I just think it is sacrilege to see a beautiful car that is, well…dirty. Our Ferrari 328 got pretty nasty on the recent weekend trip to Asheville, NC. It had a light film of pollen on it when we departed for our trip (‘tis the season for the sneezin’). That, combined with the rain, road grime then bright sun the next day baked a bunch of junk on the finish. I didn’t take any pictures (up close) of the grime…couldn’t bring myself to do it… but, trust me, it was bad.
So why am I writing about a dirty car? So I could pass around my glass of Griot’s Garage kool-aid (because I’m drinking it, baby…in big gulps!!)
I got turned on to Griot’s products a couple years ago. I’ve ordered almost every kind of polish, glaze, sealer and compound they sell…plus, the 3” random orbital, 6” random orbital, pads of every color/texture, engine cleaner, undercarriage spray, car wash, rubber cleaner, rubber prep, rubber and vinyl conditioner, Speed Shine, spray on wax, clay and a variety of microfiber towels. I’d like to think every time you see those pictures of Richard Griot’s fancy garage at his lake house that I helped pay for some of the floor tiles or perhaps a lift. Richard, himself, sends us Christmas cards! (Not really, but I’ve bought a lot of stuff from Griot’s). Nevertheless, drinking the kool-aid…where was I??
Ah, washing the Ferrari for the very first time. Speed Shine wouldn’t cut it with all the grime on the car. Washing was my only option. This is after a nearly 50 hour paint correction using various levels of compounds, orbital’s and three carefully applied layers of Griot’s “Best of Show Wax”. Once I was done polishing and waxing that car, an elephant could have belly-flopped down the front bonnet and landed face-first on the ground while not leaving a scratch! So, how was it going to hold up to water, soap, a mitt and a drying towel? Read on…
I had purchased the Sheepskin Wash Mitt some time ago, but had saved it for this day (kind of like that bottle of wine that you bought in 2007…just saving it for the right occasion). Well, this mitt’s day had arrived. Using the two bucket method, I got my wash bucket and filled it with about two gallons of water with one ounce of Griot’s Car Wash shampoo. After putting old bath towels and plastic over the engine under the rear boot and carefully cramming old t-shirts in each of the engine vents behind each door, I took the sprayer off the hose and just let water run over the car from top to bottom from the end of the hose (some folks tape up the hose end to keep “metal from hitting metal”…if you are just slow and methodical, you should be fine). Once the car was initially rinsed, I put the sprayer back on the hose and hit the rear of the car with a pretty sharp stream (too sharp of a stream and you can actually “sand blast” the grit you are trying to wash “off” the surface “into” the surface of the paint, leaving fine scratches). This stream was also applied to the doors (lower half) and areas behind the tires (where most of the grit accumulates). The shape of this car really allowed most of the grit and grime to accumulate on the rear. So, wash bucket filled, car rinsed, it was time for soap. I took the mitt, soaked it and walked around the car flinging soapy water on all the painted surfaces. This is a trick I learned from a “fellow car guy” buddy of mine. This gets a nice layer of soap on the paint that will attract most fine particles of remaining grit. Gravity works it magic and most of the remaining grit will slide to the bottom of the car and ground. (Just be careful when doing this not to let the mitt slip out of your hand…if the mitt hits the ground at any time, get a new mitt and thoroughly wash out the ‘contaminated’ one for the next time you wash your car.)
After the layer of soap was applied, I added a little water back to the wash bucket and started top to bottom , letting the mitt slide across the surface of the paint (with very little force/pressure) in one direction (the direction air would flow over the car when driving….so back and forth motions, from front to rear). Windshield down to front bonnet—rinse with free-flowing water from hose (no spray). Roof behind targa (same direction… front to back), rinse. Rear boot, rinse (careful with the amount of water going into the engine louvers). Front fenders, rinse. Doors (top half), rinse. Rear quarter, rinse. Front end, rinse. Bottom half of each door, rinse. Rear of car (painted area only), rinse. Bottom of rear quarters, rinse.
It was here I grabbed an old cotton mitt and washed the wheels, rear “non-painted” area around the exhaust and the black rock guard area around the entire bottom of the car.
As I was rinsing, the water was actually just beading up and rolling off. Three coats of Best of Show Wax really made the water slide right off the surface. I’ve used a lot of products in the past, mostly high-end polymers, but I have to say the Best of Show Wax really impressed me! (This is where I took my first sip of the Griot’s kool-aid).
Okay…time to dry. Drying a properly washed car raises a lot of debate. Basically, you want to avoid as much “touching” as possible. I’ve used real chamois, synthetic chamois and microfiber. For this application, I was going with a combination of compressed air and microfiber. I used a small air compressor to blow air over as much of the surface as possible (especially in the little nooks and crannies). Then, I sprayed a very light mist of Griot’s Spray on Wax (while the car still had some water on it) and gently rubbed (again, back and forth the same direction as the air-flow) with a Griot’s Microfiber Drying Towel to wipe off any remaining water. The results were fantastic! It looked just like it did when I completed the paint correction and still had that “slick to the touch, freshly waxed feel”. (This is where I took a big gulp of the Griot’s kool-aid).
I, then, took a separate microfiber towel and compressed air to dry the windows, wheels, door jams, under the front bonnet and rear boot (removed the t-shirt “stuffing” from the side vents, towels and plastic from atop the engine).
Once everything was dry, the car went into the garage and was immediately covered. (I’ll leave the glass, tires and vinyl for another day.)
All this while my wife was mowing the front lawn! I can hear the neighbors now, “There he is washing his car while his poor wife does all the work!” Not too far from the truth…but I did mow the back yard once I finished with the car. That’s why we make a good team. By-the-way, the front yard looks great, honey… (almost as good as the car). (wink)
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