Does pressure washing remove wax?

D

Domas

New member
Hi, I'm a newby, so sorry for dumb question :rolleyes:



I've ordered a pressure washer (1600 psi), and it will be delivered tomorrow. I just thought it will be faster and easier to wash my car, maybe more often, plus avoid sponge friction (swirls) as much as possible. I pretty much presume how the process goes: foam it, let it sit for a while, rub somewhere if there are harder areas (like bugs), and wash with water - right? But I'm also interested in one more thing - If I polish and wax my car after washing, the next time I pressure wash - will the high pressure remove the wax, so this means I'll have to wax everytime after wash ???
 
never a "dumb" question. i'm 54 and ask them all the time. i don't see how it will harm the existing protection.
 
I would say it depends on what pressure and how close you hold the nozzle to the paint. For example, I have seen a pressure washer take off paint if the nozzle was help too close, so I would be cautious. Don't hold the nozzle closer than a few feet away, and yes, I suppose if the velocity and pressure were high enough it could erode away some of your LSP.
 
Do you think 1600 psi pressure might be to strong? At first I was interested in buying a less powered unit - 1400 psi, but the clerk recommended to buy a more powerfull, she said there will be quite a big difference between those two models. I don't know, maybe it's too strong for an amateur...
 
You want a foam cannon if you want to really clean the car without touching it as much.



I would stay a good distance back when washing it with the powerwasher and use a wide setting, I have damaged paint being too close even with 1600psi. How would you react to 1600 lbs pressing down every 1"......lol
 
Regarding the foam cannon - does it need to be bought separately? Here's the washer I ordered:

It includes a bottle with nozzle as you see in the photo - isn't this used for spraying foam?



aquatak.jpg
 
The psi is rated on the narrowest setting, which on my electric will blast concrete clean and pit my driveway and rip wood out of my deck and I'm sure yours will do the same. So never use the narrowest setting on a car!



Just always keep the nozzle at the widest fan setting and you should be okay, until you get used to the pressure washer and how powerful it is then its probably a good idea to keep the nozzle a good foot or two from the surface.



Just for your information, I only pressure wash cars that haven't been washed in a few months.
 
a rule of thumb I've heard in the past is to not hold the nozzle any closer to the paint then you would hold it to your arm.



That might be a good starting place as far as distance away from the paint
 
SCutchins said:
Just for your information, I only pressure wash cars that haven't been washed in a few months.
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Can I ask another newby question, why? I was planning to wash once in two weeks or so, maybe sometimes with water only, just to wash off the dust or light mud. Oh, and maybe you know if P-Washing removes wax?
 
Pressure washing will remove your LSP if too close or the water gets too hot (if you had a heated unit). I will get a little close on the front end of some cars to help remove bugs and you can physically see where it removes the product from the front of the hood. I usually rewax the hood and front fender if I do this.



If washing every couple weeks or so, you should be fine if you follow the above advice by not getting closer to the paint than you would your own arm.
 
Just use the wide setting on the nozzle and use the 4 foot rule...stand back 4 feet to rinse..and that way you do not blow stuff off the car...like emblems...lol....J/k..I rinse at about 4 feet and use a wide setting...no problems





that bottle is the foam gun....it actually does a nice job..it will not do the shaving creme foam..but does a nice foam....

AL
 
I have an 1850 psi Karcher and when used with the widest fan setting, it's pretty safe. Corvettecrazy mentioned in a few post above about the rule of thumb he's heard about, and I have to agree with that. If you shoot yourself with the PW, the water feels pretty soft if you use a safe distance. But if you're inches away and you shoot, it's gonna hurt. So if you follow that rule, you should be safe. Just make sure not to use the nozzle meant for cleaning concrete. That will definitely rip paint off.



