washing my car

[Goldy1]

I,m a mom of a three year old boy. Yeah, I"m pretty busy. I used to enjoy washing my car by hand on occasion before I had him. I manage to do it a couple times a year. It's a lot of work, but the $2 car washes don't seem to really do a lot. I mean, they get off a lot of the general dirt layer, but it won't clean my rims, or really wash off any built on dirt.
My dad raised me to wax my car once in a while. I haven't done that in years.
How do you wash you car? Do you pay for car washes? Do you upgrade to premium washes?
Any products or routines you recomend?
I vacuum my car often, but don't really wash it that often. I suppose bc I see the inside myself more.
I just went from a Saturn to an Equionox so if I hand wash it I will need more time.
I just washed my husband big monte carlo yesterday by hand. It was a workout, let me tell ya.

[Goldy1]

ps
my method is just good ol bucket with carwash and a rag.

[Like2Plan]

I Always do the automatic car wash. I think the recomendation is once a week, but I'm lucky if I do it once a month. My goal is to go every two weeks. I thought about hand washing my car, but so far haven't acted on it.
I doubt I would hand wash DHs van because I can't reach all the surfaces, but my car isn't that big- I don't think it would take very long to hand wash it.

[kork13]

I strongly prefer to hand-wash my car, though I will also use the self-service car wash stations, where you pull in and use their powered hose & brush. I try to wash my car twice a month, but I know I don't always do that. If you do a quickie wax job on your own, it should normally be good for a month or two. A more thorough wax can last at least 3 months. If you take it for a professional wax, it might be good for up to 6 months.

I normally avoid automatic carwashes (especially the ones that have used the same washer brush for the last 10 years... If you must, go with a no-touch auto carwash). As you said, the automatic carwashes don't really do as good of a job, and the ones that use brushes can destroy your paint if there's something hard snagged on the brush. However, in the deep of winter, a hand-wash isn't much of an option... So that's when I'll go to a no-touch automatic carwash if necessary.

[Goldy1]

Cars look great after a hand wash done well. However, it's labor and time intensive and not for everyone or every season. I guess you get what you pay for. I am not even sure what waxing a car is for or what purpsoe it serves.