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Do you take your Model S to the Car Wash?

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I've been using Chemical Guys EcoSmart waterless wash. Just spray it on and wipe it off with microfiber. The trick is to flip to a clean side of the towel often. I end up going through about 5 microfiber towels, folded into quadrants. (Also, use good microfiber. It's not all the same. I use Chemical Guys Workhorse towels.)

I tried Optimum No Rinse when I first got my car, and found it was causing a lot of fine scratches. I blame this more on the very soft finish of the car than on the ONR, but I switched and had my car coated in C. Quartz Finest, and now I'm happy.
 
If you polish your wheels with Zaino as well you may never need separate tire cleaner. I never have to use anything other than the car wash on mine. That, and there's little to no brake dust ever, thanks to regen!

Other than that, I think I'm coming to your house next time I need to wash my car! I really need to get a lug nut brush...
 
Never to the car wash. I have a detailer guy come every Sunday morning to wash and touch up. He loves the Model S and treats it like his own, and he charges only $5 more than the best local car wash.

The latter, although "touchless" and as good as it gets as a commercial car wash, is a production line. They use wash mops and mitts that are almost never cleaned from one car to the next, thus producing micro scratches galore.
 
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I tried Optimum No Rinse when I first got my car, and found it was causing a lot of fine scratches. I blame this more on the very soft finish of the car than on the ONR, but I switched and had my car coated in C. Quartz Finest, and now I'm happy.

Yes, thing to remember is that cars with the good nano coats will be MUCH easier to keep clean, requiring less abrasion. Also, product like ONR is not waterless, it's rinseless. The waterless washes are pre-mixed dilution for more lubricity. For ONR, most people will want to do a traditional pre-rinse to knock big stuff off the car prior to the actual wash. Difference is there is no final rinse there.

I'll share a safety tip about true waterless wash from personal experience. Watch out for ones with strong colors. I didn't see the one mentioned here but I had tried one early on that had orange color. Ended up with some light staining in clear. I may have left it on surface too long and thankfully only limited spot cleaning, not the whole car. You have to be certain to get the product off the paint or you may have problems because those pre-mixed waterless washes are more concentrated for the higher lubricity. I have never had problem since switching to ONR and ONRWW. You can theoretically alter dilution on it to be more like QD or clay bar lube too. I'm not saying there will be problems with EVERY true waterless but watch out.

And yes, I also generally find it requires a lot of caution to avoid the micro scratches no mater which wash solutions you are using. With a rinseless, like ONR, I think the trick other than using high quality wash media, is to rinse it OFTEN throughout the process and never put it back into the clean wash solution. Either blast it out occasionally with hose nozzle in between washing sections (or similarly use the multiple bucket method).

Moe Mistry also posted a wash method post somewhere recently here. Ok, it's under the thread "tesla paint issues and coatings" that was started by a pro detailer explaining how TM is getting bad rap from some and paint issues are not as severe as some people claim they are.

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Never to the car Wash. Zaino only. Cotton towels. By hand, no tools, but I might get that wheel brush because the lug nuts are so time consuming ;)

I looked at so many wheel brushes but I have the 19" where you have to get way into the barrels to clean them or they look like heck. I have been too chicken to try wheel brushes because of the handles scraping the outer parts when you try to get in far enough to clean.

I am also a little chicken to use very caustic chemicals and try to go for green solutions. Those solutions are not the easiest to find for sure. It can take quite a time investment. Probably another good argument for getting a good coating on your car to make it easier to clean. As a frog once said "it aint easy being green". I usually don't use any product if I haven't been able to review the MSDS and satisfy myself it doesn't have too much scary stuff in it for long term enviro effects (one of the reasons I landed on many of the Optimum products although they are not the only ones for sure and there are probably more options even now).

BareyB was also asking for advice on leather cleaning. I have textile interior. Anybody have advise for him? I've seen many recommendations about that as well. Supposedly you can use Optimum Protectant Plus at dilution ratio on leather as well as vinyl and plastic trim. Others like products like Leatherique? I cannot make a strong recommendation for him at this point.

