Winter washing - what to do?

bob m

bob m

New member
Sorry if this has been asked before -I`m betting it has, but what do you guys recommend/do in the winter months - car is dirty with residual salt/snow when it`s way too cold out to do a Rinseless wash and the cars are way too dirty for a WW? My car has Expel on the hood and front bumper and has been coated with Nanolex. Even with some of the "better" car wash places and I would hand dry myself - instead of them using their crappy MF towels, would it 1. impart swirls and 2. affect/damage the coating?
This is only something I would do maybe 2 times a month until the weather is such that some type of Rinseless wash or full hand wash is feasible.
 
If you have a garage, finish walls with insulation, drywall and heat it. You will thank me later. When we moved into our first house that was one of the first upgrades I did. It`s really not that costly for the average suburban home and to heat my 24x24 is about $15mo. if that.
 
There is not much you can do to fight mother nature especially if you do not have access to a garage. You have to wait it out and do what you can when you have time and the weather. I saw in your post about salt and concerns about scratching and marring. Many would disagree with me here but no matter what when you do a waterless or rinseless wash you will scratch and induce marring to the paint. The only thing you can do is minimize the damage.

If you have access to DIY tunnel car washes I would use that. I would pre treat your car with your waterless wash solution while you are there. You can use a spray bottle or garden sprayer, let it dwell then use they handy power washer they have and rinse the car off. If you have stubborn salt deposits Whips Wax makes a salt remover that will remedy that and it`s not that expensive. I think it removes LSP`s. I have yet to try it. You can use an electric leaf blower to dry it off when you get home. My hope for winter is to keep the cars as clean as possible without having to touch the paint with my hands. After my final winter prep good looks wear off I only care about my car being protected without damaging my LSP and removing winter road chemicals as often as I can.
 
I make sure I have a good LSP on before winter hits. Then when the weather allows, like yesterday, I do a good traditional wash outside. It can go weeks or longer before this, but not much you can do with winter.
 
Bob is in NJ.

My theory is it`s never too cold to wash. I just get worried about icing the driveway up. That`s not good.

If the car is really toxic, I might use the hose to rinse outside and then bring the vehicle inside, heat the garage and proceed with ONR or whatever today`s preferred product might be. I`ve been doing this for years.

If you don`t have access to water, feel the car is too dirty for a rinseless wash, I`d go to the local spray booth with my quarters and just make the best of it.
 
My garage has a drain, but is unheated. Most of the winter it never gets below 42` in the garage so I`m usually good to go for either full washes or rinseless washes. However, there have been times it is just too cold or for some reason I can`t get to a hand wash. We have a number of Laser Car Washes in our area that are quiet good. It is a touchless tunnel wash/touchless dry and those in my area use fresh water not recycled water. Certainly doesn`t do anywhere near as well as a hand wash, but gets the grit and most of the grime off, doesn`t impart swirls and the car looks allot better. Check around as you might have them in your area also.
 
tom p. said:
Bob is in NJ.
My theory is it`s never too cold to wash. I just get worried about icing the driveway up. That`s not good......
.
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Not to sound sarcastic, BUT in Wisconsin if it`s -10°F or colder outside, ALL automatic pay carwashes stop working and are closed, as it`s just too hard on the equipment and water piping, not to mention the garage doors opening and closing constantly for each vehicle.
Your point about an iced-up driveway is VERY valid and I have had to throw down calcium chloride (an expensive de-icer that does NOT harm concrete) then cover that with charcoal ashes (a great non-slip item that I save all summer long in a bucket from grilling out for this specific purpose). For those of you who have never slipped or fallen on an iced concrete driveway or walkway in the winter, consider yourself fortunate. I have and it`s an expensive medical malady that I still suffer from on my right shoulder.
I also know that they make wire/spring/chain clip-ons for the bottom of shoes and boots that are worth consideration when washing vehicles in near-freezing temperatures to prevent slipping on ice. Most of these are designed and marketed for ice fishing on frozen lakes and water ways. Some of them have sharp barbs or triangle-spikes designed specifically for use on ice that might be too aggressive for use on concrete. The spring or chain ones are better for concrete use.
Hey ,if you want to wash your vehicle in the winter with spiked shoes, like track running shoes or golf shoes, be my guest! Looks funny, but it beats slipping and landing on your side and breaking your shoulder or collar bone!


