What do I use to wash/wax my car?

I like to keep my car looking good. When I brought my crashed car to the auto body shop, they remarked that it looked excellent. Thanks!

So, what do I use?

For cleaning the car, I use P21S Bodywork Shampoo. I do this about every 3 weeks or so.

My front tires are pretty gross from brake dust usually, so I use Eagle One A2Z. I also use some brushes to scrub off the dust.

About once ever 6 weeks or so I use P21S Carnauba Wax. 

Recently I’ve started to use Paint Cleanser and Paint Sealant. For the first time, I tried the P21S Paintwork Cleanser and the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Pain Sealant. I think I’ll probably do this once or a twice a year. The Sealant does a great job of forming a durable coating on the car that makes dirt simply rinse away – but it doesn’t have that deep glossy look that the wax provides.

Some day I may clay bar my car myself as well – but I don’t think I’m at that point yet.

There are some who question whether or not this a good use of my time – after all, it certainly wouldn’t be hard to pay someone to do this. In general I’ve gotten this down so that I can wash and wax my car in just a little under two hours. In fact, on Friday I was able to do just that, and right before the rehearsal dinner, so that my car would look nicer on my wedding day. (Of course, my car wasn’t actually used at my wedding on Saturday, so that use of time was very questionable.) There’s also the zen aspect to this where for once I’m actually not at my computer and am doing something relatively peaceful outside.

That said, every few years I do get my car detailed so that the interior is cleaned up – for some reason I simply don’t have the patience to deal with the interior as much. It’s probably fume related, and it’s just not as much fun either.

Well, there you have it. This page has some pretty good information on detailing your car if you’re looking for more information.