# So, Whats the hardest colour to clean/keep clean?



## digitaluk (Apr 13, 2012)

hi guys,

just thought it would be good to get some thoughts and feelings on the matter. 
Ive always found black to be really bad for showing swirls and general dirt, however this morning i was doing a quick detail on a white BMW and the amount of elbow grease needed to shift all the dirt was incredible. After a snow foam down the car looked no different! anyways got it all sorted in the end and looked really good IMO. lol moved on the a black BMW after that which was a welcome relief haha!

so for me its going to be: BMW White


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## Jonny2400 (May 14, 2011)

Well driving a white BMW I know what you mean, nightmare to keep clean, the rear lip on the top of the bumper is a real pain, I must have 6 layers of AG HD wax and even with just a sun shower it's brown !!


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Metallic Black for me


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

White shows all the little bits of tar and grease and when polished and clean doesn't look significantly different to just clean. Whereas black shows dust and defects more, I'd say it's better polished up and worthwhile in the end. Hence my vote goes white


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

I too have a white BMW e36 and it's a nightmare to keep clean! But, having said that, when you put the effort in and thoroughly go through the car, i find the results very rewarding


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## adf27 (Mar 14, 2012)

Black or White. Black shows up every imperfection and scratch on the paint. White just shows up all the dirt or tar that collects on it.


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

I'd say black.


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## TigerUK (Apr 1, 2012)

I tried to talk my firend out of buying a white car, he's got a 2 ltr merc. Bought it as a treat to himself when he got married.

It's aweful.. within hours of washing it, it looks dirty again and cleaning and waxing it never feels rewarding because you just can't notice it.

Get a white car if you enjoy washing it every 3 days. Complete nightmare to own if you like the look of a clean car


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## gavlar1200 (Nov 25, 2011)

My black Lupo GTI, it looks superb when its clean, for about an hour :detailer:


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## deano_uk (Apr 29, 2007)

Cursed then as my wifes car is black and mine is white.....BUT out of the 2 I think the black looks worse when dirty and seems to get dirty faster.


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

Black all day long.. i wish i bought a silver van :lol:


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

Black , But it's also the best looking colour when it looks nice and slippery


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

by far black


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## martyp (Oct 24, 2006)

Has to be black. I'd never own anything other than silver best of both worlds, hides dirt and swirls quite well and looks fantastic when you find the magic potion...


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Black or white for me. Both show dirt/dust stupidly easy, black shows defects clearer than other colours in my opinion.


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## digitaluk (Apr 13, 2012)

martyp said:


> I'd never own anything other than silver best of both worlds, hides dirt and swirls quite well and looks fantastic when you find the magic potion...


second that 100% so glad i have a silver car hehe. Although secretly i still long for a red car


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## Crash Master (Feb 5, 2012)

Bloody black!


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## dogfox (Apr 5, 2009)

Dark blue metallic.Muck sticks to it like s**t to a blanket.

I am paranoid about puddles & have to wash it almost every time
it has been out :tumbleweed:

dogfox.


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## Laurie.J.M (Jun 23, 2011)

Darker colours in general, my Dad's previous car was black and it showed every mark and every spec of dirt. He now has a dark blue car and it's just as bad. Although I must say silver can certainly show the dirt at times, my car went from shiny(ish) silver to matte grey within the space of one journey two hour journey in the pouring rain.


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## WD Pro (Feb 7, 2006)

Other than that I would say black (solid) 

WD


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## alanp (Feb 3, 2012)

black, clean for 5 min till there is a gust of wind then it looks dusty and unwashed. also shows up every single little imperfection when it is clean and shiney. the smallest of dent looks like someone has caved the panel in.

does look the best colour ever for the 4 min 47 seconds that it is clean tho.


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## Grahamwm (Apr 10, 2012)

Black for me nightmare


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## WAXOFF (May 13, 2012)

I had a Blue Graphite 2008 Jetta that gave me fits trying to keep the dust off.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Black, specifically flat black, it's a nightmare to get right then looks filthy within an hour.


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## Jammy J (May 5, 2012)

So what would be the best colour to keep clean?


