How to wash your car like Justin and ForceofWill

[ForceofWill]

So after plenty of trial and error, researching methods, and physically washing cars and swirl checking, Justin and myself have come up with what we consider the safest most effective method for washing the cars.

Benefits of the J&FoW Method:
We consider it to be the safest to prevent swirls
Can be done anywhere without a hose.
Fast
Simple

I am strictly an Optimum No Rinse washer now with this method, to be called ONR from here on out.

This is Optimum No Rinse. It has multiple uses and makes a TON of product. I use it for this method, waterless washing, and clay lube.
You can purchase it here. http://www.autogeek.net/opnoriwash12.html



Step One: Pre-Soak

I use a backpack sprayer that holds 4 gallons. I fill this with my ONR solution and use it to pre-soak the car and wash off any excess dirt. If you don't have a sprayer like this you can use a spray bottle it will just take longer.






Step Two: Wash Solution

You only need 2 oz of ONR for 4 gallons of water. I fill my bucket to 3.5 gallons and it has a grit guard at the bottom. Then fold and fill your bucket and solution with about 7-10 quality MF towels of your choice.

I use these: http://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MIC_506_01
These are exclusively my wash towels. They hold a ton of water, are cheap so I can buy a ton and have a long nap and short nap side.




Step Three: Washing

Now that the car is pre-soaked and you have the majority of the heavier dirt lubricated and running off, it's time to wash the car. I take one of my towels out folded into a square on the longer nap side. Pull it out of the bucket soaking with ONR solution and gently wash a panel. I start with the roof and the A-Pillar rails from where it touches the fender back past the quarter window.

You want to GENTLY drag the towel across the surface. I'm basically holding the towel up so it's just touching the paint and the weight of the MF towel is doing the work for you.



Do one side of the roof then FLIP the towel over and do the other.


Dirt from one panel:


Step Four: Drying the Panel

After this you wring the towel out, open it up and fold it the same way but opposite side so the SHORT nap side is showing. The towel is damp but not wet since you wrung it out good. MF towels absorb water better when they're damp.

Apply the same process of the wash but go over the panel and dry all the excess water.




At this point the towel is done and will not be used for anything except glass. It goes in the HAMPER, do NOT put it back in the wash solution bucket for any reason. I was washing the car away from the hamper so the towel goes on the side of the bucket.


This drying will remove nearly all the water but will not do a buff dry, so if you're in the sun you could get some spotting. From here you can follow with a dry waffle weave MF drying towel to completely dry. We then use the Sidekick dryer for all the hiding spots(mirrors, grille, tail lights, quarter windows, etc)

Work your way around the car doing panels at a time. I'm generally doing Roof, Hood/Fenders, Bumper, Driver door back to quarter panel, Trunk and rear bumper, Passenger door back to quarter panel. Those are my sections but I don't let my car get very dirty. If it was dirty, I would use more towels and do strictly one panel at a time.

Bring the bucket and the BEER with you as you work your way around the car(this step is important). You can't be running around for that beer.

 

[ForceofWill]

Car all done.

 

[Justin]

thanks for the write up.

to add to it after I finish the outside of the car. I open up the trunk the doors and the hood. and wring out the last and use it in the jams and under the hood and use an adams great white towel to dry the areas.

I do not use this on the wheels it will work but I have a different tech for those.

 

[reakhavok]

Great stuff thank you!! I will be trying this out for future washes.. Could you also post a link to the "dry waffle weave MF drying towel" you mentioned?

 

[Justin]

Great stuff thank you!! I will be trying this out for future washes.. Could you also post a link to the "dry waffle weave MF drying towel" you mentioned?

here is the griots garage it can be bought at some advanced autos.
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/micro+fiber+drying+towel.do?sortby=ourPicks

I recently picked up some from chemical guys and they work just as well same pattern just no pockets for your hands.
http://www.chemicalguys.com/Chemical_Guys_MIC_781_01_Waffle_Weave_Dryer_Towel_p/mic_781_01.htm

 

[Justin]

I am thinking about trying this one out in the future to dry with
http://www.chemicalguys.com/Chemical_Guys_MIC_1995_Woolly_Mammoth_Microfiber_p/mic_1995.htm

I have a cloud 9 drying towel coming soon. its huge lol
http://www.chemicalguys.com/Chemical_Guys_MIC_1021_Cloud_9_p/mic_1021.htm

 

[reakhavok]

I like that towel with the hand pockets!! I am guaranteed to drop a towel 2-3 times during a wash.. and once you drop it all kinds of crap sticks to it from the ground..
I will be placing my order today!