I have to say that being a relatively short woman, getting some of the microfiber "wand extension" type products has generally helped me to reach into the center of this big, wide car (roof, hood) without killing myself and without damaging the car. There are also some microfiber products designed specifically to clean the inside of the windshield which can be quite difficult. I'll try to find some examples and post.

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If you polish your wheels with Zaino as well you may never need separate tire cleaner. ...

Good advice because the wheels have clear coat and protecting them with good nano coat is same as protecting paint, making it so much easier to keep clean without all the caustic chemicals.
 
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OH, another thing (it never ends) be sure to avoid perfumed soaps, fabric softener and especially avoid dryer sheets with microfiber products. It will ruin them. Use a good eco-friendly unscented laundry soap and you will be fine. Low heat too or just hang dry.

Personally, I would avoid doing all this myself and stressing out over it if I could just find a really competent detailer near me to help with the regular maintenance using the proper methods. Unfortunately, have not been able to so I just keep doing this myself and hoping someday I will find the right help. I'm just too picky and have not had good experience so far with anybody else washing the car.
 
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Steam hand wash @ Birdie's Auto Spa in Rye, NY. Less than 1 gallon of water used, no soaps/chemicals - just the steam and a micro fiber cloth!

Aaron

View attachment 35014

Very cool! Need to find something similar in my neck of the woods.

As for cleaning the wheels. I had my wheels coated with 22ple and they keep the wheels pretty clean. I washed the the car the other day and noticed that it was minimally dirty. Didn't even need the sonax wheel cleaner. Don't want to spray the wheels when its not needed.
 
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Is anyone out there daring to take their cars to a Car Wash or are we all hand washing?

I have to. There's no way I'm handwashing the underside in winter, and the car needs to be washed regularly in winter to get rid of the salt. I have been using a so-called "touchless" car wash, which seems to be fine.

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You have to be careful with touchless car washes. In order to rid your vehicle of dirt and sometimes caked on debris without dragging fabric brushes all over your car, they have to lay down some pretty acidic chemicals and alkaline agents to remove the dirt/debris. After all, how are they going to do it without a brush?
High velocity water, mostly. The touchless washes can be pretty violent.
 
Is anyone out there daring to take their cars to a Car Wash or are we all hand washing?

Meh. I think you're overstating it. The brushless ones have done a good job for me in the past and I don't recall any scratches from them. I'm guessing it would probably be just fine to take your Model S to a good brushless car wash. I've seen Teslas at the local Lozanos and the owner told me that he hadn't experienced any problems from doing so.

I think people have different tolerances for scratches and swirl marks. Having a dark colored car, there is no way I would run it through any car wash where any kind of brush or cloth strips etc would touch it, and touchless just isn't going to get all the road grime, brake dust, etc off, IMO.

I'm with Christal (Btrflyl8e). To really tell if your paint is being damaged you have to pay close attention and apply light at the correct angle.

My car was delivered on December 6th. To my knowledge it has never been to a Car Wash unless Tesla took it to one. It has only been washed at the factory and the local Tesla service center and by a local certified master detailer. I have always hand washed it with Optimum No Rinse with premium microfiber cloths and always using a grit guard.

Last week I took my Signature Red Model S to my local detailer to do some paint correction and apply GTECHNIQ permanent coating. In this thread Pete documented the process. As you can see from the before and after pictures there was some damage to the paint even without taking it to a Car Wash.

We've spent a lot for these cars, its better to be safe than sorry. The paint is already being damaged by hand washing.

Larry
 
Is Zaino considered a "Nano Coat"?

There are different technologies out there but so many are similar and sometimes hard to tell exactly what their formulations are. I am not too familiar with Zaino products although I know they are quite popular and probably fall within the general definition of nano tech coatings. I would say it is far better than not using anything. There are many sealants available that, like wax, have to be reapplied every few weeks or months. Even a good wheel wax is better than nothing. When I think of the really "serious long-term coatings" (lasting up to X years vs. weeks or months) what come to mind for me are brands like Gtechniq, CQuartz, Opti-Guard (or Opti Coat), 22Ple, Modesta, but many of these are not only expensive, they require some skill/experience or professional installer to do it right. Maybe less critical on wheels than paint but skill required can vary significantly by product. Zaino are generally consumer level products, I believe.

