Make your own tint-safe window cleaner solution

You know the routine, go to the parts store, look for window cleaner that is safe on tinted windows, but what do you purchase? There are tons of brands out there, but which one works the best?

Truth: All of them.

Why spend $4 - $6 for some window cleaning solution when you can make your own from readily available supplies around the house? Dentless Dave (zetecgt on Focaljet) shows us how!

Time Required:
5 Minutes

Tools Needed:

A decent spray bottle (preferably one that mists)

91% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol (70% will work too)

Johnson & Johnson Baby Soap

Procedure:

Tint safe window cleaner is made of 3 things:

soap

alcohol

water

Formula:

2 tbl spoons of rubbing alcohol

2 drops of Johnson & Johnson Baby soap

Fill the rest with water.

All cleaning supplies are 90% water anyway, so really, when you pay 2.99 for window cleaner, you might as well be giving away free money.

The soap naturally does what soap does and lubricates the dirt off.

The alcohol help the cleaner to dry fast leaving a no streak finish and will help to break up any grease or oils that may be on the window.

---

You can buy 2.99 window cleaner that may last 3 months depending on how much you wash your windows... or, you can spend .99 on a bottle of alcohol, .99 for a bottle of soap, and mix it yourself and have enough to last you for a few years...

Cleaning the Engine Bay

When you are at a car show, the last thing you want to show off is a bunch of grime. Unfortunately, the engine bay can be the coolest, yet most disgusting part of your car. Here's some tips for shining it up!

Time Required:
Allow about an hour

Tools Needed:

Your choice of degreaser: Simple green... engine brite... CD-2... or the like

soft wheel brush

Tape

Plastic bags

Tire shine

Rags

Quick detailer

Procedure:

Note: Engine should be cool before starting!

First, tape off sensitive electronics with plastic bags. The alternator, fuse box, coil pack and battery are of primary concern.

Loosen up dirt with a soft wheel brush.

Then, spray down the engine bay with the cleaner of your choice.

Gently rinse the engine.

Remove plastic and spot-clean those areas without soaking with chemicals or water.

Use rags to help dry the engine bay

Use Tire shine on another rag to make the plastic and rubber parts under the hood shimmer. Don't apply to sensors or belts.

Spot clean painted areas with a quick detailer such as Mother's Showtime or Meguiar's Quik Detailer spray.

Washing your car: Hose and Bucket style

If you have access to a garden hose, you can easily get your car squeaky clean without going to the car wash. Matter of fact, this method usually results in the cleanest car wash you can get!

Time Required:
30-60 minutes

Tools Needed:

bucket

soap (normally, use car wash soap, or use Dawn if you wish to remove the wax prior to claybarring or re-waxing)

clean sponge

hose

Procedure:

1. Add the soap to the bucket
2. Fill the bucket with lukewarm water (for best results)
3. Spray car with hose thoroughly (make sure the car stays wet at all times until you are ready to dry)
4. Start with the roof and windows (do not let the soap dry onto the car
otherwise it's a pain to get off)
5. Spray the areas you've just washed
6. Wash the hood and headlights (spray off soap)
7. Wash the front bumper (spray off soap)
8. Next, move onto the side of the car (preferably the side that is NOT facing the sun)
9. Start with the fender and front door. (spray off soap)
10. Wash the rear door and rear quarter pannel (spray off soap)
11. Now start with the opposite side and repeat steps 9 and 10.
12. Wash the trunklid or hatch and rear bumper (spray off soap)

Immediately proceed to Drying Your Car (coming soon) to avoid the formation of water spots.

If you wish to re-wax or claybar your car, make sure you go through the above steps a second time, using a powerful dish soap such as Dawn both times. Then, proceed to instructions on Claybarring (coming soon) or Waxing (coming soon) Thanks to FiReEyE690 from the focaljet.com forums for providing these instructions

Washing: Two-bucket Method & Proper Drying

Did you know that almost all of the visible swirl marks on a car's painted surface are from improperly washing and drying your vehicle? That is indeed the truth; the main culprit of those unsightly swirl marks and light scratches is routine washings. The best way to stop developing new swirls (or avoid them altogether) is to adopt a safer washing regime. This guide, put together by Pzev (from the focaljet.com forums) will describe washing your vehicle using the two-bucket method. This method has been proven to reduce the amount of swirls left on your vehicles finish after each wash.

