Never wash vehicle method

[Joshua312]

I quick detail daily in order to save time. 37 minutes a day is not bad compared to the 2 hours it would take for a car wash. Plus I do not have to get rid of my protection. Someone calculated the time it takes me in a week for this routine, but it would be foolish of me to focus my mind on the X amount of hours spent. Rather, I focus on the need to wake up a little earlier every day in order to get the job done.



I have prior knowledge about ONR from reading Autopia, but didn't buy into it because it would require a drying step, which is the most time consuming step in vehicle cleaning for me. An ONR would probably take me 1 hour to wash, blade, dry, re-dry, and that is provided it does not remove my wax protection.

You say you are saving time but there is no reason to QD everyday and cause damage rather than spending 2 hours a week with a nice safe wash. You say it is foolish to focus your mind on time spent but you clearly state you focus on time in order to save time by using QD.



I think you should look into ONR a little bit more because it doesnt seem like you understand exactly how it works. You wash with one mitt, follow with a waffle weave to dry the panel. There is no need to use a drying blade and then re-dry. A lot of your steps look like they add marring, those jelly blades are not the safest tool IMO. And actually ONR adds protection rather than removing any...Just my .02

 

[Juztang]

Hello. I appreciate the responses. Let me answer the questions raised:





Questions for ONR users: the product literature says you can wash in your garage. But, I can't imagine doing that without ending up with a significant puddle around the vehicle from all the water dripping down. Do you put a lot of water on the ground when using ONR?

When I use ONR there isn't hardly any water on the ground. You really don't need a ton of water on the mitt. I do most of my details in my garage and customers garages. I think if you go with the ONR you will be completely satisfied. My brother and I can do a car in about 15-20 minutes with the ONR.

 

[User24]

You say you are saving time but there is no reason to QD everyday and cause damage rather than spending 2 hours a week with a nice safe wash.

I've tried hinting at the reason why I QD every day, but here it is: no one is impressed by a dirty car.

You say it is foolish to focus your mind on time spent but you clearly state you focus on time in order to save time by using QD.

Someone early on in the thread actually broke out a mathematical formula to calculate the total time accumulated at the end of each week. All I'm saying is, I'm not going to focus on time spent according to those terms. Do you calculate the hours spent each year on washing weekly? No, you focus on one week at at time, just as I focus one day at at time.



At the same time, I prefer to QD daily rather than car wash daily. A QD is clearly the faster of the two. Just because I choose the timesaver, doesn't mean I'm going to add up the hours spent in my life performing QD--what do you think I am, a sadist?



This thought process isn't contradictory as you are attempting to imply.



I enjoy the civil level of discussion at Autopia so far.

 

[clnfrk]

I quick detail daily in order to save time. 37 minutes a day is not bad compared to the 2 hours it would take for a car wash. Plus I do not have to get rid of my protection. Someone calculated the time it takes me in a week for this routine, but it would be foolish of me to focus my mind on the X amount of hours spent. Rather, I focus on the need to wake up a little earlier every day in order to get the job done.

You say that it would be foolish to focus on the amount of hours spent cleaning your car every week, yet somehow you managed to focus on how many minutes a day you spend. And the fact that you state that it takes you "37 minutes", not about a half hour or a little over a half hour, but 37 minutes! Sure sounds to me like someone focused on the time spent. :nixweiss

 

[Joshua312]

I know QDing is faster than a daily wash, but the damage isnt worth it. You could do an ONR wash on your car every other day and it would only take you 40-45 minutes. And you say no one is impressed by a dirty car, well around here we aren't too impressed with swirls either... I could go around any car and use Poorboys Spray and Wash and just spray and wipe with a microfiber towel to get it clean, but the fact is it will also induce swirls unless their is only like dust, and driving your car accumulates more than just dust. I would like to see a picture of your finish in the sun or under halogens if possible. Trust me I love having a clean car, and every day or every other day I do an ONR wash and it only takes me 40 minutes because the car has only accumulated light dust or splatter from rain, and it is a ton safer than QDing. We are just trying to help you out because we are all car fanatics here and I think ONR would do wonders for you.

 

[User24]

You've convinced me to try ONR.

 

[Joshua312]

You've convinced me to try ONR.

Shoot me your address through a PM and I will send you a sample size of it for you to try it out before committing to a gallon if you would like

 

[User24]

That won't be necessary. I've already ordered direct from Optimum. It was only 15.99 for 32 ounces. Per directions, it is 1 ounce per usage so I should get a month out of this. FYI I go through 1 bottle of speed detailer every two weeks, so this is pricewise comparable.



