Winter Washing in NY - Self Service wash

E

evan631

New member
So i recently washed my car for the first time at a self-service car wash. You know the kind with a pressure washer and brush on the end. I scoped the place out before hand and saw all the brushes were laying in the dirt and salt in the wash bay. I brought my own wash mitt because I knew not to use the brushes (I thought more people would have done this, but only saw one other person).

This place is quite busy as it is the only one of its kind in the area. So I needed to be quick and could not use rinse bucket and grit guards.

After washing I noticed my mitt was quite dirty.
I think at this point my bests option is to use multiple wash mitts next time.

Any thoughts on wash mitts, that are great for NY winters, but won`t break the bank? I am living in an apartment so I would hand wash my mitts when i get home. Also in search of a drying towels that won`t break the bank but do a great job.

While we are at it...any suggestions for hand washing my towels, and microfibers?

Thanks for the help!

-Evan
 
I used to mix (shampoo) a 5 gallon bucket of water at home and toss in a couple of mitts. I still use cotton chenille. I cover the bucket with the lid and head to the car wash, Evan. Best to go during off-hours. Most of these places say `no hand washing`. I only used their system for clean water, I never used their various chemical potions. You need to be mentally prepared to move quickly cuz people are going to get tense if you are keeping them waiting.

You would dry with MF waffle weave.

You need to find a day where it`s close to freezing or above.

Many threads already exist on this topic with peoples` personal preferences/techniques.

Merry Xmas!
 
Besides the brush does the place not have a wand for rinsing? If so you should go over the car really good blasting the crud off before washing.

And like previously mentioned, I hope your not `the guy` doing a hand wash when there are 8 cars behind you. Where I`m from that in itself could get you hurt.
 
Evan631- I myself wouldn`t touch the paint under those conditions; I`d do it all touchless and live with that being good enough lest I mar up the paint irreparably. But OK, that`s probably not at all helpful to you :o

I`d at least spray on some RinselessWash prior to drying, and I`d *absolutely* use *PLUSH* MF Drying Towels instead of WWMFs. And I`d use a lot of `em since the idea would basically be to do a Rinseless Wash while seeming to just "dry" the vehicle.

Rather than trying to hand-wash the Detailing textiles, I`d go to a laundermat.
 
For washing in the winter at a DIY. My method is simple bring a bucket of hot soapy water with 10 plus wash mitts. Use power washer to rinse, spray soap on whole car, wash with mitts, put each mitt in a plastic garbage bag to wash later. Rinse, then dry. I’m in and out quicker than anybody else in the wash bays damaging their cars with the brush.
 
Accumulator said:
Evan631- I myself wouldn`t touch the paint under those conditions; I`d do it all touchless and live with that being good enough lest I mar up the paint irreparably. But OK, that`s probably not at all helpful to you :o
Click to expand...

Accumulator, didn`t think I`d ever hear you say you`d use a car wash even if it was touchless, LOL!

I`m in the same boat where I live. Touchless washes when it`s cold, although with the truck I`ll throw on a pair of overalls (so I can lay on the ground/concrete...) and go through the coin op first. What I do there is spray the undercarriage and frame down with degreaser and hit it with the high pressure rinse the best I can. I get some strange looks, but whatever. Then go through the touchless that has an undercarriage wash as well.
 
The routine that I use (which I just did about an hour ago on the mother in laws car) is to use the coin-op spray on the soap setting (yes, it might be a high ph soap but that`s ok, you want to cut through the crud). I spend about 8 mins slowly going around the car, methodically. I then spend 2 mins on the rinse setting. Afterwards, I move the vehicle out of the bay if it is busy, otherwise I stay in the bay and then I spray Meguiar`s D115 as a drying aid panel by panel and use several microfiber towels to clean and dry. Then I use Meguiar`s X-press spray wax as the final once over.
 
Nizmo said:
Accumulator, didn`t think I`d ever hear you say you`d use a car wash even if it was touchless, LOL!
Click to expand...

Well, *I* don`t with our vehicles.

But my wife sometimes runs her A8 through a Touchless down in TN and it`s never caused any problems. Makes my job a bit easier when she gets back to OH.

Back when my Father`s 2nd wife was still alive, I took her cars through the best local place and had the Dry Crew spritz some QD (this was before RW) on before drying with *my* towels. Tipped them well enough that they were happy to do it. Then I had my Dad keep doing that (they recognized the cars and he liked chatting them up about the whole thing). Saved us from having to do a Real Wash on cars that would`ve just been neglected and were gonna get terribly abused anyhow.

When I inherited her Volvo wagon, it wasn`t the worse for that treatment, at least not enough that it mattered given the car`s overall condition. Win/win all around.

