What to use to wash my MY at home?
I’ve always taken my car in drive-through car washes but I’ve seen enough comments on here that make me hesitant to take my new MY in them. If I want to wash it at home, what do I need - what soap, towel, whatever? It’s been years since I’ve washed my own car.
Overtime you’ll realize that much of what you read on Reddit is just garbage. And that people like to regurgitate what others are saying because they like to feel like they’re in the know.
It’s great to wash your car at home, but no need to stop going to a car wash because you have a Tesla. I’ve been doing both for years… zero issues.
Hang around this sub long enough and they’ll convince you to ppf, stealth, and mod the shit out of your car.
Hard no on car washes. Automated car washes are bad for various reasons. It’s also just plain expensive as well as ineffective. I’m deep in the detailing world and on multiple detailing forums for over 20 years. So detailing is my wheelhouse.
Most people are not deep in the detailing world and just want their car clean enough. It goes down the interstate at 70 miles per hour. It's not gonna ever be perfect. Tesla paint isn't even perfect when you buy the car. I'll trade some swirl marks for hours of my time.
I’m deep in the detailing world and on multiple detailing forums for over 20 years. So detailing is my wheelhouse.
No offense but this makes you unqualified to answer OP's question haha.
Or, at least proves that whatever advice you give will not be applicable to the average Joe
Hey you forgot winter tires!
I used some generic car soap, 2 buckets, a step ladder (scrub roof), and tons of microfiber
If you want to be fancy get a pressure washer and a foam cannon attachment
No rinse wash FTW. Especially if you’re in a northern environment. You can wash your car in your garage year round.
No rinse wash FTW. Especially if you’re in a northern environment. You can wash your car in your garage year round.
Trust me chances are you will wash it twice and then never touch it again and go back to car washes after your first scratch / door ding or whatever from daily use. If you really want to give it a go then head over to r/autodetailing and do a quick search. Im warning you auto detailing is a blackhole before you know it you will end up with a room full of detailing stuff. For a basic wash I would YouTube the two buckets system you will need two 5 gallon buckets with grit guards. A good value car shampoo is Chemical Guys Mr. Pink. You will need several microfiber wash mitts a dozen or more microfiber towels preferably different types some high GSM edgeless fluffy ones for body, some diamond cut / waffle pattern ones for glass and a drying towel like the rag company’s the gauntlet. For glass Stoner Invisible Glass is good. You would want some wax or sealant for protection, Griot’s 3 in 1 is pretty good. P&S Brake Buster for wheels and tires. You will need tire and rim brushes. Thats really the basics to start.
That’s the basics?! Holy shit. I was thinking maybe a nozzle with soap that I could attach to my garden hose and 1 fluffy towel would do it. Ah well, maybe the drive-thru car wash isn’t so bad after all. You’re absolutely correct that if it’s complicated, I’ll do it a few times at home and never again. Thanks for all of the info, that’s really helpful.
Haha dude don't listen to that shit. Get a bucket, get some fancy car wash soap (or just normal car wash soap) if you want, get a nice microfiber mitt, and just wash the car. Maybe buy a car drying towel if you want (or just gently use a nice beach towel). All that other stuff is designed to just make you buy a bunch of expensive items to make your car look 100% instead of 99%. I guarantee no normal person will notice the difference. You don't need different towels, 2-bucket, separate wheel cleaner, wheel brushes, any of that other shit.
I’m not even exaggerating. This is the basic maintenance wash: https://youtu.be/xaQmB_qje_4?si=OGyGmwExsxkNavOA
I’ve only done a big soapy wash 3 or 4 times in the last year. But I do a quick rinse with the hose if it’s a dirty day out there. Just takes 2-3 minutes and gets 90% of the mess. I have the buckets and soaps and sponges and towels. But if the car looks clean from any more than 6 feet away it’s hard to convince myself it’s worth to do any more than hosing
Check out Rag Company for towels and Koch Chemie lineup. Wash and wax and ONR are good too.
Get a pressure washer, short handle with nice spray head, and a foam cannon.
Start small. Get a few things and grow the collection.
If you can DIY a ceramic coating like Carpro CQuartz 3.0. Makes washing so much easier.
Note: the less you touch the car the better when washing. Always wipe/dry in the direction of airflow.
Basic items:
Two buckets (but one is fine if the car isn’t muddy)
Garden hose with decent sprayer
Car soap (most are completely fine - I use Meguiars)- never use dish soap.
