Sponge or Woollen Mitt?

Which of the two is better for washing your car and minimising the affect of
swirl marks on your paintwork, a sponge or a woollen mitt?

 

Neither. Both are bad. A soft, long-bristled brush is best.

 

Which of the two is better for washing your car and minimising the affect of

I have a white 2003 Accord EX 4-door without the sunroof.

I purchased the car new, and it now has 10K miles with very little, if any,
swirl marks on the paint finish. I never take the Accord to a car wash where
you drive through. Even if it's a "100% cloth" car wash, you never know how
many particles or dirt could be clinging to the spinning cloths (which would
then scratch your finish).

If the car is lightly dirty, I park within a car wash bay that has an
attached water gun, and spray the car with its soapy water on the low-intensity
setting. I use the high-intensity trigger for the lower areas of the car and
around the wheel wells, even inside the wells themselves and underneath the
car. I then fill up a water bucket I usually carry empty in the trunk, and
with a huge sponge, apply the soapy suds to the finish -- never using the
long brush provided by the car wash bay.

I seldom drive in the rain or on wet pavement, so the car does not get that
dirty. So when it rains and is parked outside, I get a "free" car wash!!

Paul


Paul

 

|
|> Which of the two is better for washing your car and minimising the
|> affect of swirl marks on your paintwork, a sponge or a woollen mitt?

|
|Neither. Both are bad. A soft, long-bristled brush is best.

True, according toa friend who is much more anal about this than I.
They are hard to find, cost around $20. Mine is horse-hair.
Rex in Fort Worth

 

(Rex B) spake unto the masses in

I prefer the kind that attaches to the hose, so you can have a copious
stream of water flowing all the while you wash.

Sponges and mitts do not allow the dirt to "float" off the body in that
water stream, but end up grinding it into the paintwork.

 

I only use a thick white terry cloth hand towel. and when I make a few
passes with it I ring it out on the ground not back into the bucket.

I make sure that the cloth is soaking wet when applying to the car.

So far I haven't noticed any scratches on my dark red 96 Accord that I have
had for the past 4 years and 80k miles or so.

CaptainKrunch

 

Sheepskin mitt.

Pete

 

I have a white 2003 Accord EX V6 4-door. I didn't think an EX Accord
came without a sunroof. How did you manage that?

White is the color least likely to show swirl marks. Dark colors are
more sensitive. So we might not be the best owners to answer this
question. Cleaning is more of an issue with white.

I think the key is lots of water and only scrubbing as needed with as
clean a cloth/brush/sponge as you can manage. I wash lightly and rinse
and area before I scrub. The cloth gets dipped often and the water
changed several times.

Keeping a good layer of wax is good to avoid needing to scrub.

Cloth automatic car washes are frightening for a bunch of reasons. Free
sand blasting with every wash? <g>

I like your method of washing and your taste in car color. <g> I wish I
had your weather!

 

I have a white 2003 Accord EX V6 4-door. I didn't think an EX Accord

I simply purchased a white Accord LX and then purchased all of the
EX parts to get the car without the sunroof. This includes the larger
OEM wheels and tires, the body-colored side garnishes, the birds-eye wood
trim on the console and doors, the carpeted trunk lid liner (available
on your model), the chrome EX emblem on the trunk, and even options like
the day-night rear view mirror, trunk tray, and tan Weathertech rubber
ribbed floor mats.

I took off the mudguards because I think that they detracted from the
clean lower body contours (especially the front ones), but I might paint
mine white (the prev-gen Maximas had body-colored ones).

Agreed. My two former cars over the last twelve years were also white
too, and I am simply basing my advice on experience. Each time when my
former cars needed washing, I would instead spend all the time washing
and waxing the entire car! No wonder I often needed to wear my shades

Also, I only use 100% cotton towels to dry the car (bath towels are ideal,
I keep about five large folded bath towels, frequently washed in a campus
washing machine, in the trunk). I won't use a towel if the label says
85% cotton and 15% polyester -- it must say 100% cotton. When the car has
been washed and the surfaces still wet, I take one of these towels, open it
up, and drape it across the hood, for example. I lightly and slowly drag
it across the hood, letting gravity exert the pressure to absorb the beads
of water and dry the paint.

 

Most people on the detailing forums use wool or chenille wash mitts.

 

I have never heard of a wash mitt scratching paint when used properly.
I have, however, heard of a boar's hair brush scratching a car,
presumably used properly. Check the forums on autopia.org

 

And a water stream doesn't provide the lubrication of a car wash
solution. Look into Poorboy's Spray and Wipe if you don't think
lubrication is important. Spray on, wipe off, no scratching.