waterless car wash
Re: waterless car wash
I haven't used this stuff, but it gets good reviews on many car forums. Not sure if it's for garage queens or DD's, but I plan on trying it once my current stash of detailing products is depleted.
https://chadwickstripleplay.com/
https://chadwickstripleplay.com/
Re: waterless car wash
I have used a local guys homemade spray...but I usually hose the truck off with straight hot water. I apply his spray, and wipe clean, leaving a waxed look to my black 18 wheeler. It's fast and it works...but he will not tell his secret.... I haven't used any soap in a long time, just hot water and his spray...
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Re: waterless car wash
I might add since I have seen Lorne's cars in person. The paint on his 70 Challenger is mint and original.
Hope to see it in early June too.
Re: waterless car wash
Yup that is what I notice when I tired using ONR as my waterless car wash.
Re: waterless car wash
There are two major variations on the typical "hose and bucket" wash process these days: waterless and rinseless.
Waterless: This process is just as the name implies - you don't use any additional water, just what's part of the product formulation. These are usually spray on products and, while they are pretty fantastic, they have their limitations. Obviously they won't work if you've got a 4x4 and you've been offroading in the mud, but for a car that's been driven for a while in the rain, which actually gets a car dirty, not clean, they are pretty amazing. Meguiar's introduced such a product a few years back, called Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere. We intro new products at SEMA in Las Vegas, and the year we introduced UWWA I drove my Crossfire Roadster to Vegas figuring that, after working the trade show all week, doing media visits and all the other stuff my job entails, I would drive home across the desert, top down, and just enjoy the hell out of the drive. Except it rained the whole damn way. 275 miles on the 15 Freeway, and it hadn't rained in months. All that grime was released from the road and deposited all over my pristine car! Now, I keep this car at an insane level - there's not a swirl mark to be found and the paint and everything else is immaculate. I don't just take the wheels off the car to clean them, I clean the suspension when the wheels are off. Needless to say, I was mortified the whole drive home, but I figured this was the perfect opportunity to put this new product to the test. I used 1/3 of the bottle and 7 or 8 clean microfiber towels to clean the paintwork on the car, and it came up flawless - not a mark or defect created by the process.
Rinseless: This process is also just as the name implies - you don't rinse the surface after getting it wet with the cleaning solution. These products are usually in concentrate form and are mixed with water in a bucket. But instead of the usual "one ounce of wash to a gallon of water", these are usually just one ounce of product to two gallons of water. ONR is this type of product, as is Meguiar's D114 Rinse Free Express Wash in our Pro Detailer Line. Again, towel management is critical to success here. My process goes like this (and by the way, this is how I do almost all my washing these days): mix one ounce of product into two gallons of water, then fold a bunch of clean microfiber towels in 1/4s and sink them in the bucket. Take the first towel out, gently squeeze it so that it's still quite loaded with wash solution, and wipe a panel in straight lines. The first wipe will reveal a stripe of dirt on the leading edge of the towel. For the second wipe, lift that leading edge up so it does NOT contact the paint, and wipe. For the third wipe, do the same thing, lifting the leading edge of the towel further back. Do this a few times and you'll get a zebra stripe effect on the towel. Never, ever put the dirty towel back in the wash bucket or you'll contaminate the solution. Now, flip the towel over (folding a towel in 1/4s effectively gives you 8 sides to the towel - got it?) and repeat the above process. Use a second towel to dry the surface (hence, rinseless), preferably a waffle weave microfiber towel. I'll only use 4 of the 8 sides of the towel because it loses much of the wash solution if you go beyond that. I set that towel aside, dropping onto a Grit Guard on the garage floor to keep the towel off the ground and let it continue to drip out. I'll use as many towels as I need to depending on the size of the vehicle and how dirty it is.
So then, how the heck does this stuff work? All of these products, regardless who makes them, use specialize polymer technology that actually microencapsulates the dirt and adds a ton of lubricity to the surface. This is most definitely NOT just a newfangled way to use a traditional car wash soap. If fact, using traditional soap in this fashion is a horrible idea. The chemistry and technology is totally different here, and that's why it works. Plus, as mentioned above, towel management is critical to success with either method. You must use quality, clean microfiber towels, and a lot of them. That part alone usually meets with resistance - "but they're expensive, how many do I need, it's such a hassle, but they're expensive". Yeah, cry me a river. They wash up clean as can be and you use them over and over. Deal with it. Oh, and that two gallon mix with the stack of towels in it? Yeah, you can fully wash 4 or 5 cars with that. I have a Gamma seal on a 3 gallon bucket in my garage, mixed up with D114 and a stack of towels, ready to go at a moments notice.
