3 Bucket Wash

DirtyCanuck

DirtyCanuck

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Hey guys. How are you’s all today? Been raining here for a day and a half. Cleaned and organized my tools 3 times. Lol
its been 2 days of boredom, but sure to be followed by 3 days of chaos once the sun comes out tomorrow. Lol.

Anyway just quickly wanted to share my way of hand washing.

Long before I ever did this for a living I washed my vehicles using the tried and true 2 bucket method. Not until I started washing other people’s vehicles did I ever pay attention much to the water I dumped out of my buckets at the end of a wash. Once I started paying attention, I started noticing that no matter how well I rinsed my mitts or cloths there was still an amount of silt/grit in the bottom of the soap bucket.

One day, not too long ago, I decided to fill an extra bucket of rinse water just for $&@?s and giggles. What I noticed was a MASSIVE decrease in the amount of VISIBLE silt/grit in my soap bucket. Very close to none at all(that I can visibly see).

I may seem nuts, lol, and it may seem like AR overkill, lol, but, for the insignificant amount of time it takes to dip a mitt in an extra bucket of water could save a lot of troubles/marring in the end.
 
Good tip....


I'm kind of a 2 bucket guy but most my washes are for cars I'm going to buff out.

Bucket 1 = soapy water and mitt

Bucket 2 = soapy water and wheel brushes




If I was going to do a 3-bucket method,


Bucket 1 = soapy water and mitt

Bucket 2 = clean water for rinsing wash mitt

Bucket 3 = soapy water and wheel brushes


:)
 
Thanks Mike.

I live and work in an area that is pretty rural. Where not far north of Toronto here so there’s a lot of money and a lot of nice cars, but also a lot of gravel roads, and farm fields. Needless to say I don’t do many Waterless or rinseless washes. Lol.

A lot of the vehicles I clean regularly have a pretty good layer of dirt and road grime on them.

My granny always used to say, “don’t be sorry, be sensible”. Lol
 
DirtyCanuck said:
Thanks Mike.

I live and work in an area that is pretty rural. Where not far north of Toronto here so there’s a lot of money and a lot of nice cars, but also a lot of gravel roads, and farm fields. Needless to say I don’t do many Waterless or rinseless washes. Lol.

A lot of the vehicles I clean regularly have a pretty good layer of dirt and road grime on them.

My granny always used to say, “don’t be sorry, be sensible”. Lol
Click to expand...

If you like the 3 bucket method, and the little bit of grit left in the soap bucket afterward............

Give the ONE bucket and MULTIPLE mitt method a whirl.

Have 6-10 wash mitts in your bucket. When done with one, it goes into and empty container, and you grab a new mitt.

No dirt is EVER introduced back into the wash bucket. :)
 
PaulMys said:
If you like the 3 bucket method, and the little bit of grit left in the soap bucket afterward............

Give the ONE bucket and MULTIPLE mitt method a whirl.

Have 6-10 wash mitts in your bucket. When done with one, it goes into and empty container, and you grab a new mitt.

No dirt is EVER introduced back into the wash bucket. :)
Click to expand...

Great Advice!!! Thanks a lot man. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees so to speak. Lol

That is actually a far more efficient way not having to take the time to fill, empty, clean and stow an extra Pail.

Thanks again for the great advice!!
 
The only problem I can foresee with that method for myself is when I wash multiple vehicles in a day, I will need an awful pile of wash mitts. I have well over a dozen already, but I think I’d need more on a busy day. Lol
 
DirtyCanuck said:
The only problem I can foresee with that method for myself is when I wash multiple vehicles in a day, I will need an awful pile of wash mitts. I have well over a dozen already, but I think I’d need more on a busy day. Lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, you are right on that one.

The Multiple mitts work well for me because I am just washing one vehicle at a time.

Still the best method I have tried, and good MF wash mitts are actually pretty cheap IMO.
 
What about using multiple high-pile towels instead of mitts. That way, you have multiple sides per towel to swipe, and they are cheaper. Plus, you can never have too many towels.
 
expdetailing said:
What about using multiple high-pile towels instead of mitts. That way, you have multiple sides per towel to swipe, and they are cheaper. Plus, you can never have too many towels.
Click to expand...

This is exactly my method for Rinseless.

I was thinking about traditional washes in my head. Great call, exp!
 
expdetailing said:
What about using multiple high-pile towels instead of mitts. That way, you have multiple sides per towel to swipe, and they are cheaper. Plus, you can never have too many towels.
Click to expand...

You can even use Mike's favorite green MF towels for a traditional wash ... I started out using multiple mitts but went to the towels as they're easier to wash & dry. I use a dozen for our SUV + (1) mitt for the wheels.

12 Pack Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths
 
PaulMys said:
If you like the 3 bucket method, and the little bit of grit left in the soap bucket afterward............

Give the ONE bucket and MULTIPLE mitt method a whirl.

Have 6-10 wash mitts in your bucket. When done with one, it goes into and empty container, and you grab a new mitt.

No dirt is EVER introduced back into the wash bucket. :)
Click to expand...

You beat me to it brother.
 
I have gone the multiple wash mitts method. Use once, toss, throw in washer, ��
 
expdetailing said:
What about using multiple high-pile towels instead of mitts. That way, you have multiple sides per towel to swipe, and they are cheaper. Plus, you can never have too many towels.
Click to expand...

Great Idea. Thank you.

The best way for me mto find out which will be the best and most efficient way will be to put it to the test.

Thanks for the great ideas guys.

“Keep your hands in the suds”

Keith
 
Multiple mitts for me, foam gun, and no buckets.
 
57Rambler said:
You can even use Mike's favorite green MF towels for a traditional wash ... I started out using multiple mitts but went to the towels as they're easier to wash & dry. I use a dozen for our SUV + (1) mitt for the wheels.

12 Pack Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths
Click to expand...

I ordered 12 of Mikes favorite MF towels Friday, due in tomorrow and I'll be washing the car this weekend with the new process instead of the two bucket method.


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
It's always a 3 bucket method for me. The wash bucket, mitt rinse bucket and wheels/tires/wheel wells bucket. The third bucket is full of a non acidic APC dilution and that is used first.
 
PaulMys said:
If you like the 3 bucket method, and the little bit of grit left in the soap bucket afterward............

Give the ONE bucket and MULTIPLE mitt method a whirl.

Have 6-10 wash mitts in your bucket. When done with one, it goes into and empty container, and you grab a new mitt.

No dirt is EVER introduced back into the wash bucket. :)
Click to expand...

It's the best way. I use MF towels
 
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