What You Need to Get Started:1.Rags/towels, both microfiber and cotton 2.A variety of cut-down brushes with their handles taped3.Big wash bucket4.Car soap5.Large, soft cotton wash mitts6.Chamois7.Wet/dry shop vac8.Your degreasers, waxes and polishes of choice9. Carpet shampoo, tire dressing and leather conditioner10.A free afternoon
Rust HappensWhen Earth was being formed about 4.6 billion years ago, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron were the only things floating around in space. These molecules were formed in the Big Bang (if you believe that), and the iron molecules soon started to bond with the oxygen molecules, which prevented the carbon and the nitrogen from reacting with oxygen. If oxygen had combined with these two elements, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides would have been formed, and these are both hazardous gases for human beings. Instead, iron reacted with oxygen and turned into rust. This gave carbon and the nitrogen a chance to react with hydrogen and form methane and ammonia. Subsequently, these two compounds eventually formed DNA, and here we are.
The funny thing about Mother Nature is that she likes things to be the way she created them, and she didn't expect us to build our cars out of iron, the fourth most abundant element on Earth, and a poor choice in hindsight. As mentioned, iron bonds extremely well with oxygen, and that's all well and good if your car is kept in a completely 100% oxygen environment; that's fine, bond away, as the reaction is harmless. However, the air we breathe also contains hydrogen, which bonds with oxygen to form H2O; we call it humidity, but it's really just water vapor swirling around up there.
You see, whether you want them to or not, chemical reactions happen all the time, as each element in the periodic table meets other elements, like a big singles' bar. Sometimes the elements get together and sometimes they don't. When it comes to Mr. Iron and Ms. Oxygen, they always hook up. Because of the baggage Ms. Oxygen carries into the relationship, by way of her three-way with hydrogen, unprotected Mr. Iron will always corrode, or turn into, as we know it, rust.
It's like this: The oxygen and moisture combine with iron to create a hydrated ferric oxide-Fe2O3 x H2O-on the surface of the metal. It's a two-step chemical process. I didn't like chemistry when I was forced to take it, but some of you may, so here it is:
Step One: Two parts Iron (Fe) + Three parts Oxygen (O) = Iron oxide, Fe2O3, which is relatively harmless by itself.
Step Two: Fe2O3 + H2O, water, = hydrated ferric oxide, Fe2O3 x H2O, or rust, which is harmful in every way.
Because the ferric oxide that is created is bulky and porous, it allows more oxygen access to the iron below, causing additional rust. If allowed to continue, the oxygen and water will completely convert the remaining iron to ferric oxide or solid rust, which is weak and flaky.
How do you stop rust? It's easy. Keep oxygen away from your car. No oxygen, no chemical reaction, no rust, no problem. However, since oxygen makes up roughly 21% of the air we breathe, and there's tons of moisture in that air, it's pretty much impossible. The alternative is to keep your car sealed, and to keep the paint shell intact and protected by a host of car care products.
How to Mess Up a Perfectly Good Paint Job1. Using a rotary polisher without experience2. Wearing belt buckles and jewelry while washing your car3. Polishing in circular motions4. Using dishwashing soap5. Using a terrycloth towel to dry any painted surface6. Washing the car on a hot sunny day7. Wiping up bird droppings instead of dabbing them8. Using one sponge for everything9. Not fixing those tiny scratches and paint chips10. Not washing your car frequently
A Word About The Car Washing IndustrySo you want to take your car to a car wash to ensure that it is spotless? You think when the guy at the end of the line twirls his towel in the air with his hand out for a tip that your car is clean? In fact, the only thing that's been cleaned is your ashtray full of change, as most of the damaging elements are still there; the bright sun glimmering off of your hood makes you think the dirt has been eradicated. Well, it hasn't; a heavy rainstorm will yield similar results.
Believe it or not, it took nearly 50 years from the time Detroit spawned the first automobile in this country to when we had an official car wash: Paul's Auto Wash opened its nozzles in the Motor City in 1948. It was touch-free, meaning nothing actually touched the car but soap and water. Before the Korean War, all car washes were touch-free, but that concept proved to be too expensive for operators to live with, so in the early '60s, they switched to brush-operated washers, and those relied on a heavy dose of friction to clean the vehicle. It was cheap and it took the dirt off of the car, as well as a little paint each time too.
To add insult to injury, the government stepped in and passed the Clean Air Act in 1986, banning the use of lead in paints. This created a dramatic change in the paint and the finish applied on all vehicles, because without the lead, the paint on cars was softer. To help protect the softer paint, a clear coat finish was added, but unfortunately, the brushes easy scrubbed through the clear coat and caused track marks and hazing on the car's finish. No doubt, this created an uproar from the customers, as the popularity of the "soft cloth" car spread around the same time. Soft cloth: A half-dozen minimum-wagers rubbing the dirt into your car with grimy towels, and the results were the same: swirls, hazing and tracks. Finally, the car wash came full circle, and most modern operations use the touch-free method again. How nice.
This was probably more than you wanted to know about the history of the car washing industry in America, but it stands to prove a point: The purpose of washing your car is to protect it, make it look nice and help it last, not to rub off the one thing keeping it from rusting away to a pile of oxidized iron dust.