I have a black (MBP) '03 WRX. I think nothing looks better than a clean glossy black car and find myself hand washing the car about every two weeks. As anyone who owns a black car knows, the clean look does not last very long. I washed the car carefully on Saturday evening with Blue Coral High Foam Car Wash Concentrate, using several old, but clean cotton bath towels to leave the WRX looking just great... clean, polymer-glossy looking detail. Next best thing to waxing, IMHO.

I drove out to the boat, parking that evening on top of the levee on a gravel parking space. The breeze was up and the car got well dusted. I parked in the garage at home on Sunday evening, drove to work where the car was parked all day next to a dusty parking lot. You guessed it, the car didn't look very good this (Monday) evening. Looked like it needed to be washed again. Covered with a thin layer of dust and road film already.

Didn't want to wash the car again. I found an old bottle of Meguiar's Quick detailer in the garage. I tried this stuff several times a year or so ago and it didn't work. I wrote a bitter review of this garbage in the reviews section here at i-club. Well, it didn't work any better tonight. The car was cool and in the shade but the stuff still streaked before I could buff it off.

The Meguires bottle got pitched into the garage somewhere and I got the idea to try something different.

I filled an Ace All Purpose Sprayer (mister) bottle (Ace Hardware 11690, 32 oz. size) with unsoftened water from the garden hose. I added maybe 10 drops of the Blue Coral Car Wash to the bottle and shook it up.

I could not believe how well this worked. The Ace bottle has an adjustable nozzle, so I could get just the kind of mist pattern I wanted. Working down from the roof I misted one section at a time (no larger than a door or 1/2 of the roof), wiping dry or to a very thin moisture film with the folded cotton towel. The water-based cleaner didn't haze, allowing me enough time to give it a pass or two with the towel. You do not need to dry completly, a thin moisture film will evaporate in maybe 10-20 seconds leaving no residue behind.

Keep refolding the towel so you are drying with clean cotton. It worked on glass, too. In 15 minutes the car looked like it did on Saturday evening. No perfume stink and no sticky residue like the Meguire's detailer. I used only one towel and about six oz. of solution. The towel showed dirt and black road film residue.

Man, this is a miracle! I'm going to have the best looking black car in the county. The CHP can just cry their eyes out, cause my black will put them to shame.

Try this.

 

I don't know man. I'm not fond of either quick detailers or wiping dust of. I'd rather just wash my car again. You're causing microabrasions and putting in swirl marks into your paint when you wipe dust / dirt off. So while it'll loook clean, in direct sun, you might start seeing scratches. ESPECIALLY on black paint.

 

Well, it's better than just wiping the dust off without any kind of solution.

BUT, you should really think about spraying down the car first to get off all the loose dust and dirt which will help to minimize the micro abrasions that you are putting in.