The hardest vehicle to hand wash - ever!

[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!

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[cdyoung9799]

I use a cheap synthetic chamois I have had for a few years, no swirls. Think it is a shamwow brand

+1 on this. I've used synthetic chamois for years with no issues.

 

[cdyoung9799]

Respect

I can only imagine what the driver looked like. The seat is clean where he was sitting when he drove through this. Needs to be in the Jeep brochure for sure. Waterproof? Check.

 

[l8rg8r]

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?

I use a pressure washer to get the big stuff off. Then I use an RV extendable pole brush with a hot bucket of water / dish soap or a wash / rinse using the pressure washer. Us old guys with bad backs don’t have to bend over when using the pole brush. Works great!

 

[Scootjeep]

This is going to sound childish, but… mine just stays a little dirty. Occasionally I’ll wash it, but 95% of the time I leave some dirt on there.

 

[Jerhemi]

Thought I would check in....gave the Jeep it's second wash since ownership the other day. Touchless wash and speed through the dryer.

 

[Jasonblafrance]

Funny you say this because I've had a LOT of full size trucks and I can hand wash my Gladiator in half the time. I LOVE washing this truck because it goes so fast. Much less area to cover.

I was going to say the same thing. Takes me half the time to wash as other vehicles I have had. Plus Mine is grey when all my previous trucks were black, so there is that.

 

[AmishMike]

I can only imagine what the driver looked like. The seat is clean where he was sitting when he drove through this. Needs to be in the Jeep brochure for sure. Waterproof? Check.

I had mud and a smile on my face.

 

[maddocmuc]

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?

i don’t see the necessity to wash the car at all. Comes rain, goes dirt. Took a lady to a restaurant wirh all the dirt on the car after playing around in a local swamp and had simply cleaned the general area of the door she was supposed to use to board the vehicle so she would not stain her skirt. She loved this detail to no end and admired the truck as a “true workhorse”.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

No problems washing mine. Not sure what the issue is.

 

[MARSSIVPilot]

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.

"Leaf blowers have no filters at all so all the crap in the air is getting slapped against your paint."

Hmm... Wonder what is happening when you drive it down the road, highway, etc... LOL!!

 

[KX L]

"Leaf blowers have no filters at all so all the crap in the air is getting slapped against your paint."

Hmm... Wonder what is happening when you drive it down the road, highway, etc... LOL!!

Hmm.... Wonder if that is why we add protectant such as wax after cleaning and before we drive down the road...Laughing with you.

 

[w650gb500]

I read the original post and I’m scratching my head. I only purchased my Galdiator a week ago and just washed it this afternoon. As I was washing it, I said to myself, that this is the easiest vehicle to wash that I’ve ever owned!. It’s all flat, no curves.

- Rinse with pressure washer.
- Grab sponge and do the front bumper/hood/windshield/grille.
- Rinse sponge and do the whole drivers side.
- Rinse sponge and do entire passenger side.
- Rinse sponge and do tailgate/rear bumper.
- Grab pressure washer and rinse entire vehicle and do wheels/tires/wheel wells.
- Grab under carriage attachment and clean under vehicle.

I was finished and back in the garage in under 10 minutes! Couldn‘t believe how quickly and easily it was done.

 

[johnh442]

I said to myself, that this is the easiest vehicle to wash that I’ve ever owned!. It’s all flat, no curves.

Its not curves its the crevices. Between hood and fender, body and fender... and all those nooks and crannies. Even the hood isn't smooth, all kinds of areas to trap dirt.
Try going through the mud and see how much fun it is to get the mud out of those crevices -- pressure washer might help, but setting up a pressure washer to wash a car is a bit overkill.

 

[Orange01z28]

I am 5'8"

This is needed

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