ONR on dirty cars...

B

Bigpikle

New member
Been gradually getting to grips with ONR this year, but still not used it as much as I really want to...still a confidence thing :o



So, how do people use it with DIRTY cars - I mean cars with debris, leaf muck etc stuck on them? Now we are into some pretty horrible weather here, my car is not only wearing road grime, but a fair bit of debris gets picked up on the lower panels. I'm not talking about thick layers of mud like I've been off-roading or anything, but all the muck, litter ad debris that gets washed up from the roads at this time of year.



The obvious answer is pre-rinsing of some kind, but that really defeats the point of ONR for me in some ways , if I need to grab my PW and get it hooked up, I might just as well foam it and use a traditional shampoo wash.



I've watched every ONR video on YouTube, and get what its all about, but frankly I havent seen a car in any of them that is as dirty as mine gets in a typical winter week...



Help me get the confidence - I really want to master this :help:
 
hey Damon,



the optimum gurus are at optimum forums and they will be able to respond and give you advice . not sure if they frequent here



hope that helps
 
You can do a ONR presoak with a pressureized garden sprayer and just make multiple passes (little or no pressure). All you need to do is make enough passes that the water on the panel doesn't look dingy, then dry. Don't be skeered! If it's super bad or muddy, just go to the coin op and hit the high spots b4 ONRing.
 
thanks guys



I do watch the Optimum forums but they are pretty slow, so I know there are enough ONR experts on here ;)



its just that all the videos on YouTube look like the cars have been pre-washed or something. I need to see some DIRTY trucks :lol:
 
I have a client with an F250. It usually gets REALLY muddy, like has mudd clumps all over. In that case, I wash it the traditional hose way. Other times its not bad and just have very light dirt or mudd. In this case I take my pesticide(or garden)sprayer and spray the panels and then use the ONR. Light pass, if it doesn't take it all way I do another after dunking the mitt back in the ONR. Works out fine. I wash 95% of my clients cars this way. The other 5% are super dirty and I don't chance it.
 
There's currently tons of dead leaves on the road where I am (Pacific NW) and to make matters worse, it's been raining off and on for the past 6 weeks. More on than off really, so the roads are always wet. My lower panels and wheel wells have constantly been caked or lined with these brown clumps of leaves.



I'm not an expert on ONR but I find this works for me with no marring. When washing with ONR, I leave the lower panels for last. When it's time to do them, I switch to a dedicated MF towel just for lower panels and initially just do 1 swipe, then manually remove the leaves from my towel and rinse in the ONR solution. This is to avoid getting the leaves in the solution. After rinsing, I check again for stuck-on debris before making more normal passes with the towel.



I must say that these past two washes, I've switched to a grout sponge. This makes removing the debris easier to remove (after my initial swipe). The MF towels tend to grab the leaves whereas the grout sponge does not. The wheel and wheel wells are done last with the remaining ONR solution, using brushes to wash and Mf towels to dry.
 
I know Scott has a video floating around on youtube w/ a good tutorial on ONR, it shows how dirty a car can be cleaned, very informative
biggrin.gif
 
I know this forum is full of people who swear by ONR as an alternative to hose washing. I also know that there are people, like the OP, who are hesitant about the whole idea. I also have some experience of my own with this product.



Like anything else, you need to balance your expectations with the amount of effort you are willing to spend.



This is especially true with ONR. The dirtier the car, the more time and care you will need to spend washing each section. The more there is to wash, the more patient and thorough you will have to be.



With the right amount of patience, knowledge, and care, just about anything is possible. The question is, is the extra effort worth the results? I could spit on a q-tip then use it to wash my car and still produce a clean, shiny, swirl free finish. However, it would take me a long time, and I would have to be very patient and careful.



so the answer is "Yes", ONR can be used on very dirty vehicles. But you must weight it against all alternatives. Is there a reason you can't do a regular wash? Is the $8.00 you pay to go through a touch-free car wash before using ONR worth the time it might save you?



For me, ONR is a "maintenance" product. I use it when I can't do a regular wash, but only if my paint is in good, clean, protected condition. THere is no doubt in my mind that a well LSP'd car is going to be easier to clean with ONR than a neglected finish.



I have used ONR on a really dirty car, but I clayed and polished right after so I was satisified when the ONR only got my car 90% clean.
 
