Hand waxing vs. "car wash" waving, and "life" of each...

I'm trying to decide whether I want to spend the time and effort to "hand wax" my new truck or just have have wax sprayed on at our quite decent local car wash. Or even pay someone to "detail wax" the truck.

My non-scientific experience has demonstrated to me that car waxes rarely last through more than two car washes. Spend three hours waxing the truck, run it through the car wash twice, and, voila! the wax you applied is pretty much...gone.

I could be wrong about this, right?

When I run a vehicle through the car wash, it sprays on some sort of wax...that probably lasts through the next rain storm or car wash.

I kind of value my leisure time and spending hours waxing my truck every few weeks is not one of those activities that really appeals to me, especially with hot summer weather on the horizon.

So, what's the thinking here?

 

I dont take my truck through car washes. For the short time my truck is "new", I am trying to prevent any and all scratches. Car washes are notable for scratching cars. I hand wash and wax. Its entertaining and I feel acomplished when I'm done. I use meguiars carnuaba paste wax. I havent tried liquid wax... may give that a try.

p.s. my truck still gets scratches and swirls

 

I was one of those people that would spend hours hand waxing their truck. First with clear coat sealant then again with carnuba wax. Man was it time consuming and a pain in the ass.

Now I just spray and wipe with Meguirs Quick Wax after every wash. The end results seems to be the same but at a fraction of the time.

RJM

 

When I do run my truck through the car wash, it is one that only sprays soap/water on the vehicle. There are ZERO brushes or strips of cloth that touch the truck. I ran my 2014 Accord Sport through it for a year was very happy with the results over time.

Having said that, the wax I have generally lasts about six months with two car washes per month. (I hand wax and don't use the spray on wax at the car wash)

 

I hand wash my truck in the hand bay at the car wash with Turtle Wax Ice Car Wash Soap, then I use Eagle One Wax As U-Dry while she is still wet and use a Absorber XL shammy to dry her off. I go in the morning to wash my truck that way no one is waiting in line for the wash bay.

I tried that "Tri-Gloss" foam soap/cleaner yesterday while I was in town doing my laundry. Looks like it ate off all the layers I had accomplished with the Turtle Wax / Eagle One method. I'll still go that route when I feel lazy though.

 

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Should-you-put-wax-on-a-new-car-/10000000017082473/g.html

OP, here is a good read.

 

I'm a big fan of hand washing and waxing. I use a quality paste but I'm sure the liquids are probably every bit as good. It gives you an opportunity to really inspect your vehicle while you're waxing. Plus the results are much better than some guy with an orbital machine who doesn't give a damn about your paint. The sprays are nice to clean your truck up quick and give a nice freshly waxed look.

 

Full on washing and waxing can be very time consuming. What I do is take my truck to the car wash, then go home and wax it with the MeGuiars DA power kit that attaches to the drill. Makes it much faster and gives great results. I did my truck about a month ago with cleaner wax for the first coat and finished it off with Meguiar's ultimate liquid wax. The finish is pretty incredible, definitely a night and day difference from when I've had it 'hand waxed' at the local car wash. It is ultra smooth, almost 'wet' feeling.

Although if you don't really enjoy spending a couple of hours detailing your truck, I'm sure the spray wax/car wash wax job is just fine.

 

The chemicals the spray washes use are wicked. We used them on our company trucks. It wiil take your skin off. I have used drive through maybe 10 times in 40 years of vehicle ownership. Hand waxing works the wax into the pores of the paint. Where spray on just coats them over.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right!

 

To do it properly you wash-clay bar- apply sealant- apply wax- use a spray sealant... You should do it once a year if garages and twice a year if out in the elements

 

I take it to a hand wash place. I did this to my old car, so i'll continue on with the Taco, but after a couple months, after the hand wash, I'll start applying carnauba and a synthetic wax to a few adjacent panels. Like the hood and front bumper. Next wash I'll do the fenders, maybe doors if I'm not feeling as lazy as usual. Then keep moving back after each wash that I get every three or 4 weeks. Eventually you get the whole car/truck. Then after that I'll do the same with a quick spray wax to keep it up after washes. You won't get that whole nice shiny new truck like when you do it all at once, but at least the whole truck is getting wax.

At some point when it needs to be clayed...that's when I usually do the whole car at once.

