Thursday, July 20, 2006

Wash it or Wax it

One chore I really really really hate doing is washing my car. The automatic car washes kind of freak me out, and I can never build up the energy to drive six blocks to the self-serve car wash in our neighborhood, find eight quarters, and wash it myself. I like to think that if I had a house and a driveway, I would be better about washing my car, but honestly, I don't think I would.

I probably washed my old car an average of once a year, if that. I never vacuumed it until the day before I traded it in (I was amazed how awesome it looked -- and vacuuming I don't mind as much as washing). I have never, ever, ever, never, nerver waxed my car. Do people really do that?

Now that I have a new car, I'm trying to be better about getting it washed. This is in fact one of the number one nags I get from Josh. He does have a point about all the bird crap and pollen stuff ruining the nice paint job, although I kind of hate to admit it. So today, I made the big sacrifice and washed the damn thing. Of course, it will just be dirty again tomorrow. Damn you nature and parking in the alley!

So here is my big question: in those self-serve wash things, what settings do you all generally use on your car? I just use "high pressure soap" and then "high pressure rinse," but there are like ten other choices on there. Maybe some of the other ones are more fun? Either way, I'm not washing my car for another year and that is that.

5 comments:

Lindsay said...

I haven't washed my car in years, so can't help you. I think Jeremy washed it once. I'll ask him.

Spacebeer said...

For the record, a bird naturally took a huge shit on the side of my car today.

Anonymous said...

I do the presoak and the foaming brush too. The foaming brush blurps out big wads of pink suds, so it's my favorite. I always rinse it with the high-pressure wash gun first, though, so I don't grind someone else's dirt into my car. All these extra frills probably add another $1.25, but I do wash my car so infrequently that it seems worth it.

Anonymous said...

I used to use the foaming brush, but since i got my "new" car, i don't because you really are grinding crap into the paint--my old car got really scratched up from using it. Although, I agree with Joolie that all that pink foam is really gratifying. I just high pressure wash and rinse. I feel extra fancy I do the clear coat at the end--which is probably a stupid rip off.

Spacebeer said...

That pink foaming brush is so freaky that I could never use it.