Is a pressure washer a necessary wash tool? (read before voting)

Is a pressure washer a necessary wash tool? (read before voting)

  • Yes definately, if very dirty

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Doesn't really make that much diffrence

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
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Neo62381

New member
I live in Boone, NC, where they religeously believe in road salt/sand, as a result, people that live up here have the dirtiest cars, after just one trip to the store! As I was washing my car today, I tried to hose off as much dirt as possible off the car before washing, in order to prevent heavy surface marring, but I really don't think it worked too well. As a result, I spent all day rinsing my mitt a killion times. It was really discouraging. So my question is this: In order to effectively take care of one's own personal vehicle, after a nasty trip, is a pressure washer pretty much mandatory before a regular, healthy, two bucket wash routine?



Any opinions and help on this matter is greatly appreciated! :spot
 
Neo62381 said:
I live in Boone, NC, where they religeously believe in road salt/sand, as a result, people that live up here have the dirtiest cars, after just one trip to the store! As I was washing my car today, I tried to hose off as much dirt as possible off the car before washing, in order to prevent heavy surface marring, but I really don't think it worked too well. As a result, I spent all day rinsing my mitt a killion times. It was really discouraging. So my question is this: In order to effectively take care of one's own personal vehicle, after a nasty trip, is a pressure washer pretty much mandatory before a regular, healthy, two bucket wash routine?

Any opinions and help on this matter is greatly appreciated! :spot
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I say a foam gun would be much safer than a pressure washing on a very dirty car.
 
I can understand where you are coming from, and I have a gilmour foam gun, however for the step I am metioning, there is just way too much salt and dirt on the vehicle! :-)
 
Neo62381 said:
I can understand where you are coming from, and I have a gilmour foam gun, however for the step I am metioning, there is just way too much salt and dirt on the vehicle! :-)
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I've seen power washers marr really dirty cars. The high pressure from the water can "push" the dirt into the paint. There really is nothing lifting it up and away. I try and keep a good coat of sealant on my car about every month during the winter to make cleaning easier.
 
Pressure washing sure makes rinsing off the car much easier, but especially with the hood or other areas up front with chips in the paint from rocks and whatnot, I've learned from experience you should have the sprayer further away from the car itself to prevent from washing away the clear coat! Something to keep in mind......
 
Maybe try QEW as a prespray. I am having good sucess with that followed by the foam gun this winter. I keep improving my wash tech as I go with things I learn along the way. Pressure washers are reserved for the underside of my cars.
 
I never use my (Karcher) pressure washer for this, because of the possible problems already mentioned and because I'd worry about a) dislodging trim and b) forcing dirt up under trim and into other hard to access areas.



I do understand the rationale behind the idea and I'm sure not saying it won't work, just that it's not the approach I take.



When my vehicles are really dirty (and believe me, the minivan gets truly *awful* some times!) I use the foamgun with a BHB. I just *barely* touch the panels with the BHB, blasting foam through the bristles all the while. I don't press hard enough to bend the bristles over and I don't "swipe" the BHB across the panel, I sorta "jiggle it" so that if there *is* any marring, it's only gonna be maybe 1/4" long. I suggest repeating the mantra "dislodge and flush" to keep in the proper mindset :D (no, no, J/K)



And I still rinse the BHB out and dunk it in the shampoo bucket even when using the foamgun. I might go over a panel many times this way, gradually and *VERY GENTLY* dislodging the dirt. Then I wash again with mitts. And if there's any chance my mitt isn't rinsing clean I get out a fresh one. Any tenacious dirt that won't come off gets clayed with Sonus green and I wash the panel again after that. I carefully inspect each panel after the final rinse before moving on to the next one.



It's not easy, and it's sure not quick, but I can usually get through (a tough Ohio) winter without significant marring.



BTW, using a slick LSP helps immensely.
 
Accumulator, its very impressive that you take that much care of your paint!



I'm not that disciplined, I only detail my car and some friends. Anyway, I follow a much shorter version, I use a BHB alone and make several passes and rinses (never using pressure washer) being very gentle to start a bit more aggressive each pass. Its not perfect, but on my paint (honda w/ fiji blue pearl) almost anything I try introduces some light marring.