I did the same thing with the, uhm..."Disposable Cars"...that I used when I needed to prioritize stuff other than Detailing. When I traded them, nobody *ever* said anything other than "gee, that looks great, we`d love to take it on trade!". Same thing they said when I traded in cars that were in truly Autopian condition; IME nobody IRL *EVER* notices or cares about the stuff we talk about here. Not car appraisers, not Concours judges, not...anybody.
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

The setup they have is one unit, brush and power washer all in one. The brush has a big enough gap for the water/soap to come through, so you can avoid touching the car with brush. This was my first time doing this...so i didn`t know the best steps...i just knew i had to be quick.

First i wet the car down, then applied the soap on low pressure....i did the whole car. Then I hit it with more soap on high pressure....and washing down with mitt. Afterwards of course a nice rinse. All done very quickly so not to irritate anyone waiting.

I then proceeded to dry with my Waffle weave drying towel...using Sonax BSD as an aid. Any streaks I buffed with several plush MFs. Car came out great, but I don`t look that close like some of you guys do.

As for the doing a bucket wash here...don`t think it`s possible....way too busy when i can go.

I will look into touch less washes, but can`t seem to find any here on Long Island. If i do a search on the google...all i get are car washes not touchless.

Thanks again!
-evan
 
Accumulator said:
Evan631- I myself wouldn`t touch the paint under those conditions; I`d do it all touchless and live with that being good enough lest I mar up the paint irreparably.
Click to expand...

Knowing myself and how sometimes my 1 step forward ends up being 2 steps back, I pretty much just let things go over the Winter. On 55-60 degree days (like we`ve had the past few days...take that Los Angeles!) I`ll bucket wash and maybe once or twice a Winter run it thru the local touchless soap/rinse tunnel but aside from that, just let it go until Spring.

If I tried rinseless/waterless I`d imagine the carnage would be significant due to my ineptitude and the amount of gruel that quickly accumulates on my cars this time of year.
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
Knowing myself and how sometimes my 1 step forward ends up being 2 steps back, I pretty much just let things go over the Winter. On 55-60 degree days (like we`ve had the past few days...take that Los Angeles!) I`ll bucket wash and maybe once or twice a Winter run it thru the local touchless soap/rinse tunnel but aside from that, just let it go until Spring.

If I tried rinseless/waterless I`d imagine the carnage would be significant due to my ineptitude and the amount of gruel that quickly accumulates on my cars this time of year.
Click to expand...

Look into Ammo Frothe. It’s on another level vs traditional and rinseless.

In winter I go to pay station. If it slow I pre rinse with soap and sprayer (will foam now that I ordered IKfoam12) pressure wash and then pretreat with what ever I have in IK sprayer. Then I use the Frothe with a foamer. Having issues with both IK foamers bought last year so just ordered Ammo’s with this years order of Frothe and 1st time for hydrate.

Seams to work well and no more marring than bucket wash at home.


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BudgetPlan1- Eh, I`m just spoiled from always having decent facilities :o Admittedly a case of the Detailing Tail wagging the Overall Life Dog in many ways...Cars rusted out *so quickly* when I was a kid that it made a real impression on me, so my pals and I were renting places way back when we were teenage kids, now I dunno how I could do this stuff otherwise.

Oh, and... [INSERT quip about your supposed "ineptitude"! Heh heh heh...yeah, you inept?!? I think not ;) ]

Evan631 said:
Car came out great, but I don`t look that close like some of you guys do.
Click to expand...

If *YOU* think it turned out great, then it DID! Beware the Curse of Autopia, do what`s OK for *YOU* and never mind those of us who think this stuff is All That. I bet the car looks swell.

If anything, IMO you could tweak your approach by swapping the WWMF for a bunch of plush ones, and using a RW for the Drying Aid (better with regard to getting residual dirt off without marring). But if you`re OK with it now...I could make a great argument for ignoring that little bit of advice too.
 
Accumulator said:
Well, *I* don`t with our vehicles.

But my wife sometimes runs her A8 through a Touchless down in TN and it`s never caused any problems. Makes my job a bit easier when she gets back to OH.

Back when my Father`s 2nd wife was still alive, I took her cars through the best local place and had the Dry Crew spritz some QD (this was before RW) on before drying with *my* towels. Tipped them well enough that they were happy to do it. Then I had my Dad keep doing that (they recognized the cars and he liked chatting them up about the whole thing). Saved us from having to do a Real Wash on cars that would`ve just been neglected and were gonna get terribly abused anyhow.

When I inherited her Volvo wagon, it wasn`t the worse for that treatment, at least not enough that it mattered given the car`s overall condition. Win/win all around.

I did the same thing with the, uhm..."Disposable Cars"...that I used when I needed to prioritize stuff other than Detailing. When I traded them, nobody *ever* said anything other than "gee, that looks great, we`d love to take it on trade!". Same thing they said when I traded in cars that were in truly Autopian condition; IME nobody IRL *EVER* notices or cares about the stuff we talk about here. Not car appraisers, not Concours judges, not...anybody.
Click to expand...