As far as removing LSP, I haven't personally noticed it yet myself. What I have noticed since adding a PW to my washing is that when I wash (using the 2 bucket method) I hardly ever have any dirt or grit in my rinse bucket. I have a foam cannon that works well for pre-rinsing, but it hasn't save me any time or anything. In fact, because mine is so hard to attach, I only use it if the car is really dirty and I want to soak it in foam for a few minutes.
 
AL-53 said:
that bottle is the foam gun....it actually does a nice job..it will not do the shaving creme foam..but does a nice foam....

AL
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I now have the washer and used it. Water pressure and everything else is very good, but that bottle is like $hit... The washer sucks that bottle in less than a minute, I can't even completely spray the whole car with one bottle... And the foam is not as thick as I expected, not even close to shaving creme foam :( I'd like to get foam at least like this guy:

YouTube - Karcher Foam Fun



His bottle is smaller than mine and he gets more foam, and it seems he can spray the whole car several times with one bottle...

Do you guys know any good foamgun-bottles for a low price?
 
domas...thats the foam gun I have the karcher..I assumed the one you had would do as good...guess not...I have another foam gun also...a Cam Spray...this does te shaving creme foam...but I like the karcher also....I can do 2 cars with the Karcher one...I just do a quick foaming and then bucket wash it....



the karcher may fit your machine....it is cheap.like 16.00 on line...just need to see if the ends are the same....to fit into each other



AL
 
AL-53 said:
domas...thats the foam gun I have the karcher..I assumed the one you had would do as good...guess not...I have another foam gun also...a Cam Spray...this does te shaving creme foam...but I like the karcher also....I can do 2 cars with the Karcher one...I just do a quick foaming and then bucket wash it....



the karcher may fit your machine....it is cheap.like 16.00 on line...just need to see if the ends are the same....to fit into each other



AL
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Well, it does very similar foam like Karcher, maybe a little less foamy, but the main thing I don't like about this Bosch gun is that it sprays whole bottle very fast. Bosch produces adapters for Karcher accesories, so I could buy an adapter and then buy a Karcher foam gun.



Regarding the Cam Spray - is it with bottle and hooks up on Karcher trigger gun? (If so, it would also fit my Bosch). You mentioned you have a "shaving cream foam" gun, but also like to use Karcher - can I ask what's the advantage of less dense Karcher foam over the shaving cream foam?



I found one foam gun, it costs $60 so I think it should do quite nice foam, but I'm not sure about its fittings, can you help me with this? Is this universal fitting, or I should do any DIY's to attach it?:



PressureParts.com Offers ::Foam Cannon With Tank
 
Domas said:
Well, it does very similar foam like Karcher, maybe a little less foamy, but the main thing I don't like about this Bosch gun is that it sprays whole bottle very fast.
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I'd just get a length of rubber tubing in the right size and find a big bottle that fits (that's what I cobbled together for my as-yet-unused foamcannon). Or even just use a bucket with wash solution in it (I do this with my siphon-feed sprayer that I use for prewashing at present).





can I ask what's the advantage of less dense Karcher foam over the shaving cream foam?
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Different take: I always wonder if there's a real advantage to the very *thick* foam :nixweiss. As I understand it, the whole idea behind this type of (thick, presoak)foaming is increasing the dwell time. I dunno just how thick the foam needs to be for that but I bet it's not shaving cream-thick. Yeah, it looks cool, but I dunno about the true funtionality of it :think:
 
Regarding the foam density - when I was buying wash solution for using with power washer, I talked with clerk about usage and etc. He said that when the foam is not very creamy (watery foam), it means there is more solution in the water (solution is more concentrated). And when the foam is shaving cream like, the solution is less concentrated. As we all know, the more concentrated is the solution, the better it works and the better it removes dirt. However, the more concentrated solution (watery foam) will not hold on to vertical surfaces as good as cream foam, so it will drain down fast with very short dwell time.



It looks like both ways are pretty much equal.

Watery foam - more effective, but drains down too fast.

Cream foam - less effective, but holds on a lot longer. (longer dwell time will do the job)
 
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