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## tictap (Sep 15, 2010)

I'm gonna go with black, having two black cars is double the trouble :thumb:


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Jammy J said:


> So what would be the best colour to keep clean?


Greys imho. Silver is good to but very uninspiring.


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## Jammy J (May 5, 2012)

bigmc said:


> Greys imho. Silver is good to but very uninspiring.


I totally agree with you. My Beemer is space grey and its so easy to keep clean. I can go without washing for 2 weeks easily without it looking filthy


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Probably why 30 or so of my 45 car history have been grey or silver.


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## awallacee30 (May 4, 2011)

Black for me. A complete pig to keep clean.


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

White


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## digitaluk (Apr 13, 2012)

Jammy J said:


> So what would be the best colour to keep clean?


other than silver i would go with grey.... then maybe british racing green lol


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## Parafilm (Jun 6, 2010)

Iv got to say white, having owned a black car then switching to white I find it just frustrates me more. I can see all the little bits of tar that get stuck to it and all the crap from a damp road is just so brown and visible!
Black also has the benefit of looking immense when properly cleaned up whereas white doesn't have that instant 'wow factor' you can get from other colours.


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

Metallic grey look ok dirty, but when it's detailed it's miles apart.


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## McClane (Dec 9, 2010)

Clean? White.

Nice looking? Black.


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

-PJB- said:


> Clean? White.
> 
> Nice looking? Black.


Pity me, wifes mini is black and white


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Black.

I've never understood detailing fans buying Blacks cars especially if they've ever owned one in the past! 

I would be utterly demented!!!! Honestly, i've passed up some bargains because they were Black! 

I'd be in some mental institution somewhere if I had another Black car.


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## WD Pro (Feb 7, 2006)

3 x Black
2 x Dark purple
2 x Blue
1 x Red

That's also in the order of number of years owned - blacks upto about 15, dark purple about 6 ... WD


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

2 blue
2 black
2 silver
1 techno violet
2 grey

Love grey, very rewarding yet forgiving.


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## WD Pro (Feb 7, 2006)

One of the purples I mentioned above was techno, the other was mora


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

Both nice colours , mine was on a 1998 323 sport coupe


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## Aucky (Oct 3, 2008)

Solid black, hands down.


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## Gretsch-drummer (Sep 17, 2010)

I'm going to say white....not because it shows the dirt easily but when you're cleaning and polishing it, specially on a bright day. My eyes start going funny with black dots all over from staring at the white for so long.


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## ribvanrey (May 5, 2012)

bigmc said:


> Probably why 30 or so of my 45 car history have been grey or silver.


You have only had silver cars/vans since 1977. They were invented for the Queen's 25th yr. :lol:

Hope we are Diamond finished cars now. The paint will cost nearly as much as the petrol.


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## ribvanrey (May 5, 2012)

I fail to understand the recent trend for people wanting non-metalic black or white cars. Either look like hearses or police cars.
Each to their own but it beats me.


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

ribvanrey said:


> I fail to understand the recent trend for people wanting non-metalic black or white cars. Either look like hearses or police cars.
> Each to their own but it beats me.


Police cars are silver


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

For me it has to be gloss black - i do my neighbors black L200 which is huge and it's a nightmare! Looks stunning clean though.


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

BMW Alpine White


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## McClane (Dec 9, 2010)

Danno1975 said:


> Pity me, wifes mini is black and white


I don't need to pity you! SWMBO had one too! :lol: :thumb:










Did look like this:










The plus sides. White hides swirls and Iron X was incredible!

Now she's bought a metallic grey toyota. :doublesho :buffer: :car: :doublesho :buffer: :car: :doublesho :buffer: :car: :doublesho :wall:


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## jimbob800 (Feb 9, 2012)

mine is a pain in the ass to keep clean


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## scratcher (Jul 20, 2010)

My old white and silver cars were the easiest to keep clean. 

On my second black car now and I honestly think it's the hardest. Dust, dirt, water runs. Everything shows up!
And then any wash marring is easier to see too. Should've got another white car :lol:


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## Ian-83 (Mar 28, 2011)

I have had both black and white cars. Both are as bad as each other though I think white shows dirt up sooner. Grey and silver seem to do a good job of hiding dirt well.


