Thought I’d do a little write up on how I clean my car and the results. This little lots takes around 40-50 mins from start to end
The first photo shows my main products, I’ve tried a few things over the years but have found these to be very effective, quick to use and relatively cheap.
Left to Right we have JetSeal 109 which is an excellent sealant - more on that later (& not actually part of my weekly clean, but I have included it to show you the difference it can make). Then there’s the snow foam, the Meguirs NXT car wash that I use with a mitt, chemical guys citrus wash and gloss which I mix with the snow foam. At the front are my wheel brush and Karcher foam lance.
I did originally have a proper snow foam lance, but I had problem with the fitment to my Karcher so it had to go back. As I needed a replacement foam lance I thought I’d give the small Karcher one a try. It is only £15 but the results are amazing and don’t fall too far short of the £50 snow foam lance – I highly recommend getting one of these!
First up, a before shot to show you how well the JetSeal 109 works. This is my car after a weeks worth of driving. I have applied JetSeal to the wheels (and the rest of the car ) and as you can see it prevents brake dust from bonding. What does stick comes off in no time.
Cleaning the car:
I add a small amount of chemical guys citrus wash and gloss in to the Karcher foam lance bottle and then add roughly 100ml of snow foam. This is then topped up with warm water and mixed up. The citrus wash does a really good job of cutting through the muck on the car.
This is then sprayed evenly on to the car. If the mix is right you’ll get nice thick foam which will cling to the car and slowly run down (even without a proper snow foam lance)
Leave it for about 5 mins to run off. At this stage some dirt will have been removed but the idea is to soften everything else.
Time to rinse it off
Notice just how clean the wheels are already
Now it’s time to mix up some NXT shampoo. I used to use a lambswool wash mitt but I recently got a shMITT wash mitt and they are IMHO far better, they don’t hold bits of muck like regular wash mitts can, they clean up better and are generally quicker to use.
The scMITT in action
Although just a light wash will clean up the wheels if you've got something like JetSeal 109 on, you can't beat giving them a proper clean with a brush so that you can clean the inside of the wheels. However, because they have been protected you can give the wheels a proper clean up (inc. inside) in about 60 seconds or less each.
I tried a few different wheel brushes and have found surprisingly that the Halfords premium wheel brush seems best suited to the FD2 wheels. It is just the right length to get all the way to the back of the wheel, doesn’t have a bulky handle to it doesn’t get stuck trying to get behind the spokes, and it will fit in the gap between the calliper and the rim as well. It’s also bendable.
After this is done I use the pressure washer again to rinse the car down. Never use one at full power as they are strong enough to strip paint and clean up paving. Half power should be all you need. After a rinse I turn the pressure washer off, remove the lance and then use it to apply a stream of flowing water over the car. Doing this causes the water to start sheeting, rather than beading and more water will run off before you dry it.
To dry the car you need a waffle weave towel - I really like the poorboys ones. You should be able to dry your whole car with a large towel - just remember to keep folding the towel to expose small, clean, dry sections.
The finished result:
As mentioned, all this little lot takes around 40-50 mins. That's including setting the equipment up, mixing solutions etc through to drying the car
The first photo shows my main products, I’ve tried a few things over the years but have found these to be very effective, quick to use and relatively cheap.
Left to Right we have JetSeal 109 which is an excellent sealant - more on that later (& not actually part of my weekly clean, but I have included it to show you the difference it can make). Then there’s the snow foam, the Meguirs NXT car wash that I use with a mitt, chemical guys citrus wash and gloss which I mix with the snow foam. At the front are my wheel brush and Karcher foam lance.
I did originally have a proper snow foam lance, but I had problem with the fitment to my Karcher so it had to go back. As I needed a replacement foam lance I thought I’d give the small Karcher one a try. It is only £15 but the results are amazing and don’t fall too far short of the £50 snow foam lance – I highly recommend getting one of these!
First up, a before shot to show you how well the JetSeal 109 works. This is my car after a weeks worth of driving. I have applied JetSeal to the wheels (and the rest of the car ) and as you can see it prevents brake dust from bonding. What does stick comes off in no time.
Cleaning the car:
I add a small amount of chemical guys citrus wash and gloss in to the Karcher foam lance bottle and then add roughly 100ml of snow foam. This is then topped up with warm water and mixed up. The citrus wash does a really good job of cutting through the muck on the car.
This is then sprayed evenly on to the car. If the mix is right you’ll get nice thick foam which will cling to the car and slowly run down (even without a proper snow foam lance)
Leave it for about 5 mins to run off. At this stage some dirt will have been removed but the idea is to soften everything else.
Time to rinse it off
Notice just how clean the wheels are already
Now it’s time to mix up some NXT shampoo. I used to use a lambswool wash mitt but I recently got a shMITT wash mitt and they are IMHO far better, they don’t hold bits of muck like regular wash mitts can, they clean up better and are generally quicker to use.
The scMITT in action
Although just a light wash will clean up the wheels if you've got something like JetSeal 109 on, you can't beat giving them a proper clean with a brush so that you can clean the inside of the wheels. However, because they have been protected you can give the wheels a proper clean up (inc. inside) in about 60 seconds or less each.
I tried a few different wheel brushes and have found surprisingly that the Halfords premium wheel brush seems best suited to the FD2 wheels. It is just the right length to get all the way to the back of the wheel, doesn’t have a bulky handle to it doesn’t get stuck trying to get behind the spokes, and it will fit in the gap between the calliper and the rim as well. It’s also bendable.
After this is done I use the pressure washer again to rinse the car down. Never use one at full power as they are strong enough to strip paint and clean up paving. Half power should be all you need. After a rinse I turn the pressure washer off, remove the lance and then use it to apply a stream of flowing water over the car. Doing this causes the water to start sheeting, rather than beading and more water will run off before you dry it.
To dry the car you need a waffle weave towel - I really like the poorboys ones. You should be able to dry your whole car with a large towel - just remember to keep folding the towel to expose small, clean, dry sections.
The finished result:
As mentioned, all this little lot takes around 40-50 mins. That's including setting the equipment up, mixing solutions etc through to drying the car
