Wash off the salt in the north east????????

In th summer I take great pride in washing, waxing, and detailing mt truck. BUT, I live in MAINE, and right now it's 20 degrees out, AND my truck is covered in sand/salt from the storm we got a few days ago. I really want to get a nice wash, BUT I'm not sure how I feel about the car wash places? Normally I'd do it myself, but it's too cold. Do the "touchless" car washes really get all the salt off? (I Guess it's better than NO wash right?) What about the washes with the brushes that actually touch the truck? Should i be concerned about scratches or breaking my antenna?

Any thoughts? What do you North East people do in the winter to keep her clean?

Any reputable places in the Portland Maine area?

 

I wash it in a heated garage, then let it dry before I go out anywhere. If its real bad I'll go to a car wash to use the power washer then bring it home and wash it.

 

I would do the touchless, it may not get snow clods of but it will get most of the salt off. I know its cold but back when I lived in Indiana the car washes would close one side of the stalls so wind wouldn't blow in while you were washing. It wasn't too bad giving it a quick spray wash and dry off with a WW.

 

I just take it to the local wash place called foam and wash. Will prob pass by today. They have a 5 day warranty, so if it snows or gets dirty before then, I just take it back before the 5 days. Includes complete underbody...

Total $12. I have never had any issues. In the summer I wash the truck myself. In the winter, i would not touch it. Too COLD.

I will prob wait till Sunday to wash the truck since we are suppose to get some sticky stuff on Friday. Never any issues and the place is brush free but it still touches the car.

Go figure.

 

If you have salt and road grime on your rig I wouldn't use the brush type washes. All that nice wax work you did can be messed up pretty quick. You can take your antenna off if you want to try tho.
A touchless always got the major crap off my rides when I was living up there.

 

i cheat.. i take mine to the fire house and park it inside and wash it.. then let it sit for an hour or two before i leave so everything drys off good.

 

I just hit it with the pressure washer mostly undercarriage than the body though. I can live with a dirty truck, but not with a dirty/salty frame.

 

so it's more th salt on the frame and underboady that i need to worry about. where are you washing your tuck in a heated garage? LUCKY!!

 

like others said, i wash mine in warm weather at home, but winter, I will take it to a touchless. it does good enough to get most of the salt and sand off the truck. On above freezing days, I will take the hose and spray off the frame as best I can, getting all the sand off the touchless could reach.

 

Nope, outside. in the frosty air.

 

yes,more the under body(and my foxs)than the paint.i to have a heated garage and a drain in the floor.that was one of the things i liked(wife didnt even see that) when we purchased this house 10 years ago.

 

I try to do it in the morning so it doesn't freeze the driveway, unless it is just relly cold out. If that is the case I will go to a car wash with the pressure washers.

 

DIY place with a power washer wand for doing the undercarriage, no brushes from there ever touch the paint.

 

You dont need drains and a heated garage.

Park your truck in the garage. Let it sit for a hour and the engine will make the garage warm. Them spray off the bottom then squeegee the floor off. I do it all the time.

It helps to have a hot/cold hose too. Makes it feel warmer in the garage while you are doing it.

 

I just moved from Denver to Austin Tx and I miss the snow, but I sure as hell don't miss shoveling or dealing with all of this.

 

I just moved back to the north from Louisiana, Don't miss the swamp ass either.

 

I take a capped 5 gallon (drywall) bucket filled with cool to slightly warm car soap suds and my wash mitt. I also get a shammy 'ready' by soaking it with warm water and bring it and a clean towel in the evnt i can hit the majority of the water droplets before they freeze. (Depends on the temp for the drying, closer to freezing will work)

When i get to the carwash, i put in the 1st round of quarters and spray it off with the bucket top off. Near the end, i adgitate teh water in teh bucket to kick the suds back up.

I then hand wash it top to bottom like i normally would, swicthing to a second wash mitt near the bottom and for the rims. I'll use a ratty old mitt i keep in the bed of the truck for the tires at the end, or sometimes use the 'foaming brush' cycle for the tires at the end of the 1st spray run.

I start the 2nd run after the hand wash to rinse it all off. I sometimes will add extra quarters after rinsinsing or before if i intend to add the spray on wax and rinse that off after applying.

Depending on how busy the carwash is, a slower day, i will dry it in teh bay. A busy day, i'll pull outside and try to dry most of it.

Those drive through washes are crap and don't get the stuff off. Touch-less means nothing if they follow it up by drying over the grit left behind by the half assed 'wash'. Not the time i want some kid following up with the sandpaper dry method on the 'wet' but still dirty and gritty paint surface.

 

I haven't washed the car this winter yet but I know I'm not taking it back to the the car wash again. Last winter a lady bumped into my front bumper while she was trying to make a 3 point turn in a small parking lot. I told her I'd have to go get a car wash to see how bad the damage was because all the salt (and whatever the dirty stuff is leftover from the snow on the paint is) was still on the truck. As the truck was going through the automatically I heard a loud bang on my left side and thought to myself that it was kind of loud. After I left the car wash place, I was looking at my left rear view mirror to check for oncoming traffic and.....SUPRISE!!!! Those things that spins around and cleans the truck took off my whole entire left mirror nice and clean. The loud bang I heard was the mirror flying off and hitting my door pannel. lol I got them to replace it for me free of charge. I didn't bother to file more paperwork to have them fix the little dent and paint on the panel.

As for the touchless car wash.....last time I used that I got out of the car and took my finger and ran it across the panel and .... yup, I see dirt on my finger.

The self car wash places around here doesn't have one with a closing bay door.

 

I do the exact same thing at one of those U Wash places with the coin operated pressure washers. Rinse off the truck with the first round of quarters and refill my bucket. Then I wash the truck as I would in my own yard, then pop in some more quarters to rinse. The foaming brush never touches my paint - wheels only. Just don't forget to give it a quick spray with the pressure washer to get all the sand out of it for the next person. Just a little courtesy.

 

I use the same car wash as you. It's $15 for the full car wash package and they offer deals throughout the year where you can purchase a booklet of several tickets and get a wash or two for free. They have a great salt remover they spray the undercarriage with so I generally buy a booklet of five ($50) and they last the cold part of the winter. The rest of the year I wash it at home.