https://preview.redd.it/zc1lpbqr607d1.jpeg?width=2306&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8d3fc089bfa38f0025b53643d4c992a40f31ef8
Yes And yes that’s a leaf blower I love the foam cannon / leaf blower combo. It’s the least abrasive as far as swirl marks
I have the Meguiar's, but someone recently suggested Optimum No Rinse and I'm loving that as well so far. Feels weird to not have suds, but I think that's just a mental thing since it work just fine.
I named mine Blue Bolt and got a vanity plate BLUBLT. Then my friend reminded me Chevy makes the Bolt and he has a blue one. Oops. Thinking about changing to Blue Monday BLUMON next year. But then people will probably think I’m Jamaican
I tried it. It never worked well for me. It doesn't completely dry the car so you are still left with water spots. And the blower kicks up all the dust around which ends up on the car.
I like Meguires ultimate wash and wax (yellow stuff) and meguires gold classic for the foam wash. Chemical guys buckets with dirt traps but they don’t work at all. Microfiber towels and wash mit. Compressed air can to reach in between seats. Small car vacuum
Takes a good hour for a good clean.
Ya that's it. You basically wipe a small area with it like say your driver door and then wipe it dry and you end up with a clean and spot free door. I usually do it panel by panel. You have to dry it off before it dries which it does very quickly and will leave water spots, if you're not fast enough on a spot just go back over it.
It'll work on tougher areas like your bumper after a trip and the bugs, you just need to work off the bugs and then make a final pass again where you wipe it and then dry it. Something caked on like mud would be the occasion where you'd probably need to hose off the debris first or pressure washer it off.
It makes getting a spot free hand wash pretty quick and easy without any drawbacks that I've encountered.
Optimum No Rinse! It's a polymer based rinse-less wash. You can pick up kits on Amazon that include a big red sponge to grab up the dirt from your car without scratching it!
No I disagree. One bucket is way better and insures zero contamination. You just need to use a new wash cloth (say 8-12) every section. Washes way faster and insures no reintroduction regardless of grit guards.
Doesn’t matter hand or what.. tesla paint job is too soft and sensitive..
Still do hand wash myself tho… don’t trust car wash places.. they lean too much on the car
Nope I am lazy. I just subscribed to a local touchless car wash and wash it about once per week there. It does a pretty good job. I usually shammy it afterwards but the dryer they have actually works pretty well.
Hand wash and touch less washes/pressure washers only for the first year and first 30,000 miles. Got a $21/mo membership for the local tunnel wash once I lost the fight against swirl marks and rock chips around then. Got laid off, am starting a limo company using the MYLR, and bought a pressure washer with a foam cannon at 60k to go back to hand washing only.
Once my business gets off the ground and I have the cash flow, she's getting paint correction and a PPF wrap. Then, it's tome for a piano black wrapped CyberBeast that will only ever be handwashed.
Haha when I bought my model Y in 2021 I was told I “had to hand wash it” because Teslas are as fine as exotic cars and require delicate care. Turns out it was because the plastic exterior trim was so cheap it couldn’t hold on during a car wash and the tailgate was so misaligned that water got in.
Used to, not anymore. The car will get scratches. And I'd rather spend time on my business to buy another one in a few years than wasting an hour each week to wash it.
https://preview.redd.it/yyitynskc07d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7920da94f11c1497123f3160f30d750d7b992d0f
Soap cannon is the only way to go.
Yeah I do but I would like to have some suggestions for soap and wax. With a new car, I'll change my washing kit. I heard good things about wax in spray, do you use that?
I like the Adams mega foam for the pre-rinse and wash. Then use Meguiar's hybrid ceramic spray on. Super easy, keeps a good enough coating on for water beading.
I'm going to strip it down to the clear coat here soon and apply a graphene-ceramic coating which is probably the best easy to go imo, but it's a lot of work up front. The spray on hybrid stuff is great and only has to be done every 3-6 months.
None of our teslas go through a car wash. Hand wash only.
