advice on how to safely wash your car using a pressure washer

Mc'lovin

Mc'lovin

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Hi all,

I'm a noob detailer (started getting into the field only a couple of months ago and have read tonns of information since), and I need your advice regarding washing a car with a pressure washer.

Until now I have used the following washing method: Sparying each panel liberally with ONR first to soften the dirt, then using the two bucket method with Grit-Guard in each bucket (First bucket contains Meguiar's gold class car wash and the second contains fresh water).

I recently got a pressure washer (1450 psi) and I do want to use it to wash the car, however I am a little afraid that using it on a dry car will cause the dirt splattering off the surface to mar the paint.

What I thought to do is this: 1) Spray ONR on each panel. 2) pressure wash that panel. 3) wash the panel using the two bucket method.

Could I please have your thoughts on the above? Would you pass on the pressure washer?

Thank you!!
 
:welcome: To Autogeek Online.

Using a pressure washer to wash each panel prior to performing a general bucket wash is a bit of over-kill. I would feel safe to say that better than 95% of car owners that wash their car or truck do not use a pressure washer.

Do I have a pressure washer? Yes, but I use it only when I need to and never for general washing.

Wetting down the car with ordinary water will soften dirt and debris "almost" as good as Optimum No Rinse so you can save this and use it when rinsing isn't an option..
 
Hi Bobby, thank you for the quick reply.
A few questions if you don't mind:

1) Will using the pressure washer after washing the car to remove the car shampoo be OK? It's a long story, but I do need the pressure washer in order to control the water flow, or else there is a long way for me to walk from the car to the hose's faucet.

2) In which situations do you have to use the pressure washer?

Thanks again :)
 
Mc'lovin said:
1) Will using the pressure washer after washing the car to remove the car shampoo be OK? It's a long story, but I do need the pressure washer in order to control the water flow, or else there is a long way for me to walk from the car to the hose's faucet.

2) In which situations do you have to use the pressure washer?

Thanks again :)
Click to expand...


  1. Yes, you can use it but use a low pressure nozzle. This will allow for a thorough rinsing and save on water.
  2. After compounding and polishing, wheels, fender wells, heavy caked on dirt and debris etc.
 
glen e said:
buy a foam lance
Click to expand...

This is what I'm going to be doing. I have a foam lance and Chemical Guys Honeydew Snow foam ordered, can't wait to get them and try it out.

Though something tells me BobbyG already has experience with foam lances. Pros/Cons?
 
I use a pressure washer all the time. Here are a few warnings/suggestions that I have.

warnings:

Pressure washers and stone chips:

When pressure washing a vehicle, be very much aware of any paint defects such as stone chips and or deep scratches that go deeply into the paint's film build. I learned through experience that pressure washing cars with paint defects such as these can be a recipe for disaster. The pressurized water can hit the edge of a paint defect such as a stone chip or a scratch and get underneath the paint and lift off a large section of the car's paint. This lesson in my case cost me about $400 out of pocket and may or may not have effected the word of mouth for my business. I immediately without haggling, made an appointment to have the panel repainted so the word of mouth shouldn't have been too bad.

Pressure washer unloaders: Pressure washers have a device called an unloader that when the trigger is squeezed, releases an initial blast of pressurized water that can and often does exceed the rated pressure of the washer. You should always point the pressure washer wand away from the vehicle when you initially squeeze the trigger as the initial blast of water can blast the paint right off of the vehicle or even crack tail light or headlight lenses.

Never place the tip of a pressure washer wand directly against the paint to try and remove bug carcases or tar/sap deposits. This is a sure fire way of leaving yourself vulnerable to taking a trip to the paint shop. Use a clay bar to remove such deposits.

I know that you are just using a 1450 PSI unit but other readers of this thread might be using something more powerful and benefit from the content of this thread.

Suggestions/things I do:

When washing with a pressure washer the first thing that I do is to spray down the entire car from about 3 feet away just to wet it from roof to wheels,wells and tires. This begins the softening/loosening of any caked on dirt/grit. Next I clean the wheels and tires and pressure rinse them then if any pre treatments are to be used to remove bugs or tar I apply that and spray down the wells with cleaner before pressure rinsing the rest of the grit and dirt from the entire vehicle. I try to keep the tip of the wand about 12 inches from the paint. Next is the bucket washing and other stuff.
 
I have a preesure washer like Bobby, I think the same one(troybuilt honda engine). I use it with the gently auto tip. Not for every wash, but mostly after polishing to remove residue and dust from cracks/gaps. It does help with claying too by removing more stuck on particles before you start.

Using it every time if you need to will not hurt if you use the right tip. And of course, don't put it a inch from the paint.
 
