Will have had my RRS for a week this weekend and really want to give her a good clean (she needs it too with all the salt spray and dirt she's picked up). Weather forecast is for freezing temps though so getting the hose out possibly isn't the best idea in the world.

So do you guys have any advice or tips on how to clean a car in this weather? Any good products (have to be available at Halfords for obvious reasons) that can maybe be used as a substitute for buckets of water / hosepipe...

Normally in this weather I would have just left my previous car to get dirty... but I'd rather not do that with my new girl

i got to the local, DIY jet wash

pop my £1 jet the car down with the hot water and then bucket wash with my buckets filled with nice warm car shampoo

another £1 and rinse

^^^^^ TOP TIP ^^^^^^^ 16MY Estoril Blue SVR.............
17MY Autobiography Dynamic - Corris Grey - WOW.
14MY Autobiography Dynamic - SDV6 - Fuji White
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Santorini Black - Dual View - Rear Entertainment - Sunroof.
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Orkney Grey - awesome ;(
2005 Java Black - 4.2 V8 Supercharged First Edition- will never be forgotten ;(

Local eastern European hand car wash, drive home and dry off with Autoglym Aqua wax.
Comes up a treat.

^^^^^ I'm afraid I draw the line at using anybody else except myself - even the dealers don't get to wash my RRS  16MY Estoril Blue SVR.............
17MY Autobiography Dynamic - Corris Grey - WOW.
14MY Autobiography Dynamic - SDV6 - Fuji White
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Santorini Black - Dual View - Rear Entertainment - Sunroof.
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Orkney Grey - awesome ;(
2005 Java Black - 4.2 V8 Supercharged First Edition- will never be forgotten ;(

I hole heartedly agree Peachy. I don't let the dealer wash mine either. But in the winter I feel it better to get the 'dirt and salt' changed regularly and finish my self.
In the better weather I enjoy doing it all. I just got too old to suffer the cold.

I never let dealers or the eastern Europeans wash mine. They quickly jet wash the car and with one dunk in soapy water wash the entire car talk about scratch city.

All depends on where you go, when it's cold I'll take mine to a place where they do it properly, ie; start with a snow foam, rinse, wash with two bucket method, rinse, micro fibre towel dry and air hose to all the nooks and crannies then Finish off with a clean of all the glass, and all for a tenner

Click image to enlarge

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No way I'm taking my car to one of those places, getting the paintwork scratched would be the least of my worries

My local Shell station has a jetwash... not sure if it's hot water though... never used it. Might be time to find out

Anyone tried this stuff (or similar stuff) http://www.halfords.com/motoring/cleaning-...rless-wash? Might be an option too... I've got tonnes of micro-fibre cloths to use with it?

Edit: nowaytk - sounds like you've struck it lucky finding a place like that

Zaphod - use the lance but do not repeat do not use there brushes  16MY Estoril Blue SVR.............
17MY Autobiography Dynamic - Corris Grey - WOW.
14MY Autobiography Dynamic - SDV6 - Fuji White
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Santorini Black - Dual View - Rear Entertainment - Sunroof.
12MY Autobiography - SDV6 - Orkney Grey - awesome ;(
2005 Java Black - 4.2 V8 Supercharged First Edition- will never be forgotten ;(

Now I'm totally scared. I'll just let the rain clean it. Or is it acid rain so can't leave it? Well I'll just wait till the salt corrodes it. How long will that take? Should be a while, probably longer than my remaining life. Still I'll wash it during the summer. If we get a summer. Well - bow locks - it still looks great. So I'll just drive it. In fasct I'm of for a drive now.

Ive just had mine detailed at a cost of £450 to remove the swirls the local polish boys put on with there 1 dip wash mitt!

My advice is do it yourself or look for a reputable mobile valeter who does the snow foam option, 2 buckets with grit guards, special brushes for wheels etc etc.

PEACHY above is your man for the washing car info. Based on his advice and the detailers advice I've just spent £150 on products that will stop me getting swirl marks in my paintwork when washing. Well worth the couple of hours every couple of weeks to keep the car paintwork looking mint. If you don't you'll regret it when the sun shines on your paint

Step 1: Snow foam - 10-20 minutes (clean wheels whilst it does its magic)
Step 2: carefully rinse snow foam
Step 3: 2 wash buckets with grit guard. One clean water one soapy water. Use wool mitt (car pro mit) to lightly wash, dip dirty mitt in water bucket then reload with soap in other bucket.
Step 4: rinse soap off carefully
Step 5: dry with large microfibre cloth
Step 6: quick detailer spray and buffing cloth to get the shine

All done  I'm not Fat. RRS TDV6 HST.

Nowaytk wrote:

All depends on where you go, when it's cold I'll take mine to a place where they do it properly, ie; start with a snow foam, rinse, wash with two bucket method, rinse, micro fibre towel dry and air hose to all the nooks and crannies then Finish off with a clean of all the glass, and all for a tenner

Yep ... all this for £10 and an additional £7 if you want the interior done as well. Excellent value for money, especially considering the time they spend on each car. They have a small detailing studio as well but never used those services. They get some very nice cars and sometimes an RRS is the "lower end" car in the queue I haven't been to any other car wash since I discovered this place a few years ago. Can't recommend highly enough  Current: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription Pro PHEV with some optionals on top
Gone: MY16 RRS2 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography Dynamic, Carpathian Grey & Santorini Black Sliding Pano/Ebony & Ivory 2 Tone
Gone: MY13 RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Black Edition, Orkney Grey/Ivory
Gone: MY09 RRS 2.7 TDV6 HSE, Santorini Black/Almond

fatjoe - I'll definitely only be cleaning it myself and when the weather improves I'll be giving the 2 bucket method (with grit guards) a go for sure. I must confess this is something I knew nothing about until I joined this forum so I'm guilty of many, many years of paintwork abuse!

This weekend is forecast to be sub-zero though and I just didn't want to turn my drive into an ice-rink

Your exactly the same as me. I knew naff all until this week I was talking to PEACHY. He gave me the low down. He also had his car detailed at the same place which is costly but worth it to get the paintwork back in tip top!

I got all my gear from Elite Car Care. I got mostly Gtechniq was products. Heres my list:

Car Pro Mit (Swirl Free Wool)
2 X Large Microfibre Drying Towels
1 X Dodo Buffing Microfibre Cloth
1 X Smear Free Glass Cloth
Gtechniq Foam Wash
Gtechniq Soap Wash
Getchniq Window Cleaner
Gtechniq Quick Detailer
Gtechniq Tyre Shine
Tye Foam Applicator
2 Buckets with 2 Grit Guards

I think this came to £140ish delivered next day.

All this should last a good while apart from the foam wash which I will experiment with different ones. I'm not Fat. RRS TDV6 HST.