I've only washed my black A4 twice and I noticed fine scratches on the finish. They are definitely a result of me washing the car, but I don't know how they got there. They are long sweeps that follow hand motions. I take every precaution possible. I use one of those sponges that look like yellow wool, and I dry the car with a clean terry coth towel. What am I doing wrong? I've never had a black car before, but should I just accept that every little thing shows on black paint? What do you folks use for washing dark colored cars?

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I waxed my Black A4 about a month after I got it from the dealer and I do so about once every month or two to give it a good protective coat.<br>When I wash the car I use very little pressure with tons of water. DO NOT wash the car in direct sunlight or when the paint is hot, even though we are coming up on winter in a little over a month the hood of the car can still be hot after driving for a long period of time so let it cool down. I have had my A4 for 6 months now and it still looks like new so I hope this info helps. E-mail me if you have any other questions that I may be able to help you with.<p>Jake

I do not have a black A4, but my last car was Black. I did not use a sponge on it at all. Instead I used a cloth towel to wash the car. That way I had a better feel for where I was washing, and it was easier to rinshe the grit out of it. I dried the car with the absorber shami. <br>P.S. The main reason why I got the Silver A4, was because the Black was sooo hard to keep clean. But black cars look great when they are clean.<p>I hope this helps.....

One of the worst things you can do is to wash a dirty car using a bucket of soapy water and a sponge/wash mit/towel (your choice). You have to get the grit off first, otherwise you are going to grind it into the paint with your soapy water application, and create scratches. If you need to use soap (I rarely do), apply it AFTER washing the car using plenty of rinse water as Jake suggests. (But spray the car down to get the big chunks off before even doing this).<p>You've probably noticed that 95%+ of the population just uses the bucket of soapy water technique. Their cars show the results. (Walk through a used car lot someday on a sunny day and try to find even one with the paint in good condition).

Hey, it still looks good when a little swirly and dusty. I see it in the garage once a week, and it still looks than most other cars around it, simply because it's an A4!<p>That may sound like I've given up, and I have. If your car gets used every day and chunked up in daily bumper-to-bumper grinding and bumper-bashing parking, it's no use to be picky.<p>It's still a gorgeous car in black. It'll just never look like when it was new again, not unless you want to spent half of your waking life messing with waxes and polishes.<p>Sigh.

Most of the stuff here I've either discovered through trial and error, heard about from friends/family/car detailers, or read about somewhere in a book or on a website:<p>- Avoid washing in direct sunlight as much as possible. Don't let the car wash dry on the car.<p>- Hose the car off thoroughly to remove loose dirt and other soil<p>- Wash your wheels first, with a bio-degradable wheel cleaner like P21S. I've had luck with just the Total Auto Wash, as well as the Wheel Cleaner Gel. Rinse thoroughly with lots of water and then work on the rest of the car.<p>- I always use a 5-gallon bucket with water and a very small amount of non-wax-stripping car wash. The less the better. NEVER use dishwashing liquid.<p>- I use a horsehair or boar's hair natural bristle brush to wash the car (Available at Brookstone or from Griot's Garage www.griotsgarage.com). Dip the brush into the bucket, shake it vigorously in the water, and then sweep the brush across a small portion of the car. Never bear down hard on the surface. Always move in light back and forth motions, along the direction wind would travel along the car while driving.<p>- Dip the brush frequently in the bucket, remembering to shake vigorously to remove any dirt from the brush. Keeping a light touch will minimize any scratching.<p>- Work on small areas at a time, and always keep the car wet and rinse off any car wash soap thoroughly with lots and lots of water.<p>- Start from the top of the car and work your way down. It's usually dirtier on the bottom half of the car. Unless of course you have lots of bird droppings or tree sap on the top of your car.<p>- I use a different brush for the top of the car and for the bottom of the car, the dividing line being the top of the bumper and the side molding on the doors. This again minimizes dirt build-up and the chance of dragging dirt across the paint surface. If I find a stubborn stain/spot, I will lightly draw the brush across the spot several times, the multiple bristles will eventually remove the spot. Never scrub at this point. If the spot/stain is still there, attack it later with clay/cleaner.<p>- As a final step before drying off the car, remove the nozzle from your hose and run a steady stream of water on your car, moving from the top to the bottom, if you have enough wax on your car the water will sheet off and you won't have as many small spots to dry. <p>- Before you dry off the car, open and close all the doors a few times to drive out and shake loose any water that may be in hard-to-reach areas like door handles and hinges. Do the same for the hood and trunk, don't forget the gas filler door!<p>- Don't use a towel to dry the car. You will most likely end up rubbing the towel across the surface, and if your towel is old or has any dirt in it, you will scratch the surface.<p>- I use a natural or artifical chamois. I soak it in a bucket of water and rinse it out thoroughly, then I lay it flat on the surface of the car and draw it towards me in a smooth motion, that will take off almost all of the water on the first pass. It sounds simple, but it takes practice to do it at just the right speed for your car surface. Again, dry from top to bottom, and try not to rub the chamois while trying to get at those remote places.<p>- Dry the wheels last, and use a different cloth/chamois for the wheels. Don't forget the lug bolt holes.<p>- Don't worry about the windows, chamois almost never gets them perfectly dry. I always finish up with some window cleaner and newspaper or lint-free paper towels.<p>- If you want to use any protectants for the tires/trim/whatever, use a cloth towel, never paper, because it will shred and leave lint everywhere. And always apply it to the cloth and THEN apply it to the car, it's especially important to do this when the protectant is in a spray bottle. Overspray is a pain to remove from your paint, especially on a windy day.<p>That's about all I can think of for washing your car. There's even more about cleaning, polishing, clay-ing, and waxing, but that becomes largely a philosophical discussion about what's best, but in a nutshell my philosophy is to wash, dry, clay, clean, use multiple coats of good carnauba wax, and don't get skimpy on wax removal towels. This is where most scratches come from. If you want to avoid scratches, you WILL use lots and lots of flannel or cotton diaper-cloth towels (NEVER paper towels) to remove wax. That is one of the most important things I've learned over the years. I usually use at least 8 to 10 towels when I wax my car. If I see the least bit of build-up on the towel surface, I immediately turn it over, fold it to a clean surface, or grab a fresh towel. <p>There are lots of other places to find info, especially Car Care Specialties Online...<p>Have fun!<p>-PhilJ<br>

