This is Sig24's wife here, I know this is going to be possibly the dumbest question on this board but here goes nothing.

We live in an area that doesn't have much in the wash department, and there is no hand washing allowed at our apartment complex. Is it possible to bring a top down car through an automated carwash? It's starting to get dirty and rather than see my hubby drive out of town to wash it i'd rather take care of it right here.

Thanks for any and all assistance.
P.S. He doesn't know, I'm trying to surprise him at work today with it.

 

whatever you do do NOT put it through an automatic car wash. the brushes will damage the top.
I would recommend finding somewhere where they hand wash it for you or have the bays set up so you can hand wash it.

p.s. what an awesome wife!

 

I figured as much but it's so hard to find a good detailer out here that could not make it look worse than when starting. That is just going off of having my car detailed, and I drive a 2012 malibu. I would use one where I can just drive it in and take care of it myself but the water out here is too hard for that.

 

TOP UP a must! da Take it to a self op car wash use the wand yourself no direct pressure on the top, light rise only on it. Even though you have hard water take a towel and dry it off top bottom and sideways, thought drying was part of washing, hard or soft water. And yes it is cool you will wash it for him! Don't forget to dress the tires, lol.

 

ONR Optimum No Rinse

get 2 buckets with grit guards and some high quality microfibers and grount sponge... look up the process on autopia.... btw I'm a detailer and this is a sweet way to go

 

you should only hand wash it. I would never let someone else wash my zr.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm going to head out in a few and get some supplies and have at it.

 

ONR is only available online as well as grit guards and high quality microfibers

 

Warning! Depending on how OCD your hubby is, washing his ZR as a surprise might be a mistake.

Doing it "wrong" could leave tiny scratches, especially if you're washing it dry.

My spouse knows better than to get anywhere near my ZR, but I'm pretty nutty about that

 

Well Sig24 how was the wifes wash job?

 

Another option is Meguiar's new Wash and Wax Anywhere. It is an outstanding waterless wash and does a really good job.

 

Hey KC....is Meguiar's better than Adams?

 

You will want to find a car wash that's semi hand. The workers hand wash (instead of a machine), then it rolls through the sprayers. The machine with the wheel brush can damage the top. The ones that whip the strips in circles can damage the paint. Some of those older types will offer hand wash for extra price. Even with all that precoution they still use those crappy shop toweletts which can leave swirl marks on the paint. Leather shammy's are old school and not good either. If you go to a self wash, pay extra for filtered water rinse (that's a must or you will get water spots). You can get a shower squeege to bring with you to get most of the water off, then pat the car dry with a diaper (no, not a used pampers).