The hardest vehicle to hand wash - ever!

[Bama_Swampfox]

Not was related but I had to remark on your avatar pic. Gorgeous boy! Reminds me of my long gone Geri…?

Thanks so much for the pic of Geri. Sasha is our second long hair. We had Cleo years ago that looked a lot like Geri. Sasha is now 3-1/2 YO and 139 pounds.

Since we’re talking about keeping our Gladiators clean, Sasha’s hair has been a big problem - in the house too - Dyson has made no money in our household as I’ve worn out two of them already.

The best tool I found to remove dog hair from carpeting in the Jeep is the Lilly “pet hair detailed”. Basically a rubber scraper that really works.

Sponsored

 

[KJ Jeeper]

Ok, this is chicken sh@t topic but I’d appreciate some tips/products to ease the pain of hand washing the Gladiator.

Let me start by saying I hand washed my F250 crew with a ladder rack many times - I’d rather take it to a car wash and pay the $12 frankly but with the rack, it wasn’t an option. Since I added a cargo basket to the Gladiator, I’m in the same boat again.

The Gladiator has so many body seams (fenders to body; hardtop seams; all sorts of nooks crannies) it takes forever to get this thing spotless - bright white doesn’t help - should have gone with Stingrey I guess?

Seeing as Jeeps were meant to get dirty what do all do to make the job easier?

 

[Bama_Swampfox]

Thanks so much for the pic of Geri. Sasha is our second long hair. We had Cleo years ago that looked a lot like Geri. Sasha is now 3-1/2 YO and 139 pounds.

Since we’re talking about keeping our Gladiators clean, Sasha’s hair has been a big problem - in the house too - Dyson has made no money in our household as I’ve worn out two of them already.

The best tool I found to remove dog hair from carpeting in the Jeep is the Lilly “pet hair detailed”. Basically a rubber scraper that really works.

https://www.lillybrush.com

 

[sce2aux]

Another advocate here for Aero Cosmetics Wash Wax All. I use on the exterior, interior (leather & plastic), and glass. It works on anything that isn’t fabric, and for all I know it might even work on fabric. It’s miraculous!

 

[KX L]

Note to all that are perfectionists and don't like the swirls etc that come with age.

Microfiber cloths are the way to go for washing and drying/buffing after a shot of Speed Shine or wax etc. That said, once you toss them in the wash you lose tons of effectiveness. I use Griot's Microfiber and Pad Cleaner in the wash with fragrance free detergent. I never allow the wife unit to put Bounce etc in the dryer. That too will screw up microfiber cloths.

If hard water then definitely get a deionizer to put between the tap and the hose/nozzle. I always use air for drying. Leaf blowers have no filters at all so all the crap in the air is getting slapped against your paint. That's why I use a purpose designed air blower that pulls in the air through a couple of filters.

Bought my 96 Z-28 Convertible with the 6 speed brand new and took care of it as described above. Top used to be tan but the weather took care of that. Thanks to the Marine Corps I only had 82k miles on it over those 22 years. That said it went cross country 3 times, spent an entire winter outside in Newport Rhode Island etc---I drove the hell out of it and loved it.

When I moved into my RV I had to sell it so I consigned it. Sight unseen the guy said it would be lucky to sell for 8K so he offered me 4.5K.

Once he saw it, with all the documentation from day one and the condition it was in he offered me 9K and advertised it for 13,999.

So as others have said, if I put more than 50K into a vehicle I'm going to try to take care of it. It will not be a mall crawler that doesn't get driven as it's been designed to---that would be a total waste of money. But paying up front for a professional ceramic coating I'm thinking this vehicle is going to be so much easier.

 

[Caspien]

Meguires gold wash and wax.. in a gallon bucket. All microfiber cloths.

Hose down, from top down with a fan spread on my hose, get everything wet.

Spray on tar and bug remover on the front where needed.


Wash top first... Rinse... Bed cover next...rinse...

