6inarow

how do you tell when the clay bar is contaminated enough to throw it out? does it wear out?

does the paint finish go after the paint correction, before the glaze???

Well, there is so much more to a car wash than just the chemicals. But it ts really hard to find out what the washes use because a lot of owners dont even know. They just buy the "soap" from the local supply guy and call it good. But here is a crash course: It takes proper water temperature, soft water, proper chemistry (ie "soap"), imlpingement and finally the knowledge to use all of this stuff. Our wash likes the water to strike the car at about 100*F. We use water that goes through a softner, then through a reverse osmosis process. This removes all the minerals and totally dissolved minerals in the water. This makes the "soap" more effective. Proper chemistry is the correct soap. If you ever want to hear about snake oil, hang around a car was convention. There are more guys with the "next best thing" coming down the pike than you have ever seen. Good soap is not harsh. Its not acidic or basic. Too much of either is what the above posts refer to about the soapy eating holes in your clothes. Impingement refers to how the nozzle makes the water droplets. Ideally you dont need more than 1000 lbs of pressure. If the nozzle is right, the water is right, the temperature is right, the soap is right, it will clean your car with less pressure. The problem with most commercial car washes is that they can cut corners and the public has no way of knowing. Heck, most owners dont care to know. Here is how I do it: I wash my car at my wash to get the big chunks off. I know our stuff is good and it wont cause damage to the surface. It looks pretty good coming out of the car wash. Then I go home and clean it by hand with all the things on this forum, just like you do and get the finish like you get. Here is the bottom line: find a car guy that gives a crap about cleaning cars and use his wash. He probably knows what his wash does to cars - or more importantly what it DOESNT do to wreck finishes.

Yeah, no kidding on the addiction thing. We moved to Rapid City and I sort of went overboard. I went and bought a car wash. Then tore it down and we are rebuilding it. But I didnt want to stop with just a clean car. So I searched around and found Adams stuff. Looks like we are going to retail that out of our car was for the Corvette guys, hot rods, motor cycles - heck anyone who is overboard on their car. Why do I do this to myself?????

New guy here from Rapid. I am into street rods and customs and looking forward to Adams stuff!