If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check out part 1 of the State of Nine car cleaning guide first.

In part 1, Dan covered interior items (mats, carpets and glass) as well as cleaning your wheels and tires. In part 2, it’s time to get into washing and drying.

Again, my thanks to Dan at State of Nine.

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Exterior Washing

OK, this is the part most people love to do, but it is important not to damage your car when washing it. This is where you’ll see the most immediate results. We’ve all used the household dish soap in a bucket and washed the car out back. It’s not the end of the world if you do this, but you are removing any wax you have on the car and you’ll get a much better shine using a quality automotive shampoo like the P21S style we recommend below. Here are the steps:

GET YOUR BUCKEY READY

• Empty your bucket after cleaning the wheels and add clean water – even with the Grit Guard bucket

• Grit Guard Bucket – the concept is simple and it really works. After using the mitt and rinsing it, you leave the dirt that was on the car in the bucket. The screen in this bucket traps the dirt so you don’t pick it up and wash/scratch the car with it

• P21S Car Wash Shampoo – you will fall in love with this product. Just a half a cap full of soap in your bucket does all that you need. Use a strong stream of water to fill the bucket and get lots of suds – these suds help float away the dirt (without scratching the paint)

GET YOUR SAAB READY

• Lift the wiper blades up so you can wash all around the windshield area, but be careful of your eyes when washing – these wipers can be really dangerous. Sunglasses add great extra protection here…

• With a gentle, wide, spray, thoroughly wet your Saab down from the top of the roof (convertible owners: we typically advise not wetting the top at all, just using our Convertible Top Cleaner Kit) down the sides and the front and back of the car

• The key is to keep the car wet at all times during washing – don’t let certain sides dry in the sun (or wash it in the shade - SW)

• You want to begin to loosen the dirt up so you can float it off with your soapy wash mitt

ACTUALLY WASHING YOUR SAAB

• OK, we are ready! We want to wash and hose off the soap in sections

• Rubber gloves – it is not a bad idea to put on a pair of medical gloves at this point. You can usually get a box of a 100 or so from a big box store for about $2.00 more than you can a box of 20. You’ll have enough for a long time and your hands will thank you. Getting under license plate areas and wheel wells can really bang up your hands, so an extra barrier is nice to have

• Always start at the top of the car and work a side of the car, then go around and do the other side. This seems crazy, but it is also helpful in not missing sections of the car

• Start at the top driver’s side, do the sun roof area, driver’s window and driver’s side of the windshield

• Rinse! While everything is nice and soapy, rinse off the section you just completed

• Repeat these steps by completing the roof area, back and driver’s side windows – don’t get into the side of the car now though…these areas tend to be dirtier and you want to get the big surface areas clean first

• Move to the driver’s side of the hood, rinse, then the passenger side roof, going around the (again just the top, do the lower side areas of the car all at once later)

• Once the top surface of the car has been washed and rinsed, start on the driver’s door side and do the windows, mirrors and body panels. Rinse and repeat on the passenger side of the car

• The front and back of the car – typically you have bugs on the front and mud on the back, this is why we save these for last. Our Microfiber Wash Mitt has a second side that acts as a Microfiber Scrubber – this is great for bugs and the stuff you get on headlights and bumpers. Use the scrubber side here and then finish by wiping with the (white) Microfiber side

• Keep the car wet (during this process you may need to break to keep the car wet on the top surface areas – especially if it is hot out – you don’t want the car to dry on its own

• Repeat the above step for the rear of the car and rear wheel panels

• Finally, walk around and wipe down the lower spoiler areas of the car with the Wash Mitt

• Final rinse (from both sides of the car) so that soap that sits in door sills, etc. gets off the car

SUGGESTED TOOLS:

Grit Guard bucket - click here

Microfiber Wash Mitt - click here

P21S Car Wash Shampoo - click here

Saab Convertible Top Cleaner - click here

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Drying your Saab

Drying seems pretty straightforward; but having a strategic approach here is really beneficial. We want to get the car dry quickly – starting from the top down. Here are the steps:

• Keep your medical gloves on (or get a new pair) – this is where you can easily bang your hands into something you never new existed on your car

• The Absorber Towel is a great investment and if kept rolled up in the case that it comes with, you won’t need another one for 8 years. These are designed to stay soft, not dry and get hard like old leather chamois. The instructions on the case are pretty clear

• Start at the top of the car (driver’s roof area again) and work your way around the car drying in sections – just like we did during the washing phase.

• Again, save the sides for later – they are less exposed to the direct sunlight and less likely to dry on their own

• Usually it takes two passes to dry a section completely. You can twist the Absorber and wring out the water after each pass on a section

• Walk around the car and repeat as needed. Do the sides, then the front and back of the car as we did during the washing

• Have a clean rag or two around. These are great for drying wheel wells and door sills

• Open each of the doors, the hood and the trunk and wipe down these sills with a rag (not the Absorber). Doing this each time you wash the car makes it easy to keep these areas clean and prevent them from getting out of control. Note: Don’t wipe off any grease you may see around the door hinge areas – removing this could cause squeaking later on

• With the rag, wipe the wheels and then the tires down if they are still wet

• Drying complete!

SUGGESTED TOOLS:

The Absorber drying towel - click here

Microfiber polishing towels - click here

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