Car Wash Hack - Hey, it works!

[SteveMach-ee]

I highly recommend ceramic coating. It was a lot of work to do it myself but worth it.

Here in Mass, whenever it goes above freezing for an afternoon I hose down the cars with one of those garden watering wands. It allows me to flush out the undercarriage pretty well. Quick dry with an electric leaf blower. The salt and dirt washes off the ceramic coat almost as well as with soap. The temperature is usually warm enough every week or two for this. 20ft hose is one that stays flexible below freezing and it's a frost-free spigot. When it's a bit warmer I will get out the pressure washer and foam gun.

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[GreaseMonkey]

Or wash at home if you can. Two bucket wash beats all.

This is the only way to treat the paint well enough. It pains me when I see the dirty bucket they dip into to wash my vehicle. But on occasion, I have to let them wash it.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I highly recommend ceramic coating. It was a lot of work to do it myself but worth it.

Here in Mass, whenever it goes above freezing for an afternoon I hose down the cars with one of those garden watering wands. It allows me to flush out the undercarriage pretty well. Quick dry with an electric leaf blower. The salt and dirt washes off the ceramic coat almost as well as with soap. The temperature is usually warm enough every week or two for this. 20ft hose is one that stays flexible below freezing and it's a frost-free spigot. When it's a bit warmer I will get out the pressure washer and foam gun.

Is there a reason you don’t use the power washer at around freezing temps? I am planning to try washing with a heated hose designed for RVs and power washer / foam cannon. I recently installed an electric space heater in the garage just for that purpose. We don’t have many days above freezing in the winter, so have to rely on heating to keep the doors from freezing.

My garage is detached and not insulated and doesn’t have a water supply.

 

[DeusEx]

@GreaseMonkey, I don't powerwash during winter because there's not enough time for all the water to evaporate during the day. Anything that doesn't dry becomes black ice and makes for very slippery conditions.

I typically wash with Optimum No Rinse (ONR) during the winter months. If my car is heavily coated in grim, I use Optimum Hyper Foam, spray foam down with only 5 gallons of water from my Ryobi Ezclean, and then coat again with ONR and wash with towels soaked in ONR.

 

[DeusEx]

ONR is biodegradable from what I understand. Typically when I wash with ONR, I use at most 3 gallons of water in the warmer months. I use 2 gallon to soak my cleaning towels, and 1 gallon spraying the car down with ONR to loosen up minor debris on the car. I wash my car all year round with ONR because there is less to set up and clean.

It's the winter where I use about 6-8 gallon of water to clean the car but still less than power washing. Washing with ONR gets my car 90% clean than with power washing and soap (unscientific measurement of course).

I wash on my driveway and it's a bit of a slope so I'd rather not bust my butt on black ice. The old school Italian contractor who did my sidewalk and driveway recommends only sand to treat the ground. Salt causes pitting that will eventually lead to compromised concrete. The sand creates more surface area for my boots to grip so it's less slippery but does nothing to melt ice and snow.

I'm expecting a bit of snow tomorrow so I will definitely be washing the car soon. I will take before and after pictures if you're interested.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Or consider using a different car wash that’s less aggressive?

My car wash can be very aggressive looking. Then again I have pointy teeth.

 

[Triggerhappy007]

Or consider using a different car wash that’s less aggressive?

No, I gave up and just hand wash at home now.

Or wash at home if you can. Two bucket wash beats all.

Yes, this is the way. I'm starting to use the No Rinse kind this Winter.

 

[MellowJohnny]

My solution. Aircraft speed tape. Should work fine.

Hey Bill - I'm looking for a solution to seal up a leaky sunroof on my Golf. I've tried Gorilla Tape but after 3 months of UV and summer heat it's toast - it develops little cracks and starts to leak.

How well does this hold up to heat and UV?

 

[SteveMach-ee]

Is there a reason you don’t use the power washer at around freezing temps? I am planning to try washing with a heated hose designed for RVs and power washer / foam cannon. I recently installed an electric space heater in the garage just for that purpose. We don’t have many days above freezing in the winter, so have to rely on heating to keep the doors from freezing.

My garage is detached and not insulated and doesn’t have a water supply.

Yeah, main reason I don't use the power washer in the winter is I'm just too lazy to take it out and hook it up. I am fortunate that my garage is attached and insulated so it is usually keeps well above 40°. It's warm enough that the undercarriage dries pretty quickly in the low humidity. I use a microfiber drying towel to get any remaining drops on the paint.

As far as water freezing on the driveway, I use the leaf blower to get most of it into a curtain drain. Again, it has to be above freezing for an afternoon to do this.

 

[HughJazzol]

Or wash at home if you can. Two bucket wash beats all.

why TWO buckets?
Did I learn incorrectly?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

why TWO buckets?
Did I learn incorrectly?

The two bucket method uses one bucket for soap/suds and another bucket of clean, fresh water. You start with a clean sponge/mitt (etc), soap it up, and wash a section of the car. You then put that sponge in the bucket with clean water and rinse it out. You then put it back in the soap bucket and repeat.

There are a kazillion variations on this, but it's the best way to avoid moving dirt around your car and scratching the paint in the process. There are also a kazillion and 1 videos and write-ups on it. You weren't taught wrong, you were taught pretty much like all of us were.





https://www.lenosgarage.com/blogs/a...1y5-lT67bKRE83PCOI3bXT8dM4Kj_xjW_NlbBHFLLT7Rx

You can literally go on for hours posting these, sort of like the arguments about the non-centered speedometer back in the day. Those links were just the first 3 I saw on a Google search. It's not the be-all-end-all, though. There are a bunch of variations, including several that just use 5 million microfiber cloths, one for each section of the car that are never reused.

 

[HughJazzol]

The two bucket method uses one bucket for soap/suds and another bucket of clean, fresh water. You start with a clean sponge/mitt (etc), soap it up, and wash a section of the car. You then put that sponge in the bucket with clean water and rinse it out. You then put it back in the soap bucket and repeat.

There are a kazillion variations on this, but it's the best way to avoid moving dirt around your car and scratching the paint in the process. There are also a kazillion and 1 videos and write-ups on it. You weren't taught wrong, you were taught pretty much like all of us were.





https://www.lenosgarage.com/blogs/a...1y5-lT67bKRE83PCOI3bXT8dM4Kj_xjW_NlbBHFLLT7Rx

You can literally go on for hours posting these, sort of like the arguments about the non-centered speedometer back in the day. Those links were just the first 3 I saw on a Google search. It's not the be-all-end-all, though. There are a bunch of variations, including several that just use 5 million microfiber cloths, one for each section of the car that are never reused.

Jiminy crickets and holy good method Batman.

I never knew to do this, obviously, but it makes total sense. Putting a dirty sponge back in the soapy one to resoap is putting all the dirt in it, and that's counter productive.

Thank you

 

[XPLOR]

There is also this...

https://a.co/d/bgtuTri

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

There is also this...

https://a.co/d/bgtuTri

I use one of those in the rinse bucket. But if you use them properly, they might work well for washing as well.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

There is also this...

https://a.co/d/bgtuTri

My two bucket washing method uses two of those (chemical guys). Double the goodness. The amount of dirt that accumulates under the screen is shocking.

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