I live in a very dusty environment, the southwest USA desert. One days' exposure between sitting in the too-well ventilated garage, driving in town, and parking underground some days, leaves enough of a dust film that bothers my OCD need for having a clean car. Let it go a week and I'm having to wash it again. My problem is that I don't have that much time every week to devote to a good wash and wax job.

I've thought about using Griot's Garage Speed Shine and new or washed-once microfiber cloths to wipe the dust off each day. Is that too often, or could I be potentially putting in tiny scratches if done too much?

Thanks for your feedback.

 

depending on how much dust you have you maybe better off washing the car and then doing a spray wax. use your best judgement because if there is dust on the car you stand the chance of putting fine scratches in the paint. what color is your car?

 

My S is Silverstone. It's an '01 that had a complete respray about 2-3 years ago. Despite more small rock chips than I's like, the paint is in good condition.

 

I would use a California Duster first and then the Speed Shine only if it's needed. A properly detailed car sheds dust once it's driven, so the duster would remove the remaining dust.

 

The duster drags dust on paint, it's honestly a terrible idea, the best way to remove dust is just water.

 

Get over your OCD and thoughts of a daily wash. Silverstone barely shows dirt and a weekly wash is "OCD-Enough."

-- Chuck

 

Used properly, the "California Duster" (there are a lot of look alike dusters) with no downward pressure will not mar the paint. There is a greater likelihood of marring paint using a MF towel improperly and a QD product.

 

Thanks, for stopping me before I got too far along. I am clinical OCD, so it's not so easy to "just get over it", but it's in enough control that I can manage and follow good advice.

Yes, the Silverstone hides dust well for at least a week. Whenever I show up at a local meet or drive, I'm always impressed with how clean the vast majority of cars are.

So I should leave the QD to just when I dry the car after a wash?

 

Most of those cars have had a single or infrequent high quality detail that achieved those results. It took like 1241124 different materials and steps to achieve that. Once it got there, it's fairly easy to make it "stay there." Typically this is a compound, polish, and thick wax (or even more common - sealant) that is polished in. I did this to my car and now I go 2-3 weeks between washes and it's STUPID easy to wash the car now and get it back to looking 100%.

I use the QD for after I dry the car after a wash only. Never day-to-day. Too much risk imo but I agree that a good err great duster and VERY GOOD microfiber towels could be used between washes but it's just not worth my effing it up and marring my paint.

 

This is my 2nd berlina. I've learned that it's not a good idea to move dust and dirt across the paint withouut water. Period.
I suspect most guys in NYMetro wash their cars before attending a meet. Also a great many of them are not daily drivers
If you really need to roll like that ( and sometimes I do) you need to 'California Dust' everytime before you startt the car and QD before presentation. I believe constant QD with mirofiber will cause swirl marks. When I parked under a florescent street light I learned what I was doing to my car.