Move to hood, bumper and front fenders.. rinse... (If bumper is caked in mud, I'll use a cloth just for it)

Passenger doors.. rinse... Rock rails.. rinse.. switch cloth after rails, even if it doesnt look like it needs it.

Rear quarters back bumper and tailgate.. rinse...

As above, if bumper and bed sliders are covered.. another cloth gets swapped out after.


Driver side doors.. rinse.. driver rock rails.. rinse.


Then do one final rinse from the roof down, looking for any spots that were missed.

Then I get a huge microfiber towel, and do a light drying..

Take it for a ride around the block to dry more.. come home, and look for anything missing.

Entire wash takes 30-40mins, and then 10mins driving.


Now, to be fair, mine is ceramic coated and the meguires gold really does most of the work for me.

... Also probably doesn't hurt that I did car washes as a kid.. *shrug*

No clay barring yet, and no waxing yet. (Not needed yet)



~ Casp

 

[Dryfly24]

Washed the hell out of it today. All by hand with a garden hose. dried with a synthetic shammy. Did the interior too but the interior is always pretty clean so that was relatively easy.

I NEVER let the interior get even close to being dirty. May get a little dusty after wheeling but I’ll take care of it either immediately after getting back or maybe the next day at the latest.

I’ll tolerate the outside getting somewhat dirty but no way am I going to allow a messy interior. I won’t even let myself eat in the truck.

 

[riplipper]

I have a Ford Expedition XL....that's like washing a school bus.
Gladiator not quite as easy as my old CJ but still VERY easy.
I guess having no doors reduces the wash time by 40%

 

[BAT]

i use a water cannon (whatever its called) and just go over with a microfiber cloth. Once i rinse off, i just touch up the spots i miss with a damp microfiber. Ill never not wash my car again without my water cannon and pressure washer.

i use meguires snow cannon stuff if anyone is curious. The chemical guys has good stuff too.

Yea I got a cheapy Foam Cannon from Walmart and it does pretty good. I just soak it in foam really good give it a wipe down and rinse. Then same as you hit up the areas that might have gotten missed somewhat. Then I hit it with a rinse off wax.

 

[Bbannongmu]

Ceramic coat helped me keep my Black JT clean.

 

[MattHamilton]

I got quoted $2200 CAD for a single stage paint correction and a 5 layer ceramic coat (9H). I've washed mine (black) a few times this summer using a good soap and microfibre, and I'll admit I am seriously thinking about the ceramic. I like a clean vehicle; and even after going off road, what would be wrong with doing right and giving her a good scrub? And ceramic on black looks SO good....

 

[Mac]

I got quoted $2200 CAD for a single stage paint correction and a 5 layer ceramic coat (9H). I've washed mine (black) a few times this summer using a good soap and microfibre, and I'll admit I am seriously thinking about the ceramic. I like a clean vehicle; and even after going off road, what would be wrong with doing right and giving her a good scrub? And ceramic on black looks SO good....

Check out some of the diy products, like Turtle wax hybrid ceramic even if you have to do it twice a year it is way cheaper. YouTube has some great videos showing how well they last.

 

[FLGladiator]

Just this past couple weeks the 2 south american handwash places have doubled their pricing to 30 plus a 10 dollar tip for a wash, tires and vacuum. What killed it for me was even just a little bit of dog hair in the back hammock they tack on another 8 bucks. screw them. back to self hand washing once a week.

 

[FLGladiator]

Check out some of the diy products, like Turtle wax hybrid ceramic even if you have to do it twice a year it is way cheaper. YouTube has some great videos showing how well they last.

Good stuff, ive used it 3 times already makes the car super wet looking.

 

[ritojr]

Love this thread, lots of great ideas. Definitely investing in a foam cannon and will need to load up on some more microfiber towels. Also, saw someone mention adding something to the hose for hard water, didn't even know these existed. Ordering that as well.

Again, great stuff. Thanks all!

Sponsored