We have ash! (Literally) How best to wash?

M

motobuild

New member
I'm not sure how much the rest of the United States is aware of this, but a nearby volcano (Mt. Redoubt) has been erupting for the past few days. Well, today, the winds finally brought some ashfall to the Anchorage bowl. It's not much, more of a "dusting" but obviously I want to be extra, extra, careful washing this stuff off my car.



I'm an ONR only user, however, I think that ONR may not be my best choice for safely getting the ash off my car.



Ash is extremely abrasive. What do you all think would be my best course of action?
 
stiffdogg06 said:
Try to blow off as much as you can. Once wet that ash will be acidic.
Click to expand...



Ahh...good to know. Yeah, I was thinking of using my Shop-Vac to blow as much crap off as possible.
 
Mark77 said:
I would deffinately do a regular wash to get all the ash off before you touch the paint..
Click to expand...



Sounds good.



I'll take a picture to post up once the ash has stopped. It's pretty crazy.
 
If you can hit it with both hi pressure air, then water, then NRWS, you should be good to go. You may want to use the NRWS lastly anyway, so you keep that slickness.....(OR QD afterwards)
 
BlueLibby04 said:
Pretty sure the ash will be fairly abrasive too so be careful about that.
Click to expand...



Well...that's why I posted. Ash is very abrasive. I want to be as safe getting it off the car as possible.



It was a very light dusting, but ash is still ash.
 
I think trying to blow off as much ash as you can before washing is a sound idea. Since a wet ash residue will be basic, you would want to use something like a diluted vinegar solution (slightly acidic) to neutralize it. I would follow this up with a pH neutral shampoo wash.
 
Hey there, I'm in the same boat. My temporary and incomplete solution was just to drive around yesterday and let most of the ash blow off. I didn't make it to either the touchless wash or do an ONR wash, and then it snowed last night. I'm a bit nervous to look at how the paint fared as some of the snow (and any underlying ash) slid off the car during the day. I think it will get warm enough later in the week to do an ONR wash and I'll hope for the best. If I have no problems, I'll need to write a big thank you note to collinite (476) & OID for the protection it's given me over the long winter.



I am thinking about getting a car cover, but I don't think I'll be able to use it until break up (what we call spring) ends. The challenge with a car cover this time of year is it is close to impossible to keep your car clean. The roads are a mix of standing water, mud, slush and now ash. And if you are outside, you can't count on it staying above freezing to let you do an ONR wash.



It is aggravating even without a volcano.
 
A fabric garage/shelter?



Weather permitting, a quick drive to blow off ash, then ONR wash with a little baking soda, to neutralize the ash? If you can't go to a wand wash.
 
Tell us how what you did and how the outcome was? I think it would not have the time to do any damage if you just hosed it off.. That is what I would do anyway..But we don't have any volcanoes anywhere even remotely close here so I might be wrong..
 
Tusin said:
Well...that's why I posted. Ash is very abrasive. I want to be as safe getting it off the car as possible.



It was a very light dusting, but ash is still ash.
Click to expand...



Yes, get that off with compressed air first and it will be more abrasive than if it were just dirt. Don't use water as it will become very acidic.



/repeat



However, I don't know about car covers. Having the car outside, stuff is going to get under it for sure, then it's just going to mar the paint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top