Time Required:
A few hours

Tools Needed:

Quality car wash soap (I recommend Meguiars Gold Class)

Two five gallon buckets

Lambs wool wash mitt (chenille is acceptable)

Long handled scrub brush with exploded (split) end bristles or boar's hair brush

Quality Micro fiber drying towel

Hose fitted to waterspout
Recommended but optional:

Pressure Washer

Two MORE five gallon buckets

Even more quality micro fiber drying towels

Several wash mitts

Several multi-purpose micro fiber towels

California Dry Blade

Compressed air such as a leaf blower or other form of forced air

Procedure:

Ok, if you have the required supplies you are ready to begin. The first thing you need to do when preparing to wash your car using the two-bucket method is to fill the buckets of course. When using two five gallon buckets you will need to fill one bucket with clean water, and the other with a mixture of car wash soap and water. Generally, it's one ounce of car wash soap to every gallon of water. You will want to fill the soap bucket with four gallons of soapy water. The second bucket filled with clean water is used as a rinse; we will discuss this later.

Now that you have the buckets filled put them aside. It's now time to rinse the car. You should use the highest amount of pressure possible (less than 1750 PSI if using a pressure washer) to clean as much of the dirt as possible from the surface to avoid marring the surface when washing. Take your time; this is a very important step. You should also be careful to avoid hitting the car with the hose nozzle, or the hose itself as this can scratch the surface.

Now that the car is rinsed thoroughly its time to move onto the actual washing process and this is where you should pay extra special attention. You need to take the buckets you filled earlier and position them around the car. If you are using four buckets, position one on each corner of the car. If you are using two, position them at the corners on the side of the car that faces the hose. This is done to make sure the hose does not get caught under the wheels when moving to the other side of the vehicle. Once positioned its time to begin washing. Take one of the mitts and saturate it with soapy water, DO NOT RING IT OUT. Once saturated, proceed to wash from the highest point of the vehicle one panel at a time working your way down. If possible use forward and back motions, not circles. After you wash a panel, place the mitt in the rinse bucket and swish it around and ring it out. Start the process all over again until you wash two or three panels; you will then want to rinse the car again to keep the soap and water from drying on the surface. You will continue to do this until you are almost to the bottom of the car. Once you are almost at the bottom, go back and re-wash any spots that you missed or that need a second pass. When you are satisfied that the upper portion of the car is clean, proceed to wash the bottom most parts of the vehicle. The reason you want to wait to wash the lowest portions until the very end is because these areas are usually the dirtiest and the mitt will pose a higher risk of scratching if you wash other areas afterwards.

If you are using four buckets the process is no different except that once you are finished with one side of the vehicle, you will move on to the next side and continue using the other set of buckets and wash mitts. The only advantage is not having to lug around two buckets when moving to the other side of the vehicle.

If for some reason you feel the wash mitt is no longer clean, toss it aside and switch to a fresh mitt. Also, if for any reason you drop the mitt on the ground, switch to a fresh mitt. The objective here is to limit the amount of surface scratching and swirling caused by dirt impregnated in the wash mitt. This is why it is handy to have several mitts on hand when washing.

FINAL RINSING:
Once the vehicle has been thoroughly washed, its time to rinse. The final rinse process is important, as it determines the final amount of water that will be left to dry. After all of the soap residue is removed with high pressure water, remove any hose attachments and let the water flow out of the hose with low pressure. With the low pressure water, start at the highest point of the vehicle and proceed to let the water flow over the surface. Follow the natural curves of the vehicle, and chase the water downward with the hose. The low-pressure water flow will cause it to sheet off of the cars surface leaving very little water to dry. If done properly, you can remove up to 90% of the standing water from the surface of the car before you even touch a towel!

DRYING:
Most people are worn out after washing their vehicle, so they spend little time drying. Drying a car is often the most disliked chore of car detailing because it can take as long as actually washing the car. Unfortunately, if the surface is improperly dried it is possible to induce severe swirl marks or worse yet leave residual water that can dry and leave paint etching water spots.

It is very important to properly dry your car each and EVERY time you wash…no exceptions.

While time consuming, the drying process is actually very simple. The first step is to remove as much water as possible from the surface before using towels. This can be accomplished with forced air from a compressor/ leaf blower, or by using a California Water Blade. It is important to remember when using a CWB that it is vital that the surface be clean, otherwise you WILL scratch the surface when contaminants get caught between the blade and the paint.

