Want to use my new pressure washer for my "inbetween cleanings". What soap will work?

[Threxx]

I just got a Karcher 2650 psi pressure washer with a Honda GC190 6hp engine and a nice 30 foot non-kink extension hose a few days ago from Costco for a bargain $359

http://www.karcher-usa.com/showproducts.php?op=view_prod&param1=183&param2=&param3=



I'm sure I can use just about any soap with the pressure-washer's inline chemical setup, but here's my dilema.



I only wash my cars every 4-6 weeks each. When I wash then I typically detail the interior completely one time, and the exterior completely the next time. So every month to month and a half each car gets washed, but every 2-3 months it gets waxed and such on the outside and all cleaned up on the inside.



I know this isn't as consistant of a schedule as some of you guys, but cleaning cars is something I like to do because I like to take care of my cars, not because I'm a pro or super-hobbyist.



So my question to you is this: when I go to those quarter-slot do-it-yourself car washes... they essentially have you using a built-in pressure washer. I've always been decently impressed with the results, too. The car never comes out looking quite as good as if I'd washed it by hand, but considering it takes me under 5minutes from start to finish and just involves squeezing a trigger, it would give me something that I could do to keep my cars cleaner on a weekly basis until I got around to that hand washing on the 4th to 6th week.



So using my pressure washer at home, how to I achieve results that are just as good if not better? I know my pressure washer at home is higher pressure than the ones I use at the car wash, so IMO it would simply be a matter of finding the right soap and dilution ratio to use with my pressure washer as well as maybe a pre-rinse to loosen up bugs and such, and hell... if it were cheap enough, why not some kind of liquid "wax" like they have you use there? I know it only lasts until the next time or two that it rains, but it would at least make it look nice for a while.



I tried my pressure washer once already on my GS400 and 4runner and while it got them cleaner, it still left a lot of dirty looking spots once the water dried up.

 

[EdLancer]

I try not to use soap when I do my in between pressure washes, so the wax stays on longer !

 

[CleanMachine]

I havent tried it yet but the other day at pepboys I was looking at the Long Haul Truck line of products. The LH soap was to be used either by hand or it said it worked good through a power washer. I would guess it to work pretty decent since its for the trucking industry. I also liked seeing that the gaurteed it not to strip or harm the wax or paint. I will try it out next hunting season when its just above 32 degress and my hands dont want to get wet. Anyways I would give it a try if I were you.

 

[Big Leegr]

Probably not what you want to hear, but if it were me, I would spend the extra 5 or so minutes and use a bucket along with the pressure washer. I haven't ever had a wand wash that gave me good results on a month/6 weeks of build up. Just my 2¢.



Also, if it's really strong, be sure to keep a good distance from your finish. I've seen first hand what too much pressure does around rock chips (especially on painted plastic) and loose trim. Not pretty!