Wash mitt vs. brush

[Accumulator]

..I can't imagine anything softer than the Montanas cleaning effectively, I often have to make several passes with the my Montana...

That was my initial concern as well. For truly filthy vehicles (e.g., most of 'em by the time I do a wash ) I use the Montanas and yeah, many passes just to get the "big stuff" off. I greatly preferred the "more aggressive but gentle enough" ones from Griot's, but they changed 'em and now GG BHBs are not what I consider satisfactory.



The blonde ones are fine for the garage-queens, especially with their very slick LSPs. Haven't used 'em since the last time I cleaned up the S8. Really just bought 'em to see what they were like, and to have spare BHBs (I like to stay one batch ahead since finding good ones can sometimes prove tricky).

How did the Montana do with your CD test?

Passed easily, even when I was a bit more aggressive than I'd be when washing.



While I said my "short answer" was the blonde ones, given their *extremely* soft nature the Montanas might've been a better suggestion. But I was kinda figuring that most Autopians don't use BHBs on vehicles that are as nasty as mine often get between washes.

How many ounces do you use on a typical wash? About 12? Griot's must love you.

Yeah, they oughta pay me royalties or something :chuckle:



Generally, for a (big, and pretty dirty) sedan I use a bit less than two jugs of concentrate (6 oz. per), plus I have about three oz. in each of the two wash buckets. So I guess that makes about 18oz. BUT...the wash buckets don't get used up or contaminated, so they last through quite a few washes so you're right- about twelve. I sure do use a [boat]-load through the foamguns, but that's what makes it work for me. I had been using a lot less, at a weaker dilution, but IME more is better.



I *am* toying with the idea (cribbed from SuperBee364, who used ONR for the second step) of doing the BHB part per usual, but then using lots of IUDJ per the Garry Dean method in place of the foamgun/mitts part. Gotta give it some more thought, and I'll probably only do this on the white Crown Vic, at least until/unless it proves OK.



I'm not convinced that the foamgun/mitt part *really* provides the kind of flushing that makes the foamgun washes work so well. Very tricky to get the right combination of flow/scrubbing. The encapsulation of the IUDJ might be just as good if I use the right MFs and go about it properly. I'll probably use a *LOT* more MFs than Garry does, but hey, I'm kinda extreme about this stuff.

 

[Idz21]

-Blow off water with AirWand and compressor

-Dry with WW MFs, spritzing panels with QD to provide lubrication, do final buff with WWMF after fogging surface with your breath to provide a tiny by of consdensation.

I do this step the opposite. I do a quick sweep with a WW to get the majority of the water off in order to prevent any type of water spots from building up, and then I hit it with the leaf blower in order to get water out of the nooks & cracks. Finally I do a little bit more soak up of the water I blew out, and then a spritz/buff finish. Thoughts?

 

[Accumulator]

I do this step the opposite. I do a quick sweep with a WW to get the majority of the water off in order to prevent any type of water spots from building up, and then I hit it with the leaf blower in order to get water out of the nooks & cracks. Finally I do a little bit more soak up of the water I blew out, and then a spritz/buff finish. Thoughts?

Eh, IMO it's mostly a personal preference issue so it's not like one way is right/wrong. I'm working inside in a climate-controlled environment, so the spotting isn't really an issue (let alone if/when I use the CRS system for the final rinse). With the LSPs I'm using, the AirWand gets almost all the water off in a few minutes.



Before I got the AirWand, I did it basically the way you're doing it, except that I've alwayed used the compressor instead of a leaf blower. If I didn't have the AirWand, I'd still be doing it that way, just as you are.



And yeah...after I've basically "finished" (scare-quotes intentional!) I still spend *forever* getting all the residual water out of those nooks and crannies! Most of my vehicles really retain a *LOT* of water...between that and the final wiping of the doorjambs/engine compartment/undercarriage I probably spend more time of that "final step" than I spend on the wash proper!

 

[Idz21]

Eh, IMO it's mostly a personal preference issue so it's not like one way is right/wrong. I'm working inside in a climate-controlled environment, so the spotting isn't really an issue (let alone if/when I use the CRS system for the final rinse). With the LSPs I'm using, the AirWand gets almost all the water off in a few minutes.



Before I got the AirWand, I did it basically the way you're doing it, except that I've alwayed used the compressor instead of a leaf blower. If I didn't have the AirWand, I'd still be doing it that way, just as you are.



And yeah...after I've basically "finished" (scare-quotes intentional!) I still spend *forever* getting all the residual water out of those nooks and crannies! Most of my vehicles really retain a *LOT* of water...between that and the final wiping of the doorjambs/engine compartment/undercarriage I probably spend more time of that "final step" than I spend on the wash proper!

Can you link me to the AirWand you use?



Agreed with the time it takes to get the car wiped down properly. I'm in the same boat as you. A regular start to finish wash can sometimes take 2 - 3 hours in itself. Wheels & the complete wipe down are the most time consuming tasks.

 

[Accumulator]

Can you link me to the AirWand you use?



Agreed with the time it takes to get the car wiped down properly. I'm in the same boat as you. A regular start to finish wash can sometimes take 2 - 3 hours in itself. Wheels & the complete wipe down are the most time consuming tasks.

Heh heh, yeah...the fastest I've done a "quick maintenance wash" in recent memory was just under 4.5 hours The wheels/wells/undercarriage/engine compartment just *always* seem to take at least one hour to clean and another hour to dry/finish up.



Yep, that's the *fastest* I can do it. When it "takes a long time", well...it takes quite a while! Not like I'm working slowly either :grinno:



Here's a link to the AirWand: The New Air Wand

 

[Idz21]

Heh heh, yeah...the fastest I've done a "quick maintenance wash" in recent memory was just under 4.5 hours The wheels/wells/undercarriage/engine compartment just *always* seem to take at least one hour to clean and another hour to dry/finish up.



Yep, that's the *fastest* I can do it. When it "takes a long time", well...it takes quite a while! Not like I'm working slowly either :grinno:



Here's a link to the AirWand: The New Air Wand

aha, that is a pretty neat invention. Thx!

 

[Accumulator]

aha, that is a pretty neat invention...

Yeah, I really like it. It *did* take me quite a while to figure out just how to use it efficiently though...how to hold it, move it across the panels, and so on. For the first few tries it was taking me quite a while and I did start to wonder if it was a bit of a gimmick, but once I started figuring out my technique it was all good.