BHPian traderjagadeesh recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Quote from BHPian ashkamath:Hi Jagadeesh, this is a brilliant thread on car cleaning material and techniques. Much appreciated.I haven’t used any cleaning products for my car. Normally I just splash clean water over the car completely and after a few minutes use a soft cloth (used banian or microfiber) and rinse it in water and clean off the dirt. The first spash of water is to soften the dirt and get it separated from the car body surface and then a gentle scrub with a rinsed microfiber or soft cloth and then finally again another round of splashing clean water and then I am done. After 10 minutes, I use a clean dry soft cloth to wipe away the water droplets/ traces of water on the car and then I am done. I probably use 3 full buckets of water for my washing. First bucket full to splash and soften the dirt. Second bucket full for rinsing and soft scrubbing the dirt with a soft cloth and last bucket full for another round of splashing water over the car body. Once in a few months, I take the car to a local service centre for a thorough wash that includes under body wash and vacuuming the cabin. I have never used any car cleaning products with my vehicles. Please tell me if I am doing anything wrong here. I avoid car cleaning products due to the chemicals in them and don’t know the long term effects of the same on the car body. I don’t even use the soap or detergent powder or any washing liquid. It’s always plain water. Do you think I should start using the car cleaning products?Hi, Been there, done that. Bear with me for a lengthy explanation, as using plain water is so wrong and has to be addressed. Let’s understand a few points here: 1) Water is a solvent, not a lubricant. It doens’t encapulate or emulsify the dirt. It dissolves a portion of the loose dirt, and that gives an illusion that it is cleaning, but in reality, it isn’t. Water just sits on top of stubborn dirt, which will scratch the paint if wiped. Even the dissolved dirt, when wiped with a microfiber cloth, will mar the paint as it isn’t encapsulated. If the car is just a year old, you might feel that it is shiny after wiping it with water. But keep doing it for a year, it will be dull. If the car is dark, it will take less than a year. And keep doing it for 1+ years, there will surely be clear coat damage and oxidation. You might have seen that on many transport vehicles where patches on the paint appear as if a layer of paint is pulled off. 2) Breaking down the mud (emulsification), putting those small particles into a bubble (encapsulation), and providing lubrication so that the encapsulated particles can easily glide is the only way to get rid of the organic contamination(not only in detailing, but in any household cleaning, as we only deal with organic contamination in houses). Water doesn’t do any of those three. 3) I understand your concern. And that’s exactly why I have been loyal to Koch Chemie, as they have been very environmentally conscious for decades(the German rules are so strict). The only thing that I personally use that has harsh chemicals is Fusso coat. I use it thrice an year to seal the paint, and I wear gloves every single time I touch it. I will talk about that in the last thread of this series, which talks about protection. But for now, as I am not flushing that off into the drains, nor that I am not misting that into the air, and I love its performance over any other sealant, I am ok with that. 4) Finally, yes. Happily buy stuff from Koch, Carpro and Optimum and you have to stop cleaning the car with plain water. Infact optimum claims that the water used with their chemicals can be drained to plants or the garden lawn. Seal the paint twice or thrice a year. That makes the car protected from inorganic contaminants getting bonded to the paint, protects from UV and saves the paint from oxidation. Water beading and sheeting is an extra benefit and, weirdly, all the protection chemicals are marketed based on that as it is visible to the naked eye to sell the product. The detailing market is all hype selling. nothing else. Once the above step is done, you only need to deal with organic contamination (dirt, oils and traffic films) during maintenance, which I have explained in the original post of this thread. I have recorded a video today, which took me around 15minutes to clean the lightly soiled car with a rinseless, and 8L of water. It was sealed 6 months back, and that protection is still intact. Check that out if you want to have some clarity. Check outBHPian commentsfor more insights and information.
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BHPian explains why it is wrong to clean your car with just plain water
