Need advice -- coin op wash

T

tguil

New member
I dropped one of my Harleys on my ankle and am now sitting on my butt with a repaired but badly broken ankle. When my wife took me to the hospital, we got my freshly detailed (NXT) black Hemi muddy as h---.



My wife will wash my truck for me. The truck is so muddy that I think that she will mess up with a handwash. I know she will. That leaves the coin op wash. During the winter I use the coin op but bring my own soap and and a wash bucket. Again with my wife doing the wash, I don't think that is an option. It will be the carwash products or nothing.



Any suggestions other than using a lot of quarters and plenty of good terry towels. I plan have her go over the truck a bunch of times. The problem is the scum that is left after rinsing. Has anyone tried using a water soaked terry towel to make a first pass on this scum before drying the truck?



Once the Hemi is washed, it will be sitting in the garage for six - eight weeks. The bikes will be sitting too. No Sturgis this year. :(



Tom:cool:
 
Has anyone tried using a water soaked terry towel to make a first pass on this scum before drying the truck?
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:shocked



Why don't you give her a short clinic on wash technique, then follow the high pressure rinse (only) with a hand wash? Just give her the basics so that your marriage doesn't disintegrate (front to back, frequent mitt rinsing, two buckets, etc...). I think this would be 1000 times safer than rinse followed by drying.
 
Just make sure she doesn't use the automated "foaming brush" most of those places have.



Honestly, the best you can really hope for from one of those places is to get most of the visible mud/dirt off. The car won't be "clean" by any detail enthusiats' standard. Any additional wiping is only oging to grind the remaining dirt into your paint.



Unless your wife shares your detailing passion (which it doesn't sound like), I would just stress avoiding things that outright damage the paint and hope she listens to at least that. At least the mud will be gone, evn if the finish isn't up to your normal standards.
 
Heck, I was anywhere near you I would come obver and wash it for you myself.....I have to beleive that there might be some autotopians near you that would extend the same offer?
 
I use the coin operated wash often, but only to rinse the vehicle thourghly before hand washing. I just pop about 5 bucks in the thing and use the high pressure rinse water to get the truck very well rinsed, and get as much dirt off as possible. Then I fill my bucket with soap, and blast it with the high pressure water to fill it up and make some nice suds. Then I just do a regular hand wash, rinse, and dry.



Me truck comes out great, and I find this method gives me less scratches and swirles than washing in my drive way, because in the drive way I cant get all the dirt off by rinsing with my low pressure garden hose before I hand wash with a mitt.
 
wifehatescar said:
You could try to find a local Autopian style professional detailer in the area to wash it...?
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What he said.



Spend a few bucks, but save your peace of mind and your marriage (what's the difference between a swirl and a gouge?--you don't really want to know, do you?).



Good luck, and hope you're up and around again soon.:)
 
SInce i live in an apartment i have to use one of those.

Here's my method.

Take 2 buckets, 1 for the car wash, 1 for wheels

Put money in

- rinse car

- rinse wheels and spray cleaner

- fill both buckets

- spray off wheel cleaner

Now the money for 1st turn has run out.

- clean wheels and tires with brushes and 1 bucket

- wash car with second bucket

Put more money in and rinse car off and clean buckets out.

Dry car.



When it gets home, QD the car with a microfiber towel.

Thats my friday night routine.



Don't use their soap, most likely it will strip the wax.



I would suggest going in the evening for 2 reasons,

1. the sun is down so the water won't dry up as fast.

2. You don't have as many people there waiting behind you to use the bay you are in.



The one i go to doesn't allow bucket washing when others are waiting behind you. SUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!
 
What about using spring water as the water in your bucket? I don't trust the integrity of the water at a coin-op (its recycled many times over), so while I'll wet and rinse with it, I will use the spring water to clean and soap up the truck.



Does that sound like a good idea? I mean anything to minimize spreading sand and other things on the paint.
 
Perhaps this will work better for you!



The benifit to the coin-op is they usually have a pretty miled pressure washer... that should get most of the "Mud" off.



I think that you could have her do a Really good job with very little instruction!



And have her do it simalar to the way you do! (Be prepaird though I garuntee it won't be done to your satisfaction) so don't be too picky (at least it will be Clean)



Sit down at the dinner table and go though the steps that you think are assential with her! If you not going to be out of commision too long then don't worry to much about the little stuff!



As a last option!



Bring it over to a local detail shop that does "Hand washing" and explain your situation! Chances are pretty good that they will be willing to help you out... they typicly don't charge much for just an exterior wash and vacuum
 
l33....I live in an apt too, and I use QEW (Protect All's "Quick and Easy Wash") right in my parking stall. Once you get the hang of it, only the odd drip hits the ground.



I may be telling you something you already know, but QEW is highly esteemed on this forum -- just do a search, and you'll see. In one of Scottwax's posts, for e.g., he said he now does over 90% of his washes with QEW. If a customer wants a hose wash, he (and other detailers on the board) charge more for it, because it takes more time.



It works unbelievably well.



tguil.....would QEW help in your dilemma? Unless you're stiil in the hospital, under your watchful eye, she could hose down the truck to get the worst of the dirt off, then QEW it, with you giving detailed instruction throughout....I suppose you could do the same with a traditional hand wash, but QEW and the two bucket, two mitt method seems safer to me.



Just a thought.
 
If using a pressure washer, spray at a 45 degree angle so as not to blast the dirt into the paint. The lower the pressure the better.



If you cannot alter the pressure, stand futher away from the car.
 
Thanks guys.



There seems to be overwhelming agreement not to just use the carwash as most folks do.



I think that I can convince my wife to use my winter routine ---- Rinse off the mud and crud using the rinse cyle and then bucket wash from the top down using a cotton wash mitt and NXT shampoo. (I mix the solution ahead off time in a 5 gallon plastic gas can that is only used for this purpose. At the carwash I put the contents into a 5 gallon bucket. I may mix up two buckets for this wash.) Then I'll use the high pressure rinse follwed by terry and microfiber towels.



I can do the wheels and tires at home.



The Hemi Quad Cab is a heck of a lot of truck. I should just be glad that she is willing to wash it. :)



A friend on mine owns a detail shop. He charges $25 or so for good hand wash. when I suggested this to my wife. The response was, "I can do it for a lot less!" After 40 years of marriage you have a good sense of "when to hold and when to fold." :D



Tom :cool:
 
tguil said:
A friend on mine owns a detail shop. He charges $25 or so for good hand wash. when I suggested this to my wife. The response was, "I can do it for a lot less!" After 40 years of marriage you have a good sense of "when to hold and when to fold." :D
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:LOLOL



I'm divorced; I guess I never learned. But then again, my ex metamorphosed into a complete b***h about 7 years into our 14. She's still a b***h -- some things never change. <sigh>



I wouldn't give a rat's a**, except my kids live with her. :(
 
The truck has been washed. We decided to do it at home. The mud rinsed off OK with only the pressure from our regular hose. Letting it sit in a heavy rain prior to washing helped. We used NXT shampoo and managed to avoid any marring.



The Harley is OK except for a little road rash on the underside of the mufflers. The front exhaust heat shield will be replaced because of a dent caused by my ankle. The bike would have had a lot more damage had it not been for my ankle. :D



Because it's my right ankle I'm going to be a passenger for a lot longer than I want to be.



Again, thanks for the help and "words of wisdom" about marriage. :D



Tom :cool:
 
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