Washing the ST

[whispering_navara]

Hi peoples!!!!
just wondering what people find to be the best cleaning product for removing dirt and grime off the outside of ute....currently i just use turtle wash($6) but was not willing to spend $30 on a bottle of maguires car wash unless i know it works better?And what product works best for getting that wet look on the tyres?
cheers n beers Andrew

 

[Matt76]

Yep I was the same as you but found the cheap car washes strip all the polish off and show up all my scratches. I use a maguires now and it does a much better job. For the tyres I bought 4 litres of tyre shine from Sierra chemicals in brisbane, I just put it in a squirty bottle, it works a treat.

 

[DANDON]

I use ice carwash from turtle wax works really good,plus has a polish that goes with it that leaves no white residue.

 

[KraftyPg]

This is obviously a personal preference but on the rare times I do hand wash the ute I never use anything with wax in it. Wax might be good on the body work but it's crap on the windows and windscreen and sure it's a massively diluted form of what you'd put on the body work if you were polishing with a dedicated polish but wax is the last thing I want on the windscreen.

I treat tyre black a similar way, it's all good an well while the tyres are dry and shiny but as soon as you drive through water or on wet roads all that shiny stuff has to go somewhere and while it wont harm the duco it's just something else that needs washing off.

 

[DANDON]

It has a polish that goes with it to be used as a system, not polish in it. I agree would not use wash and wax

 

[KraftyPg]

The hard part is finding cash wash that doesn't have wax or polish in it, although I'm probably not the best to talk on that matter since I haven't brought any car washing juice for about 18 years. So things could have changed and companies might have decided to treat customers better by not combining the two these days.

 

[Jon]

I've just started using CT18 truck wash stuff on my car and boat. Seems pretty good. I only bought a 1L bottle but will buy a bulk drum of it next time I think. Polish I use meguiars 3 step system. First paint cleaner, which is the hard work getting rid of tar and other road grime. Then polish and finally a coat of wax. Wax works best if left to dry before wiping it off. Pretty much a full days work. Sucks hard but I try and do it a couple of times a year at least. Especially with the amount of sun we get up here its amazing how many relatively new cars up here have faded paintwork.

 

[Matt76]

Watch that CT18 mate, it is pretty strong stuff, I used to use it on my other ute, but all the screws and stuff started rusting up. I quizzed the chemical company that makes it and they said "Yep it'll do that"

 

[KraftyPg]

Not that you can believe everything you read but that completely goes against what they say on their bottles and their website. They claim it's harmless to all things on trucks and cars and it inhibits rust and corrosion which kind of makes sense given they are also marketing the stuff for boats which spend a lot of their time in higher rust prone areas that our cars do.

As widely as this stuff is used in the trucking and heavy vehicles industry I'd have reckoned there would be an up roar if this stuff was causing screws to rust, but then there are a million other factors that could contribute to rust and this combined with any single one of them could be the cause.

 

[DANDON]

truckwash is designed for washing trucks, and is very corrosive not a good idea unless you want to polish after every wash clean good tho.

 

[Aido]

Truck wash is caustic.
Over time it will disolve a truck. It is used because it removes everything quickly and easily.
I head down to the car wash and chuck 12 to 14 dollars worth of gold coins in to blast merry hell out of everything and then happily gouge away at the paint using the good old scratch brush.
Having said that though it does get washed by hand using a chamois, dried polished and waxed from time to time as this helps to stop stuff sticking to it in the first place.
I figure that aside from removing the muck there is no point to being too precious about swirls and micro scratches because they can be removed / filled and the paint brought back to new anytime you want by simply spending a weekend with;
clay bar
paint restorer
polish
wax
and a whole heap of elbow grease
Want to see obsessive? Google up "car detailing forum"

Tyre shine? bunged some on the missus car 2 weeks ago and its still on there. Cant remember what brand but was just a $10 can. It only lasted a day on mine but hers stays on the highway only.

 

[Matt76]

truckwash is designed for washing trucks, and is very corrosive not a good idea unless you want to polish after every wash clean good tho.

Yep it is pretty harsh stuff.

 

[Aido]

I should type quicker, or add less crap.

 

[KraftyPg]

You've all got one up on me when it comes to this stuff, I only know what I read on labels and if that's not the truth then it's not the truth and once again the consumer is being screwed. I haven't polished a car since my first car 20 odd years ago and I've washed all cars since then with truck wash and a high pressure cleaner and none of then have ever rusted or had bits rust off them so in my experience truck wash is ok by me.

 

[Matt76]

You've all got one up on me when it comes to this stuff, I only know what I read on labels and if that's not the truth then it's not the truth and once again the consumer is being screwed. I haven't polished a car since my first car 20 odd years ago and I've washed all cars since then with truck wash and a high pressure cleaner and none of then have ever rusted or had bits rust off them so in my experience truck wash is ok by me.

My triton ute gets a pretty harsh life, it had never been garaged up until I got my D40, now it spends all day sitting in the sun/rain outside my workshop, and all night inside the shed getting grinding dust and crap settling all over it. I'm sure thats at least half the problem.

On that note The guy I get all my work chemicals/cleaners from does a car wash that is similar but not corrosive like CT18. I have heaps here if someone wants some to try. I still prefer my maquires though, even though it comes at a premium.

 

[Jon]

hmmm, maybe I won't get that bulk pack of ct 18. Just did a bit of googling and yeah there is a fair amount of discussion on the matter. Some say it bleaches the pigments in the paint and a whole lot of other stuff so maybe I'll bin whats left or just use it to scrub down the engine bay or something.

 

[Aido]

hmmm, maybe I won't get that bulk pack of ct 18. Just did a bit of googling and yeah there is a fair amount of discussion on the matter. Some say it bleaches the pigments in the paint and a whole lot of other stuff so maybe I'll bin whats left or just use it to scrub down the engine bay or something.

Is good in a mild concentrate for wheel cleaning - I believe the D40's do dust up the front rims a bit.
The d22 doesn't suffer this as leather blocks on the wooden wheels creates no mess at all.

Related - only in the fact that we are discussing CT18. Have seen a 3 week old GSXR1000 motorcycle washed with it and the result was not pretty. Ct18 being caustic it ate into the aluminium frame and all the parts that were anodized - caustic solution + aluminium is not good because it breaks down the bauxite. Being new and soft paint it also left its mark there too with dull and matt etching.

 

[DVR]

I use armor all Heavy duty car wash. It's the green stuff and I like it cos it's nice and creamy when it suds up and seems to remove most of the crap I get on my car. I also use the armor all Tyre foam. It isn't to shiny, I hate the "wet" look. It just looks like a new tire and lasts for ages. I always wipe of the excess after I let it soak in a bit so it doesn't splash up the side of the car when I drive.

I cant believe no one else used that emoticon

 

[southrabbit]

nu finish. easy to use last long time