I know it makes most people here cringe, but I pretty much use touchless all winter. Mostly because of the undercarriage, but also I do not do well in cold (I`m a wimp) and couldn`t get halfway through a bucket wash. I know some will say I could do a waterless wash in the garage, but with the amount of salt they use around here, that`s no bueno. Now tomorrow it`ll be 50* so the GTI will get a good bucket hand wash after a quick run to the touchless to get the salt off the bottom (yea the no driving it in the winter/salt hasn`t worked good so far, thanks PennDot!). I would do the truck, but it`s supposed to rain this week and it brings all the muck out of the roads...again. It`s a never ending battle anymore.
 
Nizmo- Well, IMO a lot of those who might cringe don`t have to deal with your conditions...let`s see how a guy like me would fare without a climate-controlled shop! I think your Touchless-only approach makes a lot of sense, especially since you`re focusing on the *functional* aspect of not letting it rust away.
 
Accumulator said:
Oh, and... [INSERT quip about your supposed "ineptitude"! Heh heh heh...yeah, you inept?!? I think not ;) ]
Click to expand...

Wasn`t too long ago that I emptied my cabinet and spent 90 minutes trying to remove the haze...that ended up being on my glasses and not the paint.

And lest we forget, pic below is from my first time using GG6; spent a bit of time looking all over garage floor for the pad. Spent more time cleaning up car and garage walls/ceiling cuz the reason the pad launched was I lifted polisher off surface at high speed w a heavily over-primed pad.

All good fun now...looking back on it
4c395f60090581f3a1aa0313ea4cec8c.jpg
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
Wasn`t too long ago that I emptied my cabinet and spent 90 minutes trying to remove the haze...that ended up being on my glasses and not the paint.

All good fun now...looking back on it
4c395f60090581f3a1aa0313ea4cec8c.jpg
Click to expand...


Not to take light your inconvenience but THAT was funny!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
Wasn`t too long ago ..[and then there was]...my first time using GG6..
Click to expand...

Heh heh, the first one I can understand; my vision sometimes has me confusing eye-issues with paint-issues :o

The second...well, that`s a good example of why I think people oughta really study this stuff before getting to work, sometimes takes a while to refresh the stuff we learned ages ago in school.
 
Would of reply earlier but my account was waiting to be activated. I used multiple mitts last winter, worked fine. My jeep hasn’t been washed in months and sealant was about dead. Last Monday i took my IK Foamer, 2 buckets with with warm water, 1 mitt, Worx blower, and 2 rag Company FYW drying towels. I used Opti Power clean 1:10 in the IK 9 And 1:5 in my 1.5 for the wheels. Rinsed the jeep and foamed with the OPC. Bucket washed with P&S Pearl shampoo before drying. I use Auto Fanatics 007 when drying, applying more than a typical drying aid application. With that said .. what I noticed when i got home. The buckets were rather clean. The jeep was covered in salt, sand, etc.
the Power Clean did a fantastic job as a pre treat cleaning the paint. The 007 is a awesome polymer sealant similar to Bead Maker without massive dust attraction. Also if you haven’t tried the FTW towels (with a drying aid) they are freaking fantastic.

The coin up i used was busy but a majority of the cars were in line at the scratch tunnel or Touch-less. Had a guy pull up to the bay and i just finished the tires. Pulled out and waited. The next bay i got nobody was waiting in line. Once washed i pulled outside to dry and apply the sealant.
 
Coatings=crack said:
Look into Ammo Frothe. It’s on another level vs traditional and rinseless.

In winter I go to pay station. If it slow I pre rinse with soap and sprayer (will foam now that I ordered IKfoam12) pressure wash and then pretreat with what ever I have in IK sprayer. Then I use the Frothe with a foamer. Having issues with both IK foamers bought last year so just ordered Ammo’s with this years order of Frothe and 1st time for hydrate.

Seams to work well and no more marring than bucket wash at home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on the Ammo. Just last night Ammo popped up on my youtube feed. I was very interested after watching some of their videos. Seeing how much grit/dirt he was pulling off the car kind of made me nervous, but looks like a good system. They suggested 3 different methods to use.

I will be doing some more research into the AMMO products.

Does anyone else have experience with them?
 
Just ordered hydrate and used after frothe. Amazing product. I use to use detail sprays, waterless washes, home made elixir. Nothing feels or works like Hydrate. If you order make sure to try some. Wish i woulda ordered it last year on my 1st order.

Also just got his foamer.I like it better than IK foam. Not as wet as medium tip or as dry as theur dry tip. Nice consistency. Also sprays more evenly. Less pumps too but IK may have fix this in new model. Sprayer looks same so not interested. Will give marolex axel foamer a try next.

If you try nake sure to get the hydrate. This is my new favorite wash system!


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