Your Pro (for profit) Hand Wash

[Brenton]

For those who are willing to share, could you tell me about your pro hand wash? I'm trying to find ways of saving time in doing mine.

Materials:
Two buckets--one with a drop of soap and one with lots o' soap.
Pressure washer.
Wool mitt
California Water Blade
WW
APC & Wheel brushes
BS Remover & Bug Squash & Target

Process:
1. Spray down wheels with pressure washer. Use a handled brush for a quick clean on wheels & tires (more precise if paying for wax or int.).
2. Pretreat tar, bugs, undercoating creep or bird droppings; if necessary, remove product
3. Rinse Car
4. Wash
5. Rinse Car
6. Water Blade dry
7. Use ww to catch drips

I feel like my drying regimen by be the problem time wise.
What do you think?

 

[mgm2003]

For those who are willing to share, could you tell me about your pro hand wash? I'm trying to find ways of saving time in doing mine.

Materials:
Two buckets--one with a drop of soap and one with lots o' soap.
Pressure washer.
Wool mitt
California Water Blade
WW
APC & Wheel brushes
BS Remover & Bug Squash & Target

Process:
1. Spray down wheels with pressure washer. Use a handled brush for a quick clean on wheels & tires (more precise if paying for wax or int.).
2. Pretreat tar, bugs, undercoating creep or bird droppings; if necessary, remove product
3. Rinse Car
4. Wash
5. Rinse Car
6. Water Blade dry
7. Use ww to catch drips

I feel like my drying regimen by be the problem time wise.
What do you think?

If you're planning to polish, then I'd focus on the cheapest/most effective way to remove dirt from the surface. You want to make sure that you don't pick up any dirt/grit in your pads during your polishing process, past that who cares if you pick up a little marring during your wash/dry process, right?

That said, A power washer, waterless wash/QEW, and something to clean the wells/tires/rims (APC, A2Z) would do the trick. Get an electric blower to speed up your drying time. You'll also blow out dirt/grit/drips from the seams which helps safeguard a clean surface, prepped for polishing. For washing supplies I think Meg's or TOL will give you the most bang for your buck.

If your doing 'maintenance' washing, then I'd go all out with the 2-bucket method & foam gun. The focus here is to clean the surfaces with as little marring as possible. In this situation, I'd drop the water blade and use a blower and QD/WW for drying the surfaces.

 

[Maxima Lover]

I was thinking about the same thing. I do almost your exact process, and I wish there was a quicker way too. I have thought about putting some Gold Class in a spray bottle and just using one bucket to rinse the mitt. I'm not sure how much marring this would cause though.

My problem as well seems to be when it comes to drying. I was using the absorber and then a MF for drips for a while. Then started using the blade followed by a WW. I have actually been using a stop watch to time myself to see which ways are faster.

 

[joe.p]

I use an electric blower to help rid the car,cracks,seams and tires of the of water.It takes me sometime for a complete detail but i don't think it is caused from being to slow as to being to anal ,Anways good thread i hope many who do this for a living parttime/fulltime will chime in.

 

[Maxima Lover]

I use an electric blower to help rid the car,cracks,seams and tires of the of water.It takes me sometime for a complete detail but i don't think it is caused from being to slow as to being to anal ,Anways good thread i hope many who do this for a living parttime/fulltime will chime in.

What type of electric blower do you use and how much did it cost?

 

[mikehn]

Wouldnt using a blower, gas or electric, kick up dust off the ground onto your car?

 

[BLACKWRX]

I just purchased a foam gun and that saves a ton of time
to wash and dry my car takes about a half an hour, then i may wipe it down with waterless detail or a light wax, so wash and light wax an hour or so

 

[mgm2003]

Wouldnt using a blower, gas or electric, kick up dust off the ground onto your car?

It will depend on your work environment. If you have an asphalt/concrete drive and keep the area around you car wet, you won't have a problem. If you're working on a gravel drive, etc... you might kick up some dirt/dust.

 

[silverline]

Have you considered using treated water? I purchased an RO system for my business and it has eliminated the drying step altogether. I took the ppm of my city water from about 460 ppm to 5 ppm, thus I get zero spotting after it air dries. In addition, after washing the vehicle I go directly on to working on the interior giving the outside plently of time to dry. The reason I purchased the system was the water spots I was experiencing when washing cars in hot weather. The car would be mostly dry before I was even done washing. Now, it doesn't matter how fast it dries, no spots are left behind and I feel it gives a higher quality wash with less chances of inducing any marring than by hand drying the vehicle.

To hand wash a car in average condition and clean and dress the engine, it typically takes me about 20-25 minutes tops by myself. Obviously if the wheels have heavy brake dust caked on them it will take a bit longer. Here is the system I use:

I use a two bucket system, one for the wheels and the other for the rest of the car.

1. Degrease Engine with car turned off, let dwell for just a minute
2. Start vehicle, then power wash the underside of hood and engine clean (continue to leave vehicle running until the entire wash is finished. This will help to dry everything out, allow the dressing to dry evenly, and reduce the chance of problems that could arise when pw an engine.)
3. Dress Engine with HyperDressing diluted 3:1, and close hood
4. Next, onto the wheels. For wheels in average condition, I'll spray Simple Green Extreme diluted 4:1 on the wheels, tires and wheel wells. Scrub with long handled wash brush designated for wheels and tires only, then pw clean.
For wheels in bad condition, I'll first powerwash off to get what I can and to prime the wheels, next, apply Meg's Wheel Brightner to wheels and the SG to tires and wells, scrub wheels and tires in the same fashion above, then pw clean. Apply the Wheel Brightner a second time if necessary, rinse, then apply a APC to the wheels to neutralize the acid, let dwell a moment, then pw clean.
5. Rinse entire vehicle
6. Time to move on to washing the rest of the vehicle. Just like I learned as a kid, I wash top to bottom. I wash all the surfaces facing the sky with a Microfiber covered sponge, and the windshield with a bug sponge, then rinse.
7. Wash the front end with a bug sponge, and and everything above the "dirt line" on one side of the vehicle with MF sponge, then go back with a different mitt(I prefer to use the netted side of a mitt) to clean everything below the dirt line. Rinse
8. Move to the back of vehicle, wash, then wash the other side of vehicle using same method described above. Rinse.
9. Turn off engine
10. PW any rubber floor mats
11. Done! No drying...I just move onto the interior of the vehicle

I'm not saying there isn't a better way of cleaning, this is just the system that I've found to be most efficient and produce the best results. Hope this helps.