NOW, something related, but slightly off topic is the use of rinse-less and waterless wash soaps. Optimum Polymer Technology`s No-Rinse (AKA, ONR) has long been a staple and standard for rinse-less washes. Is there a "better" rinse-less wash soap that you fellow Autopians use for the winter and why do you use it and what do you like about it?
Off hand, I can think of:

Garry Dean`s Infinite Use Detailing Juice (IUDJ)
McKee`s 37`s N-914 Rinseless Wash
Meg`s D115 Rinse-Free Express Wash and Wax
Griot`s Garage Waterless Wash
Blackfire`s Waterless Wash
3-D`s Rinse-Free Wash
Poorboy`s Spray and Wipe Waterless Wash
Pinnacle`s Waterless Wash
.. well, you get the idea; there are a lot of waterless/rinse-less wash soap choices available these days for winter car washes.
 
Waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, waterproof winter boots, warm gloves and large chemical gloves for waterproofing, and a vinyl apron.
 
Lonnie said:
Not to sound sarcastic, BUT in Wisconsin if it`s -10°F or colder outside,
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You are correct. That`s unworkable. I guess what I meant is there will be a warmer day here and there where the washing is doable. For most of us in the continental USA, we do get "warm" days on a fairly regular basis. We are supposed to be close to 55F here in Boston over the next couple of days. One must make some effort to do a bit of cleaning whenever the opportunity presents itself.
 
Self-service car wash. Bring your own warm water in 2 buckets sealed with Gamma seals. Most self service washes have heated floors. Our self service wash closed two years ago. I’m still going through withdrawals from not being able to spray off and hand wash my cars in the winter.
 
I guess I should add that it`s important to keep a close watch on upcoming weather. If I could see we were going into an extended period of cold weather, I probably would leave the cars covered in their filth. I spent a couple of years in Rochester (NY) with a black car. I`ve never lived in another location that used the salt and had the amount of snow, it seemed daily, that they did. I tried to battle it as best I could at the spray booth, but eventually realized it was a lost cause. The car doors were freezing shut, the suspension components would freeze in place, windows were frozen closed and rubber weather stripping was getting torn. All bad stuff because the car wouldn`t thaw after blasting it in the spray booth. Something to keep in mind during these extreme temps we might encounter :mellow:
 
Garry Dean`s Infinite Use Detailing Juice (IUDJ)
McKee`s 37`s N-914 Rinseless Wash
Meg`s D115 Rinse-Free Express Wash and Wax
Griot`s Garage Waterless Wash
Blackfire`s Waterless Wash
3-D`s Rinse-Free Wash
Poorboy`s Spray and Wipe Waterless Wash
Pinnacle`s Waterless Wash
.. well, you get the idea; there are a lot of waterless/rinse-less wash soap choices available these days for winter car washes.
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Garry Dean has some new rinseless wash stuff - Final Rinse. Assuming your car is prepped prior to winter (paint is smooth and either sealed or coated), Final Rinse is awesome. I couldn`t believe how slick the paint was after using it.
 
Absent heated detailing facilities or a disposable vehicle that could just go through a swirl-o-matic, I`d just run it through a touchless or have a local hand-wash/"detailing" place to it, and accept that it`s gonna have a few issues.

Although...back when I ran my family`s non-Autopian vehicles through a carwash (yeah, a regular, awful, one), I had the Drying Crew spitz `em with a QD (these days it`d be IUDJ at QD-strength) and told them to use my MFs. A nice tip took care of any reluctance on their part. Helped a bit, would be even better these days with the IUDJ and LSPs like FK1000P that shed dirt even better (or at least longer) than Collinite/M16.
 
