Auto Detailing 101 General discussion of auto cleaning and detailing. Learn tips and tricks to keep your Ford Ranger looking its best.

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Old 08-02-2009
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hand washing

What kind of soap do you use when you wash your car? I just use regular old dish soap but I'm wondering if there is something better out there.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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i use dish soap also
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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I use this

 
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Old 08-02-2009
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I'll try that gold class sometime and see if it works better...I doubt it will though
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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how much does the gold class coast and does it work good
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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wow epic fail dish soap strips all waxes and protectants off your paint. good for when your about to fully detail but bad any other time. dish soap is for dishes. use a car soap
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Originally Posted by ES894x4
wow epic fail dish soap strips all waxes and protectants off your paint. good for when your about to fully detail but bad any other time. dish soap is for dishes. use a car soap
this.

dish soap should never be used on a car for this exact reason. Get yourself some legitimate car wash soap and stop being so cheap, resulting in ruining your body
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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It works really well, I dunno how much it costs though I won a gift pack of stuff and it was in it.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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I use this red cherry smelling soap from Advance. Its pretty cheap and come in a 1 gallon jug. It works good and smells great. I love it.

Edit:
This is the only picture of it I can find.
 

Last edited by RangerNDog; 08-02-2009 at 08:11 PM.
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Old 08-02-2009
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Use the turtle wax ICE wash...expensive as hell but the best ive found by far
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Wow are you kidding me. Dish soap is only to be used a few times a year to remove wax, constant use will ruin trim and break down your clear coat.

I use Megs Gold Class with 2 buckets with grit guards in each with 2 chenielle mitts and a firehouse nozzle. Most efficient way I've found out, can wash my truck in about 15 minutes with this method and have no swirls afterwards.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Car wash soap. The only time dish soap touches my cars is when there's something stuck to the paint or trim that I can't otherwise get off and I'm prepared to rewax/retreat the area.

Like Trent, I also use 2 buckets, a lambs wool and a microfibre mitt. Grit guards are a great investment. With sudsy mitt in one hand and hose in the other, washing takes only 15 - 20 minutes.
 

Last edited by wildswing; 08-02-2009 at 08:15 PM.
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Old 08-02-2009
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what are Grit Gaurds?
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Home Page - Grit Guard : Home of the Grit Guard Insert - Grit Guard : For Scratch-Free Cleaning

Its amazing the amount of dirt those things trap down there, helps so much to get the dirt of the wash mitt too if your wheel wells get super dirty like mine do.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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My old car is what I used dish soap on...will definitely not do that when I get my new one.
 
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For soap I use the green RainX, never had a problem with it.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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How many time a year should I use dish soap and do a full detail? Like 2 or 3 times?
 
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As little as possible. I don't ever use it, I just use the clay-bar to remove wax and all the old polishes.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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i use turtle wax ice wash. its not expensive like the guy above said. its 7 bux at walmart for a jug. i use one bucket but i do the wheels/tires first w/ a seperate mit and brush the tires and fenderwells if dirty. then i dump it out and spray out the bucket. refill then bugscrub the windshield/front end/mirrors. then start w/ the roof and go down. depends on where the sun is on which side i start on first. after im done i pull it under the carport really quick and chamois it off. learned alot of cool stuff when i detailed at the carlot i used to work at. i wish i had a shop w/ a drain cuz id use this soap thats 70 bux for 5 gallons. its a wash and wax and you can see the wax swirling in the soap. you cant use in sunlight like other wash and waxes bc the paint swirls real bad.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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A trick I found is washing just before the sun goes down in the evening. Gives you a little more time to get the water off before it spots on.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Thanks for saving my *** on this one.....last thing I want to do is ruin the finish on my new car after my old one had hail damage and a smashed in door.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Originally Posted by kymudder08
i use turtle wax ice wash. its not expensive like the guy above said. its 7 bux at walmart for a jug.
Almost $10 last time I bought it. May not be outrageous but compared to the blue corral crap I used to buy, its not cheap.
 
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Old 08-02-2009
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Originally Posted by 04blackedge
A trick I found is washing just before the sun goes down in the evening. Gives you a little more time to get the water off before it spots on.
Yeah thats what I do, and I keep spraying the truck with the hose still to make sure it has even less chance to dry.
 
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Old 08-03-2009
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i use ALL meguiars products only!
 
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Old 08-03-2009
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i guess stuff is just higher in georgia. when i went to FL back in june it seemed like **** was sooo much higher in the southern states compared to up here. maybe cuz your taxes are different
 


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