 

[unrealford]

Advanced Auto, as mentioned
http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_microfiber-drying-towel-griot's-garage_10075129-p?zoneAssigned=1&navigationPath=L1*14919%7CL2*14989&un_jtt_redirect

 

[VoodooBoss]

Nice work guys. 8)

 

[killerwill13]

Like the speed aspect, but it feels like the method itself has a great amount of potential to leave swirls. The problem I see is with one bucket with only one grit guard. And you would probably see better results with your pre wash with a foammaster since you will have the shampoos suds helping pull the dirt off the surface and then you can use a wash mitt with shampoo from a fresh bucket to follow it.

 

[Justin]

Like the speed aspect, but it feels like the method itself has a great amount of potential to leave swirls. The problem I see is with one bucket with only one grit guard. And you would probably see better results with your pre wash with a foammaster since you will have the shampoos suds helping pull the dirt off the surface and then you can use a wash mitt with shampoo from a fresh bucket to follow it.

with this method you are never putting a towel back in the water to contaminate the other towels. and you continually flip sides so its always a clean portion of the towel. You dont want to use a lot of pressure while doing this just enough to keep the towel on the panel. if you are scrubbing then you will get scatches no matter what product technique you use. Really there is no reason to have the grit guard in the bucket with this method because you never put a towel back in the bucket once it comes out. This is why you use about 6-8 for a car.

The idea here is a quick easy way to clean your car up in between pulling the hose out. I still wash my car the traditional way about once a week.

 

[ForceofWill]

Like the speed aspect, but it feels like the method itself has a great amount of potential to leave swirls. The problem I see is with one bucket with only one grit guard. And you would probably see better results with your pre wash with a foammaster since you will have the shampoos suds helping pull the dirt off the surface and then you can use a wash mitt with shampoo from a fresh bucket to follow it.

The traditional two bucket method you mentioned has a HIGHER chance to produce swirls than this. The water in my wash solution bucket is clean throughout the entire process. Nothing is ever introduced back into that wash solution. ONR is your "soap" It's a high lubricity waterless wash and works very well for removing dirt particles safely.

If you don't want to buy into ONR you can still apply the core of this method to your traditional soap method. If you have a foam gun you can use the hose to rinse the dirt off the car, then foam the car and then take your wash solution bucket with your soap/water and 7-10 MF towels in it. You're just going to have to rinse and dry the car afterwards like normal. The main idea here is that you're NEVER introducing a dirty mitt into the wash solution to go back onto the paint. I don't care how much you scrub a wash mitt on a grit guard in a clean water second bucket, not all of that dirt is coming out. This method GUARANTEES that the wash solution stays sterile and your wash media is perfectly clean for every panel.


If the car is really dirty, which mine never is, I would use a quality PH neutral soap and apply this method. I don't feel the nap on these orange towels is quite long enough for large pieces of dirt safely so I would ideally fill the bucket with about 5 Adam's wash pads and apply this method.

Feel free to put your own spin on it and find out what works for you. The main idea here is that you're keeping your wash solution sterile by using multiple wash media instead of 1 and hoping the grit guard got all the stuff out of it.

 

[unrealford]

So if the car is heavily soiled from a long road trip to a car show, I would need to purchase 10-12 towels @ $26.00 a piece in order to clean it with this method,?

And how do you clean your MF Towels when done.?

 

[Justin]

So if the car is heavily soiled from a long road trip to a car show, I would need to purchase 10-12 towels @ $26.00 a piece in order to clean it with this method,?

And how do you clean or your clothes?

those towels in the bucket are not 26 a piece.....you only need one drying towel. http://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MIC_506_01
I clean my clothes like everyone else in a washer and dryer.

