Tips to Keep Your Car Clean in Ohio

Leonard1818 from 8thcivic.com suggests the following:


-- First off, Meguiars NXT 2.0 is a good wax but it's not a sealant/wax combo. Anything claiming to be a "combo" product or "two in one" or "time saver" is bogus. You simply can't get the same results with one of these types of products.

I used to use Meguiars NXT 2.0 tech wax. It's a great wax and with proper paint prep it can last up to about 6-8 weeks but it won't last you all winter.

-- Next item to point out is that while the touchless car washes are the best as far as auto car washes go, the downside is that they use chemicals in their water that can strip your wax/paint protection off entirely leaving your paint naked to face the elements. It's sort of a catch 22... do you use them and clean the under carriage every so often and lose your wax protection or do you forego and let the salt/crap sit on the metal parts? 

Anymore I have a different car I drive when it gets brutal here in Ohio. I woudl like to stray away from the discussion of "why" cause it's "just a civic" but that's what I do. However, when I used to drive my coupe in the winter time, I did the following:

* In the fall, start with a good detail. The extent of this is up to you (if you want to polish and do anything else those steps will fit in). Here is the barebones basics of what you absolutely need to do. First, wash. I use 2-bucket method with grit guard in rinse bucket. sometimes I will use a little ONR in my rinse bucket (I'll explain later). Next, clay bar. I've found the over-the counter clay bars to be sufficient. Mothers/Meguiars, whatever. If you've never clayed your car you'll notice a difference immediately. Read the package to learn how to use. At this point, you can go in various directions with what you do next. As mentioned, I'm listing the basics so I'll skip straight to the sealant. I use Zaino. There are several out there and I've never tried any of them except Zaino so I can only speak to that product. If the paint is prepped properly it WILL last you through the winter. I've stopped using waxes entirely and only use the zaino synthetic sealant. Z5 and Z2 if you're interested in specifics. Check out their website. Or, look into Klasse, blackfire wet diamond, etc... those are all sealants that others use with success.

* During the winter months, if you have access to a garage, another good product to use is called Optimum No Rinse or (ONR). I've used this product on my black coupe in the middle of winter and it is AWESOME. It takes some time to get used to (at least for me it did) cause I just couldn't wrap my head around not using soap or some other kind of lubricant but it works.

Other than those couple of items, there's really not much more you can do besides NOT driving your car lol. If you're interested in exactly what I use, I can list it below:

Wash: Meguiars gold class car shampoo. Can buy over the counter and it's GREAT. I also have some Zaino car shmapoo solution that I use every now and then. Honestly, I've found the Gold Class to be just as good.

Buckets: As mentioned, I use a 2-bucket method with a grit guard in one of them. Sometimes I'll drip some ONR in the rinse bucket just to be sure that I'm getting proper lubricity.

Wash Rags/Mitt: During a wash/dry I use several MicroFiber towels. Technique is key here. Start at the top and work your way down. Don't ever go "up" once you've gone to the bottom of the car. Dirt is mostly on the bottom and if you go up you will be spreading dirt and instilling swirls in the paint. I usually use 2-3 different MF towels during 1 wash. If the car is really not too dirty I can get away with 1. That's just on the body. I use a separate one for the wheels, one for the exhaust pipe, one for the wheel wells.

Drying: During drying I spray on some meguiars Last touch detail spray as I dry. Drying is the biggest PITA of the whole process. It takes the longest and uses the most MF towels. Usually 5-6 towels for the whole car. I spray a section with LT detail spray and dry and dry and dry and dry.

Tires: I had been using Meguiars endurance gel but I've found I like the look of 303 aerospace protectant better. I have a little MF tool that goes in between the spokes of the wheels and cleans the wheels pretty well. I scrub the tires during washing with a separate MF towel (do it at the end so you're not dunking the dirty cloth in the same bucket that you're washing in).

MF towels: I go through these pretty regularly so I don't really buy expensive ones. I'm thinking about trying some expensive ones to see if they make a difference but I buy these at sams club in packs of 10 or 20. They last quite a while and stay plush and soft. Every now and then AutoZone or Advanced Auto will have a good deal on them and theirs are OK in quality as well. The important thing to keep in mind is to dedicate specific ones for specific functions. I ONLY use my yellow ones to wash, orange ones to dry, blue ones on wheels/exhaust and cruddy mish-mash ones for wheel wells. 

Detail spray: I really like the meguiars Quick Detailer spray however it's expensive when you detail spray your car as much as I found myself doing. For this reason, I bought a jug of the Meguiars Last touch detail spray which can be cut 50/50 with water. I highly recommend it. This can be used as clay lubricant, to quick detail a clean car (must be clean), and as mentioned, I use it when drying to help lubricate the paint as it dries.

I'm no expert. Heck, most of the products I use are OTC. I'm just sharing with you what I've found to work. Living in NW Ohio (similar climate to you) I can feel your pain with trying to keep the car clean. Hopefully using some of the techniques that others have found to work, you will be able to keep it looking good 95% of the time!

Happy detailing!