent. Find a cool spot, and wash there. As long you're washing the car, you would want the whole car to be entirely 'wet' until it's time to dry up the car.
- Personally I have the Car Pressure Washer owned by my dad. I did practiced awhile using it, and I recommend "NOT" to pressure off the derbis from the surface. Imagine that the pressure actually 'rolls' the sharp small edges of the dirt on the surface of the car. Let the sponge do the job!
- This is based from experience, and yes I did thought so. Infact, it worsens the effect of making more swirl marks! I tried to practice using only slight effort over the surface when 'sponging'. If it doesn't remove, get a bug-repellant spray or such cleaners to ease the removal. Repeat the process on that surface. Remember, hard surfacing scratches the clear coat leaving that dull and full-of-scratches look.
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Sorry if this information is a little 'overhead', 'too much' or too 'freak' in someway.. but this write-up will be to those who want to know some basics about car washing and care. This way, hopefully those car shines much longer than people expected. Have some love for you rides man. Sikit-sikit modding. Caring nya mana?
I learnt such alot guides from internet, and mostly based on personal experience. Sometimes it's fun, and that's what being a car enthusiast is all about?
Hope I helped something with this guide. ;)
