Protect All Quick & Easy Wash question

It's hard to say which is better. I would say that for the best shine, it's always good to have some QD in the final drying wipe. I mainly pre-soak the panels with qd for the extra lubricity and then by the time I get to my second "finishing" pass, there's still enough QD left to shine up the panel pretty nicely.....especially after doing a few panels & the "1st pass" towel is pretty saturated with QD and Q&E. If not, then I sometimes give it a light mist of QD again.
 
Scottwax said:
I use a cotton chenille covered foam pad. I normally use a full gallon of water and 2 capfuls for cars. If they are not very dirty though, 2 quarts/1 capful is adequate.
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Thanks for the tip - but I have a question about a truck I washed today. It's a huge 4x4 King Ranch and it was literally caked with mud, both wet and dry. Luckily they had a hose on site and I used it to get a large majority of the crud off of the truck before using the Q&E. However, halfway through washing the truck, my bucket (1 gallon of water and 1 ounce of Q&E) was totally brown. I dumped it out and made a fresh batch at that point. Is this pretty much a common sense thing to do, or is the dirt not making its way onto my wash mitt? And on a semi-related note, how long would it take one of you pro's to do a truck that size? I did a total vacuum of the interior and all floor mats, wiped down the dash/doors/console with 6:1 Meguiar's APC+, then wiped them again with Eagle 1, then washed the truck, then the tires/wheels, then did the glass inside and out. How long should something like that take? It took me a little more than 3hrs:( I swear I wasn't lollygagging or goofing off:cool:
 
DP-Jedi,



Were you using a second rinse bucket? If not I would recommend that, especially with a truck that was that dirty (even though you got the big stuff with a hose). If you were already using a second rinse bucket, you may just have to wring out your wash mitt/cloth a little better before dipping back into the wash solution.
 
DP-Jedi-If the QEW water gets nasty, yeah, I dump it out and start with a fresh mixture. Not much else you can do. I have been stuck with no water and the mixture looks real dirty, but the cars still ended up real clean. If you look in the bucket before you dump it, all the gunk is on the bottom.



As far as time goes, there really isn't any way to speed things up much on something that size. Without seeing it, I don't know how much if any faster I could have done it. Probably 2.5-3 hours is what I would schedule myself.
 
Thanks guys - that makes me feel much better about the time. I'll start carrying 2 buckets with me from now on if I'm not doing a client's car at my house (usually my neighbors I'll do in my driveway). It's amazing what I was able to cram into the trunk of my Stang:cool:
 
Fellow Autopians,



I tried Q&E today on my wifes white 1998 Accord. I know I will probably get flamed for this but I was NOT impressed at all. I used 2 buckets, filled 1 with 4 quarts and 2 capfuls of Q&E, the other a plain rinse bucket for my mitt. Well, I don't see any difference using Q&E versus plain water in a bucket! Am I missing something here? I did one panel at a time and watched the dust liquify into a watery mess and then wiped it off with an MF towel. So how is this any better than just using a bucket of water and a mitt to wash the car? I probably won't use Q&E any more. Anyone in the Burbank, Toluca Lake, North Hollywood area can have the rest of the gallon I bought. I rather just go to the coin op car wash and use the spot free rinse to clean the car, it works alot better:down
 
rad21 said:
Fellow Autopians,

I tried Q&E today on my wifes white 1998 Accord. I know I will probably get flamed for this but I was NOT impressed at all.
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There really doesn't seem to be anything in your post that would be deserving of flaming. Not everything is for all people. Use what you like and don't worry about what anyone else thinks.



Charles:xyxthumbs
 
rad21 said:
Fellow Autopians,



I tried Q&E today on my wifes white 1998 Accord. I know I will probably get flamed for this but I was NOT impressed at all. I used 2 buckets, filled 1 with 4 quarts and 2 capfuls of Q&E, the other a plain rinse bucket for my mitt. Well, I don't see any difference using Q&E versus plain water in a bucket! Am I missing something here? I did one panel at a time and watched the dust liquify into a watery mess and then wiped it off with an MF towel. So how is this any better than just using a bucket of water and a mitt to wash the car? I probably won't use Q&E any more. Anyone in the Burbank, Toluca Lake, North Hollywood area can have the rest of the gallon I bought. I rather just go to the coin op car wash and use the spot free rinse to clean the car, it works alot better:down
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I think the main advantage to QEW is that you don't have to rinse the car off or dry it separately afterwards. I don't remember anyone ever claiming it performs better than a regular wash... :confused: :nixweiss



I bought it so I don't have to spend as much time outside and don't flood (ie, freeze) my driveway.
 
rad21 said:
Fellow Autopians,



I tried Q&E today on my wifes white 1998 Accord. I know I will probably get flamed for this but I was NOT impressed at all. I used 2 buckets, filled 1 with 4 quarts and 2 capfuls of Q&E, the other a plain rinse bucket for my mitt. Well, I don't see any difference using Q&E versus plain water in a bucket! Am I missing something here? I did one panel at a time and watched the dust liquify into a watery mess and then wiped it off with an MF towel. So how is this any better than just using a bucket of water and a mitt to wash the car? I probably won't use Q&E any more. Anyone in the Burbank, Toluca Lake, North Hollywood area can have the rest of the gallon I bought. I rather just go to the coin op car wash and use the spot free rinse to clean the car, it works alot better:down
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All I can say is actually try washing your car with a bucket of plain water, especially if the car is dirty. You may see the use of Q&E then.
 