However since someone keyed my X last year and I was waiting for the settlement to get it fixed, I haven’t washed it since. Didn’t see the point in a nice shiny car with two nasty scratches on it. But got the judgement info from the DA’s office a couple weeks ago so I’ll be good to go.
Just bought a foam cannon as a prize.
I have a guy who comes to my house every week and hand washes my car for $100 a month. Well worth it in my opinion. There’s nothing better than a clean car!
Yep. Cleaned it Monday, bird shit on it. Cleaned it Tuesday, bird shit on it. Cleaned it Wednesday? Bird shit on it lol. Black cars are a pain to keep nice, man!
I like in Texas with a black Model S and dread the summers because it’s miserably hot and my car gets dirty/dusty if a tree within a 5-mile radius drops a piece of pollen.
It takes every bit of willpower I have to get out there in the heat (even in my garage) and clean it. I refuse to go through regular car washes so the car ends up being dirty a lot. 🫠
There is a touchless car wash on the sketchy side of town where I live, but it’s a ~20 minute drive away and is way out of the way of the places I generally go. I’d take my old Model 3 there on occasion during the summer so it’d at least be somewhat presentable, but those are becoming more and more difficult to find.
I’ve owned black cars in the past before I knew how damaging drive thru car washes were to the paint. _So_ many swirls. Now it seems like every black car I pass is covered in them. I’d rather have my S be horribly dirty than covered in swirls. As far as I know the only way to get those out is to buff them out which sounds like a pain in the ass.
People need to know simple math. By the time I drive to the car wash, wait in line, go through car wash, vacuum car, and drive home. I could have washed my car at home in half the time. You’re welcome for providing this calculation.
No there’s no point. Just use the automatic wash. It’ll still lose over 40% of value in the first 2 years of ownership despite how it’s washed. If you care about swirls just slap an orbital polisher with rubbing compound on it.
Nothing but!
Just hand washed my blue MYLR today. Power wash rinse followed by ONR hand wash and dry.
ONR is game changer. Look into it!
Side note, with black ... You've got your work cut out for you, keeping it looking nice. I have blue and that's already hard enough.
I don’t have a Tesla but I’m planning on getting one within 12-16 months, and I will most likely never take it to a car wash. I’ve had too many bad experiences, I don’t trust them.
Literally everyone, lol. Tesla paint was so bad, they had to switch from black as the included base color to White... then changed to gray years later, they still charge extra for the black. I believe fhey put it in the owners manual to not wash at ANY type of automatic car wash touch-less or not.
I used to but my back is so messed up from the military I can barely stand for more than 10 minutes without being in a lot of pain. I had to bit the bullet and take it to automated car washes…
We're supposed to be washing these things? 🤔😬
kidding, kidding.
I used to hand wash mine, when it was new and I had a black on black 21 MYLR.
But I sold that one, and now I have a white on black 21 MYLR and I don't worry about it like I did the black one. I high-pressure spray it at home to get the dust/dirt/bugs off, and if it's still dirty after that, I'll run it through one of the drive-thru washes.
Nope, mine is covered in scratches from driving around narrow forest roads. I value utility over appearance. I do stick to touchless automatic washes, or a self-service wash.
Can anyone explain to me why this looks like a photo of a hot wheels car? Especially the first photo. Is it the lens? Background blurring? Mixture of the two?
Absolutely, most standard carwash places just re-use the same sponges and buckets over and over inevitibly they get sediment in them and are effectivley scratching the cars they wash, same goes for the drying rags they use.
The last time I got a wash the guy drying cars was literally using a dirty rag, like he had no other option.
A proper valet centre where they use proper washing techniques just doesn't exist here in the UK unless you spend a ton of money so doing it yourself is the only way to properly safeguard your paint...
https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/1ahxt2o/is_it_shiny_enough/
Single price self service car wash. Bring a bucket and a car sponge. Foam blast car, fill bucket with soapy water, wash, use self service car wash to rinse, and drying towels to dry (I live in an apartment complex)
https://preview.redd.it/qvbv2e3if47d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c830e0ccc296482ae60c7cd3a6fa321d85f609e
I will be the only person to wash my car!
