How to avoid swirl marks from car wash?

I've been hand washing the truck at home using the foam cannon and pressure washer and have never taken this one through an automated car wash. This will be fine for the Spring, Summer and Fall, but I won't be able to do it in the winter once the temperature drops below zero. However, I still want a clean vehicle and don't want to leave the road salt on it. There are no "touch less washes in my area" and the only option seems to be the regular automated car wash.

Is there something I can put on it to protect the paint from swirls or am I doomed.

I do have Wolfgang 3.0 sealant and Collinite 845 wax on the truck.

What are you guys doing to keep it clean and swirl free?

The more sealant and wax you have on there, the better protected you will be. But the unmanned carwashes are so aggressive, I would think marring will be inevitable.

I use a quality quick detailer for waterless car washes when it is too cold here, but only if the truck is relatively clean. The more grim you're wiping off, the more likely you are to create swirling with a waterless wash.

Ugh. Time to move somewhere warm so I can just wash it myself.

BleuCheese said:

Ugh. Time to move somewhere warm so I can just wash it myself.

Click to expand...

I'm in Indiana, so know what you're dealing with. If you can deal with being cold, just use the pressure washer at home as long as it's above freezing, pull into the garage and then dry. I use Adam's H2O Guard to help me dry when I'm in a hurry since it's hydrophobic and is also a paint sealant.

Nothing you do will really prevent swirls. You could always compound and polish after each winter? As someone above mentioned...coat the crap out of the paint with everything possible and pray.

The new "coatings" that they now have will help reduce some of the scratches, however every time you drive through one of those tunnels of destruction I think your going to end up with some scratches. They just may not be quite as bad. As said above, the better your truck is protected before winter(or anytime) the better off you are.
Jay

@PullYa: I know you use Wolfgang 3.0 and I recently put it on and was wondering what I need to do before applying a second coat of it in a few months. Do I have to strip off all the old wax first?

I figure I will do another coat in the fall to help protect it for the winter.

Thanks
Joe

Wax or Sealant can help. I have yet to take my truck through a car wash. I hand wash even during winter here in OH. I take a warm bucket of water to the do it yourself car wash and use there heated water to rinse. If it's to cold the truck will stay dirty until it get up close to 30 degrees and I can wash it by hand. If your in NJ I can't see it being below 0 for very long in winter, salt is not very corrosive at those cold temperatures anyway.

Unfortunately I've thrown the towel in on this battle. Heck, handwashing is hard to do with my truck when its warm out! My old 1500 was fine, but now that I'm in the 2500 - I need a stupid stepladder to get the hood and roof.

It may not mean a whole lot, but I am picky with the car washes I go through. There are the "99 cent wash" type, and the nicer, manned washes. I at least use those. Clean Truck > Swirl free truck if you ask me. I know that the swirls are there, but 95% of the sheeple don't notice - they just see shiny.

I will still do paint corrections if needed, but I have finally come to terms that being **** is no longer an option. Not sure how I feel about this yet.

BleuCheese said:

@PullYa: I know you use Wolfgang 3.0 and I recently put it on and was wondering what I need to do before applying a second coat of it in a few months. Do I have to strip off all the old wax first?

I figure I will do another coat in the fall to help protect it for the winter.

Thanks
Joe

Click to expand...

Joe,
You do not have to strip the sealant off, however I'd check to see if you need to "clay bar" or use a Nano towel on it before your next coat of sealant. Just wash the truck and dry it, then put your hand into a zip lock baggie and rub the surface of the truck. If you feel "bumps" that would mean the surface has contaminates stuck to it and it needs to be clay barred. If the surface is smooth then just go ahead and put another coat of Wolfgang on it and if you like you can top it with a good quality wax for added depth and protection. Make sure you check for minor scratches that the clay bar or nana towel might leave. If you have minor scratches you need to polish them out, as the sealant and/or wax will not fill them and you will still be able to see them through the sealant/wax. If you park inside your sealant/wax combination should last about 6-8 months. If you park outside it will probably last about 6 months.
Jay

Glowrdr said:

Unfortunately I've thrown the towel in on this battle. Heck, handwashing is hard to do with my truck when its warm out! My old 1500 was fine, but now that I'm in the 2500 - I need a stupid stepladder to get the hood and roof.

It may not mean a whole lot, but I am picky with the car washes I go through. There are the "99 cent wash" type, and the nicer, manned washes. I at least use those. Clean Truck > Swirl free truck if you ask me. I know that the swirls are there, but 95% of the sheeple don't notice - they just see shiny.

I will still do paint corrections if needed, but I have finally come to terms that being **** is no longer an option. Not sure how I feel about this yet.

Click to expand...

Same here. I used to be all **** about detaling and the older I get the more I could really care less about it. If its a garage kept weekend warrior then oh yea its easy to deal w/ and stay on top of but a dd truck WILL get flaws in the paint no matter what you do. I usually keep up w/ ours religously during the fall, winter & spring but in the summer I cant be bothered w/ dealing w/ the south Lowsyana 105* days w/ 95% humidity. Thats when all my detaling cares go out the window & they get ran through a car wash.

Also have been loving my white vehicles lately. Have had 1 black, 3 reds & 2 blues and white is so much easier to maintain

There are alternatives to detailing every 6 months or so, they have ceramic coatings that you can install(or have installed) that will last for a couple of years. They protect the finish of your truck and generally speaking, all you have to do is wash it. The down side is the preparation and the installation. The coating itself is about $150 and the prep and installation can be upwards of $500. I realize its a lot of money but they sure sell lots of it to people that just don't wanna mess with cleaning and detailing their truck, but still want it to look good. Nobody said look'n good was cheap.
Jay

CQuartz Finest Ceramic Coating for Automotive Paint Protection

This is a good ceramic coating that last a long time. It dries super hard and will protect your paint from just about anything a car wash can do to it. Like stated above, the prep work is a pain and you want to make sure every inch is corrected as much as possible. You can do it yourself if you do a little research and take your time.

Just like paint, 90% of the final product is in the prep work so if you get your paint as flawless as possible before applying the coating, you'll be good for a while.

In winter if mine is pretty grungy I take it to the quarter car wash and blast off the worst of it the best I can. Then I take it home to the garage fire up the kerosene heater and do a Optimum rinseless wash ( ONR ) and dry it with a microfiber drying towel and Duragloss Auqawax.