freezing temps and no garage

C

cpa5oh

New member
If you don't have a garage and you don't want road salt/dirt sitting on your car for weeks in the winter while the temperature is in the teens or worse, how do you go about washing your vehicle? (This is related to my daily driver, which is a car that I didn't really take care of much until I got a car worthy of detailing which has now made me want to take care of the daily driver.)



I can't imagine you'd pull out the hose otherwise you'd end up with a big block of ice for a car...and it seems like a waterless wash on a vehicle with road salt and winter grime would have to cause some serious marring. I guess an ONR wash *could* work...but I dunno, haven't tried it.
 
cpa5oh said:
I guess an ONR wash *could* work...but I dunno, haven't tried it.
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ONR with a bucket of warm water is probably your best bet. Give it a shot. Otherwise, a coin-op or touchless in a pinch, as Charlie stated.
 
I assume when you guys mention the coin-op you aren't talking about using the brush, right? Even though, the one near me has a brush with really soft bristles and the soap comes out so hard that it's gotta be cleaning alot of the grit out of bristles...
 
cpa5oh said:
I assume when you guys mention the coin-op you aren't talking about using the brush, right? Even though, the one near me has a brush with really soft bristles and the soap comes out so hard that it's gotta be cleaning alot of the grit out of bristles...
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Absolutely! Depending on how concerned you are about your car it may be best to only use this as a rinse to get the majority of the salt and dirt off. You can never be sure of the nature of the soaps used or what concentration. It is possible they can easily strip your LSP. This is primarily for the times when you just have no other option or it's more than ONR can/should handle safely.
 
Nth Degree said:
Absolutely! Depending on how concerned you are about your car it may be best to only use this as a rinse to get the majority of the salt and dirt off. You can never be sure of the nature of the soaps used or what concentration. It is possible they can easily strip your LSP. This is primarily for the times when you just have no other option or it's more than ONR can/should handle safely.
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:werd: And the only time I would ever use the brush at a coin-op wash is in the bed of my truck, which is coated with LineX.
 
Here is an idea I use, put ONR in single Grit Guard bucket fill with warm water at home and throw in your wash mitt, sponge, etc. Put the lid on tight. Bring wheel cleaner, APC and brush to clean wheels. Drive to wash bay. Rinse car down to get rid of as much crap as possible, clean wheels as best you can. Now wash with your bucket of ONR, rinse and dry as best you can. Not a perfect summer wash but better IMHO then nothing or putting car through the "wash and scratch" and except for rinse water you are using your own products. I suppose you could drag two buckets if you wish and fill them at coin op. Some of the coin op places have a "spotless rinse setting" which I guess is their version of CR spotless in which case you can skip drying as well.
 
Actually, I do drag out the hose. I connect it to my kitchen faucet and drag it out the door. I use very warm water (and it never "melted" anything other than snow and ice) to wash off heavy debris, and wet the surface. I have a bucket of warm water and car wash suds, and I hose down one panel at a time and immediately wash with my suds-saturated mitt, and rinse with the warm water. In below freezing temps, I quickly wipe the washed panel dry with my microfiber towel. The biggest downside is trying not to slip on the newly created ice under my feet! Fell a couple of times.
 
Nth Degree said:
ONR with a bucket of warm water is probably your best bet. Give it a shot. Otherwise, a coin-op or touchless in a pinch, as Charlie stated.
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That depends on what sort of freezing. Judging by your location, that might work. Around here when it gets in the mid 20's or below, ONR freezes once you get it on the paint!
 
In the winter (20 degrees or higher) I just drive to my local car wash, drop 2 silver dollars in the slot and rinse the car. My car wash uses warm water during the winter on a rinse. I wipe the Z2 prepped door jams of moisture, wipe the windows and gas cap door. Takes me 6 minutes. Just keep the car running on warm defrost or warm a/c, move fast and drive home with the cleanest car in the neighborhood.
 
Well!!

The mag cloride being used today by most cities and states is far more corrosive than the old rock salt.

Everytime it gets exposed to moisture it starts eating away, at "everything!".

A few years before I retired, was heavily involved with many vehicle manufacturers, truck and bus manufacturers regarding a dramatic increase in corrosion of the metals. Mag Cloride was determined to be the culprit. If you live in Canada, it's even worse, as may areas use the water borne solution as a dust control on gravel roads. Every time it rains, even in summer, corrosion is going to take place.

We even produced a special 4 color brochure for the use of school bus maintance barns and such.

If you want one, or a paper we did on this concern, just call Beth and request a free one-800-543-7156. Tell her Grumpy said to call.

So, for the good of your vehicle during winter in areas were this is applied, bite the bullet for the winter.

Go to the "wave a wand" and spray the hell out of the under of the wheel wells, fender lips, etc, and don't worry about using their soap!

Winter will do it's damage to your coatings anyway, and those areas that apply sand or cinders to the roadways are going to do worse things to the vehicle.