Still not sure? As a test I've been washing all of our cars at home with the rinseless process when they get really dirty, and the waterless process when just heavily dusty. If the car gets rained on, it gets the rinseless treatment. My wife drives a Chevy in Victory Red, a very intense, deep red with no metallic in it. It's second only to black in degree of difficulty to keep looking good. It has ONLY been washed with these two methods for the past year and still, no swirls. Nothing. Nada. I know a lot of very high level pro detailers who work on crazy expensive cars, and this is their go to method for washing these days.
Just keep this in mind: towel management is critical to success. I can't stress that enough.
Waterless: This process is just as the name implies - you don't use any additional water, just what's part of the product formulation. These are usually spray on products and, while they are pretty fantastic, they have their limitations. Obviously they won't work if you've got a 4x4 and you've been offroading in the mud, but for a car that's been driven for a while in the rain, which actually gets a car dirty, not clean, they are pretty amazing. Meguiar's introduced such a product a few years back, called Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere. We intro new products at SEMA in Las Vegas, and the year we introduced UWWA I drove my Crossfire Roadster to Vegas figuring that, after working the trade show all week, doing media visits and all the other stuff my job entails, I would drive home across the desert, top down, and just enjoy the hell out of the drive. Except it rained the whole damn way. 275 miles on the 15 Freeway, and it hadn't rained in months. All that grime was released from the road and deposited all over my pristine car! Now, I keep this car at an insane level - there's not a swirl mark to be found and the paint and everything else is immaculate. I don't just take the wheels off the car to clean them, I clean the suspension when the wheels are off. Needless to say, I was mortified the whole drive home, but I figured this was the perfect opportunity to put this new product to the test. I used 1/3 of the bottle and 7 or 8 clean microfiber towels to clean the paintwork on the car, and it came up flawless - not a mark or defect created by the process.
Rinseless: This process is also just as the name implies - you don't rinse the surface after getting it wet with the cleaning solution. These products are usually in concentrate form and are mixed with water in a bucket. But instead of the usual "one ounce of wash to a gallon of water", these are usually just one ounce of product to two gallons of water. ONR is this type of product, as is Meguiar's D114 Rinse Free Express Wash in our Pro Detailer Line. Again, towel management is critical to success here. My process goes like this (and by the way, this is how I do almost all my washing these days): mix one ounce of product into two gallons of water, then fold a bunch of clean microfiber towels in 1/4s and sink them in the bucket. Take the first towel out, gently squeeze it so that it's still quite loaded with wash solution, and wipe a panel in straight lines. The first wipe will reveal a stripe of dirt on the leading edge of the towel. For the second wipe, lift that leading edge up so it does NOT contact the paint, and wipe. For the third wipe, do the same thing, lifting the leading edge of the towel further back. Do this a few times and you'll get a zebra stripe effect on the towel. Never, ever put the dirty towel back in the wash bucket or you'll contaminate the solution. Now, flip the towel over (folding a towel in 1/4s effectively gives you 8 sides to the towel - got it?) and repeat the above process. Use a second towel to dry the surface (hence, rinseless), preferably a waffle weave microfiber towel. I'll only use 4 of the 8 sides of the towel because it loses much of the wash solution if you go beyond that. I set that towel aside, dropping onto a Grit Guard on the garage floor to keep the towel off the ground and let it continue to drip out. I'll use as many towels as I need to depending on the size of the vehicle and how dirty it is.
So then, how the heck does this stuff work? All of these products, regardless who makes them, use specialize polymer technology that actually microencapsulates the dirt and adds a ton of lubricity to the surface. This is most definitely NOT just a newfangled way to use a traditional car wash soap. If fact, using traditional soap in this fashion is a horrible idea. The chemistry and technology is totally different here, and that's why it works. Plus, as mentioned above, towel management is critical to success with either method. You must use quality, clean microfiber towels, and a lot of them. That part alone usually meets with resistance - "but they're expensive, how many do I need, it's such a hassle, but they're expensive". Yeah, cry me a river. They wash up clean as can be and you use them over and over. Deal with it. Oh, and that two gallon mix with the stack of towels in it? Yeah, you can fully wash 4 or 5 cars with that. I have a Gamma seal on a 3 gallon bucket in my garage, mixed up with D114 and a stack of towels, ready to go at a moments notice.