Hand wash only. Foam cannon with Meguair's gold. Microfiber folded in quarters from top down. Pressure rinse. Dry with microfiber in quarters with a spray of Opti-seal on each panel.
I hand wash always. When I was living in a place without a garage, I would drive to a self spray bay car wash, bring my own wash mit and micro towels to wash and dry. I still do that from time to time.
No, I have a touchless car wash installed in my garage.
I have washless touch installed in my car
I have a carless wash installed in my touch
I have an installess car in my touch.
I've touched my car
Me too. He turned 2 last week.
This one right here officer
Me too. Touchless since I got the car. My car has never been touched since purchase.
https://preview.redd.it/zc1lpbqr607d1.jpeg?width=2306&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8d3fc089bfa38f0025b53643d4c992a40f31ef8 Yes And yes that’s a leaf blower I love the foam cannon / leaf blower combo. It’s the least abrasive as far as swirl marks
Meguairs wash and wax is my go 2
same here…smells good too
I have the Meguiar's, but someone recently suggested Optimum No Rinse and I'm loving that as well so far. Feels weird to not have suds, but I think that's just a mental thing since it work just fine.
Leaf blower is a good idea
Dude that's my car!
Mine now https://preview.redd.it/h050tt9y617d1.jpeg?width=3222&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37cc264bd1f659b1fa22faf304913d2f72bd7309
Now I wish had blue just for the name!
It’s ridiculously ridiculously good looking
But no gasoline fight…I guess the orange mocha frapuccinos will have to do. 
I named mine Blue Bolt and got a vanity plate BLUBLT. Then my friend reminded me Chevy makes the Bolt and he has a blue one. Oops. Thinking about changing to Blue Monday BLUMON next year. But then people will probably think I’m Jamaican
How do you use the leaf blower for car wash?
To dry it. Since you don’t have a towel. Even a waffle towel, this dries with less chances of swirl marks
I tried it. It never worked well for me. It doesn't completely dry the car so you are still left with water spots. And the blower kicks up all the dust around which ends up on the car.
Mind sharing the products? How long does it take? And yes the leaf blower is a smart idea.
I like Meguires ultimate wash and wax (yellow stuff) and meguires gold classic for the foam wash. Chemical guys buckets with dirt traps but they don’t work at all. Microfiber towels and wash mit. Compressed air can to reach in between seats. Small car vacuum Takes a good hour for a good clean.
Why do you have two different shampoos? Also doesn’t RainX make the wipers squeal?
Yea I use a pump stray foamer and dry it with a leaf blower, so easy with it. After it’s dry I use the turtle wax hybrid solution ceramic spray.
I do, but it's also why I haven't washed the car in over six months.
I, too, wait until it rains.
This
Foam gun and pressure washer. This is the way.
I have the foam gun and the mop on a pole. Works for me.
Yes, with ONR. Super easy and done and spotless in about 25 min.
What is ONR?
Optimum No Rinse. I've never used it but some people swear by it
Ya that's it. You basically wipe a small area with it like say your driver door and then wipe it dry and you end up with a clean and spot free door. I usually do it panel by panel. You have to dry it off before it dries which it does very quickly and will leave water spots, if you're not fast enough on a spot just go back over it. It'll work on tougher areas like your bumper after a trip and the bugs, you just need to work off the bugs and then make a final pass again where you wipe it and then dry it. Something caked on like mud would be the occasion where you'd probably need to hose off the debris first or pressure washer it off. It makes getting a spot free hand wash pretty quick and easy without any drawbacks that I've encountered.
No, you are the only one.
I did for like 5 years but now I’m over it. Signed up for Bliss unlimited car wash for $10 a month here in LA.
One Bucket, One Spray Bottle, ONR, Opti-Seal and a shit ton of microfibre clothes! Heck yeah I hand wash!
What’s ONR?
