Wash then detail....how long do you wait ?

[TKDDAD]

If the answer to this is on this forum, please direct me and accept my apologies for asking again...(I don't have much luck using the search engine on this forum with AND ...not sure what I'm doing wrong)....anyway, it occured to me that I've never read about washing a car and then detailing it right away or waiting until the next day....there's been talk about water droplets showing up in the products being used and it occured to me that maybe water is being pulled into the application pad....anyway, do you wash the night before and then start the detail process the next day or do you wash and start with clay, #83 etc etc...?...

Just wondering.

[miked2]

I do either. If I wait until the next day, I'll dust with a California car duster, and then QD the entire vehicle prior to starting detailing.

I like taking a leasiurely amount of time to wash the car, so I can easily spend 4-6 hours doing the outside and the inside. After that, I'm a little tired to do detailing on the outside, so waiting until the next day is ideal.

[Murr1525]

I just jump right in... wash it, clay it, dry it, ColorX, wait a little, #21...

Not sure which water droplets you mean were showing up? If your pad gets wet, it can take longer for the wax to dry, so if you buff off too soon, you'll get streaks. But as long as you wait long enough...

[miked2]

One tip on getting the car completely dry before you start detailing -- use an air compressor or a leaf blower to push the water out of the little crevices in your car.

[SD DIESEL]

[96Lude]

Yeah a leaf blower or air compressor are definitely great for getting all the water out of the crevices. They can help dry the panels much more quickly as well since they will blow off a majority of the water.

What I would recommend is getting a Shop Vac that comes with a detachable blower. I am not sure if all models come with one. This way you will also have the ability to **** up water if you wanna shampoo the seats and/or floormats.

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by miked2
One tip on getting the car completely dry before you start detailing -- use an air compressor or a leaf blower to push the water out of the little crevices in your car.

You know, I've read that but never done it...I'll have to dry that this weekend

[miked2]

DeWalt makes a really nice shop vac that doubles as an air blower -- basically, you just put the hose on the other hole and it's a blower. And it's cordless too (weighs 5 pounds may be?) -- 18-20 minutes per charge. You can get a HEPA air filter for it, so there's definitively no chance anything bad might blow on your paint . . . although I've just used the standard filter.

If you go to DeWalt's web site, and click on cordless tools than vacuums, it's the larger of the two vacuums that they offer.

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by miked2
DeWalt makes a really nice shop vac that doubles as an air blower -- basically, you just put the hose on the other hole and it's a blower. And it's cordless too (weighs 5 pounds may be?) -- 18-20 minutes per charge. You can get a HEPA air filter for it, so there's definitively no chance anything bad might blow on your paint . . . although I've just used the standard filter.

If you go to DeWalt's web site, and click on cordless tools than vacuums, it's the larger of the two vacuums that they offer.

Cool

Thanks !

[Tom Claessens]

I do it all on the same day.
Get up early and start washing the car. When the car's dry I usually drive a few times forward and backwards on the driveway to get the water out of the crevices and dry them. Then I continue with all the required steps.

I do it this way because I don't have a second car and I really "have" to drive every day on weekdays and every night in the weekend.

[maxpower]

Originally posted by miked2
One tip on getting the car completely dry before you start detailing -- use an air compressor or a leaf blower to push the water out of the little crevices in your car.