Matt Williams
Silver Lining Detail

 

[Maxima Lover]

I use a two bucket system, one for the wheels and the other for the rest of the car.

Do you use a rinse bucket?

2. Start vehicle, then power wash the underside of hood and engine clean (continue to leave vehicle running until the entire wash is finished. This will help to dry everything out, allow the dressing to dry evenly, and reduce the chance of problems that could arise when pw an engine.)

You power wash the engine while it's running? :scared:

 

[silverline]

No I don't use a rinse bucket. However I do use grit gaurds in both buckets to reduce the chance of picking up contaminants in the water that could marr the paint. I don't have any swirling issues when using this method to wash.

And yes, I leave the engine running while I power wash it off. I don't use much water when cleaning an engine, just enough to do the job, and I make sure to keep the tip of the wand a safe distance (about 3 feet or so) away from the engine as to keep from forcing water where it shouldn't be. It's really not as scary as you might imagine. This is the way I was trained to clean engines, and knock on wood, but I have not had one problem utilizing this method. The only time I did encounter a problem with a car not starting after cleaning the engine was when I forget to start the vehicle prior to pw the engine. The car started again after a couple of hours with no lasting effect. I completed the interior then tried starting it again without a problem, just needed time to dry out completely.

I still get a bit nervous when cleaning the engine of older vehicles such as classics and hot rods and such. These engines can be very finicky and I would just as soon not clean them to avoid problems that could arise.

Again, I'm not telling anyone they should do it my way if they don't feel comfortable with it. These are simply the methods that I've found most time efficient while producing professional results. Good luck and happy detailing!

Matt Williams
Silver Lining Detail

 

[Maxima Lover]

No I don't use a rinse bucket. However I do use grit gaurds in both buckets to reduce the chance of picking up contaminants in the water that could marr the paint. I don't have any swirling issues when using this method to wash.

And yes, I leave the engine running while I power wash it off. I don't use much water when cleaning an engine, just enough to do the job, and I make sure to keep the tip of the wand a safe distance (about 3 feet or so) away from the engine as to keep from forcing water where it shouldn't be. It's really not as scary as you might imagine. This is the way I was trained to clean engines, and knock on wood, but I have not had one problem utilizing this method. The only time I did encounter a problem with a car not starting after cleaning the engine was when I forget to start the vehicle prior to pw the engine. The car started again after a couple of hours with no lasting effect. I completed the interior then tried starting it again without a problem, just needed time to dry out completely.

I still get a bit nervous when cleaning the engine of older vehicles such as classics and hot rods and such. These engines can be very finicky and I would just as soon not clean them to avoid problems that could arise.

Again, I'm not telling anyone they should do it my way if they don't feel comfortable with it. These are simply the methods that I've found most time efficient while producing professional results. Good luck and happy detailing!

Matt Williams
Silver Lining Detail

How do you avoid getting the filter wet since you can't cover it. What about other electronic parts? Cars now adays are filled with electronics and a little water could easily short something while it was powered. My other concern is the alternator.

 

[silverline]

Most components in late model vehicles have covers that protect them. I don't spray the alternator directly and try to do the same with visable electrical equipment. Now with older vehicles that don't utilize the many covers seen in late model vehicles, I'll cover those vital components and filters and spray WD-40 on the electrical components. As I mentioned, the system has not failed me yet and I feel very confident with the methods and procedures I was taught and the results they produce.

What are some other methods professionals are using?

 

[Maxima Lover]

Most components in late model vehicles have covers that protect them. I don't spray the alternator directly and try to do the same with visable electrical equipment. Now with older vehicles that don't utilize the many covers seen in late model vehicles, I'll cover those vital components and filters and spray WD-40 on the electrical components. As I mentioned, the system has not failed me yet and I feel very confident with the methods and procedures I was taught and the results they produce.

What are some other methods professionals are using?

Some others use the power washer, but while the engine is cool. Some use steamers. Myself, I clean it while it's cool, but avoid it as much as possible lately. Most of the people I deal with don't even know how to open the hood and/or just don't care about it. It's just not worth the risk or time to me anymore.

 

[NOFX]

As far as the filter most newer vehicles have the air filter in an airbox of some sort which protects the filter. Some people might modify their vehicle with what I like to call... "filter stick" which is basically a filter (usually cone style) on an intake tube. Cold air intake (CAI) or short ram intake (SRI) are the usual styles. Often the CAIs have a bypass valve on them since they hang low, or in front of the wheel behind the bumper. The bypass valve is supossed to keep the car from sucking up water but I've heard of times where bypass valves do not save the motor from hydrolocking.

Generally you won't have a problem with a little water getting on the filter unless the filter is submerged and sucks water in.

I clean my own engine bay, my boyfriend's, and some of my friends. Most other people don't care enough to even want it cleaned so I don't touch it unless they ask for it. I've never had a problem with anything getting wet and all the cars I work with are no older than say... ~1996.