The MF towels I clean them with no fabric softener in the washer and dry them in the dryer on low again with now dryer sheet.

 

[ForceofWill]

So if the car is heavily soiled from a long road trip to a car show, I would need to purchase 10-12 towels @ $26.00 a piece in order to clean it with this method,?

And how do you clean or your clothes?

Pretty clear in the writeup if you read it. I even linked you the towels I said I use for washing. In case you can't click on links here's the towels for washing.

Quantity Price Discount
1 Towel $2.49 --
3 Towels $6.72 ($2.24/unit) 10%
6 Towels $11.95 ($1.99/unit) 20%
12 Towels $20.92 ($1.74/unit) 30%


Pretty expensive huh?

 

[killerwill13]

Forceofwill, I understand that you use a fresh microfiber every time, but my problem is with the microfiber and setup. I do not let a microfiber touch my car during the wash price, I used to do a method similar to this on my 1999 GT(which I perfected a lot of my methods on) and you still get swirls. For one, during my wash I use two buckets and a Merino wool wash mitt(Adams) and every time it comes off the car I run my hands through it and wash it harshly with the hose to get any and all debris out from each pass. And the drying process is where I see the biggest problem and that is notoriously where we see the issue to swirls come from. During my drying process NOTHING TOUCHES my paint, I use an Metro Air Force blaster on the entire car, takes longer but eliminates swirl issue.

Now you may not see swirls because you have 22ple, its a silica treatment after all, it's nearly harder than clear coat.

This is just my two cents, I need to post how I wash my Boss so you can see.

 

[unrealford]

Pretty clear in the writeup if you read it. I even linked you the towels I said I use for washing. In case you can't click on links here's the towels for washing.

Quantity Price Discount
1 Towel $2.49 --
3 Towels $6.72 ($2.24/unit) 10%
6 Towels $11.95 ($1.99/unit) 20%
12 Towels $20.92 ($1.74/unit) 30%


Pretty expensive huh?

The article was clear, but , after reading the entire post I clicked on the link Justin posted for Auto advance and seen the $26.00 towel and that stuck in my head as the only towels you used.
Seemed like a ticked you off .... jeesh sry... ???
I liked Justin's reply,, he knew where I made my conception of the cost without seeming upset. LOL..

 

[ForceofWill]

I agree that the Airforce is the safest way to dry. I just don't have $350 to drop on it right now. I have the sidekick and it works good for all the cubby holes. I would say this drying process comes with the same inherent risk as drying a normal wash with a waffle weave towel. I haven't had an issue with micro swirling being induced with these MF towels. And I inspect the car under multiple light sources all the time(LED,xenon,sun,halogen). The nap is fairly long on the MF towels and works well to encapsulate dirt. Eventually though I will most likely move to a multiple wash mitt method instead of MF towels. Ideally 6-7 of the Adam's merino mitts would be nice but that's really expensive lol. I think the regular wash pads should suffice.

I just still have a problem with the grit guard deal. The nap is so long on wash mitts/pads that there's no way you're getting EVERYTHING out of it. Reaching for a new sterile mitt/pad is where I want to be.

Of course we're all splitting OCD hairs here lol. There's probably 4 people on this forum that could tell the level of tiny swirling we're talking about being introduced.

 

[ForceofWill]

The article was clear, but , after reading the entire post I clicked on the link Justin posted for Auto advance and seen the $26.00 towel and that stuck in my head as the only towels you used.
Seemed like a ticked you off .... jeesh sry... ???

Didn't piss me off lol just sounded like you were being a smart ass on purpose trying to put down the method.

 

[unrealford]

Didn't piss me off lol just sounded like you were being a smart ass on purpose trying to put down the method.

No I actual have ONR, and like the product. I just haven't been sure on how to use it properly, especially when Im going to a show or event and my car is a mess from the long road trip. Is there a quicker way ,just to get the road dust off without having all the towels, kinda like a detail spray method. Will that work?
Heres how much I have left, after my wife decided to pour it into a bucket to wash her car, and then complained there were no suds.. ;D ;D ;D