tom p. said:
I guess I should add that it`s important to keep a close watch on upcoming weather. If I could see we were going into an extended period of cold weather, I probably would leave the cars covered in their filth. I spent a couple of years in Rochester (NY) with a black car. I`ve never lived in another location that used the salt and had the amount of snow, it seemed daily, that they did. I tried to battle it as best I could at the spray booth, but eventually realized it was a lost cause. The car doors were freezing shut, the suspension components would freeze in place, windows were frozen closed and rubber weather stripping was getting torn. All bad stuff because the car wouldn`t thaw after blasting it in the spray booth. Something to keep in mind during these extreme temps we might encounter :mellow:
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Or "uneducated" vehicle owners who do go through tunnel washes in extreme cold (like 0°For colder) and never wipe off a vehicle, especially door jams. Then they wonder WHY is their door is frozen shut OR why the rubber weather stripping came off!
It`s one reason I wax door jams and treat door seals with 303 protectant in late fall.

On yah, as long as we are talking about winter weather and vehicles, ANOTHER slightly off-topic item is frozen door locks and handles. Now with the advent of remote key fob lock/unlock and now even remote vehicle starters, this issue is less prevalent than the days of locking and unlocking doors and trunk lids/rear hatches with a key. That said, there are still cable release latches for your hood, gas fill-up door, and maybe trunk lid or rear hatch. I prefer to use Tri-Flow Superior Lubricant with P.T.F.E., made by Sherwin -Williams Co. Consumer Group. This "lube" is sprayed in locks, on door/hood/hatch hinges and gas spring pivots, on cable release latches like the gas filler cap door or hood release latches (very important), and door handle pivots and latches in the door itself (that actually hold the door closed to the post on the jam). It`s just another part of prepping a Winter-driven vehicle
 
Lonnie, good points! How could I possibly overlook frozen locks and the like :ph34r: All too common !
 
PA DETAILER said:
I make sure I have a good LSP on before winter hits. Then when the weather allows, like yesterday, I do a good traditional wash outside. It can go weeks or longer before this, but not much you can do with winter.
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This is my approach. When winter hits, I just live with dirty vehicles.

To avoid swirls, I`ll go through a touchless car wash and then simply air dry it on the drive home. The vehicle doesn`t get totally clean, but it will get off most of the salt/grime. Several of our touchless places also have undercarriage sprays, so that helps with removing the salt and keeping it from rusting the undercarriage. Each time I do this, I dream of warmer weather when I`ll be able to once again do a quality bucket wash.
 
Desertnate said:
This is my approach. When winter hits, I just live with dirty vehicles.

To avoid swirls, I`ll go through a touchless car wash and then simply air dry it on the drive home. The vehicle doesn`t get totally clean, but it will get off most of the salt/grime. Several of our touchless places also have undercarriage sprays, so that helps with removing the salt and keeping it from rusting the undercarriage. Each time I do this, I dream of warmer weather when I`ll be able to once again do a quality bucket wash.
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This is the way to go. Soap and rinse, no car wash waxes, sealers or such.
 
Ugghh, why did I ever state that it`s never too cold to wash? I`ve jinxed myself for certain. We`ve had some seriously cold weather for our locale, supposed to continue for another 10 days or so :(

I have washed a couple of cars in the past few days, always 2x the effort and a dismal mess to clean up :( Going thru some serious kerosene over the past week.
 
Desertnate said:
This is my approach. When winter hits, I just live with dirty vehicles.

To avoid swirls, I`ll go through a touchless car wash and then simply air dry it on the drive home. The vehicle doesn`t get totally clean, but it will get off most of the salt/grime. Several of our touchless places also have undercarriage sprays, so that helps with removing the salt and keeping it from rusting the undercarriage. Each time I do this, I dream of warmer weather when I`ll be able to once again do a quality bucket wash.
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This is what I do also. One thing I do different is that when the grime doesn`t seem to rinse off I do the unthinkable and run it through the soft touch. It is either that or I leave it on all winter. I have pretty much gave up on keeping my Camaro clean through the last few winters. Right now it hasn`t seen the car wash for almost a month and that is because we have had frigid and now subzero temps(today`s high -7F, tomorrow`s high -18F) and won`t see above zero until mid next week. I might be able to get the salt off next Friday, if not what`s another week!
 
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