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Joe, I tried one of those 'car wash mitts' that are made of wool and it scratched the &%$# out of the paint on my last black car.<p>I also tried the $60 boars hair brush from Griots and not only did it scratch, but it reeked of wet boar's hair (imagine wet dog smell squared) after one use. Thankfully Griot's refunded my money with no questions asked (IMHO they are a first class operation).<p>I use only 100% cotton towels with bound edges cut off and car wash soap. I also prefer cotton towels to dry my car. Many purist feel drying a car with towels is a no-no, but I have experienced no problems with them. I wash all the towels in hot water and laundry detergent after every use and use no fabric softener (I find that the softener leaves a residue).<p>Shade, lots of water and a little car wash soap are all that is needed. I recomend using car wash soap on your wheels as well, (I do keep a spray bottle of Eagle 1 all wheel cleaner in my trunk for quick touchups at the touchless car wash, I do worry about the long term effects of any of the 'safe' wheel cleaners, so I dilute the cleaner 1:1 with water.)<p>Polish with a Very mild polish (removes water marks, swirls) and follow with a quality carnauba wax (restores water beading, helps bugs wash off more easily).<p>Although I have three buffers (one high speed, two orbitals) I prefer to do black cars by hand. I prefer to use foam applicators and 100% cotton diapers to remove the polish and wax.<p>My black A4 is a year and a half old and has been washed this way every week and waxed about every four months. You may check it out in the registry and decide for yourself if my methods work.<p>Robert Jordan<br>signature debadged :-)

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What kind of flannel or diaper towels do you use to remove wax and polish? Where did you buy them? I'm giving up on cotton terry cloth towels. I seem to get alot of swirl marks removing the wax. What do you use to apply polish and wax?<p>Thanks,<br>Mark (black 98.5 2.8 QMS)

Joe, <p>All good advice here. However, I do use a wash mit - but not the kind you have. Use only a cotton chenile wash mit - one for the top of the car and one for the bottom. But, . . .<p>Never put the mit back into your soap bucket without rinsing it first. I wipe, then rinse the mit, then dip it for more soap. This way the mit stays clean, the soap solution stays clean, and no dirt scratches your paint. Even a filthy car can be safely cleaned this way. Don't forget a second mit for the bottom half!<p>For drying, I always use thirsty terry cloth towels, which are used _only_ for drying my cars and get washed every time.<p>Good luck, and remember, you aren't washing your car, you are CARESSING THE DIRT AWAY FROM YOUR BABY. :^0<p>Darryl <p>98.5 1.8t qms, Santorin blue, ~ 3 swirl marks (havent polished yet)!

To remove wax and polish, I've been experimenting with different types of cloths, and have had the most success with "diaper cloth" towels with sewn edges, and flannel towels, I've found them at places like Wal-mart, Kragens, Grand Auto, Pep Boys, etc... I haven't used actual cloth diapers because some brands tend to use polyester or nylon threads to sew the edges, these can scratch paint.<p>I've lately been ordering stuff from Griot's Garage www.griotsgarage.com, they have lots of cool stuff for your car, especially their clay, Fast Shine detail spray, diaper cloth towels, wax applicator pads, and carnauba wax. They also have a simply awesome hose nozzle that's expensive but worth every penny.<p>To apply polish/cleaners, I use a terry-coated sponge pad, these are also available in most auto parts stores. To apply wax, I use either my bare hand if I'm applying Zymol (the expensive stuff, not the blue stuff) or a foam pad that I've ordered from Griot's Garage.<p>There's another thread here that discusses avoiding swirl marks and scratches on black cars, but the most important thing to remember is not to use circular motions of any kind. If there are any minute scratches or swirl marks, the sunlight will catch on these and show up very easily. The key is to apply and remove wax in straight line motions. <p>Good luck,<p>-Phil