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Congrats Larry - that was some awesome work by Pete. You are fortunate to have that resource there.

Okay, I'm going to share some more tips I have learned. For any of you with the Pano roof (I don't have one but I drove a loaner with one) where there is all the goopy adhesive smeared around on the glass....EASY to get off. Just take some petroleum jelly and spread it on the goop and it just wipes right off. With a slightly warm surface it works faster. Cooler will work slower. You may have to leave it on for half hour or so. I felt so sorry for the poor loaner car I drove a few months back that I cleaned it up for them. Also, if you drive around newly paved areas and you get any of the blacktop/tar on your wheels, same thing works for that. I think WD40 probably also would work for it but I decided to skip the smelly part and just use petroleum jelly.

Now for chewing gum you may run over in the heat and it leaves a strand of gum on your paint (that's one of the WORST things), you will need to apply some warmth. Either leave the car in the sun for a while or take a hair dryer to it a little or use warm water but warmth is your friend. Then use a nice soft towel and dab it off CAREFULLY. I HATE GUM.
 
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Might not be good for a wrapped car. Steam is what was used to peel off the partial hood armor on my car before applying the full hood Xpel.

caddieo

Got my car wrapped within a couple of weeks of getting her the end of January (full front & 4 doors). Have brought her in for the steam wash over a dozen times since then and it has not affected the wrap in the slightest. They clean a lot of high end cars there, many of which have protective wraps.

They hold the wand emitting the steam far enough away from the body for the temperature to go down just enough to still clean the car and not affect the paint/clear coat/wrap.

Aaron
 
With a frontal XPEL wrap and a full body OptiCoat Pro a trip through the Touchless Wash is a like a miracle. Even a rain gets the Tesla looking good up front. (not so much in back where the wind doesn't finish the job)
If the touchless doesn't do a perfect job then I finish off with some Optimum No Rinse Wash and Wax. Truly easy and marvelous.
 
High velocity water, mostly. The touchless washes can be pretty violent.

I go to a touchless wash about every other week. No issues other than some spotting (need to look into some of those rinseless products for touching up afterwards) until a month ago when I lost one of my roof rack mount covers and had another snap one side of the hinge. The service center replaced them when they were fixing the steering clunk.

Anyone else lose a cover?
 
Got my Gilmour Foamaster today. :) I think Thursday is going to be the big day. I'm gonna need to watch some more YouTube videos again before I start though. I'm watching "Junkman" and a couple from Chemical Guys and Griots. Is there a definitive Detailing Video out there I should be watching?

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Given that I didn't take the time to hand-wash the car when it was warm (kids, job, etc, I know, excuses, excuses) -- I'm confident I won't be doing so in the cold weather. I do, however, want to wash the car MUCH more than I did my old one.

In addition to one courtesy hand-wash at the Rockville service center (while I was there for minor issues) and the pre-delivery detailing they did, I've gone to a touchless car wash twice so far with no adverse effects that I can see. (For any DC area folks, it's a Sunoco in Merrifield VA at Route 50 & Gallows Rd. No rails, you just drive in and stop/go when it tells you to.) I was definitely apprehensive about it at first, since so many people here either hand-wash or use high-end detailers. I even took the kids once, they loved it!

The air dryer misses the side mirrors entirely but they're easy enough to wipe dry by hand. Wheels are nowhere near perfect but each wash has been a major improvement. For the interior, I've just used a dustbuster for the floor mats and plain glass cleaner for the windows, and when the dash gets dusty I figure I'll just use a damp cloth. But I've been pretty dissatisfied with my window cleaning expertise, so I'm going to try a few of the recommendations in this thread:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/16016-how-to-clean-INSIDE-of-windshield

Anyone else lose a cover?
@PeterK: Some of my roof rack mount covers have flipped up each time, but none have snapped. Now I'm wondering if (and how) I should secure them before my next trip. Is there any kind of temporary tape (e.g. painter's tape) that would be safe to use during a touchless wash?