They have a Paypal checkout system and I could not specify shipping freight, so who knows how long it will take to arrive. I'm in the process of picking out stuff at Autopia's shop now.

 

[Joshua312]

Glad to see you got your hands on some ONR, hopefully it arrives soon so you can try it out. Im sure it wont take too long to arrive. And yes it is 1 ounce of solution per 1 gallon of water. With a slightly dusty car I only need one bucket to complete a wash, and then with the left over water I use it to clean my wheels.



If we ever get snow up here in Michigan, then I usually go with 1 bucket for each side of the car to get the snow/salt off it. Enjoy your detailing products shopping :xyxthumbs

 

[User24]

I know QDing is faster than a daily wash, but the damage isnt worth it.

Over supper I thought a lot about what has been said. I am contemplating a habit change, but want to be clear first what it means if I jump ship. Here's my thoughts, written hypothetically:



The "damage" you're talking about is purely cosmetic. Micromarring is not going to cause paint to prematurely fail. If we assume that a thicker clearcoat is better for paint survivability, then we need to consider that a single Porter Cable polish to remove spiderwebs removes more clearcoat than a lifetime of QD. There's no way that fine hairlines can equal the entire surface area of the vehicle, which is what is being removed in a single polish correction.



With that, I can say that in washing weekly versus daily QD, neither causes paint to last any longer, but QD does cause more cosmetic damage.



Is all that correct?

 

[mikebai1990]

You are correct in saying that the damage is cosmetic. QD'ing shouldn't do enough damage to really affect the thickness of the paint, but in my opinion, a swirled car isn't the kind of car I like to see



If you protect the paint on the car with wax, the paint should still be in good shape even after the rest of your car breaks down. Please realize that one polishing will most definitely not deteriorate your clearcoat to the point where the paint will fail prematurely. Even a polishing every year or so shouldn't cause paint failure by the end of the life of your car. Of course, if washed correctly, polishing won't be needed every year. The main thing that controls how long your paint lasts is the of wax/sealant protection you are using. I don't think you mentioned using any waxes. Are you?



Glad to hear you are willing to considering some of our suggestions

 

[Joshua312]

I agree with Mike, when I refer to damage I mean creating swirls/micromarring to the vehicles finish. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[GoodnClean]

I've tried hinting at the reason why I QD every day, but here it is: no one is impressed by a dirty car.

You know the truth though? Nobody is impressed by the fact that your car is constantly clean either. I get compliments on my car CONSTANTLY, even when *I* think it is in dire need of a wash. In fact due to my busy schedule I've yet to do my fall detail (I know, I know) and the car needs a polish. Nobody's noticed, but me.



The truth is people don't care, they don't see things on the level of detail we do. I guarantee that if you only washed your car weekly, you'd get just as many compliments on it.



If you're doing this extremely time intensive process for yourself thats fine, but if you're doing it to impress other people I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities.



As for washing, I can hose wash and dry my car including an interior wipedown and vacuum in 45 minutes (and I have a big car), a QEW or ONR wash? 45 minutes would be taking my time. Personally, I don't see how swirling your car up to save a few minutes is worthwhile. As for wax protection, I'd venture to say QDing every day depletes the wax layer more than ONR, even if you did that once a day due to the friction and the cleaners involved.

 

[Accumulator]

You know the truth though? Nobody is impressed by the fact that your car is constantly clean either. I get compliments on my car CONSTANTLY, even when *I* think it is in dire need of a wash. ..The truth is people don't care, they don't see things on the level of detail we do..

Heh heh, ain't *that* the truth! I get as many compliments on my "before condition" as I do on the "after"! That's one more reason why the only opinion that matters to me is *mine*



The regulars here know how I am when it comes to washing (woo-hoo, talk about spending time ) and I'll just repeat that whatever satisfies the person in question is cool with me.



User24- I sincerely commend you on keeping an open mind about this stuff! Please be careful with those limited-water washes, but I agree that it should be safer (cosmetically speaking) than the QDing.



One last $0.02 before I shut up: it *is* possible to wash a vehicle regularly without inflicting marring. I don't polish even once a year any more and I go to extremes when inspecting for wash-induced marring. It *can* be done, but man-oh-man it sure isn't easy. The downside is that the vehicle is often dirty again in no time, and yeah, it doesn't look impressive to have perfect paint under a layer of dust; the upside is that after many years you'll still have nice thick factory paint (well, unless your prize possession gets "deered", but that's another topic..).

