So after using the sponge exclusively for about two(ish) months, probably a total of 35-40 washes between 5 cars around here, I'm really not sure how I feel about it.
I thought everything was going pretty well, I wasn't noticing any marring on my paint, and it seemed like the dream. About a month ago I started noticing some marring and I stayed the course (because I'm stubborn.) After going over the car quick with HD speed, I just had to keep trying. That didn't really end well, because I'm back to a situation with more marring over the course of 2 months being accumulated than I'd gotten over the course of a year using the GDWM. So I'll list out the pros and cons of the sponge.
Pros:
-high quality/very durable. It really feels premium, for sure.
-reduces towels used
-more convenient
cons:
-mars my freaking paint
-not good at getting into small areas/conforming to panels. Just to expand on this point: Yvan states *numerous* times that the best pressure to use with the BRS is no pressure. Well sorry to tell you but even on my altima, which has pretty mild contours, it requires at least -some- pressure to just stay in contact with the paint.
-leaves behind more dirt than a mf towel does (which is none, btw)
I
want to like this sponge, I really do. I want it to be my only wash media, because sometimes I just don't wanna lug a buncha towels down with me and then have to hang them up to dry before I put them in the hamper to eventually be washed. But is it worth having to have a learning curve on my wash media? Is it worth marring my paint even if I bother to presoak with ONR?
I haven't ever encountered an issue skipping presoaking for a rinseless wash if it's just dusty after 3-4 days of driving when using a mf towel., It's so quick, and only takes 2-3 towels to quickly give my car a quick wipe down when the weather is nice. The sponge? No way I trust it to do something like that.
Is it worth the hassle of feeling like I need to pre-rinse the car to potentially make it safer for the sponge? That's just trading one hassle (excessive towel use) for another (breaking out the hose.) I'm pretty set on the fact that if I need to get out my hose, I may as well just also get out car soap, or do like Eldo does and just leave some car soap mixed up and use multiple mitts. Granted, I already use my hose for my tires/wheels/wheel wells, but the reason I'm so enamored with rinseless washing is I can do it in the garage (in the shade) and without a hose. I also don’t pull the hose out to clean my wheels/tires every time I wipe the car down, either.
Could I make the argument that if I already have the hose out for my tires/wheels I could just rinse quickly and pull it into the garage? Sure, but in the winters here I can't always count on a pre-rinse. Driving to a coin-op and rinsing also isn't something I'm willing to do, because it completely negates how convenient a rinseless wash is meant to be.
I really don't know how i feel about the sponge, but i can tell you that today I polished my hood, and while i waited for my wax to haze up I used a couple towels and wiped down the rest of my car and it was the therapeutic rinseless washing experience I remembered it being. The towel just glides and picks everything up. I can get in between body panels, all up under my door handles, make sure it conforms along my weather stripping, it just feels right.
Maybe I'll keep the BRS around, but I'm starting to think I'll offer it up for trade/sell it to someone who really loves these things.
This turned into kind of a rant, so if you stuck through it, I'm sending you a virtual high five.
