Building out a DIY Car Detail Center in 3-Car Garage - Advice Needed

[MJH_102383]

Since for years and years I have been going to a local car wash place to have all my cars detailed I have finally decided to start doing it myself. After having a "pull it through" place that hand dries the car scrape a few wheels and more and more I am just noticing ALL of the dirt isn't getting off the cars, etc.

Generally speaking all of my cars I do full or at least partial PPF and ceramic coating, I never let any of my Porsche vehicles get dirty. We are a Porsche family with Taycan, Cayenne, 911 cab, and GT4 at the moment and I am a fanatic about keeping them all clean!


General ongoing car maintenance questions.

1. Maintenance Waterless Wash vs. Full Wash. If all of the vehicles are ceramic coated under general driving (likely drive all of the vehicles 2-4 days per week) am I generally safe to use a waterless car wash every few days or after rain to maintain shine? Here is the one I ordered: https://www.chemicalguys.com/ecosma...nd-wax-concentrate/ecosmart-concentrated.html

The root of my question is how often should I be doing a full wash vs. the waterless car wash? My thought was once a month perhaps do a full wash with pressure washer and all that?

2. Daily Detail Spray. In addition to waterless washing I was thinking of using a detail spray daily or right before driving whichever car on the trouble areas like front bumper, bottom half of doors, and rear trunk/rear bumper. I ordered some DTF Detail Spray which seems to do the trick, is anything else recommended? I liked that DTF Detail Spray can be used on glass, paint, wheels, etc. Does anyone else have a favorite daily shine type spray?


My questions are basically as follows:

1. Pressure washer. Is there a recommended pressure washer to use for car washing? I have a Stihl RB 400 which is 2,700 PSI which is likely too strong for this purpose I would imagine. In doing some research the Adam's Pressure Washer 2.0 (https://adamspolishes.com/collections/the-best-car-washing-products/products/adams-pressure-washer) seems to have good reviews.

2. Garage floor. Should I consider having my floor in this 3-car garage redone in a water proof type material? It is concrete floor now. Also, there is a drain in the center of this 3-car garage so I do not believe I will have an issue there.

3. Drying the car. Is there a recommended air blower to dry the car off after washing? In doing some research Adam's Air Cannon Dryer (https://adamspolishes.com/collections/car-drying/products/adam-s-air-cannon-dryer) appears to have good reviews. Any thoughts or comments on this vs. something like the traditional plush drying towel (https://adamspolishes.com/collectio...am-s-massive-gray-double-plush-drying-towel)?


Also, by way of background, the 3-car garage currently has our beater / dog vehicle as well as a golf car and our bikes so I will be keeping these items in here which hopefully is not an issue. But if anyone has any horror stories of converting garages to a DIY car wash please advise!

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[Jhenson29]

I remember this setup from RL:

https://rennlist.com/forums/992/1257299-washed-my-car-and-enjoyed-it.html#post17511182

 

[ljump12]

You should check out the obsessed garage YouTube channel. He has whole series about building the perfect wash bays and garages. He’s seriously OCD, but you will get good advice.

youll find well researched answers to all your questions there, but for instance on pressure washers.. here’s his “ultimate” suggestion for a built in solution.

https://www.obsessedgarage.com/coll...ssure-washing-solution?variant=34998718627991

on one hand it’s crazy to spend 3k on a pressure washer just for your car, on the other hand we spend hundreds of thousands on these cars, what’s 20k extra to fit the garage out perfectly. he sells all the products, but I don’t think there’s a big conflict of interest, I think he tries everything, and only carries the best. He’s pretty transparent that he marks everything up 30% over his cost, but views himself as the one stop shop.

 

[Wakesurfer]

Since for years and years I have been going to a local car wash place to have all my cars detailed I have finally decided to start doing it myself. After having a "pull it through" place that hand dries the car scrape a few wheels and more and more I am just noticing ALL of the dirt isn't getting off the cars, etc.

Generally speaking all of my cars I do full or at least partial PPF and ceramic coating, I never let any of my Porsche vehicles get dirty. We are a Porsche family with Taycan, Cayenne, 911 cab, and GT4 at the moment and I am a fanatic about keeping them all clean!