 

[imported_Larry A]

Isent a qd used for light dust ? Dont you think that by useing qd every day and using a car cover at work, that all he ever has on his car is light dust.In sure that because he seems anal about his car that if he though that the car was to dirty for a qd he would wash it. And to me 37 minutes a day is a lot easier then 2 to 3 hours on a Saturday. Ill go to the Supermarket with my wife, and while shes shopping I will qd my car. Ill use a CCD, or a Kozak Dry Wash first then Ill follow with a qd , somethimes PBS&W. I expect my car to be clean 24/7 weather permiting.

 

[BMW335i]

Just a random question, when using ONR and you are finished with the upper panels, should you dump the wash bucket and rinse it out and refill it with solution for the lower panels?

 

[FidoAUTO]

Looking for other people like myself, who never wash their vehicles. Do they exist on autopia? I'd be interested in hearing from you, if you don't.



Washing, is to clean a dirty vehicle. But if I never allow my vehicle to become dirty, there's no need to wash. Ever.



I drive a clean vehicle daily, which means using a cover while at work, and cleaning the paint, mirrors, glass, and lights on a daily basis. Therefore never more than a day's worth of dust has settled, so it always looks like I have a clean ride. The cleaning process takes me 37 minutes.



The last time I've been to the self service wash, was because I thought it a necessity in order to clean tires of their dirt and brake dust. Therefore I had bought some tire brushes and Sonus tire cleaning spray and used them. Since then, I have discovered that rims and brake dust wipe off easily with a towel and simple water or detailer spray. I stopped going to the car wash, and that was six months ago.



Last night I performed the semi-annual clay. Some areas of the vertical surfaces had become gritty, noticeable by feel and the very quiet high frequency squeal of a towel going over them. They are the white pinpoint sand specks visible in the afternoon sun, that also catch your wax and take extra time buffing off. I do not understand how particles can become embedded into a vehicle protected by synthetic sealant and detailed daily, but it still happens.



I did a thorough claying job, as it took 3 hours, and by the results I'd say it was a good job. Now the surface is smoother than when I took delivery of it brand new. It's perfect to the touch, akin to acrylic, or enameled ceramic. I did not have any black dirt noticeable on the clay coming from the paint, as there must not have been enough actual dirt to clean given all the daily wiping I do, only the white embedded particles that needed shaving. I take this as verification of the no wash method, and am curious as to why I haven't heard of other people doing the same so far.

honestly... I really thought this was a joke thread.



User24. I is great that you told us what you exactly did because we are gonna stop you from possibly ruining your paint.



You have the desire to keep the car clean and Autopia has the knowledge. So keep posting and learn!!!

 

[CleanGSR]

For all you whoh believe that you can't QD a car everyday and never wash without marring the paint, I'll be glad to take pics of my dad's paint under halogen lights to prove the mar-free finish. Granted it's not daily driven and is always garaged, driven only in great conditions, people still seem to think it's not feasable. His car hasn't been washed in 2 years, is as marr free as I've ever seen on any vehicle ever, under any lighting conditions.

 

[Accumulator]

I'm sure that plenty of people can do things that *I* cannot do, and QDing without marring is apparently one of those things :nixweiss



IMO it all depends on how you QD and what's in the "dust" that you're cleaning off that way. Get a sharp speck of aluminum oxide or silica on the paint and it's likely to mar it if you remove it via QDing.



Maybe that'll never happen, but I just can't recommend something that doesn't consistently work for me, and I tried this stuff repeatedly using as much care as I can imagine anybody employing. Nine out of ten isn't good enough for me when I can just never touch it between regular (foamgun) washes and avoid marring *ten* out of ten. And yeah, I'll readily admit that my vehicles are only truly clean until I pull 'em out of the garage.



This is just one of those things that people have to try for themselves...then they'll see which side of the fence they're on. I do hope that people don't learn the hard way...scratch the chrome on a classic original and you've spoiled it forever (says the guy with marred chrome on his Jag).

 

[imported_Picus]

Just a random question, when using ONR and you are finished with the upper panels, should you dump the wash bucket and rinse it out and refill it with solution for the lower panels?

I only do this if the car I am using it on is very dirty. ONR in a bucket with a grit guard seems to have a pretty unique ability to keep the dirt/grit toward the bottom of the bucket.