Quote:
Originally Posted by CLABRO
I think hand washing the car all depends on how much dirt/grime has accumulated on the car when you go to wash it and how well/often it's maintained.
If you don't daily drive the car and you maintain it well between washes then you don't necessarily need to hand wash the car every wash, right? Technically even just a quick wax or detailer spray in certain spots would work in that circumstance.
However, if you daily drive the car then you'll most likely have to use some sort of elbow grease/hand wash to get off those hard grime spots that accumulate in certain areas (i.e. rocker panels, directly behind rear tires, front bumper/grille from bugs, etc). For the other parts of the car- hood, doors, roof, etc I think a pressure washer and foam cannon would suffice without necessarily needing to touch the car/paint assuming there aren't any visible dirty areas.
The less you have to touch the paint, the less chance you have of scratching the paint. Although ideal, it's not necessarily practical for everyone, especially those (like me) that daily drive their car in which conditions are sometimes less than ideal.
To sum it up, I don't think you necessarily have to hand wash the car every wash, but it all depends on how dirty the car is, whether or not it's maintained well between washes, and if it's being daily driven or not. What I do and how I clean my car would probably be overkill for someone who only drives their car 1-2 times per week in sunny South Florida, for example.
The ultimate goal for washing your car should be to get it as clean as possible with the least amount of touching, scrubbing, moving things across your paint as possible.
With that said, I want a foam cannon and pressure washer. Looks awesome!
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I have talked to a lot of guys who detail high end cars for a living. Car that are worth more than my house and cars combined. All of them will tell you there is no substitute for a properly done hand wash. It is the best way to get the car clean and when done right you have the least chance of scratching the car. Good wax, sealants and better yet ceramic coatings help keep a proper hand wash from harming a car. I know it takes more time which a lot of people don't have but I think you are better off having a slight dirty car then using detail sprays to clean your car between proper washes.
Maintaining a car between washes with detail spray to remove dirt or any real particles is not a good practice IMHO. Detail spray is great to shine up a clean car. It is great to use as a drying agent. It can be used to get bird poop off the car in a pinch but it is not a cleaning product. If you car has dirt on it from driving or sitting in a dusty garage if you spray it with detail spray and then run a mirco fiber cloth over it you are pulling those particles across the paint. You are in protecting the paint to more than if you just used the cloth but you are still rubbing those particles across the paint.
The best product to use between hand washes is a rinseless or waterless wash. These products do a lot better job of adding lubrication that lifts the dirt off the paint and then isolating it preventing it from scratching the paint if you are doing in properly. The trick with these is to do it right. If you do it wrong you are basically doing the same thing that detail sprays do. I see people all the time getting out the detail spray and wiping dirt off their car between washes. You are IMHO hurting the paint more by doing that then leaving the car dirty and properly washing it later.
A pressure washer and foam cannon would be better for the paint then using quick detailer as a cleaner. It might be better than a waterless wash. At least then you are not dragging the dirt across the paint. My hesitation with this method is drying the car. If you have not "really" gotten the car clean whatever is left will get dragged across the paint. The alternative is to let it air dry but then you are going to get hard water spots. Ideally this method would employ a deionized water filter so you would just let the car air dry after you rinse. I have consider getting one so I can remove the drying process from the equation.
Clearly these are just my opinions. I have have done a lot of research on it and consulted a fair number of professional detailers. I have also spoken to high end dealers like Ferrari and Maserati dealers about how they recommend maintaining the cars they sell. In the end do what you are comfortable with that gives you the results you want.