Washing in winter

What's the preferred method of exterior cleaning for those who live in colder climates AND don't like automatic car washes? In the past I just waited until we got a day above 50F. This was with white vehicles which I could get away with a little bit more time between washings.

Now, I have a darker colored new truck that I can't stand to see it looking bad! I've always thought that the automatic car washes weren't the best for the finish. Also, I enjoy doing the job myself. Are the self-service bays any better? I suppose I could just use the spray wands to put soap on and rinse off with a high powered jet? The brush is not going to leave it's holster as I imagine that's where all the gunk from previous washings is hanging-out. Then I'll just use my own cotton towel to dry it off and do the interior once I get home in the comfort of my garage. Thoughts?

 

Touchless automatic wash as long as it's around freezing. Not quite as good as hand wash, but good enough for removing winter crud.

 

If it is at least 30 or so, I take a bucket and wash mitt glove to the car wash bay if the truck is too dirty to get clean with just the spray wand. Touchless washes don't do a lot of the truck is very dirty and I would never use the car washes with brushes.

 

I usually avoid the automatic and coin-op car wash facilities. Even if you use the do-it-yourself bays, the chemical detergents they use are super caustic and can damage the paint. They are designed to give a consumer a quick cleaning job, and certainly are not analogous to long-term paint care.

As odd as it sounds, it might be safer to not wash your truck at all instead of using an automatic/coin-op wash.

 

For some seasonable warm days (above freezing) I use one of those expanding hoses and it coils up nicely in the bucket and remains flexible unlike a regular garden hose. That's for home washing. The other option is car wash but not drive through automatic. Just like you mentioned hot bucket of suds and wash mit my method. On the old daily driver car...it gets the car was brush after I've given it a good blasting with high pressure wand.

 

I got a 5 gallon bucket with lid at Lowe’s. I fill it half full of hot water, toss in a cap full of car wash soap and a mitt, and take it to the self service pay and spray.

First $3.50 in quarters I spray it off with high pressure soap. Run out the time. Then use your bucket and mitt to wash the truck. Then use another $3.50 for a high pressure rinse.

For those more concerned about swirls than I am, take a second bucket with you half full of water to rinse the mitt (two bucket method).

You could also use six 16x16” microfibers instead of a mitt and avoid two bucket method all together.

 

Look into the "Garry Dean method" where you use a bunch of towels (The Rag Company edgeless 350) and prefill with hot water and your choice of rinseless or waterless wash in their recommended dilution (Wolfgang Uber, CarPro Ech2o etc). Do whatever you need to do to pre rinse. If the truck is very filthy then take it to a coin op place to rinse it. Since some of these places don't want you bringing your own gear into the wash bay, simply pull out of the bay and proceed to use the warm bucket of towels to wash the surface. If the truck isn't all that filthy you can proceed straight from the bucket of towels and wash but at least pretreating the surface with the same rinseless/waterless wash product in their "detail spray" dilution.

Just spraying the truck down with water without some kind of soap or rinseless solution can just lead to water spots depending on the water hardness. Or rinsing and drying off with towels just leads to micro scratches.

 

In the big city (lol, Omaha NE.) They have a large indoor heated DIY car wash bays! A little pricey but if one were closer I'd probably use it lol.

 

Love my white vehicles. Wife said she's been asked several times at work, how is your truck always clean? I wonder if she tells them, my husband has OCD?

 

It's a great color for tricking you into thinking it's clean. Water spots aren't visible, days of road film wont show unless you're right on top of it. I usually notice it on my glass when looking from inside out more than standing a few feet away from the paint. With enough wet driving and rain you eventually get it drooling down from window moldings and such. Or off the decals if you haven't debadged.

 

Wonder if I would have to go to the e-room after trying that method here today in the 18 degree cold north wind blowing up my ass? I have a long handled car wash brush I use in the self service bays along with a bucket full of McKee's 37 Si02 car wash soap and only use the rinse cycle at the car wash. I do use their soapy brush to scrub my tires though, (Once or twice during the winter)

 

I got the latest Wolfgang UBER today in the mail. Infused with Si02.

 

Curious to hear your thoughts compared to the original. Probably would have picked this up if it had existed last year when I picked up ech2o.

In particular for glass cleaning, the pink Uber is a great glass cleaner that wipes up well and clear. The other would be how does it compare in wiping away the residue. Ech2o takes a slight bit more effort than Uber but that is kind of by design.

 

Probably won't open the bottle till early spring. Still have 3/4 gallon of drying aid I'm using to wipe the shower down everyday after I get out of it and I still have 2 ounces of pink UBER in the bottle yet. Going to use a ounce of that next time I wash my truck. Add it in with my car wash soap. Like McKees 37 Si02 car wash soap needs any extra booster. But yeah next spring for sure. Bought this new bottle during Autgeek's Christmas discounts. $21+ change delivery included.

 

Mmm Kate Austin

 

I usually head over to the coin wash just to blast some of the salt off the paint. After that, I head straight home and finish it off in the garage with some Optimum No Rinse. Not convenient by any means, but it's worked well for me over the years.

I'm going to be testing out some StarBrite Salt Off this week. I'm hoping it will make things a little easier. Will probably do a video on the process and post it to YouTube after I've had a chance to see how it works.

 

Best mod I did for my Tacoma/house.... I installed an OUTDOOR faucet connection and have full control for HOT/COLD water for my hose.

I can wash anything / anytime outside. It allows me to spray off the salt brine during the winter months and keep my hands warm

No issues here

 

any day above 25 with the sun out, take it to the coin op spray wash, rinse thoroughly, then home into the garage for griots garage rinseless wash, speed shine, ceramic speed shine or the like, type of panel to panel washing, with microfibre towels. they have several "dry" type washing agents. their 3 in 1 ceramic spray, is pretty good!. Ski

 

Thanks for the info(everyone actually)! I purchased a 12 pack of microfiber cloths and a bottle of Optimum No Rinse last night and once the box with the smile arrives at my door I will proceed to give my truck a proper cleaning inside the garage. I don't think it's dirty enough to need to take it to the self-service bay first, but I'm not sure what you mean by 'pre treating the surface first'? I'm guessing you mean using a spray bottle of the same solution I'm soaking the cloths in?

Around here she's known as 'Freckles'. LOL

 

Right but with a more concentrated spray than what is in the towel bucket.

With Wolfgang Uber which has a less diluted concentrate than ONR you mix up their "quick detailer" ratio which is 3oz to a gallon. Grab a gallon of distilled water and pour out 3oz and replace with Uber. Pour this into a spray bottle and you've got a quick detail spray and can be used for your pre treat solution which you should definitely use if you don't pre rinse, and even with a rinse it's still a good idea. Uber wash dilution is 1oz to 3 gallons but if you use the multiple towel method you can mix up a smaller batch.

I believe ONR wash bucket ratio is 1oz to 2gallons. I found somewhere that said the detailer ratio is 8oz to 1 gallon. The detailer ratio may vary with some users so you may want to search on what may be preferred. Whatever the ratio I would mix this up in a distilled gallon since it will keep longer. Or mix it on the fly right in a spray bottle if using tap. I've found that a 32 oz or liter sized bottle is about the right size for plenty of pretreat over the whole truck surface.

Keep a 16oz bottle and a rag in the truck for bird shit or whatever else you may want to wipe off when it arises.