I have a new 2012 black JKU Sport and I don't want to run it through a car wash, but I don't have any experience washing a car. What cloth types, sponges, detergent, wax, towels etc, should I get to keep my jeep clean without marking or swirling the paint job? How often does it need to be waxed? What is the best way to clean the mud off the underside? Can I just hose it or do I need to be careful of spraying something under there. Sorry to be such a noob but it's been a long time since I had a vehicle color that I didn't want to put through a car wash.

 

If you are worried about scratches and swirls, Use a two bucket system for washing. One with soap and water one with clear water. Use your choice of wash mitts. Dunk mitt in soapy water... Wash part of the jeep..rinse mitt out in clean water and repeat. Dry with a leaf blower. Wax as often as you like. I used to be into high end wax like pinnacle and a polish before, but i have a hard time seeing any difference using just synthetic wax. For dark colors there are many swirl hiding products out there. For my jeep i spray the mud off pccasionally, but usually give it a through clay bar,wash,wax twice a year spring and fall. For under carriage just Put an old school rotary garden sprinkler under it....and let it run for a while....

 

I would be using Microfiber cloths as much as I can to avoid swirl marks that terry cloth towels can leave.

What I do is, I polish every spring and fall with Meguiars Scratch X 2.0.
I wax with Collinite's #845 once every three months, but do like 3 coats (with 24 hours in between) before winter months.

To keep it clean, just spray as normal, then dry it with an Absorber cloth.
I like to follow up with some quick detailing spray with a microfiber cloth (rub briskly but lightly for best results).

As for mud. Stay the hell away from it if you do not want to scratch your paint. If you off-road like I do once in a while, immediately spray all the mud off as soon as your're done. Do NOT let it dry on the paint.

During the winter, I use Delta Sonic (it has no spinning brushes) ONLY because it gets the salt off. That's a big thing here in Western NY. I will fix whatever blemishes happen from that wash in the Spring and revert to a touchless wash like Laser Wash once the salt is gone and before I put the soft top on.
During the soft top months, I hand wash it and avoid getting the wax on the soft top.

Here's my JK after a fresh polish/wax/detail last summer:




Here's the same JK after several months and NO new WAX at all... I waxed it shortly after this picture was taken (notice water beading and color remains a dark rich black):

 

Wash in straight lines instead of circular. Helps with swirl marks.

 

Hose it off and drive it around the block once. Done.

 

Micro-fiber towels only to dry,when you wash those for reuse dont use fabric softener it leaves a film if you do. For the bottom side park it in the yard and use a sprinkler. For wax any quality wax as long as it is just wax, don't get one that says wax and cleaner the cleaner part removes a little paint each time it is used. Learned that the hard way waxed the paint off my black Z28 when I was a kid.

 

I use microfiber mitts to wash it and a sham wow type thing (really works) to dry it. I have the Turtle Wax black box but haven't used it yet

 

I use Griot's Car Care on all my vehicles. There wax and polish when used with a random orbital looks awesome on black and makes it almost impossible to burn/swirl the paint. They have a great wash bucket and wash products as well. Just keep your wash mit really clean so you are not spreading around the dirt causing more scratches.

 

Amen!
I love my jeep but for sec I thought I was on the BMW forum

 

My truck is dark metallic green and i don't hand wash it. It's too easy to pick up a piece of dirt that will mark it. The car wash's around here are brushless so my paint doesn't have any scratches on it plus i'm to lazy to hand wash it.