Come warm spring, you are Autopian's and going to be chomping at the bit to do your thing anyway.

Just that by power washing, with soap, the vehicle is going to last a lot longer, less corrosion, etc.

Grumpy
 
Before I retired I lived in New Hampshire with a uninsulated, unheated garage with a 14' ceiling so it was as cold in the garage as outside. If the temp was significantly below 32 I really couldn't find any method that worked other than a no touch tunnel wash that had a hot air blow dry at the end. But when the temps would get near 32 I found that if I pulled the car into the sun and let it warm up I could use an ONR wash without it freezing. My wife found these gloves Neoprene Gloves - Neoprene Waterproof Gloves - Duluth Trading Company which are basically a diving suit for your hands--believe me you'll need them.



In late October I'd put on a coat of ZAIO and two coats of Z2 (now using DG105 with two coats of 111 and get the same great protection). I mix up a gallon of water with 2 OZs of ONR in a pump pressure sprayer and use this to pretreat each panel before washing. I use the two bucket method with 3gallons of warm water in each. The wash bucket is double strength ONR (1 OZ per gallon) and the rinse bucket is normal strength ONR (1/2 OZ per gallon) with gritgards in each--now I also add 1 OZ of Aquawax to the wash solution. Wash a half a panel at a time and dry immediately being careful not to let the drying towel go over any unwashed area. Save the lower rocker panels and ofcourse the wheels and wheel wells till last. When the car is really caked with salt and grime I sometimes go through 4 fluffy MF wash mits -- Neatitems | Deep Pile Microfiber Mitts.



It might seem like allot of work, but I had a Metallic Black A6 at the time that I sold for 4K above Kelley BB "Excellent" value after 3 winters and 90K miles. The paint still looked great.
 
Before moving to Hawaii, I lived on the East Coast and I'm quite familiar with the torture cars and (to much bigger extent) Autopians go through in the winter months when it becomes difficult to take good care of them. If ONR simply can't handle the 'stuff' that's now semi-attached to your car, head to the quarter-feed car wash with a stash of your own supplies. It will still be freezing, but the results will tie you over until the spring.
 
I live in WI where winters can often be fairly brutal. Lots of snow, salt and chemical melters mixed in with sand and gravel to keep the roads drivable. I don't have a heated garage and the temps often are well below freezing. ONR is not a viable product for me in this environment so I found a newer Laser Touch-less wash (one not using recycled water) and negotiated with the owner on a bulk package. For the last three years I purchased a card of 16 wash codes for $50. This provides a pretty nice wash and underbody flush for around $3.00 a pop. I take it through the wash at least weekly and run it home to do a UQD (M135) and follow with a UQW (D156). Car looks great much of the winter and is really easy to detail come spring.



My thoughts on car washing in this environment... Leaving the car with this salt/sand/chemical melt on the paint is a no-no. You wind up with this crud on the paint and then it snows. The snow either needs to be pushed off the car or it begins to melt and slide off, abrading the paint in the process as it slides this abrasive crud over the paint. I believe its more important to keep the car clean in the winter than in the summer if you want to avoid swirls.



Damn, As I look up from writing this thread I see it has begun to snow. :(
 
Great replies!



I thought about using a coin op and bringing my own stuff...however, the coin ops near me all have signs all over the place that say "no buckets" and "no hand washing" and two of the four times I was there they had an attendant walking around. I don't wanna do anything that is specifically against their rules...not really sure why they'd care - there are always available booths - but they have the signs up so I assume they do care.



I'm gonna do the touchless wash with a follow up of an instant detailer...either Aquawax, Fast Clean & Shine, or Optimum's Instant Detailer.
 
dreamcatchr23 said:
Before moving to Hawaii, I lived on the East Coast
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I let these personally selected "smilies" show you how I feel about that comment.....



:yell: :censored: :bat :blah: :grrr: :brick:
 
I used Chemical Guys EcoWash this evening...it was dark (though I had good lighting) and cold (around 30 degrees) and the stuff cleaned my car pretty well and left no streaking or haze (there's a gas station near me that is so well lit it's kind of where I go to see what the finish really looks like.) Finish was real slick, too (though not to the degree Optimum Instant Detailer has gotten it after an ONR wash.) Didn't have to mess with a hose or buckets full of water. As for whether the wash caused any swirl marks - doesn't seem like it caused any. And this car was pretty dirty...hadn't been washed in a week, rained twice (and I drove in it both days.) Pretty inexpensive product, too - about $.78 per wash if you buy the concentrate that gets diluted 1:8 (I have a gallon of the ready made product.) I don't think it is a major timesaver over, say, an ONR wash...I was trying to be meticulous about using fresh parts of my towels for each panel, which I think is a must with something like this. Maybe this will work...I'm new to these products and I'm trying stuff and seeing what happens.
 
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