Evening folks,

Im pretty new to car cleaning as this is my first new car and really want to take care of it. I have seen a lot of good posts in this forum regarding car cleaning ect.. my question is i live in Galway and the water is very hard i don't have access in my apartment to a hose so I'm using the jet wash at the local garage. Problem is it dries and leaves a horrendous amount of watermarks on the car, would simply drying after stop this?

-would you advice drying or could this scratch the paintwork?

-what would be the best towel / cloth from halfords* would you advice?

Thanks in advance.

Dom.

The key to a good looking clean car is pretty much everything after the wash! I believe the water in our area is fairly hard, but my last wash was less streaky as a result of it being completely overcast! Drying it would certainly help you; extra large Kent microfibre cloths are quite highly rated, but not your only option. Avoiding the sunlight is an absolute must, or be prepared to have many streaks to lose! Washing with the help of another person also means you can have someone follow you round!

My recommendations for products fall solely on Autoglym (I have a box full of about 12+ products or something), but more research on our forums will show you plenty of alternative products for cleaning anything and everything!

Use a microfibre cloth to dry the car & it'll be scratch free drying :)

Thanks for the fast response...

Will probably get this tomorrow..

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring-travel/cleaning-body-repair/sponges-chamois-brushes-buckets/autoglym-hi-tech-drying-towel

and going to look into some polishes also.

I also bought two spray bottles of quick shine detailer, for those waterspots that I originally miss or notice the next day, when the water has left all the crevices. Just spray on the detailer and wipe off with a nice microfibre cloth. Do NOT just use a dry cloth, because that's when you leave scratches and swirls - always use some form of lubrication.

The kent large micro cloth is a good item and does the job better than a leather.

Yes and the advice was again off here,i did always use a leather and paid a lot for them.

So i went to halfords today and got the following:

Meguiar's Water Magnet Microfiber Drying Towel

+

Autoglym Aqua Car Wax 500ml

.. used the jet wash as normal then finished with the wax, then towel dried. Looks perfect now and so easy. Will see how long it lasts now. :)

I have the Aqua Wax Kit. Recommended; I find it leaves a great finish and definitely repels water quite well afterwards. I can't compare to normal wax though; I've never used that!

Look at a DI resin tank or reverse osmosis kit if you have hard water.

It's what I use and I don't even have to dry my own or customers cars! Meaning no touching= no scratching

Also, look at quick detailers to use ase as a drying aid. Slims detailing do some "waffle weave" drying towels for about £4. They're much better, and cheaper than meguirs and all the other towels I've tried

I just use microfibre cloths and dry the car quickly before it has a chance to dry.