Cool--I'm on OC as well (Santa Ana)--any tips on keep my little Sirius Blackie clean (sorry, I love Harry Potter! ? Black was my 3rd choice color--couldn't pass up such a great deal with all the goodies--but keeping it clean has been a challenge!

 

Welcome to the Forum...wow, another soCAL person, isn't that great!!

COOL, what a wonderful name for your car ---- I LOVE IT!! Can't believe no one had thought of that before.

Yeah, gotta keep those blackies clean...hubby has a navy blue Magnum and it gathers dust for a hobby.

 

all you have to do is ask uma(todd). he has by far the cleanest, shinyest black car on the planet!

 

Somehow when reading this I knew my name would come up! Paul you give me too much credit, But I thank you, Uma gets too much attention, that is for sure. Black is a *****...but when it shines..it looks good. Thank you, Todd (Uma)

 

This'll get the thread a bit off topic, and I think I saw another thread elsewhere dedicated to this sort of thing, but...

My HHR is Imperial Blue, which isn't far off from black when it comes to showing every molecule of dust within a half mile of the car. I also have a black '02 Cavalier that I bought new. A few things in my experience:

1. Black cars are dirty again within 10 mintues of you finishing washing them, no matter what. Accept that, and you'll sleep much better.

2. Never take your car through one of those car washes with the brushes and hanging strips and so on. You're asking for scratches that way.

3. Never take your car to one of those do-it-yourself-carwash-bays places. Those brushes they have scratch, too.

4. Never take your car to one of those car washes held by some high school or club or whatever. Just...don't. It won't be that clean, and again, you're asking for scratches.

4. Never simply hose your car down and let it air dry. If you do, you will get mineral water spots that will not come out of the paint.

5. If you drive through sprinklers gone awry or park next to some that turn on and spray your car, wash it immediately...the less time that irrigation water and its stains sit on your paint, the better.

6. For the actual washing in the past couple of years I've been using that Mr. Clean spotless car wash system thingy. I spend a lot of time rinsing the cars with plain water first to get as much grit off the paint as I can before a cleaning mitt comes into play. Then I use a microfiber cleaning mitt with the Mr. Clean soap, which seems pretty gentle on the paint, but also seems to clean stuff well. Rinse with plain water, then I use the filtered water that supposedly will not spot when it dries on its own. I don't trust that, though, and use microfiber drying towels to dry the car from top to bottom. I spend the time and money on the Mr. Clean filters, though, as just a little insurance against minerals drying on the paint in case I miss someplace altogether or if an area semi-dries too much before I get to it. Streaks left with that water wipe off very easily...much more easily than plain water does. I don't know about yours, but my HHR drips water from the license plate area, the mirrors, and the door handles for a looong time, so check them several times after everything else is dry and keep wiping up that water with a microfiber towel to prevent water streaks.

7. Once you're outside, there's no way to prevent the car from picking up dust, but one thing I do with the HHR is stash a spray bottle filled with distilled water and some microfiber towels in the hidden compartments in the back. If I notice any sort of bird doo or other spots I've picked up in traffic, I open up the back hatch, get into the compartments, and break out my hidden kit. I very gently brush away any dirt/dust in the area with one towel, and then spray it with the water, and wipe it up with another clean towel. Make sure it's distilled water, though...that way no matter what you won't leave behind any mineral spotting. You may be making a clean spot among the general dust your car has picked up, but that's better than letting the acid from bird leavings or something sticky sit on the paint and eat its way into it.

8. Wash the car often to prevent buildup of dirt in the first place.

9. Park in the garage whenever possible instead of leaving it outside.

10. Don't park under trees if you can avoid it. Leaves, flowers, bird doo, and just sticky residue can all get on your car there. Try parking under an oak tree in the fall or winter and you'll see what a mess a tree can do to your car in just a couple of hours. It's bad...oaks will encase your car in a coccoon of sticky mess fast. Trees are evil, at least for cars.

Anyway...that's stuff I've found to be true. Now, about Chino in a couple of days....

 

Well Playgames, After looking at the pics of your car, I would not disagree with your cleaning process at all. Your blue is so deep it looks black! My method is so different however, I must tell you. I never use water on my car, much less the "Mr Clean" stuff. It strips off every bit of wax you have on your car, that is why the water just rolls right off, the filters on that thing try to make the water reverse osmosis, and yes if you change the filters enough, it comes close. I use reverse osmosis in my fish tanks. If you put that on a nicely waxed car...it will bead like you would not believe. If you put it on a car that is not waxed....rolls right off. Point being.... if you use that stuff, yes your car shines, and it is relatively easy... But waxing it is a waste of time. When you buy your car it has a nice shine...but they never wax it. So you are getting back to that. I personally, do not use water , or wash my car unless it rains and gets really filthy. I dust it daily, at least once. Use quick detailer to get the dirt off, and wax once or twice a month. It sounds obsessive but for me...30 minutes a day is alot better than half a day on the weekend. But all the fellow HHR owners I have met and go to shows with say I am anal about my car....so, what ever works for you. And you Playgames, It works, your car looks great! Todd(Uma)

 

I've wondered about the effectiveness of those dusters for cars I've seen. Mainly I worry about dusting creating scratches; since you're scraping those particles off dry, can they make marks that eventually build up?

Your experience seems to indicate that won't happen...can you give more specifics about what you use, how you do it, etc?

Most of all, I stick by my policy of carrying the distilled water with me in a spray bottle and the microfiber wipes...I've gotten rid of lots of bird and other mystery spots that way, long before they have a chance to burn into the paint in the sun. I do have to dust the area clean as I do that, however, so maybe I'm worried about dry dusting needlessly?

I've got the running boards and splash guards both, and they help a lot with spray on the sides and rear of the car, but water marks and streaks still appear down there, which I can't stand with how obsessive I've become, so that's where water wash is needed for sure, right?

Thanks for the comments...the Imperial Blue is an odd color...sometimes it is obviously VERY blue...other times it seems almost violet, depending on your viewing angle and the light, and sometimes it is almost black. I like it.

 

Back to the date of the Chili's show/meet...due to a lot of reasons, I was not able to attend, but noticed that on Euclid Avenue in Ontario, on a couple of the lawns of Chaffey High School there was another gathering of cars. One lawn had various old sedans together, and another had maybe twenty or so PT Cruisers. No HHRs were in sight, other than mine, driving past...

 

I would bet that the distilled water is just as good as quick detailer....and a lot cheaper. The duster works well, no more scrathes than microfiber. I am an avid user of microfiber and I see no adverse effects from the duster. Hope to see your beauty soon, Todd (Uma)