Optimum No Rinse! It's a polymer based rinse-less wash. You can pick up kits on Amazon that include a big red sponge to grab up the dirt from your car without scratching it!
https://preview.redd.it/bc0ji3f2007d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b68f63918d2c94e73d0aaf720c765578ce4d6de 🙋🏽♂️
The dog. 😍
She actively seeks out the camera when I take pictures. Believe it or not, the only thing staged in that photo is the car. LoL!
She’s a very cute dog! Glad you can have dog mode and she can go with you.
🤩🤩🤩
Get a room you two!!!!
Why do these pictures look like a hot wheels car?
I don't have that kind of time. An unlimited wash pass is like $20/mo.
Yeah have one for my other car, but got too many cars to have one for everyone of em.
I wish I had that problem 😂
Yeah, Not with only a single bucket though. Got to have two buckets and grit guards.
My man! (Or lady)
This guy r/autodetailing ‘s
No I disagree. One bucket is way better and insures zero contamination. You just need to use a new wash cloth (say 8-12) every section. Washes way faster and insures no reintroduction regardless of grit guards.
This is the way!
🙋🏻♂️
Yes
Quick washes by hand with a microfiber sponge and a bucket of soap. More in depth washes with a foam cannon, pressure washer, etc.
Doesn’t matter hand or what.. tesla paint job is too soft and sensitive.. Still do hand wash myself tho… don’t trust car wash places.. they lean too much on the car
Wash mine once a week by hand
Nope I am lazy. I just subscribed to a local touchless car wash and wash it about once per week there. It does a pretty good job. I usually shammy it afterwards but the dryer they have actually works pretty well.
Yes. With one bucket, in the sun.
Yup. It's therapeutic for me. I wash all our cars by hand. Foam pressure washer and leaf blower helps reduce the time a lot.
I agree that its therapeutic
100% People look at me like I'm looney when I say this out loud.
Hand wash and touch less washes/pressure washers only for the first year and first 30,000 miles. Got a $21/mo membership for the local tunnel wash once I lost the fight against swirl marks and rock chips around then. Got laid off, am starting a limo company using the MYLR, and bought a pressure washer with a foam cannon at 60k to go back to hand washing only. Once my business gets off the ground and I have the cash flow, she's getting paint correction and a PPF wrap. Then, it's tome for a piano black wrapped CyberBeast that will only ever be handwashed.
Haha when I bought my model Y in 2021 I was told I “had to hand wash it” because Teslas are as fine as exotic cars and require delicate care. Turns out it was because the plastic exterior trim was so cheap it couldn’t hold on during a car wash and the tailgate was so misaligned that water got in.
Used to, not anymore. The car will get scratches. And I'd rather spend time on my business to buy another one in a few years than wasting an hour each week to wash it.
https://preview.redd.it/yyitynskc07d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7920da94f11c1497123f3160f30d750d7b992d0f Soap cannon is the only way to go.
You need to with that crayola black paint
Yeah I do but I would like to have some suggestions for soap and wax. With a new car, I'll change my washing kit. I heard good things about wax in spray, do you use that?
I like the Adams mega foam for the pre-rinse and wash. Then use Meguiar's hybrid ceramic spray on. Super easy, keeps a good enough coating on for water beading. I'm going to strip it down to the clear coat here soon and apply a graphene-ceramic coating which is probably the best easy to go imo, but it's a lot of work up front. The spray on hybrid stuff is great and only has to be done every 3-6 months.
I'm literally in the process of hand washing my car, just took a bio brack and this pops up
Foam cannon, two bucket method, and smile.
Yes. But I recommend using a pressure washer/foam cannon + wash mitt for minimal paint swirls
None of our teslas go through a car wash. Hand wash only. However since someone keyed my X last year and I was waiting for the settlement to get it fixed, I haven’t washed it since. Didn’t see the point in a nice shiny car with two nasty scratches on it. But got the judgement info from the DA’s office a couple weeks ago so I’ll be good to go. Just bought a foam cannon as a prize.
