Hand wash vs car wash

[GitRDone]

Just wondering how everyone is cleaning their Rangers these days. I always hand wash and dry, and have for every vehicle I've owned over the past 35+ years (too numerous to recall). May have used an automatic car wash once in that time, and it was for a rental car. I always believed the brushes and recycled water couldn't do the paint any good. And not sure the "touchless" systems are that much better, or are they?

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[Danager]

Condo dweller here. Touchless 33%, wand wash 66%. Now that I have the Prinsu rack it will be 100% wand wash.
I detailed cars for a year. Now I am happy if it looks good from 5’ away.

 

[wetidlerjr]

I use a "touchless" which does an excellent job. I would never use one with brushes. YMMV

 

[umop3pisdn]

I love a good hand-job...
I'll use a jet-undercarriage wash after beach driving but that's it. Unless I'm holding the guerney, I'd rather she be filthy ?

 

[paval3]

I like to get the undercarriage rinsed off good 3 or 4 times a year, so in the past I went to fully automatic car washes for that. Other than that, I like to hand wash. About the time I got the Ranger I learned how bad those beater and brushes can be on the paint.... plus right before the attendant sends you through, they dip a big brush in a bucket (that I'm assuming is pretty grimey and dirty by now) and go over your car and wheels. I didn't really want to have to be kneeling down with a wand to try and spray the undercarriage so I asked around about "touchless car washes" and found out there is one about 7 miles away. So I'm going to give that a try.

 

[AzScorpion]

I only hand wash using a foam cannon. If you're going to bring it through a car wash just make sure it's a touchless one. The ones with those big hanging microfiber cloths are just taking all the dirt from everyone else's vehicle and raking it all over yours scratching your paint.

 

[CB750F]

Hand wash in summer, touchless in winter.

 

[Iowa Guy]

I use a "touchless" which does an excellent job. I would never use one with brushes. YMMV

there used to be several really good touchless ones around here, they were bought out last year, and all went to brush style, can't believe all the people lined up to get there cars washed at the scratch-a-matic

 

[f1loco]

Foam Cannon and CarPro RESET is your friend. I typically only have to actually hand wash with a cloth once every 4-5 months if there's been a lot of rain and grime. This presupposes the most important part - clean sealed paint to begin with. For that I nanscrub and use swissvax shield with teflon.

 

[erty176]

Apartment dweller. If I had access to a hose I'd hand wash. Till then, touch less automatic. Always make sure I get one with an undercarriage spray even if it is a little more expensive. Gotta be careful of the salt and what not.

 

[BuzKilington]

Self service hand wash weekly or bi-weekly. If I had a damn driveway I would foam cannon. I took our bronco sport through a drive threw “car wash”, never again…..I ended up with quite a few micro scratches along the door panels.

 

[Mirage775]

Hand wash only! Especially if your truck is a darker color! I've learned a lot from Adam's Polishes over the last few months. If you can afford it, their products and methods are definitely worth it! This was a week ago, when I did a major decontamination and ceramic coating!

 

[Superdannyboy]

I've hand washed mine for 2 years straight now all seasons with meguiars gold wash. But I'm in Texas so I've never washed it under 34°.
My truck is still shiny as heck with no scratches like with what you would get from a brush carwash.
The only stock paint is on the cab and hood.
The fenders, valence, and bedsides are fiberglass and painted like 8 months ago.
I don't want scratches but I have chips all over the bedsides right behind the cab where they flair out, haha.
I'm the guy that gets mad if someone else scratches my truck, but if I do it, it adds character!

 

[Msfitoy]

Just wondering how everyone is cleaning their Rangers these days. I always hand wash and dry, and have for every vehicle I've owned over the past 35+ years (too numerous to recall). May have used an automatic car wash once in that time, and it was for a rental car. I always believed the brushes and recycled water couldn't do the paint any good. And not sure the "touchless" systems are that much better, or are they?

I haven't handwashed my Ranger trying to avoid hard water from my well...once a month, I take her through the "touchless" auto wash with full treatment...twice a month, I'd touch up with coin wash rinse/spotless only...once a year, I apply nano ceramic coating by hand...paint after 85K still looks like new... ?


Close up of the paint...

 

[Mirage775]

This color combo reminds me of an '04-'07 WRX STI

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