When you are ready to move on to towels, there is only one thing to remember….NO MOTION. Scratching is caused when a contaminant is scraped across the surface. If there is no sliding motion, there is no scratching. When using drying towels, lay them across the surface and apply pressure. Try not to move the towels. When that area is dry move onto the next, continuing until all the water has been absorbed into the towel. It is more than likely that you will need to use more than one drying towel, so be prepared with another one on hand.

After the exterior surface is dried it's important to make sure the doorjambs are cleaned and dried. Using the all purpose micro fiber towels proceed to wipe the excess water from the door jambs, hatch opening, trunk seems, or any other area residual water rests. Don't forget the wheels.

I hope this guide explained the benefits of using the two-bucket method for auto washing. If you use care when washing and drying your vehicle you will enjoy a like new finish for many years to come.

Using Microfiber Cloths

In the last few years microfiber has burst onto the auto-detailing scene. Almost overnight microfiber has changed the way people look at car care. However, with any instantly popular product there are a lot of myths, half truths, and flat out lies. In this guide, Pzev (from the focaljet.com forums) will answer a few basic questions about Microfiber, and explain its proper uses.

Time Required:
n/a

Tools Needed:

Microfiber Towels

Other detailing chemicals and tools as needed

Procedure:

Let's start with the basics. What is Microfiber? Well, unlike what most people believe MF (short for Microfiber) is a process rather than a material. It's a process that takes ordinary material like polyester, and weaves it into fibers so small that a single strand is a 100 times finer than a human hair. The advantage to such a process is that the material that results is much softer than the original. Also, several materials can be woven together to take advantage of specific properties they may poses. An example would by polyester, and polymide, which are the two most common materials, found in a MF towel. Polyester is used for its ability to be split and hold dirt, while polymide is used for its absorbency. Other materials that are often woven into MF are cotton, nylon, and even silk. Another key term used when describing MF is whether or not the material has been "split". Splitting refers to the actual process used to split the fibers that make up a MF towel. When split, the fibers are better at removing contaminants from the surface, and pulling them into the material away from the finish.

What is the advantage of Microfiber? Well, a few of the many advantages are greater absorbency, reduced risk of scratching, and greater cleaning ability. The truth is a MF towel will beat a 100% terry cloth towel every time in the above categories if they are of equal quality.

What makes a good Microfiber towel? A good MF towel is a mixture of many things, but perhaps the most important is weave style. Different weaves are used for different applications. The best example of this is waffle weave drying towels. It was discovered that a waffle type weave was better at removing water from the surface because of the suction effect created by the weave as it moves across the surface. Other examples include coarse weaves for wax and polish removal, and softer thicker weaves for quick detail use. Another key element in a good MF towel is the material that is used, and the percentages of them. The most common materials are polyester and polymide. Depending on the towels use, these materials will be varied in percentage. Usually the percentage is 80-20 polyester to polymide. However, natural fibers like cotton are also used. These towels while softer and more scratch resistant usually don't have the "bite", or cleaning power of synthetic blends. This again emphasizes that certain towels are for certain jobs. Perhaps the final key element that makes a good MF towel is the seams. The seams of a towel are the most dangerous areas as they can easily scratch the surface. There are several ways manufacturers go about seaming their towels. There are seams where a material such as silk is sewn around the edges. This is nice as it limits the chance of fraying, but the thread used to sew the silk on the edge can scratch a vehicles finish. Another type of edging used is hot cutting. A hot blade is used to melt the edges together. This is also good as it limits fraying however once again the melted material can scratch the paint. The third type of edging is actually no edge at all. Often called edgeless towels these towels employ some sort of reverse sewing that keeps the wave together. This is most scratch resistant, but depending on the mfg they may be more prone to fraying with continued use.

Do you really need Microfiber? The simple truth is MF has proven to be safer on painted surfaces than 100% cotton. However, it really comes down to the person. Many people still feel uncomfortable using synthetic materials like polyester on their paint, while others don't want to go out and buy all new towels. Eventually though, MF will take the crown for detailing towel of choice.

Where can you get Microfiber towels? You can get MF at almost all auto parts stores and warehouse stores around, whether or not they will be of acceptable quality is another story. For now, the Internet is the best source of MF around…and the only place to get the best towels. However, recently large detailing supply companies like Meguiars have started offering a line of MF. In fact, the majority of the Megs MF offerings are very nice for their price and availability. Companies like Zwipes also sell decent Microfiber products.