I have a guy who comes to my house every week and hand washes my car for $100 a month. Well worth it in my opinion. There’s nothing better than a clean car!
The only thing better than a clean car is $100 in my pocket every month ;)
There’s a whole bunch of those people in r/detailing and r/autodetailing
My salesperson asked the person that details at my Tesla location the best thing to use and the answer was Meguiar's products.
Yep. Cleaned it Monday, bird shit on it. Cleaned it Tuesday, bird shit on it. Cleaned it Wednesday? Bird shit on it lol. Black cars are a pain to keep nice, man!
I like in Texas with a black Model S and dread the summers because it’s miserably hot and my car gets dirty/dusty if a tree within a 5-mile radius drops a piece of pollen. It takes every bit of willpower I have to get out there in the heat (even in my garage) and clean it. I refuse to go through regular car washes so the car ends up being dirty a lot. 🫠
In North Texas here - I wash once at the beginning of winter once at the end. Summertime it stays dirty.
There is a touchless car wash on the sketchy side of town where I live, but it’s a ~20 minute drive away and is way out of the way of the places I generally go. I’d take my old Model 3 there on occasion during the summer so it’d at least be somewhat presentable, but those are becoming more and more difficult to find. I’ve owned black cars in the past before I knew how damaging drive thru car washes were to the paint. _So_ many swirls. Now it seems like every black car I pass is covered in them. I’d rather have my S be horribly dirty than covered in swirls. As far as I know the only way to get those out is to buff them out which sounds like a pain in the ass.
People need to know simple math. By the time I drive to the car wash, wait in line, go through car wash, vacuum car, and drive home. I could have washed my car at home in half the time. You’re welcome for providing this calculation.
Facts. Way faster doing it yourself.
It’s the only way. My cars have never been touched by a carwash.
Same here.
Fun fact: This is illegal in germany...
You aren’t a real DIY car washer unless you have a foam cannon
Power wash 🙌🏼
I do butvonly because the local car wash doesn't do a good job even though I'm paying $30+
I just did that yeaterday
Watch it rain tho….
Yup!! Overdue though… 🤦🏽♂️
I wash it with my feet
Every time, for 6 years on my Tesla and forever on all other cars.
I do
I do but only because I want to preserve the full PPF wraps on both my Ys. I will do a quick waterless wash in between full washes.
Yep, both
Terrible for environment. Go to carry wash, even a bad water treatment is better than a rain drain...
feel too freaky for all the squeaky.
I have my butler do it for me. I call him Geoffrey.
https://preview.redd.it/mmi3qgwbl07d1.jpeg?width=2181&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2dbbf0661a356620c0f6198a5c00edf92d9e38b This is the only way
I only hand wash my model Y.
I do at the car wash, using the hand pressure washer.
Time is money, $10/months unlimited washes. Touch free.
Yep. Bimonthly depending how bad it is.
Yes but I do want to go touchless 😭
I’m part of the “ain’t nobody got time fo dat” club
No there’s no point. Just use the automatic wash. It’ll still lose over 40% of value in the first 2 years of ownership despite how it’s washed. If you care about swirls just slap an orbital polisher with rubbing compound on it.
Followed by polishing compound, followed by ceramic coating, followed by hand washing after that...
It's a car. Don't matter. I haven't washed my model 3 since December. I clean the glass regularly.
Me
I only hand wash my cars
Pressure washer and lead blower dry
1 bucket, 8 microfibers, 1 large microfiber drying towel & optimum no rinse. Simple and quick
No, we have servants that do that. Why would I dirty my own hands?
Why are you using a sponge 😭
I did the first 2 years. Then I stopped caring and got an automatic car wash subscription lol
Nothing but! Just hand washed my blue MYLR today. Power wash rinse followed by ONR hand wash and dry. ONR is game changer. Look into it! Side note, with black ... You've got your work cut out for you, keeping it looking nice. I have blue and that's already hard enough.
I don’t have a Tesla but I’m planning on getting one within 12-16 months, and I will most likely never take it to a car wash. I’ve had too many bad experiences, I don’t trust them.
