How long does it take you to wash the car?

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JHZR2

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I was talking with my barber, and he just uses a soft brush on a long pole. Done in no time flat.

It took me nearly 2 hours to wash the van this afternoon.

Of course I do the following:
- rinse sponges and rag
- rinse bucket
- fill bucket with soap from foam gun
- rinse car with plain water
- soap roof
- wash roof, rinse
- soap hood, wash hood, rinse
- soap a panel at a time
- wash upper 3/4 with one sponge, lower 1/4 with another sponge
- rinse, repeat for each panel
- clean door jambs, inner painted metal on doors, kick plates, etc. with rags/brush/etc
- clean wheels with brush and wheel woolies, using meguiars waterless wash and wax
- rinse car again
- apply HydrO2 to each panel and spray each off well
- spray car again
- blow car dry with electric blower
- dry as needed

Granted the van is huge, it's just so slow of a process.

I can say that Ive done the same process for years and have no marring to speak of, even on dark cars. I'm very careful.

But I can't afford the time, I'd rather play with my kids on the weekends. Naps are getting shorter.

Not to mention this doesn't include iron-x, if applied another product, etc.

How long does it take you, and have you found any shortcuts to speed things up?

I tried foaming the whole vehicle but even in shade and beautiful cool conditions it just drips and dries too fast. So I do a panel at a time...

Thanks!
 
Two bucket wash and dry, about 30-40 minutes for the Liberty or Rubicon. I can do a no frills wash to my work van in about 15 minutes.
 
30 - 45 minutes...faster because of DI water. You guys use that?
 
Last edited:
Sounds like you could use one of these...although they dont make this specific one there are others on Amazon you could get.

 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Sounds like you could use one of these...although they dont make this specific one there are others on Amazon you could get.




I used to run that, parents still do. Now I have a little bit "better" on the hose foam gun.

Foaming the car gets more soap on the panel. Ive not found it to save time in any way.

If I went to a pressure washer foam lance, it would take even longer to get out. Set up, put away, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Roughly one hour.


I'll say it is more like one hour on the cars. The van is just a lot more surface area.

Those who say 30-60 minutes, do you clean the door jambs and door bottoms?
 
30-1hr. Depends how meticulous I am. I iusually do hood windsjield back windshield and trunk lid then rinse. Upper panels and back and front bumper and rinse then lower panels and rinse. My paint is thin and suffers from tons of little white specks courtesy of rock chips. Guessing the paint wasnt of great quality on my car.
 
About 15-20 minutes, more if there's a long line. About 5 minutes through the car wash and about 10 minutes or so to wipe it down afterwards. 5 minutes if you skip the wipe down, but then you tend to get spots.
 
My washing/drying process is about 45-60 minutes, depending if there is extra bug & tar removal and this includes wheels & tires but, not the interior.
 
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