Yes another QEW question

S

standalonez

New member
While I'm waiting for optimum's QEW...I just got a few questions because I'm still hesitant to purchase this stuff hehe.



How many towels do you go through during one QEW wash?



If you're not using a hose, how are you gettin the crud off your towels and continuuing to wash the rest of your vehicle? When i wash my car, I use one bucket and i constantly spray my towels off so no garbage gets caught in the towels.



Thanx and sorry for being soo skeptical hehe.
 
I only use one MF towel for washing and one for drying.



I also use a rinse bucket, although you don't have to. The QEW has the characteristic of collecting the dirt and sending it to the bottom of the bucket instead of making the water muddy brown.



Start at the top of the car and work down, rinsing in the rinse bucket every few passes.



Dry each panel after you wash it.



I fold my MF towel in 4ths and make 1 or 2 passes with each 4th. Then turn the towel over and I have 4 more surfaces.



Rinse really well and re-wet with the QEW water.



Do the wheels and tires last.



P.S. ... ... ... I had about 20 minutes of free time last night before dinner, so I whipped up a little QEW and cleaned the Grand Prix.... the stuff is just as fast as Quick Detailer............ :xyxthumbs



The nice thing is... You can do it in the garage with no mess.....
 
Regular washing will still have its place, but QEW is great for those weekly washes. Heavier dirt/mud I would still pull out the hose.



Like the above poster, I use one towel to wash and one to dry. I also use Clearkote QS during the drying step to make it easier to dry and add slickness. I use a rinse bucket or sink (if you have one in the garage) along with the bucket full of QEW. Once you try it a few times you will get the hang of it! It's great for the winter time when it is just too cold to wash, but you want your car to be clean. I can wash my car in the garage with the heaters on and the garage door closed. It's great!



But in the summer time, there is nothing like washing my car on a warm summer evening so the QEW will probably retire during those months for me.
 
standalonez said:
Ok thanx guys. So you really do need a rinse bucket and a sink to get the best and safest results, don't you?
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Yeah... it just makes sense to rinse before re-dipping... even though it's not required...





.
 
standalonez said:
Ok thanx guys. So you really do need a rinse bucket and a sink to get the best and safest results, don't you?
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One or the other will do just fine. I have a sink in my garage that I fill with warm water to use as a rinse. Some people may not have that available to them or find it a hassle, so a bucket filled with water will do!
 
wannafbody said:
has anyone tried QEW in a spray bottle like a QD? or does the bucket method work better?
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I've used QEW in a spray bottle. I wouldn't recommend it for a car that's very dirty.



Not nearly as much lubricity (is that a word?) as my normal QD spray.



I always use the 2 bucket method now. (BTW, I wring about half the water out of the MF before wiping. Leaving about 1/2 the QEW water in the towel to lubricate the dirt off).
 
I have a box of 20 MFs that are dedicated to QEW use and QDing. I use one for washing, and two for drying. The first drying towel is for getting the majority of the water. The second one is for following up and absorbing the streaks of the first one. After a few panels, the first drying towel is going to have a lot of water in it, and be leaving thick streaks.



I use two buckets. A 1gal bucket of QEW/water/QD, and a 5gal bucket (w/ about 3.5gal of water) to rinse, and I usually add a little QEW/QD to that bucket as well.



I'll be washing off caked-on salt with QEW this weekend. :(



Oh and I also have a spray bottle with QEW/water for spraying dried salt/dirt before washing it off.
 
White95Max said:
I have a box of 20 MFs that are dedicated to QEW use and QDing. I use one for washing, and two for drying. The first drying towel is for getting the majority of the water. The second one is for following up and absorbing the streaks of the first one. After a few panels, the first drying towel is going to have a lot of water in it, and be leaving thick streaks.



I use two buckets. A 1gal bucket of QEW/water/QD, and a 5gal bucket (w/ about 3.5gal of water) to rinse, and I usually add a little QEW/QD to that bucket as well.
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I use the same method as above except for a chenille wash pad instead of a wash MF. Has worked really well for the past eight months, except that I can't seem to get my wash and dry time for my Accord under an hour (including door jambs but excluding tires and wheelwells).



For the tires and wheelwells, I use a spray bottle of QEW mix and some Megs brushes.
 
wannafbody said:
what works better for the washing part- MF or sheepskin?
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IMO, MF towels work very well, especially Autopia Concours Buffing towels. I usually use two or three to wash with, refolding the towel to a clean section frequently, and switching to a new towel whenever the towel I'm using is out of clean spots.



I use a split bucket, and use QEW in both my wash and rinse water, FWIW.



Tort
 
wannafbody said:
what works better for the washing part- MF or sheepskin?
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I used Sheepskin one time with QEW and I didn't like it at all, compared to the MF towels.



Seemed a lot messier (lots of water slop) and the MF actually pics up the dirt, where the sheepskin just smears it around and you end up picking up the dirt with the drying towel... :nono
 
I *always* wash heavy crud off at the coin-op carwash before using QEW. A quick wash at the car wash and then home to use the QEW. I use two buckets and usually apply the QEW with a chenille mitt and dry with microfiber towels. Regardless of how careful I am, some micro- marring does show up, but it's not all that bad. (I have a black truck.)



Tom
 
wannafbody said:
I'll try it with a microfiber mitt and see how it does
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If you're going to use a mitt, IMO, it would be worthwhile to have several on hand. One of the reasons I stick to towels (for the most part) is that it's easy to refold the wash towel to expose a clean side. If you're using a towel with nap on both sides, there's eight clean surfaces to be used (folding in to quarters, both sides). By using two towels for the wash, I'm essentially using a clean portion of MF on every panel I wash.



There's nothing wrong with using a MF mitt, but it's been my experience that they don't release dirt very well (they clean the paint surface great, they just don't rinse out cleanly).



Tort
 
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