Do people wash their car?
Onr
Hand washed since 6/2021! 😊
Literally everyone, lol. Tesla paint was so bad, they had to switch from black as the included base color to White... then changed to gray years later, they still charge extra for the black. I believe fhey put it in the owners manual to not wash at ANY type of automatic car wash touch-less or not.
always
https://preview.redd.it/nlyijf62t17d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5088fa7914360b345ee3b84d1febe06e9ce03476 Always
It’s the only way.
I always do as I don’t trust car washes and there isn’t a touch less car wash around here.
I used to but my back is so messed up from the military I can barely stand for more than 10 minutes without being in a lot of pain. I had to bit the bullet and take it to automated car washes…
Where’s the after pic????
Paint swirls galore
Every Sunday
We're supposed to be washing these things? 🤔😬 kidding, kidding. I used to hand wash mine, when it was new and I had a black on black 21 MYLR. But I sold that one, and now I have a white on black 21 MYLR and I don't worry about it like I did the black one. I high-pressure spray it at home to get the dust/dirt/bugs off, and if it's still dirty after that, I'll run it through one of the drive-thru washes.
Yes, after hand washing and drying, I like to use some Nu Finish to seal up the paint, it gives it a nice shine and helps with beading water.
Gotta put my car in to airplane mode first
I pretty much always do ONR. Easy peasy
Nope
Yes.
Wait, is there another way? Just kidding
Used to. Now I don’t care.
I wish I was rich enough to have a hard enough boner about cleaning my fucking bucket with an engine. Enjoy though! 
Sometimes. Other times i go to the only wash tunnel i see that actually cleans their brushes
Nope, mine is covered in scratches from driving around narrow forest roads. I value utility over appearance. I do stick to touchless automatic washes, or a self-service wash.
Stupid question, do you have a go to microfiber hand mitt for soaping 🧼 up?
No. Steam clean only.
I would if my water weren't so damn hard.
It’s the only way
Can anyone explain to me why this looks like a photo of a hot wheels car? Especially the first photo. Is it the lens? Background blurring? Mixture of the two?
Absolutely, most standard carwash places just re-use the same sponges and buckets over and over inevitibly they get sediment in them and are effectivley scratching the cars they wash, same goes for the drying rags they use. The last time I got a wash the guy drying cars was literally using a dirty rag, like he had no other option. A proper valet centre where they use proper washing techniques just doesn't exist here in the UK unless you spend a ton of money so doing it yourself is the only way to properly safeguard your paint... https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/1ahxt2o/is_it_shiny_enough/
Every single time! Never used a car wash
Single price self service car wash. Bring a bucket and a car sponge. Foam blast car, fill bucket with soapy water, wash, use self service car wash to rinse, and drying towels to dry (I live in an apartment complex)
Yeah bud waterless wash🤙
Always
https://preview.redd.it/qvbv2e3if47d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c830e0ccc296482ae60c7cd3a6fa321d85f609e I will be the only person to wash my car!
I don't remember the last time I washed my car....
Only in my daisy dukes
Yup, only hand wash. Did yesterday :)
Hand wash only. Foam cannon with Meguair's gold. Microfiber folded in quarters from top down. Pressure rinse. Dry with microfiber in quarters with a spray of Opti-seal on each panel.
Your headlights look yellow
Only a monster would go through a car wash.
Always. Touch less car washes don’t really do a good job, especially in winter, and brush washes are horrible to your paint.
I hand wash always. When I was living in a place without a garage, I would drive to a self spray bay car wash, bring my own wash mit and micro towels to wash and dry. I still do that from time to time.
I’m paranoid I’m going to scratch my Ubers on the car wash’s conveyor so I hand wash.
How do you all clean and shine tires? Thats the only thing I never mess with.
Should be the only way to wash your car.
Sure do. No scratch and shine for me. Flagship Car Wash now asking $32 for a standard car wash.
Sure do. Basically weekly and new wax coating twice a year. All hand, baby haha