[rhombus]

I was curious, how do you all keep the box looking good?! I recently had a snowstorm in my city and when it all melted, the roads were gross. When they dried off a bit I took it in and hosed it off, but what do you guys do after to make it shine...

I currently have water spots because I didn't want to use just any old towel on the xB, it deserves a special type of towel...

Please, discuss, I'm dying to know how I can make it shine all year 'round!

 

[Eric]

Well, everyone has their opinions & w/ my limited time, I'm going to look for something faster and easier... I haven't done much to keep the xB clean so far, but I can tell you what I did w/ the tC - I stripped off anything that could have been on there w/ Dawn (dishwashing liquid), then used a clay bar to knock off any debris, then used Zaino. The Zaino is a two step process, first Zaino product you use to prep and help the second one work. After that, it was upkeep and washing with a Mr. Clean AutoDry washer... I didn't like buying the filters, so I would towel dry, but the soap dispenser and sprayer still worked well. I used that for a while until I got the Zaino wash. The towels I use are all white 100% cotton made in the US. Anything else will have dyes or foreign particles that can scratch your paint. I really need to get new towels though. Oh, and when you wash them, use plain liquid soap, since fabric softener can defeat the purpose...

Like I said though, all that was a pain, so I'll need to keep an eye out for a better/easier wax and maybe change to microfiber towels....

 

[Matrixv01]

So far I've had a really good experience with the Mr. Clean Autodry carwash.

 

[microfridge]

I can vouch for microfiber towels. They left my car spotless This is very important as I can only go to self-serve carwash places.

I was lucky that my friend was selling me about 20 towels for 3 bucks, because he bought a pack of, I can only guess, godly number of towels at Costco and he doesn't use them all....

 

[boblamb58]

I'll second that on the micro-fiber towels. They're good for washing and drying. They leave NO lint behind when they are used clean. And after you wash them they get back the clingy-ness they originally had, only stronger.

 

[yanges]

i have been trying smartwax products that i received as a gift from my dealership and they are good products!

you can use the wax on the black on the doors, around the front windows and even on the glass!

the smartwax is easy wax on / wax off and the smartdressing works really nice on the wheels - here is a pic after last detail:

 

[rhombus]

I think I'm going to take some pictures of my car right away to give you guys an idea of what I'm dealing with. It has snowed and melted several times in the last couple weeks and they keep salting and graveling to keep the roads less slick, so when it melts it's dirty and gross... Right now my car looks like chocolate brown matte as opposed to nautical blue metallic...

 

[scion]

We are having our January thaw in NE Ohio, today was 67 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, that is a big deal for us and I took advantage of the warm weather to wash, wax and clean the inside of the xB. This if the first time I tried a micro-fiber towel to dry off and apply/remove the wax, they do make a big difference.

It will rain tomorrow so I will just have a short time to admire the shine!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[boblamb58]

Beautiful cold spring-like weatehr yesterday and today.

what do I have to do? work until 3, then take down Christmas lights.

Mine ain't all that grimy, just mostly light dirt. Maybe I can sneak in
a quickie before the mrs. gets home from going to the movies with
her mother. :naughty:

 

[callmemrbill]

I can vouch for microfiber towels. They left my car spotless This is very important as I can only go to self-serve carwash places.

I was lucky that my friend was selling me about 20 towels for 3 bucks, because he bought a pack of, I can only guess, godly number of towels at Costco and he doesn't use them all....

I am the same way can only go to self serve washes. I use the COstco microfibers as well they work great. They were 14.00 for 36 of them.

As for cleaning it I am at the car wash once a week in the evening when the sun is going down. It takes an hour or so to get it looking sparkling clean and shiny, but it is so worth the time. Plus I think my wife likes me getting out of her hair for a couple of hours.

 

[Shancopp]

I am the same way can only go to self serve washes. I use the COstco microfibers as well they work great. They were 14.00 for 36 of them.

As for cleaning it I am at the car wash once a week in the evening when the sun is going down. It takes an hour or so to get it looking sparkling clean and shiny, but it is so worth the time. Plus I think my wife likes me getting out of her hair for a couple of hours.

Of course she does....we all do!!! lol!

 

[callmemrbill]

Thats good to know Shancopp, I am sure if I asked her she would tell me she loves having me out of the house for a few hours......LOL

 

[callmemrbill]

I have the same problem here in Utah. It seems to have snowed all year. I personally have been using the Meguiars products. They have a hot line that you can call and ask any questions, 6 days a week. In fact I called today and talked to someone for like 25 minutes asking a bunch of questions about keeping the car clean. They didn't hurry or rush me but took their time to answer all my questions and make sure I was comfortable and able to do what i wanted to do. That for me goes along way. But like Eric said everyone has their own thing that they like. One of the master detailers on the Meguairs site always says, find what you like and stick with it.

So there is my 2 cents again on this thread. LOL

 

[Shancopp]

I've never heard of this brand. Where do you buy it?

 

[callmemrbill]

You can buy Meguiars at any atuo parts store. They also have an online store at www.meguiars.com I really love the stuff.

 

[Shancopp]

i have been trying smartwax products that i received as a gift from my dealership and they are good products!

you can use the wax on the black on the doors, around the front windows and even on the glass!

the smartwax is easy wax on / wax off and the smartdressing works really nice on the wheels - here is a pic after last detail:

what a great pic! I just saw it for the first time!

 

[chris-ib]

You can buy Meguiars at any atuo parts store. They also have an online store at www.meguiars.com I really love the stuff.

Walmart! And cheap. Liked the clay/detailer, really cleaned up my two old cars. And then their sample of wax did my entire Civic with leftover. Even my husband noticed how nice the car looked.

 

[cnstarz]

i just used the Mr Clean Auto Dry system today. it really works fabulously! and i live in texas, which i think has the hardest water in the united states.

however, today, i did not follow the Auto Dry's instructions. instead of soaping the car with the Auto Dry mechanism, i just used a bucket full of the Mr Clean Auto Dry soap and a cotton mitt. i wet the car normally, scrubbed really good with the mitt, then rinsed the soap off using the auto dry setting. uses a lot less soap, and i found it be a lot faster. car dried off with only a couple water spots (from where i missed some spots), and i used a waffle microfiber towel to pick up the few water drops that were left. there was so little water left on the entire car that i could've dried it off with half a paper towel sheet.