89LXi said:
Chris,



You may want to check out Poorboy's Spray & Wipe. Drop Steve (the owner) an e-mail or give him a call. He'll be able to answer all your questions. I've used it on my vehicles which were layered with road grime and they were as clean as if I washed normally.
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I've been using this product for a month or so regularly now and while I love it for a borderline dirty vehicle no way I would use it on a salt/winter crud encased vehicle. If the car/truck is just over the QD borderline, maybe even slightly more, this PB Spray and Wipe is fantastic. In fact, i've done four vehicles (my own included) in the last week without benefit of a hose and bucket. Was able to start polishing within 20 minutes after having the car dropped off. But, hardened dirt or salt would most definetly require a pre rinse or a ton of Spray and Wipe (which would be cost prohibitive) to clean. I know Steve will read this and I consider Steve a friend, but telling someone to use a waterless wash with hardened road salt on the paint is not practical and IMO, not safe . I genuinely like Steve and his products are top shelf ... when used in their proper application but everything has it's limits. Period.



I've not taken a hose to my truck in a month all because of Poorboys Spray and Wipe. Since I can keep at it, it stays pretty clean. If someone drops off thier vehicle with salt all over the sides from the last two weeks Spray and Wipe is not an option. I seriously doubt Steve would even say to use it then.
 
Over the weekend, I got a chance to test Protect-All QEW on a relatively dirty car (wife’s black bimmer). The car hadn’t been washed in a couple weeks and was accumulating a good amount of dust. Also, there were several muddy water-spots and the rims were getting pretty black.



Normally, I wouldn’t have the guts to use QEW on a car this dirty (especially on black), but since so many other people here are starting to report good results with no surface damage using this product, I thought this would be a good opportunity to really put QEW to the test.



-Mixed 4 capfuls to one gallon of water (wanted the extra cleaning power)



-Didn’t pre-soak any panels the way I normally do. Just wiped down a dry, dirty panel with a soaked mitt & followed with a wrung damp MF.



-Water became very black half-way so I had to mix another gallon of QEW (gotta do two-bucket method in the future!).



-Some of the really dirty panels were washed twice before they were dried.



-I used really light pressure in wiping down the panels. In fact, I used less pressure than the weight of the mitt.



-The car came out really clean and I couldn’t detect any extra-marring even under some really unforgiving fluorescent lights (I tested this by wiping perpendicular to how I normally wipe in a few areas).



-The heavy brake dust came out with no effort at all.



-I didn’t time myself, but I know for sure this took less time than a traditional wash.



Needless to say, I’m a complete believer in this product now….even for cars that are more than just a bit dusty. However, for you Autopians who have to deal with snow and salt-encrusted body panels…I’m not sure how well this will work. In line with Natty’s recommendation with Poorboy’s S&W, I would say that ideally you’d want to spray your car down first…perhaps at the coin-op car wash and then proceed to use the QEW (or PSW).
 
Got it tonight! Im going to use it tomorrow after I get off work. The only towels I have are MF towels. Would that be OK or should I get terry ones?
 
FNG said:
Got it tonight! Im going to use it tomorrow after I get off work. The only towels I have are MF towels. Would that be OK or should I get terry ones?
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I use a terry cloth towel for the first drying pass and microfiber for the second drying pass. I make sure the first pass with a terry cloth towel leaves behind some moisture for the mf towel. Works very well that way.
 
Intermezzo said:
I like using a wrung-damp MF for the first pass followed by a dry MF towel.
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That would work too, but if a car is somewhat dirty, a terry cloth towel has a deeper nap in case any dirt remains.
 
I used QEW again yesterday and I was able to wash my car extremely quickly. Basically, for my first pass after wiping with a mitt I used a damp MF (car wasn't very dirty) and nothing else. No second pass with a clean dry towel.



Sure, the panel didn't dry completely and there were a few light water streaks, but since I usually QD after every wash, it didn't make a difference.



I didn't time myself, but the whole process went extremely quickly. Plus, I'm comfortable enough with QEW to quickly wipe down 2-3 panels at a time and then semi-dry the areas with a damp MF.



After doing this to the entire car, I followed it up with a QD session which took 5, maybe 10 minutes and I was done. BTW, I would only recommend this while working on a car that wasn't very dirty and out of direct sunlight.
 
FNG said:
Where can I buy some good inexpensive terry towels?
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Either shop around for Fieldcrest irregulars (normal stores sometimes get a shipment of these in), or you can do what I might try - making your own.



I've visited (ie, dared to step into!) some fabrics shops where women buy all their sewing goods and some of them have some really nice looking deep pile bulk terry cloth there. Not as nice as a Charisma, but maybe the same or just under a Royal Velvet. Anyway, I figure with some time behind my mother's sewing machine and a spool of cotton thread (I found they usually like poly better) I can have some nice handy-sized towels with a bit of work. I'm having trouble verifying 100% cotton domestic manufacture, but other bolts say things like 5% poly. so they may really be 100%. I have more looking around to do.



I think this has some advantages like handy size (bath towels are too big without being cut IMO), lower price, and no decorative bands or borders on the towel.



I found some almost-decent made in China hand towels at a dollar store, but they're thinner and only (by my figures) $1 per towel less than the above way. Passed the CD test first time (before washing), but no burn test.
 
4DSC, FNG

Check out www.lazaino.com or PM Ira. I think he is a member here.

He is selling Charisma and Charisma Select towels with all the work done. Removing the decoration and the edges and binding them with cotton thread. I have been using the Charisma's for my Zaino removal but the bath towels are a big PIA. I have not ordered yet from Ira but I plan to do so. He is a Zaino distributor and cannot ship Zaino outside of California but he will send the towels anywhere. (Hopefully Canada!) The prices look O.K. and not having to sew is fine by me. :shocked

Let me know what happens!

Regards, Eric...who just messed with big bath towels removing three coats of Z.
 
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