I feel like our forum here has time warped back five years to 2003, when the same questions and concerns kept coming up regarding QEW (ProtectAll's Quick & Easy Wash). :grinno:



I'm actually surprised no one discusses QEW anymore...
 
Inzane said:
I feel like our forum here has time warped back five years to 2003, when the same questions and concerns kept coming up regarding QEW (ProtectAll's Quick & Easy Wash). :grinno:



I'm actually surprised no one discusses QEW anymore...
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i think the same questions and concerns keep coming up because there are no definitive answers.



I've done my share of research on here about ONR and QEW, but let's face it, there's 100 different answers.



Can it be used on REALLY dirty cars? Some say "yes, without a doubt". Some say "yes, but some marring is expected". Other still say "No, the risk of marring is too great". And still others say "Go to the coin-op or touchless first" etc.



What do you use as a wash tool? Some say grout sponges, some say sheepsking mitts, others say Microfiber.



What do you use to dry it? Some people have said that the "absorber" towel is usable. Others disagree.



There are people who are willing to put in the patience and effort to meticulously clean their car with this product. Those people's patience and hard work will be rewarded with a clean, unblemished car.



There are others who have a little less patience, but are willing to live with some slight marring to keep their car's finish at 80 - 90% perfection through the winter then detail any imperfections out in the spring.



There are others who have less patience, but still want 100% perfection so they will go to a coin-op or touchfree car wash before using ONR so they will be starting with most of the work already done.



Just try the stuff, and try to balance your expectations with the effort you are spending and decide if the results are worth it for you.



If it were easy......everyone would do it.
 
Less said:
There are others who have less patience, but still want 100% perfection so they will go to a coin-op or touchfree car wash before using ONR so they will be starting with most of the work already done.
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I believe this is the method I'll use on my two black DDs. To the OP: are touch less car car washes as prevalent in England as they are here across the pond?



BTW great post Less!
 
Well, if it is covered in mud or winter grime, I would always go to the coin-op first. It is like $1.75 for 3 minutes of the high pressure rinse of your choice (be it plain water, soap, degreaser :nervous2:, etc.). Makes the whole process much safer/easier.



After I do that, then...



I pre-spray the panel with highly concentrated ONR mix (like 12:1, probably overkill), then go over it with an ultra-plush MF mitt, multiple times. I really don't think I get any more marring than I would with a conventional wash, and it is quicker. I still do a conventional wash whenever I get the chance(read:comfortable weather), though.
 
thansk everyone for comments and views :)



we dont have touchless washes here really (I cant think of any I've seen in the last few years???) but do have car wash bays with high pressure lances, brushes etc.



It sounds like many people are happy to try it so I'll persevere. I can wheel out my pressure washer and hook it up for a pre-wash and blast off most of the debris first, its not really a big deal, if the car is that dirty, but was just wondering how people approached it...



I've seen all the videos but none even come close to my car after 400 miles of winter muck. I have used ONR exclusively on my garage queen all year, and it has been first class, but that car never really gets very dirty. I've also used it on my DD cars in the spring & summer a fair amount, and have a pretty good process nailed down, so will see what happens over winter :nervous:
 
I love ONR, but I'm not sold on using it for cars with heavy buildup. I think of it as more of a maintenance wash.



Having recently purchased a pressure washer I'm looking forward to adding a cam spray foam cannon for really dirty cars.
 
My car gets covered with a thick layer of salt and sand after a road trip skiing and I was reluctant to try the ONR with these conditions. Last winter I gave it a try with great success. It seems to defeat the purpose of ONR if you go the the coin op to spray off the heavy dirt so I spray it down using a garden pressure sprayer as mentioned by others with ONR mixed to normal dilution rates (1/2 OZ per gallon) then wash using normal ONR procedures as shown in Scottwax's video but I double the ONR (1 OZ per gallon) to compensate for our hard water. Have never seen any marring! As Scott says "don't put any pressure on the wash mitt"



I find a long nap MF releases the dirt better than a Sheepskin mitt.
 
Bigpikle said:
thanks Scott - superb demo :2thumbs:



I really need some of those MF sponges you have. IIRC you said they were from Target? I'm in the US in 2 weeks so will try and track some down...:)
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Big Lots, actually. Detailer's Choice MicroFiber Contour Sponge is the name on the package.
 
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