How often do you waterless car wash
 

For those who does waterless car washes, I am wondering how often do you guys do waterless car wash during the winter (let's say there is no snow, or salt on the road).

Once a week, twice a week?

No experience with snow, but my car has only had water used on it 3 times in over a year. All I use is waterless wash changing towels often during the cleaning. The times I used a water wash was when I got caught in a bad storm, forced to drive through mud, and one time when I was lazy and got heavy build up from a few drives without touching it up.

My car is garaged and has only been driven 2800 miles in a year so I'm able to clean it almost after every drive to stay on top of it.

you can do it as many time as you like, remember the less dirt or grime you have to remove the chances decrease from marring or inducing scratches.

make sure your towels/wash mitts are clean

Never, ever, ever, ever. Buy hey, I'm anal about not creating paint damage.

I've gotten to the point that, unless my car is really dirty (very rare), I use the waterless. The trick is to constantly change towels and not drag dirt across the surface.

I fully appreciate what junkman is saying and I'm a big fan, but practicality plays into this as well. I also don't have a black car and do have to deal with occasional water restrictions.

I agree 100%. Most people don't have a heated garage with a drain to wash their car in during winter time, nor do they park that car for most of the winter.

i dont.

in the winter time unless i can use a hose to wash off the salt, i just let the car (my dd) be as dry as it can.

btw, my Z is spotless throughout winter. :p

Never

Waterless sounds scary, but I guess if you have water restrictions...

Look at my car and it will no longer be scary. Common sense plays a huge role as well as changing towels often.

There, you had to use the "C" word. :icon17:

Seriously, If you use a liberal amount of product and towels, it should not be a problem. Patience young Jedi, patience.

Griot's has some excellent videos on their website on how to do it. Junkman has some great videos too. :tup:

So, is it better than putting water+soap in a bottle and spraying it on? I guess that's sort of my hang-up.

And is it something someone should look at that doesn't wash or waterless-wash their car even every weekend? In other words, is a waterless wash something someone needs to do pretty much every other day/drive otherwise you are dirty enough that you should do a regular wash?

You can scratch your paint washing with soap and water; it's all in the technique. The key is suspending the dirt above the paint and separating it from further contact with the finish.

To answer your question - I only use waterless when my car is dusty/lightly dirty. A really dirty car, like one run through a rain storm, I only wash with water, although I have used waterless in a pinch.

It's really a function of using lots of product and towels.

Waterless wash isn't just a wash it has ingredients to promote shine as well. I thought I made it somewhat clear that my limited driving helps me use this process, as does some common sense.

I don't think I said it was better I was just trying to help the OP figure out how he would implement it in his techniques. If you DD your car it will no doubt keep it looking better between washes if you use it a couple times a week.

Check our these two videos, they explain, in detail, how a Waterless Wash works and how to properly use it.



You'll get the basics from that, but we've actually discontinued our Waterless Wash and now offer a Rinseless Wash Concentrate that can be used as shown below, as well as diluted with water into a "Waterless Wash" spray you can use.

notice that the porsche is not caked in salt... :ugh:

there is a limit. just wash your dd with water and soap when you get a chance.

i only use waterless wash in the summer time after driving through a puddle or something minor.
getting rained on at the office while the car was clean, etc.

Very much so!

Always best to hit a pay n' spray (or a pressure washer if you ave one of those at home) to knock off the heavy contamination first before performing a waterless/rinseless wash.

I'm still waiting to hear what color the car is. You can say what is safe for waterless washing but perception is different for everyone. I have a friend who likes fat girls. When he claims that he met this "fine little honey", I know she's gonna be fat. One man's "fine" could make another man cringe. Some people's "safe for waterless wash" causes me to....

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...eys/thud-1.gif :eek: http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...mileys/ack.gif http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/facepalm.gif http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...ys/leaving.gif http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...leys/nonod.gif http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...ileys/skep.gif http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...illy_nilly.gif

Does he waterless wash his fat chicks before...well...you know?

I agree with you sentiment. Unless there is some kind of water restriction, and I ain't got bottled water as a substitute, wetter is better (extrapolate).

:tup:

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. My car is black, Junkman. Currently, if there is not crazy amount of salt on my car, I waterless wash twice a week, which I think is enough.

When there is a snow storm, I will take it to the touchless and let them wash, but I dont let them dry. I drive to the closest lot and dry it myself with some Adams DS.

