Car washing for apt. dweller

L

lonestar

New member
I just got a new car and I'm determined to take better care of this one then the last one I had. After reading a lot of the great info here I'm starting to wondering if taking good care of my car will leave me enough time to earn the money for the payments.



I can't wash the car where I live. If I use a self-wash place, is it safe to use their pressure hose?
 
I can't see why not. Make sure to "blow out" any dirt in their hose before hand my running the water through for a second before taking aim at your car.



make sure to take extra quaters since you'll need the water a lot.



also, try to park away from the sprinklers in your apartment complex so your car doen't get watered and develop spots or etching.



a car cover may be a worthy investment if you don't have a garage in your complex.
 
SYNC:



If you can't wash by hand at your apartment, then the coin-operated wash is the best you can do. A quick couple of comments about coin-operated washs. I have read on Autopia and other sites that some of these places may use recycled water--water that they collect and run through a filter. Find out if your place does this. Problem is that the filter may not get the water clean and you may end up damaging your paint. Second, it may have signs saying no hand/bucket washing--this is done to keep lines short (and tempers on weekends). If you can go at odd times--early morning or late at night--then doing the car by hand will help. You can use the pressure washer to rinse the car, but I would then bring my bucket, Meguirars Gold Class Wash and MF mit to wash the car by hand. Be careful not to get the pressure washer too cloase to the paint. I would stay away from their soap cycles and expecially their brush--will scratch paint! Use the pressure washer to rince the car and stay away from the spray wax--god knows what they are using.



Hope this helps. There are others on this board who have to use the coin-ops, so hopefully they will help you out too. God luck:xyxthumbs
 
>>make sure to take extra quaters since you'll need the water a lot.



That did occur to me. I can see how I'll be spending quite a bit just for the water.



>>a car cover may be a worthy investment if you don't have a garage in your complex.



I've been thinking about that also. I guess I'll need to do a QD each time before I put on the cover so it doesn't grind dirt into the finish.
 
>>some of these places may use recycled water--water that they collect and run through a filter. Find out if your place does this. Problem is that the filter may not get the water clean and you may end up damaging your paint



I've read that also. I live in a rural town of 9,000. There's only one self-wash here.
 
I've never tried this, but I always wondered if those sprayers would work. You know, you fill them up with like 1-5 gallons of water and pesticide/fertilizer/deck finisher or whatever, give the handle a few pumps, and then start spraying. I wondered if one of those would cut it for rinsing down the car before and after soaping it up. I have no idea, though. I imagine the pumping would take it's toll. You might not have any strength left to wax.
 
Aurora40 said:
I've never tried this, but I always wondered if those sprayers would work. You know, you fill them up with like 1-5 gallons of water and pesticide/fertilizer/deck finisher or whatever, give the handle a few pumps, and then start spraying. I wondered if one of those would cut it for rinsing down the car before and after soaping it up. I have no idea, though. I imagine the pumping would take it's toll. You might not have any strength left to wax.
Click to expand...
I've used a 2-gal garden sprayer (refilled several times from a 5-gal plastic gas can) to wash in my apartment parking lot before. I fill my bucket from the 5-gal container, and use the garden sprayer for rinsing (I've removed the sprayer nozzle, though, so I get a stream of water instead of spray). It's not fast enough to allow you to do more than about one panel at a time, so I wash, rinse, and dry one or two panels at a time, then move on. It takes a while, and you have to dry a bit more than normal because you'll get some rinse water from the current panel onto adjacent panels already dried, but it does work well. Actually, for me, the car probably ends up cleaner using this method than any other. The amount of time I take per panel, and the fact that I do the side panels sitting on a short scooter stool with my face just a couple of inches from the paint, allow me to do a more thorough cleaning.



Tort
 
An alternative:



I have a couple of friends that are apartment dwellers and have invited them to use my driveway and hose. I would ask friends at work (who own houses) if you could pay them a couple of bucks (or a six-pack of adult beverages) to use the hose.



I have a couple of stipulations when visited by my friends:



1: No spraying of tires with 'super-leave-nasty-stains-shiny-crap' while parked on the cement driveway.



2: No music that disturbs me while inside the house



Its worth a try.
 
SYNC:



Where in Iowa? I lived for two years in a small town in Nebraska--pop 2000! Funny enough--it had two coin operated washes and six bars! The problem with the washes was that the farmers would come into town with trucks covered in mud and would leave the wash bays a freaking mess--couldn't pull the car in witout getting mud everywhere on my car or have to walk in it



:scared
 
SYNC:



Sure--south of Iowa City and east of Ottumwa. Nice country--I do miss the peacefulness of the plains and corn fields!



Like UXU said--see if any friends or co-workers would allow you to use their hose and space. Either way--you should be in good shape. I take it you have read many of the posts to know the do's and dont's of proper auto care. Autopia has been a blessing--I always kept my cars in good shape--but would rely on automated car washes when weather got bad. Now I know why I had swirls and scratches!



I was at a gas station the other day that has a supposed "soft" car wash. Took my car through it once before I was enlightened by Autopia--came out with all sorts of marks, plus the scuff the worker put on it using a brush on the backend. Well, on this day I saw a guy pull up in a 2002 745Li BMW--a $78, 000 car and he was taking through the car wash! Well, guess he has the money to pay a good detailer to get rid of the problems the automated wash will do!



Good luck and happy washing:xyxthumbs
 
One of the reasons I thought of using a self-wash place instead of a friend is so the car would be shaded. Do you guys wash your car in the evening or do you cheat?



Also, it's often quite windy here. I'm concerned that washing my car when it's windy, and not sheltered, will just get more junk on the car.
 
SYNC:



The shelter of the coin wash makes sense. You could end up with containments on the car which could cause swirls/scratching when washing and drying.



I only wash in the early morning or evening. The surface of the car should be cool and should be in the shade. If not, you will have problems with hard water spots and the washing shampoo drying on the surface--not a good thing.
 
Another possibility is using the "Quick and Easy Wash" product made by Protectall. If your vehicle is not one of the farmers covered with mud, it might do the job for you. I have been using it for a month or so when the car has just enough dirt that the CCD and QD process doesn't seem like a real good idea. So far, my results have been good. If you do a search, you will find several references to the stuff. I believe it was Scottwax that made reference to it when I first read something about it.



Charles
 
Sync, you may also want to check and see if any of your friends live in apt complexes that have a car wash area that you could use. WHen I used to live in an apt, I had a good friend that lived in a fancier complex that had a really nice and shaded garage area with hoses for washing. Id go over there really early in the morning or late at night and no one ever said anything...ssshh!!:)
 
I live in an apartment and have been using self washes for awhile now.I recommend trying the quick and easy wash first(I am going to try it as soon as I get some),but if you do use the self wash absolutely positively DO NOT use their brush I can't believe some of the stuff that I have seen people do with that brush, One guy cleaned all the broken glass bottles out of his truck bed with that brush,and just left it all on the ground and took off. I am there quite often and for long periods of time so I see alot of stuff that just makes me cringe, it's enough to make a true autopian go crazy.
 
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