Winter Weather and ONRWW

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bartenderfloyd

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First time poster, I've been lurking for about a year now and I have become pretty fanatical about my car thanks to all of you. I thought I was on top of my game since I've always owned black cars but when I discovered this place a whole new world of obsession opened up.

My worst case scenario has finally come true. Crappy weather for a few days (snow and cold) and no break in sight to clean the car. The highest it will be in the next 10 days is 34 degrees but most of the days the high will be below freezing. Most other winters I could just wait until it peaked over 40ish degrees and could wash my car but that doesn't look like it is going to happen anytime soon. I bought ONRWW for this reason. I tried it on my wife's car last week and it worked great. No scratches and a great shine. Two differences though, her car is maroon, not black, and it wasn't this dirty when I tried it.

I plan on pulling the car in the driveway, spraying it down to get all the big junk off and hopefully dissolve most of the caked on salt, and giving it an ONRWW wash in the heated garage.

My question: Will this procedure leave scratches on my black paint? Will it be worse to let it sit like this until it becomes warm enough to give it a proper wash?

Your advice is appreciated.
 
I would really advise on using a pressure washer to get all of that stuff off. But I would mix up some ONR in a spray bottle and spray all of that dirt then pressure wash it off. That is definitely too dirty for a rinseless wash, even with a hose pre-spray in my opinion.
 
giving it a good hosing off first to remove crusted salt and grime sounds like the best bet before pulling it in for the wash, maybe have to make 2-3 passes with the hose around the car, if you are worried then just make sure you work small sections at a time with a generously wet mit/sponge for the wash. should be just fine, a lot of people clean black cars in the winter.
 
No rinse is fully capable if cleaning that car without damage as long as you are smart about what you need to accomplish. Large debris needs to be rinsed first and presoaking will soften and reduce risk of marring. Change to a clean section of the mitt/towel when it's soiled and even to a new one as needed so that you're not dragging a soiled towel over the paint. That dirt is what causes marring...not the wash itself. I like the common sense approach the Garry Dean method offers. He has a few YouTube videos on the Garry Dean wash method and it works equally well with No Rinse Wash & Wax.
 
Chris Thomas said:
No rinse is fully capable if cleaning that car without damage as long as you are smart about what you need to accomplish. Large debris needs to be rinsed first and presoaking will soften and reduce risk of marring. Change to a clean section of the mitt/towel when it's soiled and even to a new one as needed so that you're not dragging a soiled towel over the paint. That dirt is what causes marring...not the wash itself. I like the common sense approach the Garry Dean method offers. He has a few YouTube videos on the Garry Dean wash method and it works equally well with No Rinse Wash & Wax.
Click to expand...
Garry Dean must be happy:props:
 
I also have 2 black car - this time of year i only drive my beater 98 Honda and leave the E93 in the garage.

If you've got a pressure washer and foam cannon I'd suggest dousing your A6 with AutoFinesse Avalanche Snow Foam to remove the road grim.
Other then that, as long as you've got a good winter coating on the A6, I'd leave it alone until spring.

Swanicyouth did a great writeup on how effective Avalanche Snow Foam is on removing caked on grim back in December:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...6-review-autofinesse-avalanche-snow-foam.html

Good luck!
 
The car looks pretty dirty but really that's mostly salt.
Use warm water when diluting your ONR and presoak the car with it to break down the salt.

My car was in similar condition when I did no rinse last week and I did this without hosing the car down. Preferably, I would have hosed the car down but the hose was frozen :(
 
Chris Thomas said:
No rinse is fully capable if cleaning that car without damage as long as you are smart about what you need to accomplish. Large debris needs to be rinsed first and presoaking will soften and reduce risk of marring. Change to a clean section of the mitt/towel when it's soiled and even to a new one as needed so that you're not dragging a soiled towel over the paint. That dirt is what causes marring...not the wash itself. I like the common sense approach the Garry Dean method offers. He has a few YouTube videos on the Garry Dean wash method and it works equally well with No Rinse Wash & Wax.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used the Garry Dean method to practice on my wife's car and it worked very well.
 
c8n said:
The car looks pretty dirty but really that's mostly salt.
Use warm water when diluting your ONR and presoak the car with it to break down the salt.

My car was in similar condition when I did no rinse last week and I did this without hosing the car down. Preferably, I would have hosed the car down but the hose was frozen :(
Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't think about the presoak and that's a great idea.
 
I'm in the same boat... I don't have a usable hose at home when the ground freezes. usually I take the car to the pressure washer and spray off the worst. And just as important I spray the undercarriage down as much as possible.
Then I come home and use ONR.

I keep telling my husband he needs to build me a wash bay at home :laughing:
Yeah, not really kidding.
 
:welcome:

I'm going to echo most others here and say go with an ONR presoak and it it with a hose of pressure washer, that's what I usually do. Out in CO they dump mag chloride and gravel all over the roads so my car is pretty much coated in sandpaper every time it snows. ONR and some pressure have been a life saver.
 
DetailKitty said:
I'm in the same boat... I don't have a usable hose at home when the ground freezes. usually I take the car to the pressure washer and spray off the worst. And just as important I spray the undercarriage down as much as possible.
Then I come home and use ONR.

I keep telling my husband he needs to build me a wash bay at home :laughing:
Yeah, not really kidding.
Click to expand...


When my parents built their current house, I convinced them to include hot water taps and a floor drain in the garage. Unfortunately, I don't live close enough to pop in and wash our cars when the mood strikes but it's mighty convenient in the winter months.
 
k4df4l said:
When my parents built their current house, I convinced them to include hot water taps and a floor drain in the garage. Unfortunately, I don't live close enough to pop in and wash our cars when the mood strikes but it's mighty convenient in the winter months.
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it is not allowed to have floor drain in garage in some areas.
 
I'd take that through a touchless or hit it with a pressure washer at a coin-op before hitting it with a waterless wash.

I've been going through the same situation with my black car. I've noticed that even with a good touchless wash and plenty of care with the towels and waterless wash solution, I'm getting some marring/fine scratches on the rear/hatch area that touchless washes never clean well. I'm at the tipping point where I'm trying to decide whether I'll keep going with the waterless and just correct the marring in the spring, or I'll stop and just have a semi-clean car from the touchless wash the rest of the winter to prevent any more marring.
 
Coin-op! That's what I do. Knocks off the majority of the crud, leaving just a thin layer of 'dust' underneath that easily and safely comes off with the WW.
 
c8n said:
The car looks pretty dirty but really that's mostly salt.
Use warm water when diluting your ONR and presoak the car with it to break down the salt.

My car was in similar condition when I did no rinse last week and I did this without hosing the car down. Preferably, I would have hosed the car down but the hose was frozen :(
Click to expand...

How long do you pre-soak? Feed back please. :buffing:
 
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