How to set up for touchless carwash?

[proman3998]

I am trying to learn what equipment I need and how I would go about setting up a system in which I will touch the paint as little as possible when washing. So far from what I have researched I gather I would do something like the following.

Rinse with a PW, Foam, Rinse with a CR Spotless, Dry with a leaf blower. I am not sure if that is correct. Do I need any more equipment. I am still learning. Also, I know nothing about the PW's. I am looking to spend around 350. What should I be looking for...there are a lot on craigslist but what psi and gpm should I be looking for in order to not damage my paint... i wanna be safe and not mess up my car. Any suggestions or resources so that I can learn more and make an educated decision.



Thanks.

 

[StadiumDetail]

A good plan so far but have you considered Optimum No Rinse (ONR)? Generally there is a lot of road grime on paint that won't come off with a foam and rinse, it requires agitation. ONR is as safe as you can get if used with a proper wash mit, run a search on the forum and read up a bit if you haven't already it has been covered numerous times.



$350 is easily enough for a pressure washer. GPM is far more important than psi, the larger the gpm the better the rinse and 1500psi is more than enough power to blast anything off and all washers can do that pressure easily.

Gas generally has more GPM for the money, but they are loud. Electric as small/portable, quiet, but I personally don't care for them as a regular everyday unit.

 

[proman3998]

A good plan so far but have you considered Optimum No Rinse (ONR)? Generally there is a lot of road grime on paint that won't come off with a foam and rinse, it requires agitation. ONR is as safe as you can get if used with a proper wash mit, run a search on the forum and read up a bit if you haven't already it has been covered numerous times.



$350 is easily enough for a pressure washer. GPM is far more important than psi, the larger the gpm the better the rinse and 1500psi is more than enough power to blast anything off and all washers can do that pressure easily.

Gas generally has more GPM for the money, but they are loud. Electric as small/portable, quiet, but I personally don't care for them as a regular everyday unit.

thanks a lot. yea, i have heard of onr, and i have read about people using it after a touchless wash. do you suggest a certain mitt, and in terms of marring, how would i reduce or eliminate micro marring on my black car with this method.



thanks a lot.

 

[XRL]

The NOMAD power sprayers would be a good thing to have as well. It'll let you spray your waterless wash on (HD, ONR, any of other others), and it'll give a little pressure to get some of the dirt off. Then you can go back over it by hand, but the more dirt that you can get off before the touching of the car the quicker (and safer for the paint) it will be.

 

[Dan]

I find that if I foam/pre-soak, then pressure wash the dirt/grime off, I get very little marring if any. At that point all that is left is the grungy film and it comes off easily with a good mitt.

 

[proman3998]

A good plan so far but have you considered Optimum No Rinse (ONR)? Generally there is a lot of road grime on paint that won't come off with a foam and rinse, it requires agitation. ONR is as safe as you can get if used with a proper wash mit, run a search on the forum and read up a bit if you haven't already it has been covered numerous times.



$350 is easily enough for a pressure washer. GPM is far more important than psi, the larger the gpm the better the rinse and 1500psi is more than enough power to blast anything off and all washers can do that pressure easily.

Gas generally has more GPM for the money, but they are loud. Electric as small/portable, quiet, but I personally don't care for them as a regular everyday unit.

what gpm would you reccommend as a minimum?? i just ordered some ONR, what would you suggest as a wash mitt for this? anything special i should know about the ONR? thanks..