How to detail a car, if one were insane.

[Series8217]

Now this thread needs a NSFW tag...

[CincinnatiFiero]

I took it down, with iphones I haven't used a work computer for forums in a while lol

[Series8217]

My Outback is filthy so I'm going to wash it with ONR and post some before and after shots.

[Emc209i]

Do it.

[Series8217]

Just to give you an idea of what ONR can go up against, I washed it by the book starting with this.

Dirty car

IMG_1153.JPG (132.75 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

More dirt

IMG_1154.JPG (104.83 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

Some greasy dirt

IMG_1155.JPG (81.21 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

[Series8217]

More dirt.

IMG_1156.JPG (108.96 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

IMG_1157.JPG (112.34 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

Yep, a dirty black car. That's how they look.

[Series8217]

Optimum No Rinse. It comes in magic blue because it's made of magic. Did I mention it smells like blue raspberry bubblegum?

IMG_1162.JPG (77.52 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

First, add one ounce of ONR to the bucket.

On the other side of the bucket (bottom right of pic) you can see my noodly microfiber wash mit. It looks really dirty because when you use ONR it gets that way. When you wash it with normal detergent the dirt will come off. Just stick it in the washing machine with your microfiber towels when you're done. I use mine for a few car washes before running it through the machine.

IMG_1164.JPG (57.67 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

Fill both sides of the bucket with two gallons of water. One side will have your ONR wash solution, and the other side will just be water. You use the water to pre-rinse your wash mit when it comes back to the bucket, so you can remove any chunks that get picked up off the car, without getting too much junk in the ONR solution.

IMG_1170.JPG (110.85 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

[Series8217]

I like this bucket. I think I got it for something like $16 from Home Depot. It was probably on sale. Each side holds 2 gallons. Perfect.

IMG_1171.JPG (91.81 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

Microfiber towels from Costco. Never ever ever wash these with anything except for other microfiber stuff... and NEVER use softener or bleach. It will ruin them. I wash mine with Woolite and some Simple Green (to remove any greasy residue).

IMG_1172.JPG (71.92 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

[Series8217]

Dunk your mit in the ONR solution and let it soak up the goodness. Then starting at the top of the panel, move side to side and work your way down. Do this one panel at a time, but overlap onto adjacent panels a bit so you don't pick up dirt from them when you dry. There is NO rinsing step. Do NOT rinse your car beforehand. It's not necessary.

Door panel and window soaked. Notice the overlap. Also, I normally wash the roof first, but I did the door because the sun was going down and I wanted to get before and after pics in the same lighting.

IMG_1173.JPG (118.98 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

If there's any dirt left, go over the panel again before you dry. If you run out of wash solution you can easily fill up again. Use a lot! I can usually do my Outback in the full 2 gallons unless it's super filthy (like today, when I used 3). My Fiero takes only a gallon.

IMG_1174.JPG (108.31 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

Time to dry the panel. You do NOT rinse the panel with clean water at any point! Just ONR solution. No pre-rinse, no post-rinse. Just wash and dry.

Be aware of what your drying towel touches. Don't let it dangle so it touches the ground, and don't let it touch part of a panel you haven't washed yet. You don't want to rub dirt into your paint while you're drying. If you drop a microfiber on the ground, just throw it away. It's not worth trying to clean. If you put it in the washing machine you'll get little gritty pieces on ALL of your microfibers.

IMG_1175.JPG (82.3 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

When the towel gets too saturated to dry well, wring it out and/or switch to the other one.

The lower regions of the body, as well as the front and rear fascias, tend to be the dirtiest, so I use one towel for upper body panels and one towel for bumpers and rockers.

[Series8217]

Dried. Very shiny.

IMG_1176.JPG (105.56 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

Over the winter I gave this car a two-step polish with M105 on an Orange Uber Pad followed by M205 on a Blue Uber Pad. After many washes like this I still have very few swirl marks. However, the paint is in terrible shape otherwise. Crappy Subaru paint... it's starting to crack all over. The hood is covered in check marks. Lots of scratches too, many of them poorly filled in by the previous owner. You may also spot some damage left by bird bombs the PO wasn't kind enough to remove quickly.

This car is a 2001 with over 165,000 miles on it though. I guess it could be worse.

By the way the color is actually Black Granite Metallic, hence the speckles. It's actually a super dark red metal flake. It's like the red equivalent to midnight blue.

Shiny besides the paint defects:

IMG_1180.JPG (77.97 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

Windows come out very clean. There are sometimes some streak marks, but you can just buff them out with a microfiber. No glass cleaner required.

IMG_1178.JPG (92.94 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

[Series8217]

More filth.

IMG_1181.JPG (114.12 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

After:

IMG_1182.JPG (94.55 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

Closeup:

IMG_1184.JPG (82.89 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

[Series8217]

When you're done, put away your good microfiber mit and towels, and go find the nastiest one around. Time to do your wheels with the leftover ONR solution.

IMG_1187.JPG (79.36 KiB) Viewed 3506 times

Notice how even the tires look pretty nice after cleaning them with ONR?

Do NOT use the same towels and mit that you use for the body. You don't want to contaminate it with brake dust.

Keep them separate and if you want to be really careful, wash them separately too.

[Series8217]

All done:

IMG_1188.JPG (138.65 KiB) Viewed 3504 times

IMG_1189.JPG (67.06 KiB) Viewed 3504 times

IMG_1190.JPG (94.66 KiB) Viewed 3504 times

[Series8217]

That concludes my evening washing routine. It's the basic one. You'll notice I didn't apply tire dressing (that's once a month or less often), didn't do the interior, and didn't even wash the door jams.

When I wash my car on a weekend I do the door jams, interior, tire dressing, and wax, and sometimes scrub down and rinse the engine bay. I'll leave all that for another writeup.

One more pic, since this one has the Fiero in it too:

IMG_1191.JPG (103.46 KiB) Viewed 3503 times

[Series8217]

Well, that was pretty lengthy.. Mods feel free to move it out to another thread if you want.

[Aaron]

Well the car looks good... But we don't really give a shit. Does it smell like raspberry bubblegum?

[Series8217]

Well the car looks good... But we don't really give a shit. Does it smell like raspberry bubblegum?

It smells like raspberry bubblegum.

I honestly open up the jug of ONR whenever I'm in the garage just to sniff it. Mmmmmmm......

[Emc209i]

Both cars look slick Steven.

Did you put seats in the Fiero? Hard to see. I'm planning on picking some ONR because of your recommend.

[Series8217]

Both cars look slick Steven.

Thanks!

Did you put seats in the Fiero? Hard to see. I'm planning on picking some ONR because of your recommend.

Good eye. I've had Corbeau A4s in the Fiero for a few years now but I never took any pics.

[CincinnatiFiero]

Looks good, I'll buy a jug of ONR when I run out of the other stuff.

My car is supposed to get clayed and buffed tomorrow, so I'll post some pics of that action.