Microfiber wash mitt
Microfiber drying towel (two is best) - make sure they’re specifically for drying
Bonus: detailing spray for removing spots, and small microfiber towel
Wash from top to bottom. If you only have one wash mitt, clean the wheels last.
You can find everything at Walmart for like $30-$40. Or Amazon (‘the rag company’ and ‘chemical guys’ are good brands).
soap and water usually works
There’s two types of washes you’ll want to do. Protection washes and maintenance washes. Protection washes are when you remove contaminants and add some protection like ceramic wax and are a major help to keeping your car in top shape and makes maintenance washes much easier. You’ll probably do 2-3 protection washes a year and one maintenance wash a month.
Pan the Organizer on YouTube does a great job at explaining how to use this all.
Here’s what I’d recommend for a comprehensive set up.
Low power electric pressure washer (Active 2.0 is a good one but anything around 1600-2000 PSI is good, you don’t want higher)
Pressure washer short gun (Active has a good one again)
Hose quick connect set (mcKillians stainless is the best)
50’ pressure washer hose
Wide mouth foam canon attachment
IronX and Griots synthetic clay sponge (this is to remove all of the gunk off the clear coat so your protection stays on better)
Snow foam car soap
Synthetic liquid wax (I like Griots Ceramic 3-n-1 Liquid Wax - it lasts longer than most others)
Trim protection (Griots Ceramic Trim Restorer - use this as tire shine and indoor plastic protection as well)
Detailing spray (Griots Ceramic Speed Shine)
Invisible Glass window cleaner (don’t use ammonia glass cleaner)
Griots Indoor Cleaner (cleans any spots, stains, dirt inside)
Turtle Wax Hybrid Interior Detailing Mist (adds UV protection and makes quick work of touching up inside, anti odor too)
Turtle Wax Hybrid Tire and Wheel cleaner
Two 5 gallon buckets - nice to add wheel dolly to them
Detail Guardz Dirt Lock Bottoms and 180 Scrub Wall - strongly recommend this brand over the others
2 chenille wash mitts
2 Rag Company Gauntlet drying towels
2 x 6 pack of Rag Company Eagle 350 towels
3 pack of Rag Company Everest 1100 towels
Crinkle glass towels (for outside - good for getting grime off)
Dry Me a River Glass towels (for inside)
Pack of Costco microfiber towels (for interior and dirtier areas of the car)
Soft bristle tire brush
6 pack Rag Company Ultra No Soak Coating Applicators (mostly for trim/plastic protection application)
If you live in an area that has lots of salt on the road, you might want to add an undercarriage sprayer.
With all of this, your car should look pretty detailed most of the time.
Or use a sponge and soap. You all are a cranky bunch.
There are several companies selling everything you need, I like the "Chemical Guys" brand. You can search for "two bucket method" on YouTube for lots of how to videos. Really depends on how involved you want to get but even going all out does not take much time.
You can get as fancy as you want and try to preserve the showroom shine. Or you can just turtle wax and a bucket. It's really up to you how nice you want it to look. If you just want clean, go to the car wash, you'll be fine. If you want it to standout and shine, then 2 buckets and a process is what you need. If you like to walk up to your nice clean car and feel some pride every time you do then you'll stick to your process more than a couple times.
Gyeon silk dryer and mitt
The Tesla manual makes recommendations and also suggests no touch car wash is ok.
Front load washer.
See my Reddit user profile I wrote a blog about this very topic.
I have a pressure washer and soap gun. Mostly hands free. Drying process takes a bit of time.
Get a Griot's Garage 55966 Drying Towel and it only takes a minute or two: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G7DSF7C/
I’ll check this out. I use Chemical Guys Wooly Mammoth micro fiber. What takes time is not so much the wipe down with this, but the opening of all doors, hatch, hood. I also go over the windows with another micro fiber.
Very similar to the Wooly Mammoth so don't waste your money. The Chemical Guys Professional Grade Premium Microfiber 16x16" towels are great for spot cleaning between full washes with their Speed Wipe Quick Detailer spray.
The key to self washing is to avoid doing damage with wiping sand and dirt on your paint.
Touch less automated car washes are fine.
Otherwise look up the two bucket method, and go extremely light on the pressure.
If you end up with lots of waterspots, your probably better off using automated washes because they prefilter the water.