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## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

White on mine is a pain but silver is too!


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## Guest (May 19, 2012)

black is the worst


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## LostHighway (Sep 23, 2011)

Black is the worst by far. It not only shows dirt but swirls and RIDS are painfully obvious as well. White shows surface dirt but hides most paint imperfections. Silver is the easiest color to keep looking decent.


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

i would agree with what others have said white or black are as bad as eatch other.
dont think i would ever own a black car but coming round to the idea of a white car very quick


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

Detailed the wife's white and black mini yesterday, first detail since October and first wash in a month.

The white bits were a nightmare of fallout, tar, and stains, was washed, de tarred, iron x'd, clayed and polished with lime prime. I've detailed range rovers quicker .

Looks great now.

Pig to wax too as you struggle to see where the wax is and then struggle to see if its all buffed off again.


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## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

black non metalic paint... cars washed and within 5 mins it looks dirty again


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## gdarbyshire (Jan 19, 2009)

Its got to be black for me, I used to have a black Focus looked great when polished and left on drive and not driven, I have a white Qashqai now and not as bad to keep clean as black


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

I would say the darker the colour the harder it gets :thumb:


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## Nally (May 30, 2012)

Black or white for different resons 
White- tar, iron, bug blood hard to get a good shine
Black - dust, bug gutts, shows scratches and marks


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## Gizmo68 (Mar 27, 2008)

Black is the worst, it doesn't stay looking nice for long and every chip or paint defect will show up easily.
Next up is white, nightmare to keep clean, but at least the defects do not show up anywhere near as bad as a dark car, they both look amazing when corrected though.

Best colour has to be silver, or silver with a hint of another colour (blue, green etc), hides the dirt really well, silver IMO is now a bit too common and boring which is why I chose Aqua Blue (silvery blue) for my current car.

<<<<<


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## Mr A4 (Mar 22, 2012)

Derekh929 said:


> Metallic Black for me


+1 - though when clean looks amazing:thumb:


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## robtech (Jan 17, 2011)

blacks always the worst..silver always looks clean,whites a pain if it rains and it beads black dirt


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## banditloon (Apr 2, 2009)

Black and white.

I had a black MX-5, that I could never get 100% right. The closest I got, after nearly 2 days of cleaning and cutting and polishing, a numpty work colleague decided to be very clever and rub his greasy hand straight down the bonnet. Queue chasing a warehouse numpty around work with a crow bar....

I had an old white Astra van, and as other people have posted, white is a pain to keep clean, especially when my old man used the van and always spilt diesel down the rear panel when filling it up!


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Although my Black car is hard work perhaps I only ever seem 80% happy with the end result and it is improving, that C D3 with white body and black roof could be fun, newer white cars seem to have more depth and shine, than they ever did.


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## BobsRX8GT (Mar 27, 2012)

Well, I own 2 black Mazda's. A Metallic Black Luxury Sports 6, and a flat black RX8 GT/R3. They are the reason I got into detailing and I love the look of them. A quick dust off in the morning and they are perfect again. (well, for a noob). 

They are alot of work, every weekend one of them gets a coat of polish etc but I wouldnt have it any other way.

My old white car had that much polish on it the dirt would barely stick. That never looked dirty even after 2 weeks of not washing.


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## KmChoPs (Nov 1, 2010)

digitaluk said:


> hi guys,
> 
> just thought it would be good to get some thoughts and feelings on the matter.
> Ive always found black to be really bad for showing swirls and general dirt, however this morning i was doing a quick detail on a white BMW and the amount of elbow grease needed to shift all the dirt was incredible. After a snow foam down the car looked no different! anyways got it all sorted in the end and looked really good IMO. lol moved on the a black BMW after that which was a welcome relief haha!
> ...


depends how often the cars cleaned waxed etc , white is normally a doddle if kept up together and washed and waxed regularly .
Silver is good all round for me lol


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

Black metallic (with a flex').... Nightmare

Easiest has to be silver


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