Question on Cleaning Int & Ext

[Mehlman]

So my car should hopefully be arriving this weekend and I wanted to go out today and get all the necessary products for cleaning the inside and out...tried doing a search on this topic but all that came up were threads on waxing and polishing...Thanks in advance everyone!

Exterior-

What is the best soap to use for washing the car? and is there a certain type that might be better on the Black Raven paint?

What should I use to wash and dry with?

What is the best cleaner for rims and tires? (I ordered the aluminum rims with premium multi- coat painted finish)

Interior-

What is the best cleaning product to use for the dash?

What is the best for cleaning the leather seats? It also occured to me that with the heated and cooled seats, should I be worried about any cleaner getting through the tiny holes in the seats and blocking off the air?

[memoryleak]

Shameless pandering for Zaino products to begin in 5,4,3...

[lordbaby]

use touchless car wash.............................................. ......
leave it to the professional for detailing..

[Mehlman]

I'm not really talking about detailing and what not....

I was trying to get at what products are good for washing the car from week to week...I'm mainly worried about leaving swirl marks or anything like that on the paint b/c I used the wrong towels or something to wash and dry with...

[louiefl99]

This is my second black CTS and 5th new black car so I have learned a lot from trial and error. Touchless washes are your best bet if you don't do it yourself, but I don't mind doing mine by hand. I have used many over the counter and botique car wash soaps and found two that perform well Turtle Wax Ice and Mequiar's Gold class car wash (both available at your local Target). They seemed to provide the best lubricity (important for minimizing car wash swirls). I use natural sheepskin car wash mit or one of those floppy microfiber mits for washing, and two 5-gallon buckets one with soapy water the other iwth regular water. After soaping a panel rinse in the plain water and re-soap. Seems like a lot of extra work, but car washing will cause 99% of you swirls. I bought a couple Vroom (Target) yellow microfiber towels for drying my car, sometimes I'll use a synthetic chamois first and touch up with the towel. Never set anything that touches your paint on the ground.

After washing the car, I'll toss a oversize sponge in the remaining soapy water and work on the wheels and tires. The wheels are painted / clear coat so you shouldn't need to use anything more than soapy water to clean them unless you clean them only once or twice a year - then you will need a wheel cleaner, lots of options over the counter. Wheel dressings are subjective, but I like using one that is relatively thick so it doesn't sling all over the body. Get one of those contoured swipe sponges made just for this and apply to the sponge, not the tire.

On the interior, get one of those Swiffer interior dusters, it takes about 60 seconds to do the entire car. I'll then use Meguiar's Quick Interior Detailer spray for cleaning smudges and spills off shiny / plastic / wood parts. I don't like a shiny interior and this product leaves it looking factory new. I've tried a dozen leather care products and keep coming back to Meguiar's Gold Class, seems like I use two or three of their wipes to do the whole car.

Visit the forums over at autopia.org for additional ideas.

[DanV]

Originally Posted by lordbaby

use touchless car wash.............................................. ......
leave it to the professional for detailing..

I wash my CTS by hand most of the time. I did take my car to a couple local touchless car washes over the last couple months, and I think they would be great if they would clean my car! After I leave them I still have a dirty film on my windshield, and still see dirt on the lower quarter panels of my car. I had high hopes for these touchless washes, but what's the point if they don't do the job?

[sbudaj]

I guess I'll be first. Zaino is the best. From car wash to exterior polish to interior cleaners. (I don't work for them. But I have been using their products on my Corvettes for years and now my CTS.) Works great.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

Steve

[Ron Price]

I'll be the second! Zaino is the best. They have car wash, leather cleaner and leather conditioner, detail spray for in between washes (called gloss enhancer) polish, cleaner, tire gloss, clay bar when you need it as well as other products. You do have to order them on line, and they may cost more than some of the local store products, but then so did your Caddy! Why, because it's better.

[ddawson]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but Zaino is the answer. I have never, seen anything like it. Sometime, you only have to use as litttle as 1 ounce, of the product. Try to imagine that. You shouldn't need to clay bar your car, because it's new.

[jjsC6]

I agree on the Zaino. Just don't believe that you have to use every step. On my new cars, I wash them with dawn and only clay if I feel something on the surface. Then I use a Porter cable orbital buffer to apply "All In One". It has very mild abrasives to really clean the surfact of the paint. Then I put on one coat of Z2 by hand.

You won't believe the surface when you get done, and you won't have to wax again for over a year unless you just want to. And this is all of about 2 hours of work total.

[Domasac]

I have never used Zaino but I clean my car probably 5x a week, I use a lot of auto magic products, megueirs, etc, I want to try this zaino stuff but I don't know where to start, its all a little overwhelming to me, I want a good wax (cleaner wax) I want swirls and light scratches gone, something to use on my glass, no matter how much i clean it i'm not happy and i want the deepest wet drip shine on the car, because its black, thanks for everyone's help. oh and something to stop the bugs from sticking as much, i used to use rejex, want to move on.

dom

[Mehlman]

Thanks for all the input guys...looks like I'm buying some Zaino products

[Mehlman]

Originally Posted by louiefl99

This is my second black CTS and 5th new black car so I have learned a lot from trial and error. Touchless washes are your best bet if you don't do it yourself, but I don't mind doing mine by hand. I have used many over the counter and botique car wash soaps and found two that perform well Turtle Wax Ice and Mequiar's Gold class car wash (both available at your local Target). They seemed to provide the best lubricity (important for minimizing car wash swirls). I use natural sheepskin car wash mit or one of those floppy microfiber mits for washing, and two 5-gallon buckets one with soapy water the other iwth regular water. After soaping a panel rinse in the plain water and re-soap. Seems like a lot of extra work, but car washing will cause 99% of you swirls. I bought a couple Vroom (Target) yellow microfiber towels for drying my car, sometimes I'll use a synthetic chamois first and touch up with the towel. Never set anything that touches your paint on the ground.

After washing the car, I'll toss a oversize sponge in the remaining soapy water and work on the wheels and tires. The wheels are painted / clear coat so you shouldn't need to use anything more than soapy water to clean them unless you clean them only once or twice a year - then you will need a wheel cleaner, lots of options over the counter. Wheel dressings are subjective, but I like using one that is relatively thick so it doesn't sling all over the body. Get one of those contoured swipe sponges made just for this and apply to the sponge, not the tire.

On the interior, get one of those Swiffer interior dusters, it takes about 60 seconds to do the entire car. I'll then use Meguiar's Quick Interior Detailer spray for cleaning smudges and spills off shiny / plastic / wood parts. I don't like a shiny interior and this product leaves it looking factory new. I've tried a dozen leather care products and keep coming back to Meguiar's Gold Class, seems like I use two or three of their wipes to do the whole car.

Visit the forums over at autopia.org for additional ideas.

Thankyou very much for the detailed description on what you do!