What’s the point of pre-washing a car and use the two-bucket method?
You may have wondered why we take the time to include not one but two pre-cleans in all of our packages, or seen people snow foaming as a first step and then using multiple buckets while washing a car but don’t know why. These are all steps to help prevent light damage to the paintwork.
The damage caused when a car has been poorly washed is visible when the light hits; hundreds of fine scratches (swirls) become visible, particularly on darker paints. If a car is continually washed poorly the paint will go entirely dull and lose all shine.
If you imagine, as a worst case scenario, washing a car with a dirty sponge, all the dirt will be on the surface of the sponge being dragged across the paint creating hundreds of fine scratches.
Why pre-wash a car?
The purpose of the pre-cleans is to remove most of the contaminants (dirt, sand, grit etc.) before having further contact with the car.
Both the pre-clean and snow foam help breakdown the contaminants, which are then simply jet washed off. Once applied to the paint they also create a lubricant so that as the contaminants are removed there is even less chance of damage.
Is using two buckets worth it?
To further reduce the risk of damaging the paintwork it is a good idea to use two buckets (or three including a bucket for the wheels), one for the shampoo and a second with water to rinse the mitt between panels.
Once the contaminants have been removed with the pre-cleans, there is a chance that some will still remain. The two bucket wash safely removes everything else.
Using this process, especially with a natural mitt and grit guards, will assure a safe clean. Start with the mitt in the shampoo bucket then lightly wash one panel at a time, after completing a panel squeeze everything off the mitt onto the floor, then use the rinse bucket to wash off the mitt, then start the process again (back to the shampoo for the second panel and so on…)
Using a natural wool mitt encourages any contaminates deeper into the mitt and away from the surface that is in contact with the paint, to then be removed into the rinse bucket.
The Grit guards go at the bottom of both buckets and keep any contaminants that have made their way into the buckets to remain at the bottom and not come into contact with the mitt.
In summary, using all these methods ensure all contaminates are safely removed from the paint without re-introducing them to a new panel. Following these steps will significancy reduce the chances of any swirls in the paint.
Pre-Wash
Safely remove most contaminates before the contact wash using a mitt and two buckets. This can be a snow foam, pre-clean or both
2 Buckets with Grit guards
Using two buckets keeps the shampoo clean and contaminate free. The grit guards prevent any contaminants from re-entering the mitt.
Natural wool mitt
The natural wool mitt encourages any contaminants into the center and away from the surface that is in contact with the paint.
Can you fix existing damage caused from poorly washing?
If the damage has already been done and the car is covered in swirls, it is not too late. All swirls and most deeper scratches can all be corrected with a full detail and machine polish. More information can be found on our detailing page.
We often detail cars and then do all follow up professional valets to ensure the work does not all go to waste.