 

I personally enjoy washing and detailing my truck and take great pride in keeping it looking great. I use ADAMS polishes and micro towels. After a good wash and there quick paint sealant it will last for about 3 washes. My truck is a daily driver and gets about 6 miles a week on dirt wash board roads. I wash my truck every other week and detail the interior about once a month. So my wax , paint sealant H20 application lasts for about 6 weeks. My paint is not being scratched by the brushes used at most of the common do it your self car washes nor is it being scratched by the more expensive car hand wash businesses that have 10 or 20 cars waiting in line to be washed and they pretty much keep using the same wash and dry towels over and over so they drag somebody else's dirt across your paint. The quicker and the more numerous the fine scratches accumulate on your truck the sooner it will be that you will need a power buff done to remove all the fine scratches from your paint just to make it have that nice deep shine. Today's paints are much softer than the old paints of yesterday and are applied much thinner you will only get so many power buffs before you will have to paint your truck. So if you view washing and waxing your truck as a chore and only plan on keeping it 2 or three years go ahead and use the cheaper common self car washes that have the foaming soap brushes that you drag across your paint but be aware it will not take long before your paint starts losing its luster even after you wash it and then spray on their wax it just will not have the luster anymore because of all the fine scratches in the paint. Or you could spend a couple more dollars and get the assembly line hand wash witch is a little bit better and will take a little longer to accumalate alot of fine scratches that will dull the luster of the paint. Or if you can afford it you can take it to a true detail shop and get it washed and waxed but that will set you back at least $100.00 and could easily run as high as 300.00 or 400.00. The way that I wash and care for my truck you would have to be tacking it to a high end detail shop every two to 3 weeks. I owned a 2011 tacoma trd that I bought new it was black in color. When I traded it in on this 2016 tacoma trd the dealer gave me within $3000.00 of what I paid for the truck five years and 50,000 miles earlier. But I under stand where you are coming from some people just do not find any enjoyment out of detailing there rigs. It helps me to relaxe and I think of it as almost a hobby that I enjoy. Some people enjoy doing there own maintenance and customizing their trucks themselfs and others do not have the ability or the desire to do it them self's and elect to pay another person to make their truck the way that they want it. Adams polish has some really good products Like their h20 water gloss you just spray a little on your wet truck after you wash it before you dry it off and then you simply wipe it dry with a good micro fiber towel. Adams has put together video's on each of their products and the best way to use them very educational. If you think that maybe you might want to look a little deeper at detailing your truck here is their web site. http://adamspolishes.com/ here is a video showing how easy it is to use their h20 guard and gloss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdVpa6jz08c or just google adams polishes. Oh I have no business affiliation with Adams I just use their products and spend some of my money there. I get a high end detail at a fraction of the cost of paying a high end shop to do it. Stay away from shamies and cotten towels very old school and they scratch your paint get some good micro fiber towels and a good wash pad.

 

Please get a proper coat of wax on your vehicle as soon as possible. Even if you have to do it yourself or pay a mobile detailer.
The protection on your truck is fine for just a short while. But it needs wax.
I pay a professional detailer to do my challenger scat pack every 2 months.
Cost me $100 bones for a hand wash/wax.
You'd be silly to use an automated car wash on a new vehicle.

 

To answer a question of whether to use a wax or a sealant this video explains the deference and when and why to use each. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiiiTSxxNPk

 

Of course it only lasts a wash or two in a drive through car wash. It's being scrubbed by brushed and rags with who knows what contaminants embedded in them, add in high pressure water jets and your hard work is gone. If you want it to last then hand washing via the 2 bucket method is your best bet. Even then a standard carnauba is going to give you a month-ish of protection depending on driving conditions, weather, where it's parked, how you maintain it(spray wax in between washings!), and how it was prepped in the first place.

There's a lot that goes into "proper" maintenance of a vehicle's finish such as clay barring and hitting it with a polish every now and again if need be. Keeping some sort of wax or sealant on it and maintained is your best bet in the long run whether you pay or do it yourself. For me it's a few hours I get to chill out, drink some beer, and listen to tunes and just zone out. Therapeutic in a way.

And since someone mentioned it, 'topping' sealant with a wax is debatable whether it offers any additional protection. Additionally sealants usually require time to cure so the polymers can actually bind with the paint. You also have to be sure your wax doesn't contain any cleaners that are going to strip off your previous sealant application.

 

Water is bad for your vehicle period.
Keep it clean wash it every 2 weeks and spray detail with mguires, or any of the other mist detailer inbetween.

If it's heavy dirt, I think it would be ok for the manual car/stall wash. Just ease back on the high pressure sprayers, knock the dirt/grime off and finish with a 2 bucket wash and wax at home.
That's what I do with my truck and it's almost 14 yrs old