I am pretty careful with the towels, so I think it's ok for the winter seasons.

(I posted this in your other thread but I will post it here also.)


Perfect. :icon23:

Here's how you answer your own question. Get your camera out and using the macro function, shoot a picture of your paint so that the flash shows up in the picture. The macro function (usually denoted by a small icon of a flower), allows you to get close to your subject without the picture becoming blurry. Anything closer than 12 inches usually requires the macro function to be selected. Your picture should turn out like this.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...han2010_64.jpg

You can see what the "flash test" reveals. If you want to know if your your paint maintenance regimen is good or not, do a flash test. That will tell you the TRUTH. You won't have to take anyone's word for it, the truth will be staring you right in the face.

Here's a before and after shot I did of some paint I fixed. Notice how the flash is very big in the damaged paint and how small it is in the fixed paint. The reason the flash is so big in the damaged paint is because the flash is bouncing off the hundreds of scratches in the paint. This is what I call "light scatter". In the fixed paint, there is no damage for the flash to bounce off of so the light doesn't scatter. When light doesn't scatter, your paint perfectly beams the light away causing your paint to appear DEEP.

BEFORE:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/slo-cut4.jpg


AFTER:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/slo-cut5.jpg


Here's my car the first day that I bought it. Look at all the damage in the paint. The color looks dull and lifeless. There is no depth.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/new_ride.jpg


This is after I fixed it. It does NOT have one drop of wax on it in this picture:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h.../washpics0.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h.../washpics3.jpg

See the depth? That's what damage-free paint will do for you. If you are doing anything wrong to your paint, the flash test is going to tell you volumns, especially on a black car.

So take a picture and let's see what you're staring at. At that point, I can unplug you from the Matrix and lead you to Zion. That's if you want to take the red pill. ;)

Thanks for the reply Junkman! I will do that and let you know. I think my paint is currently okay, because I just bought my car on Dec. 31st of last year, it was brand new 2014.

I only have taken it to the touchless wash twice so far. I made a post earlier about if I should let them dry it, the answer was obviously no, so from now on, I will dry it myself.

The reason I am not washing the car myself is because it very cold outside and I don't have a garage to wash the car in at the moment. So I am doing waterless twice a week, and every other week, it is touchless without them drying it.

Once winter is gone, I will wash it myself. I watched almost all of your videos, bought the supplies, and ready to go when it is warm outside. :tup:

Keep in mind as someone posted previously, the car is NOT clean after a touchless wash. Check out this thread for more details.

Yes, I watched those 2 videos and it doesnt clean thoroughly. That will have to do till it's warmer so I can 2 bucket wash.

Quick question, would you recommend to air dry it after the wash (just drive home after the wash), OR bust out the microfiber towel and dry it yourself before going home from the car wash.

I thought I made that clear in those videos. :confused:

Both choices have their downfall but the first suggestion does NOT create paint damage. If you allow the car to air dry, the drops of water remaining on the car will collect dust and dirt. Although not desirable, that dust and dirt will NOT cause scratches unless you remove them improperly. If you leave them alone, they won't do a thing but make the car look a little dirty.

If you dry the car with a towel, you are grinding the dirt that remained on the car after the touchless wash INTO the paint. That's what I call, "making sandpaper". You already know what sandpaper does to your paint so there is no question as to if you should do that or not. I discussed that in those two videos.

Everything I preach is based on one thing: common sense. No rocket science, no Sprint math or calculus 4. It's the simple advice that your grandma would have given you. Some companies like to make this stuff seam like you need a degree is washology to understand it but trust me, I could teach a 8-year old this stuff.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...lin_buffer.jpg

Ah okay, thanks for clearing it up. I will leave the car to air dry, once it's warmer, I'll do the 2 bucket.

heya, junkman...thx for the helpful vids and advice...in your link here to the two vids i think you briefly mentioned using (or not) the "california duster."

what would be your advice re. using on seeable, gathering vegas desert dust and pine tree pollen that sprinkles light golden patterns upon the paint? do i risk swirling/scratching?

thx,

john

This makes me sad. Living in apartment next year. Black car. No garage or cover. No hose. No clean car forevaaa :icon23:

I can go both ways on this. I have kept a 95% perfect paint considering my car lives outside. If the car is very light on dirt and I mean LIGHT. I will use No rinse and a lot of towels to clean it. however Anything more and I bring out the foam gun and everything else.

Here's your thread. ;)