{"id":32538,"date":"2021-04-27T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T04:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=32538"},"modified":"2021-05-03T08:35:29","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:35:29","slug":"a-detailers-perspective-part-1-why-we-wash-our-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/a-detailers-perspective-part-1-why-we-wash-our-car\/","title":{"rendered":"A Detailer’s Perspective: Why We Wash, Polish & Apply Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Washing<\/p>\n

I attended a car show event in support of a client and classic car enthusiast, who was sponsoring the car show.\u00a0 He wanted to let me know that members of a popular local car club group were in attendance.\u00a0 Although at the time I had yet to attend any meets from this group, I already could identify the members of the group.\u00a0 They were the individuals who were not obsessively wiping their cars.\u00a0 Their cars were also not as riddled with micro scratches (swirls) that were easily seen in the sun, like the majority of other cars. <\/p>\n

That was not a coincidence!<\/p>\n

\"swirls<\/p>\n

James Melfi<\/a> goes into greater detail of what I consider the Show Car Fallacy with his article on car show maintenance<\/a>.\u00a0To some enthusiasts the important question, “why should I wash my car?”, may seem like a silly question. To professionals like myself who hear regularly, “I don’t let my car get too dirty” followed by 8 to 48 hours of dedicated cosmetic repair (polishing sessions), it is a serious question.<\/p>\n

The washing and or wiping a car frequently at the sight of any dirt or dust may not be worth the consequences of the accumulation of paint marring (swirls and some scratches).\u00a0 Are you washing your car unnecessarily?\u00a0 Are you in such a panic to wipe your car, that you are also not cleaning your car in a safer way that is gentle on your paint?\u00a0 Are you assuming that polishing and applying a wax, sealant, or coating will overcompensate for your lack of care in how you approach washing your car?<\/p>\n

The primary reason I wash my car is to remove foreign substances such as bird droppings and bug guts, that can on their own over time damage to the paint.\u00a0 Car washing is meant to complement the protection a wax, sealant, or coating has to offer.\u00a0 Car washing is meant to make the polishing effort meaningful over time.\u00a0More on the value of washing with care and caution below:<\/p>\n

The Importance Of Proper Car Washing Techniques<\/a><\/p>\n

\"water<\/p>\n

Water beading, Looks cool, doesn’t it!\u00a0 But we often get wrapped up in how cool this looks versus the benefits of what this implies.\u00a0 How much fun are you having washing your car?\u00a0 If you can feel with your mitt dirt sticking to your paint, the potential of more marring of paint and the accumulation of deeper scratches goes up.<\/p>\n

The first and most important reason is for UV protection! New cars that are generally neglected by not having a very quality protective product on the paint, have about 5 to 6 years at most before the paint starts to delaminate.\u00a0 These consequences are known as clear coat failure.<\/p>\n

The second reason why you apply durable protection is to more easily and SAFELY clean your car.\u00a0 Remember the triangle (emphasis on the word ‘safely’).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Car<\/p>\n

The secondary benefits are it buys you more time against contamination<\/a>.\u00a0 The time bought includes preventing it from bonding or etching the paint.\u00a0 But that is also where washing contributes to protecting your car.\u00a0 Not compulsively washing, but responsibly washing your car frequently is the key here.\u00a0 Other secondary benefits are in improving the looks.\u00a0 But this is where it complements polishing, where most of the improvement in the looks will actually come from.<\/p>\n

\"Graphic<\/p>\n

Let us start with this reminder.\u00a0 We polish primarily to improve the appearance of your vehicle and we wax, seal, or apply a ceramic coating primarily to protect your vehicle.\u00a0 Washing our cars is a dance, a delicate balance of both (beautifying and protecting).<\/p>\n

\"Rupes<\/p>\n

Many think of polishing only in terms of cosmetic repair (which is in part technically true).\u00a0 But it is also about enhancement.\u00a0 Understanding this concept will give you a greater appreciation of the practical balance of improving the appearance of your car and protecting it.\u00a0 I often tell my clients three things with respect to polishing.\u00a0 First, the paint is razor-thin.\u00a0 Second, improving (enhancing) while removing less paint can still significantly improve the appearance of your paint.\u00a0 Lastly washing and applying high-quality protection compliments the work I do with a polisher.\u00a0 You wash\/clean your car when detailing to prep for polishing.\u00a0 You follow that by applying a wax, sealant, or coating protective layer over the paint.\u00a0 But for the life of that protection, your car washing is considered a maintenance<\/strong> type of wash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Detailer’s Perspective: Why We Wash, Polish & Apply Protection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":33933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,38,29],"tags":[980,2964],"class_list":{"0":"post-32538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-imperfection-removal","8":"category-protection","9":"category-washing-drying","10":"tag-car-show","11":"tag-car-washing"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/swirls-and-scratches-1024x768-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1kPO7-8sO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32538"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33998,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32538\/revisions\/33998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}