Still not sure? As a test I've been washing all of our cars at home with the rinseless process when they get really dirty, and the waterless process when just heavily dusty. If the car gets rained on, it gets the rinseless treatment. My wife drives a Chevy in Victory Red, a very intense, deep red with no metallic in it. It's second only to black in degree of difficulty to keep looking good. It has ONLY been washed with these two methods for the past year and still, no swirls. Nothing. Nada. I know a lot of very high level pro detailers who work on crazy expensive cars, and this is their go to method for washing these days.
Just keep this in mind: towel management is critical to success. I can't stress that enough.
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Re: waterless car wash
I almost never use soap of any kind on any of my vehicles unless they are just filthy. My '86 Daytona Turbo Z (garage queen) has never seen soap, not surprising since it's only seen rain twice. In the 21/2 years that I have had my Crossfire it has never seen soap. Even my Jeep has only seen soap when it was extremely dirty after off roading. It's 16 years old and has spent every night and day that I have owned it sitting outside. The paint is 100% original and it has won two trophies so far this year at local car shows. The aforementioned Meguier's Wax and Wash Anywhere is a great product and when the Jeep is fairly dirty it's my go to product. To be honest though most of the time the Jeep is not that dirtry, maybe a layer of dust or pollen and a few spots here and there I use my car duster and a spray bottle of water and some microfiber towels to clean it up. When I do that I will usually follow up with a spray detailer. I also wipe it down after it rains with a plush terry towel or some microfiber towels. The paint is not perfect but considering it sits outside all the time it still looks pretty darn good. As for the Daytona and the Crossfire it's nothing but the duster and the detailer 99.999% of the time. In addition I apply a coat of quality wax to all my vehicles at least twice a year.
103_1204_zpsibh2zmtk.jpg
103_1204_zpsibh2zmtk.jpg
Re: waterless car wash
I don't understand people's aversion to soap. Soap is not a bad thing, in fact it's a very positive part of the wash process. A proper car wash shampoo (not dishwashing detergent mind you) contains surfactants, emulsifiers and lubricants that do a far better job of cleaning the paint and protecting it from scratching than plain water does. The trick is to not over use it. Usually all you need is one ounce of a typical car wash soap per gallon of water, and you're better off putting the water in the bucket first and then adding the appropriate amount of shampoo. Stir it up a bit and you're good to go. No, you won't have much in the way of suds doing it that way, but suds are not what cleans the paintwork, it's the shampoo diluted/dispersed in the water that does. As long as your washing one section of the car at a time and rinsing as you go you don't have to worry about soap drying on the paint.
Of course, that's the "old school" way these days as waterless and rinseless washes are quickly changing the detailing and personal car care industry pretty quickly. It takes a bit to wrap your head around it, but done right it's awesome. But again, the technology and chemistry in these products is totally different from a traditional car wash shampoo so you can achieve the same, if not greater, level of safety with less product and a hell of a lot less water.
But using just plain water with no or very little "soap" is just not a good idea.
Of course, that's the "old school" way these days as waterless and rinseless washes are quickly changing the detailing and personal car care industry pretty quickly. It takes a bit to wrap your head around it, but done right it's awesome. But again, the technology and chemistry in these products is totally different from a traditional car wash shampoo so you can achieve the same, if not greater, level of safety with less product and a hell of a lot less water.
But using just plain water with no or very little "soap" is just not a good idea.
Re: waterless car wash
My company installed a truck wash. The rinse is hot water softened and filtered. It has a pre-soak, soap, rinse...and the final rinse which is the soften/filtered water. No water spots on my black rig at all. The soap is pretty good as well. You really don't need to broom the rig if it isn't all that dirty. We have a fire hose feature as well for the really hard to get off mud and such. But you don't want to get close to any paint or it will remove it as well.....
Re: waterless car wash
It really depends on how dirty the car is. My Crossfire sits in my garage a good bit of time between drives, so a lot of times it's just dusty and needs a good wipe down. If it's a little bit dirty I sue Griot's Garage waterless wash + their waterless wash microfibers, which are a bit bigger and plusher than your standard issue microfiber. But if the car is full-on dirty, I prefer to use the ol' soap and bucket method as I don't want to grind dirt into the paint/clearcoat with a microfiber towel.
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