Wash

GUIDE

How to safely wash and care for your wrap / PPF.

How to safely wash
and care for your wrap / PPF

In this part of the guide we are going to cover the stages of how to wash the vehicle the correct way. For more in-depth product information – see recommended products below.

PRODUCT & KIT PREPARATION

Before you consider washing the car you need to make sure you have the correct kit to do so. If you don’t you’ll risk damaging the paintwork.

Two buckets with grit guards fore the body
One bucket with grit guards dedicated for wheels.
Jet wash (Karcher, Kranzle, Mac Allister etc)
Hose with suitable jet wash connections
Snow foam lance
Microfibres wash mitts (one for wheels and one for body panels)
Wheel brush
Detailing brush
Tyre brush (optional)
Drying towel

First up you’re going to want to setup your hose and jet wash. Make sure the electrical plug is safe and not near any water. Once you have done so you’re going to want to turn the pressure down and wash your buckets out making sure there isn’t any existing grits, dirts and general contaminates from being stored. Once washed out, fit your grit guards in the buckets.

Time to get your imperial wheel cleaner and saturate the wheels. Spray on and let it dwell for one to two minutes, then it’s time to take your wheel brush to clean your wheel faces and barrels, by doing so you will agitate the brake dust prior to washing off. Once you have jet washed the wheels off you will need to get bucket no.3, the wheel bucket. Add part revolution wheel shampoo to water and use your dedicated microfibre wheel mitt to clean the wheels. Then wash thoroughly. The reason you have a separate wheel to body bucket is due to the metals and brake dust deposited when applying your brakes.

The pre wash stage is key to reducing any scratches, swirls and marring that can be caused by incorrectly cleaning a vehicle. Pre wash is also known as contact free. Key wording is its ‘contact free’, meaning you’re not physically touching the car.

First of you want to take your jet wash and rinse the car prior to using any products. Let the power of water remove get to work. By the time you have finished jet washing the car, you would have effectively removed the loose dirt and grime, make sure you flushing the body panel gaps, inner arches and lower seals. Not only does this help prepare for the next stage it also removes any thing loose that could reappear in the contact stage. It is brutal you keep at least 12 inches away from edges as you don’t want to damage the wrap or PPF, if your get to close you could lift an edge with the pure pressure of the jet wash.

You will get your citrus cleaner and dilute it according to the product description. Start off by spraying from top to bottom as you want to let gravity do the work and pull any contaminates to the ground. Now let the citrus soak prior to jet washing and make sure to wash from top to bottom, pushing the grime down.

Once you have thoroughly rinsed the citrus cleaner off you are now ready for the now foam stage. The fun stage of the wash where you turn your car white and tag us in a instagram story (@identity wraps) as who doesn’t love the snow foam stage?

THE TWO BUCKET METHOD

Bucket one aka your wash bucket you want to fill with fresh water and your car shampoo. Bucket 2 aka your rinse bucket is to be filled with just clean water.

Then place your mitt into the soapy water, proceed to wash the vehicle one panel at a time starting from the roof (highest point) working along and down aiming for the lower sills and under lower bumpers to be last. Wash each panel in a back and forth motion not in a circle, by doing so you reduce swirl marks. After you have washed the panel rinse your mitt into the bucket with just the clean water to remove dirt and contaminates. Repeat this procedure until the vehicle is completely washed. Then followed by a through rinse.

You’re now ready to add a protective, spray detailer, wax, or ceramic sprays. By doing so your adding a layer of protection to your wrap/paintwork helping to protect it between use and making for an easier clean next time round as the panels wont feel so grabby and much more sleek.

Now you have your kit and wash buckets prepared, it’s time to move onto the wheels and pre wash stage.

Prepare your snow foam bottle by adding part avalanche, part water (as per manufacture guides). Cover the car from top to bottom and leave to dwell for the maximum time possible without drying. Whilst it’s soaking it’s time to prepare for the first part of the contact wash. Pickup your detailing brush and agitate the snow foam in areas where it’s hard to get your microfibres wash mitt, such as grills, window rubbers, badges etc. Then it’s time to rinse from top to bottom, pushing the dirt down.

Now you have a clean car and it’s time to dry off before you share the photos of your freshly cleaned car with us. the safest way to do so is using an air blower that most detailers use but a drying towel is just as effective. On larger panels place the drying towel and pat dry. On other panels you will need to move in the same motion as you did when contact washing the car. Start from top to bottom, moving left to right avoiding circle motion that can create swirl marks.

Finally, apply the tyre dressing to your applicator. When applying to your tyre make sure you put the minimal amount of otherwise all of your hard work cleaning the car will be wasted by the time the wheels rotate and cover your wrap/PPF in tyre dressing.

Now you have a clean car its time to tag us in a social media post and enjoy showing off your wrap/PPF.