I just bought a similar electric psi washer (1600 psi) and I stupidly stuck my finger in front of the high pressure turbo nozzle thing and I felt like it almost took my finger off. What I learned is, these washers put out high pressure, but A much lower volume of water then I'm used to with a hose. So, this to me makes them not the best for rinsing off soap, as the more water volume of
a hose works better for me. In fact, my first time using the pressure washer, I got water spots on the window I couldn't simply remove by wiping. I had to use a mild polish by hand on all the windows (on a SUV no less) to get the spots off. I think these devices are good for an
initial spray down to remove as much loose dirt as possible. And, actually, I did cause a paint chip on my roof rack from spraying too much pressure to close. I have a Karcher foam gun on order, so I'll give that a try. I also tried an ONR mix in the soap tank as rinse water and it didn't really seem to do much. Also, anyone use the hose de-ionization filters that AG sells? It seems as though they only help and don't give a spot free wash, as the replace calcium and magnesium ions with sodium chloride - which supposedly doesn't spot as badly. Do these filters give a noticeable difference? There seems to be one type of filter set-up made and the reviews aren't great.
 
my own personal car i wont use a pressure washer unless i need the pressure to remove say splatter dots or blast dirt from under my spoiler out or stuff like that. on customer's vehicles if its the first time im doing them i always use a pressure washer to remove all the gunk behind emblems and trim peices ect, and ALL the detailers here never wash wheel wells they just rinse them off if anything. so usually a ton of built up dirt there. now dont worryabout pressure washers causing marring, thats an old wifes tale imo. now it can peel up paint, but ive noticed this only happens if the panel has been repainted(not OEM bake cured paint) or its painted plastics with chips(its harder for paint to bond to plastic). tuscaora dave provided some great tips for you as well...

to swanicyouth, the deionization filter that ag sells is pointless imo, your drying your car off anyways so why do you need a spotless rinse? if you want better water quality going into pressure washer which will help pump build up and make pump last longer thats a good option but some wont let the required GPM's flow through so for just removing simple water contamination and make pump last longer as well as using it to fill your wash buckets so your soaps can work as intended and not be less diluted because of some soaps ability to capture minerals in the water or make hard water soft. for that i just reccomend a single stage carbon filter, can be had for around 20$. if you want deionized water you can find the DI resin and the DI resin holders you can find them atleast 75% cheaper elsewhere then ag, the price on that CR spotless is way over priced for what it is. as i said spotless rinse is pointless for most people, maybe if your doing dealership lots and washing a good bit of cars might be worth it, but even with deionized water you can still get water spots...as i said if anything just get a simple cheap carbon/sediment filter system, that will work the best for you and at a good price...but still wont be that much of a noticeable difference, but hey you could have nice fresh clean filtered water if you get thirsty!. i got a 5 stage RO filter system for 10$ at a thrift store, just missing a few parts so im just using the 4 stage carbon/sediment filters to remove most of the contaminants in our city water we have here. noticed some products don't work as well if im using the heavily chlorinated water we have here. is it needed? no. will it make your life easier? highly doubt it... BTW the karcher foam gun will just be a sudsy water dispenser, they do not foam up they just shoot sudsy water, not even foam.. im just letting you know, most of the "foamers" that come with a pressure washer or are accessories do not work well at all and are nearly pointless for what we want them for, id just go with the MTM hydro foam lance for around 45$
 
Thanks everyone for the great detailed tips,

I too as Forcefield would like to hear about pros and cons of the foam lance method. Is it in your opinion superior or inferior to the two bucket method? Which method leaves your car cleaner, and which is safer for your paint?
 
Mc'lovin said:
Thanks everyone for the great detailed tips,

I too as Forcefield would like to hear about pros and cons of the foam lance method. Is it in your opinion superior or inferior to the two bucket method? Which method leaves your car cleaner, and which is safer for your paint?
Click to expand...

The Two Bucket method gets my vote hands down....:dblthumb2:
 
If your using a pressure washer, just be careful around the edges on plastic bumpers and such. High pressure can blow the paint right off.

Ask me how I know...

by6yve4e.jpg


I temporarily touched it up and put a piece of PPF film over it so it doesn't get worse. Vehicle is going to Dentwerx, my local PDR guy to get this fixed along with some small door dents in a week or two.
 
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A lot of helpful info here - thanks for sharing everyone!

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I was looking to getting a pressure washer and came accross this thread. With pressure washers gaining popularity in the detailing world, are they safer to use now, with the right tip of course? Ive read mixed reviews about pressure washers and would like to make sure it is safe before buying one.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
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