What do you use to wash your Kia Stinger?

[DigDug]

What do you guys normally use to wash your car?

Brush

Mitt

Sponge

 

[Dan]

I use both a brush and microfiber mitt. If you plan to use a brush make sure you invest in a nice quality boars hair brush, anything else may potentially cause fine scratches on your paint.

 

[Kazz]

Don't rub the paint! Get a quality paint protection, use touchless washes, and use microfiber cloths with professional detailer for anything stubborn.

 

[Art9681]

Can you elaborate on the paint protection? What would you recommend? And what do you mean by touchless washes? Like driving it through a car wash that only does the high pressure wash?

 

[Kazz]

Can you elaborate on the paint protection? What would you recommend? And what do you mean by touchless washes? Like driving it through a car wash that only does the high pressure wash?

The product my detailer used last year on my previous car and will be using on my new Stinger is called a Ceramic Nano coating. There are a number of products out there, so do your homework. But basically they performed deep cleaning, decontamination, polishing, and prep work before applying the coating. I went with the 5yr coating. I'm in a smaller metro area and didn't want to drive the 3+ hours to a large city to find someone. These guys do and did awesome work. They gave me instruction on keeping it in the best shape, etc.

What it boils down to is, if nothing touches the paint but proper car wash soap, water, and spray detailer, you'll have the best results for years to come. Obviously, if you park outside, in a dirty environment, etc., you're going to have stuff land on the car and become more difficult to remove. I was advised to just keep gently rubbing with the detailer and proper microfiber towels. So yes, spray-only washes. I try to use that as much as possible even with my wife's unprotected car. Otherwise, I'll use the manual wash bay and use their brush after rinsing it out as much as possible, trying to apply as little pressure as possible to get the job done.

I'm no expert and often am lazy about my homework on a topic. Car paint and finish care is almost a religious thing. So you find those who promote what they believe to be "the best" everywhere, with lots of variations. I didn't have a lot of choices, but have been very happy NOT having a multi-function shop do the work and getting someone who uses professional products, has the facilities and tools, even if it's a part-time thing for them.

Hope this helps!

 

[StingerGT68]

The product my detailer used last year on my previous car and will be using on my new Stinger is called a Ceramic Nano coating. There are a number of products out there, so do your homework. But basically they performed deep cleaning, decontamination, polishing, and prep work before applying the coating. I went with the 5yr coating. I'm in a smaller metro area and didn't want to drive the 3+ hours to a large city to find someone. These guys do and did awesome work. They gave me instruction on keeping it in the best shape, etc.

What it boils down to is, if nothing touches the paint but proper car wash soap, water, and spray detailer, you'll have the best results for years to come. Obviously, if you park outside, in a dirty environment, etc., you're going to have stuff land on the car and become more difficult to remove. I was advised to just keep gently rubbing with the detailer and proper microfiber towels. So yes, spray-only washes. I try to use that as much as possible even with my wife's unprotected car. Otherwise, I'll use the manual wash bay and use their brush after rinsing it out as much as possible, trying to apply as little pressure as possible to get the job done.

I'm no expert and often am lazy about my homework on a topic. Car paint and finish care is almost a religious thing. So you find those who promote what they believe to be "the best" everywhere, with lots of variations. I didn't have a lot of choices, but have been very happy NOT having a multi-function shop do the work and getting someone who uses professional products, has the facilities and tools, even if it's a part-time thing for them.

Hope this helps!

So you don't recommend ever going to a standard car wash? How do you feel about the Meguiars waterless car wash spray?

 

[mldavis2]

I have never had access to the expensive "coatings," but I've never had a car in a carwash, either. Spray washes do not remove all of the very fine grime from even waxed surfaces, and they seldom if ever do a good job on the wheels/tires. In recent years I have used Black Magic silicone "wax" (silicones are not really waxes like carnuba) and the associated Black Magic car wash soap with a lamb's wool mitt. Sadly, they don't make that wax any longer, so I'll be trying others. It's always a good idea to use the car wash soap that is formulated to preserve their wax. Drying is with a chamois to strip beads from the surface and a final drying with a microfiber cloth. My 13-year old GTO looks like new even though it stood outside all day for about 8 of those years at work.

One thing that must be removed as soon as possible are bugs from the front. I'm not sure what chemicals (amino acids of course) are in bug-juice, but they will etch the finish if left alone for weeks at a time between washings. And of course any industrial pollutants should be removed by frequent washing. In the summertime, I frequently will clean the insects and apply a quick coat of wax after each wash to the vertical surfaces in front. It makes the bugs much easier to remove after a gentle soaking and light wiping with the mitt.

The coatings are popular with many people so I can't "diss" them, but my system works for me and it's sure a lot cheaper, even using expensive waxes.

 

[Kazz]

So you don't recommend ever going to a standard car wash? How do you feel about the Meguiars waterless car wash spray?

If it has brushes, absolutely not. I've not used the Meguiars products, sorry. Optimum No Rinse works well, from my experience. Otherwise, I'll use the automatic touchless washes.

 

[StingerGT68]

If it has brushes, absolutely not. I've not used the Meguiars products, sorry. Optimum No Rinse works well, from my experience. Otherwise, I'll use the automatic touchless washes.

I had never heard of the automatic touchless washes. I'll have to look into it in my area.

 

[Kazz]

I had never heard of the automatic touchless washes. I'll have to look into it in my area.

They're usually with the do-it-yourself washes with the spray wands in a separate bay.

 

[ralzod]

I had never heard of the automatic touchless washes. I'll have to look into it in my area.

This is what some of the gas stations near me have. Completely unattended car wash boxes that you drive into, usually with a coupon after filling up.

 

[VegasStinger]

In some areas touchless car washes are called Laserwash.

 

[mldavis2]

I hand wash all my cars, never use a power wash. Soft fiber mitt and car soap from the same company that makes the wax I use (McGuires). Water does not remove the dirt well enough at car washes and you have to clay-bar the car before you wax it unless you hand-wash. My 13 year old GTO feels like it has been clay-bar'd it's never needed that because I keep it clean.

 

[3.3Turbo4me]

Wash mitt with two buckets

 

[slopoke]

I just recently picked up the Montana boars hair car wash and I can tell you it literally cuts the car wash time in half. Did several washes, inspected the pain and found no micro scratches. Would recommend this to anyone that's on the fence about using a brush to wash their Stinger.