Here are some quality MF vendors on the internet- (special note: Many of these sites also have great info about Microfiber if you wish to read more.)

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/towels---chamois.html

http://www.properautocare.com/micprod1.html

http://waynestowels.com/

http://www.pakshak.com/

http://www.dftowel.com/

http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/storefront.pl?ref=exceldetail

http://www.autofiber.com/

http://www.microfiberplus.com/microfiber2.htm

Thanks, Pzev!

Clean and dress wheel wells

One of the few overlooked areas of a car when doing a detail or exterior car cleaning is the wheel well section. Before you do any of your brightwork, consider taking care of this first. Who knows, it may be the difference between getting first prize, or an honorable mention at the next car show.

Time Required:
15 - 30 minutes

Tools Needed:

2 buckets (1 gal or less will do)

1-2 foam head toilet brushes (the longer and flexible the handle and head the better) or a pair good rubber gloves

some large sponges with the scuff pad side

Your favorite all purpose cleaner or some dawn dishwash

1 bottle Mop n Glow

Procedure:

This is a little time consuming, but patience is rewarded here. There are two ways to do this, the "quick way", and the "less quick way". The less quick way requires you to remove all the wheels to be thorough. The quick way keeps the wheels on, but you may not be able to cover as much as with the wheels off. Either method will make the wheel wells look much better in any case. The only difference is how picky you are and your access to other tools such as lug wrench (which you should have anyway), and access to a good lift (so you can forgoe all the running around).

This covers the quick way.

1. First, you need to rinse out the loose dirt in the wheel wells. Starting with the fronts, simply lock the steering wheel in one direction or the other. If I am starting on the driver side, I start with the steering to the left, and on the passenger side, lock to the right. Lock the wheel to the other side if you need more clearance.

2. Spray into the well at full blast from the hose to lossen up any mud or dirt. While you're at it, might as well do the struts and springs If you have a UDP installed and did not replace the shield, be gentle with the spray in that area, or rinse by hand. Also, if you do rinse off the struts and springs, be careful where you aim the water. Reason for this is to prevent any excess water from getting on the strut rod if there is no cover for it. The rod is meant to be lubricated with oil, but to be on the safe side, don't aim at the exposed rod. Rinse around that area by hand if need be.

3. Spray on your all purpose cleaner. If using dawn, just mix up some in the bucket with water as hot as you can get. Use one of the foam toilet brushes to scrub off the stuck on grime. If you need to to really remove the tougher stuff, get in there with your gloves and the sponge w/ scuff side. If you're doing the springs and struts as well, only use the sponge side, as the scuff side will scratch up the painted surfaces.

4. Rinse again with the hose, and in the second bucket, mix up some Mop N Glo with water. The intensity of the mixture will depend on how much shine you want in the well; for less shine, use less Mop n Glo, and for more shine, use more Mop N Glo. For maximum shine, don't even bother with the water, just use Mop N Glo full strength. Dip the toilet brush or sponge into the mixture, and squeeze off some of the excess. Apply the mixture to the wells until every bit of the well is covered in the mixture. Let the front sides set, and then go to the back.

5. Raise and support the rear of the car. Lift the rear up just enough to give you some room to work with, and just follow all the previous steps. If you do not have a jack, or you're a bit squeamish about working with the car raised, then you'll need to just work with sponges, toilet brushes, or a combination of the two.

6. Once all wells have been treated, you can go back to the fronts and inspect the work. The wells should have a glossy look to them. If you are not happy, you can re-apply another coat of Mop N Glo, and allow to dry.

7.Once the mixture is fuly dried (which should take about 10-15 mins depending on how much you used), your wells will be much easier to hose out clean, while leaving a nice glossy finish. You can repeat this step every 3-4 weeks, to insure the wells remain clean looking.

(Submitted by usdm from the Focaljet.com discussion forums)

Removing wax residue from trim pieces

After waxing, the textured black trim will often retain some dried wax. This gives the trim a white, powdery appearance that is far from desireable. We discuss how to remove this residue.

Time Required:
15 - 30 minutes

Tools Needed:

Pink Pet eraser (just a normal pencil eraser)

Procedure:

Simply rub the eraser over the areas where the wax residue is present. Only use the eraser on plastic trim. Don't rub it on painted surfaces, as it could leave rub marks. You can also try using products such as Mother's Back To Black, however, these often don't work to permanently remove the excess wax, they just mask it for a while.