Well, I don't have much to add except if you are able to rinse with warm (not hot) water this can really help loosen up some of the dirt initially.
 
Yes for dirty cars and even moderately dirty ones

The thing to do though is to stand alongside the car and spray the water across the paint, not at it

99% of the population normally spray straight at it. You are pushing the dirt into the paint with that method



Side panels - use a horizontal pattern

Rest - vertical pattern



Really dirty cars should have the excess grime removed with the pressure gun at about 50% pressure, then full pressure



Accummulator is my inspiration. Because of him I adopted a 4 bucket, 6 mitt method and that number will only go up, maybe 6 buckets



I hate swirls and marring
 
SVR said:
.. Because of [Accumulator] I adopted a 4 bucket, 6 mitt method and that number will only go up, maybe 6 buckets..
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Heh heh, I stopped at five (one for wheels) :D But considering that I do all my washes with the foamgun, those four buckets are still kinda overkill anyhow. But as ybajwa implied, I overkill the washh process in general.



If I had super soft paint (well, I *do* on the Jag, but it doesn't really get dirty) I'd *really* make sure I was being as gentle as possible. I still think I save time overall by spending forever on a wash but hardly any time on polishing, but it might be a toss up. And yeah, it *is* a hassle to find time to do one of my washes at times.
 
SpoiledMan said:
How about pressure washing after soaking with foam?
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:bigups





My pressure washer is safe enough to get the job done (1300psi) and comes with a foaming attachment and reservoir for soap. It's a Black & Decker model and is available at www.amazon.com





I love the piece and don't know where I'd be without it.
 
I couldn't vote for either option. I would never use a pressure washer on my car. I would rather use QEW on a salt covered filthy car than a pressure washer. It's just my opinion but I think there is a greater risk of marring with a pressure washer than from QEW in every circumstance. I just don't like the thought of using pressure to remove salt, dirt or debris of any kind.
 
GSRstilez said:
:bigups





My pressure washer is safe enough to get the job done (1300psi) and comes with a foaming attachment and reservoir for soap. It's a Black & Decker model and is available at www.amazon.com





I love the piece and don't know where I'd be without it.
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Sean you're mobile right? How're you bypassing the drainage laws with soap runoff etc?
 
I know i'm going to catch hell about this drawn out subject but it's just what I've experienced up to now:

I managed an indoor do-it-yourself car wash that had 13 bays and I never experienced any person whose vehicle had any molding, trim or part damaged or loosened as a result of pressure washing. I worked there almost 10 years and saw 100's of thousands of customers go through our doors. Our pressure washers output was between 1300-1500 psi. We also power washed every vehicle that was detailed at my detail shop and again never experienced any problem over that 10 year period. In both settings there were people of various intelligence using these pressure washers. I handled every complaint under the sun, but never any that pertained to damage created by the pressure. It's my opinion, from experience, that pressure washing a vehicle is not harmful and I don't see how someone can effectively clean the wheel wells and/or undercarriage of a vehicle without some type of high pressure washing, especially in a road salt atmosphere. I'm not going to say it can't and isn't being done, but it's so much easier and quicker with a pressure washer. Yes, I do believe that if someone gets too close with the gun to an area with multiple stone chips or repaint work that has not been properly prepped, there could be a problem.

Again, this is just my opinion from what I've experienced.
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh, I stopped at five (one for wheels) :D But considering that I do all my washes with the foamgun, those four buckets are still kinda overkill anyhow. But as ybajwa implied, I overkill the washh process in general.



If I had super soft paint (well, I *do* on the Jag, but it doesn't really get dirty) I'd *really* make sure I was being as gentle as possible. I still think I save time overall by spending forever on a wash but hardly any time on polishing, but it might be a toss up. And yeah, it *is* a hassle to find time to do one of my washes at times.
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Accumulator, I didn't mean to imply its overkill, just that I don't find as much time and also I don't quite have the same level of dedication I've seen on these forums.



You make a very good point about the polishing, in the past I used a sheepskin mitt which gave me a practically scratch free wash, its just a PITA to keep clean, but perhaps worth switching back considering the polishing factor.
 
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