How the hell do you...

[Lumberboy]

keep a carbon steel grey (CSG) car clean? I haven't waxed/clay bar/polished my car yet. (Never done it before, not too sure how.) No matter what after I wash and dry my car it still looks like crap. I don't have the ability to had wash so I go to wand wash places. Any tips from you master detailers? I am not looking for show car shine, just an improvement for my efforts.

I have had red cars and white cars and they always looked clean. Is it that CSG is a hard colour to keep looking nice?

[Geobmx4life]

Re: How the hell do you...

VWSweetheart told me about this, and it works well on my car, Indigo blue, also hard to keep shiney. Claybar and wax 2x a year, usually just needs a wash and rinse everytime I clean it, I've found that the spot free rinse also helps, and I do it once every few weeks.
Hope this helps.

[kujiwara]

Re: How the hell do you...

Grey cars aren't hard to keep clean, dark grey is. Sounds like your car has scratch marks? I say dry the car right after the car wash, use two drying towels, use one to spread the water drops around and use the other to dry it completely. Get some autoglym super resin polish and their palm pad thing, take your time to polish the car, then apply some spray wax if you don't like using conventional wax.

[onceover]

Re: How the hell do you...

If I ever need to use a wand wash, I always bring a wash mitt with me. Spray the car down with soap first, go over it with the mitt, and rinse for a nice clean

[Lumberboy]

Re: How the hell do you...

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely get a wash mitt and try some of the mentioned product. Kuji, no scratches, just a couple rock chips on the hood.

[Danaldson]

Re: How the hell do you...

black/dark cars are tough to keep clean, on my old black mk4, i would do the pre soak, soap, rinse, wax. and then for drying i would dry it with one cloth/squegee, then take another dry cloth and over dry/buff the whole car. and then when i would get home from the wash i would inspect again and then use the quick detailer with another cloth if need be.

it sounds like you need a claybar/polish/wax. take a day and do it. it is definitely worth it. even if you just do it by hand. its tiring but definitely worth it.


ive never used one of those mitt thingy's, maybe ill pick one up.

[VwSweetHeart]

Re: How the hell do you...

it sounds like you need a claybar/polish/wax. take a day and do it. it is definitely worth it. even if you just do it by hand. its tiring but definitely worth it.

/\This! Claybar and wax is one of the best things to help keep your car clean. I really try and get it done spring and fall.(doesnt always happen though) It does take time to get a full car done but worth it in the long run. I have done this all by hand with 2 coats of wax and with a 10'' orbital and results are the same. All depends how much time you have free. It helps repeal all the dirt and grime from daily driving I found.

If your finding after a carwash, your car still has that "dirty" look, I would recommend the claybar and wax. The clay bar will help remove all the impurities that are sitting on the car and bring it back down to the original paint with no dirt/grime. The wax will help seal it.

Spotfree rinse is also great after a wash if you are in a hurry and have no time to dry. I also use the car wash wax before my spot free if I dont think Ill have time to re claybar and re wax the car before winter. Having owned my own black car for 7 years and having people compliment on how great it always looked, I found this worked great over the years with no issues.

[Lumberboy]

Re: How the hell do you...

Looks like I know what I am doing Saturday before work lol.

[jacktown]

Re: How the hell do you...

I have a CSG mk6. I wand wash, dry and then wipe down using a polishing cloth (usually don't event put polish on it)
It comes up perfect and stays clean. If you are missing going over the car with a polishing cloth after it's dry then that could be the difference.

[Lumberboy]

Re: How the hell do you...

So much info! How do I keep the mudflaps and side skirts looking black?

[Danaldson]

Re: How the hell do you...

So much info! How do I keep the mudflaps and side skirts looking black?

Get back to black, it's a little red bottle and you wipe it on all your black plasticy stuff. Works great!

[Jim]

Re: How the hell do you...

ive only ever really had dark cars, such a pain in the butt, once the washing part is done, squeegee the water off, dry the rest with safe towels, wait for no water to be on the car anymore then a solid microfibre with tight circles and elbow grease will really shine it up. Nick (jacktown) recently gave me a really great detailing cloth actually, jump in anytime to reveal the brand Nick.

Also, keep a spray bottle of quick detailer, i always prefer Meguiar's. Super handy for a touch up, even if you just spray a cloth and do circles with the wet side then dry side to wipe in one direction clean. You will dial in a good cleaning method and itll always look pretty good!

[Kor]

Re: How the hell do you...

I have this same color and its IMPOSSIBLE. I'm pretty good at detailing my cars but even waxing it it seems like it gets dirty faster than my other cars, within a few days just from dust in the air and the faintest water spots from evaporation.

I had a black car, a white car, and then this, and CSG is the worst.

May also be the MKVI just doesn't sheet water as well or something, maybe the angles of the body panels at rest, I dunno, it gets dirty so fast.

[Lumberboy]

Re: How the hell do you...

It is nice to know I am not alone Kor lol. My next car is going to be white!

[VwSweetHeart]

Re: How the hell do you...

My next car is going to be white!

haha I had a black car for 7 years and now have a white car.... believe me when I say white it's no better!!! You want a color with no issues..get reflex silver. Problem solved. Nothing shows up on that!