General ongoing car maintenance questions.

1. Maintenance Waterless Wash vs. Full Wash. If all of the vehicles are ceramic coated under general driving (likely drive all of the vehicles 2-4 days per week) am I generally safe to use a waterless car wash every few days or after rain to maintain shine? Here is the one I ordered: https://www.chemicalguys.com/ecosma...nd-wax-concentrate/ecosmart-concentrated.html

The root of my question is how often should I be doing a full wash vs. the waterless car wash? My thought was once a month perhaps do a full wash with pressure washer and all that?

2. Daily Detail Spray. In addition to waterless washing I was thinking of using a detail spray daily or right before driving whichever car on the trouble areas like front bumper, bottom half of doors, and rear trunk/rear bumper. I ordered some DTF Detail Spray which seems to do the trick, is anything else recommended? I liked that DTF Detail Spray can be used on glass, paint, wheels, etc. Does anyone else have a favorite daily shine type spray?


My questions are basically as follows:

1. Pressure washer. Is there a recommended pressure washer to use for car washing? I have a Stihl RB 400 which is 2,700 PSI which is likely too strong for this purpose I would imagine. In doing some research the Adam's Pressure Washer 2.0 (https://adamspolishes.com/collections/the-best-car-washing-products/products/adams-pressure-washer) seems to have good reviews.

2. Garage floor. Should I consider having my floor in this 3-car garage redone in a water proof type material? It is concrete floor now. Also, there is a drain in the center of this 3-car garage so I do not believe I will have an issue there.

3. Drying the car. Is there a recommended air blower to dry the car off after washing? In doing some research Adam's Air Cannon Dryer (https://adamspolishes.com/collections/car-drying/products/adam-s-air-cannon-dryer) appears to have good reviews. Any thoughts or comments on this vs. something like the traditional plush drying towel (https://adamspolishes.com/collectio...am-s-massive-gray-double-plush-drying-towel)?


Also, by way of background, the 3-car garage currently has our beater / dog vehicle as well as a golf car and our bikes so I will be keeping these items in here which hopefully is not an issue. But if anyone has any horror stories of converting garages to a DIY car wash please advise!

Here is a pretty cool video: Pro car washing FROM HOME! | Step by step tutorial! - Bing video
I pretty much 'built' my car washing station after watching this video. Purchased a four wheel cart at Lowe's, bought the Karcher box power washer (I too have a gas powered unit that is way to powerful for car washing), etc. I dry by hand and have considered the air cannon/dryer but have not purchased it yet. My neighbor thinks that I am nuts enough already.....................?

In a prior home I too had a center floor drain and I was able to wash our cars in the middle of Chicago winters, as well as in the middle of the day not caring if it was sunny outside or not. Now, living in Texas, I wish that my current garage had a center drain......have to wash the cars really early or really late to avoid the sun...................

 

[Mr.Smith]

Look into The Rag Company for towels. Adams is known to rebrand many of their tools so there are better ones out there.
I use a few of their chemical products.

https://theragcompany.com/collections/the-rag-company

 

[MJH_102383]

Thanks everyone! I am likely going to order the “tools” from Adam’s and the products like cleaning compounds etc. from Chemical Guys unless there is something I am missing!

Fan question! Are ceiling industrial type fans a bad idea because they’ll blow dust on the vehicle? Should I consider a fan that blows on the floor only?

 

[XLR82XS]

I got some Air King ceiling mount fans for my garage and they work well, especially in S. Florida summer.

For my floor I used a polyurea in low gloss with tons of chips. Not slippery when wet, handles hot tires like a boss. (S. Florida heat)

Also installed a wall-mounted retractable hose reel. I found that with ceramic coated vehicles I don't have a need for a power washer. For love bugs in my state I remove them with damp dryer sheets. I use a California water blade for majority of water, then Griot's LARGE waffle towel for remainder of water. Cheap microfibers for door jambs and wheels.

 

[MBChicago]

I would add a water filtration system from Culligan or a water deionizer system which will prevent water spots from "regular" water mineral buildup.

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