Coin-Op Rinse only In Winter?

[SonataLF]

Well the winter temperatures are finally here and they have started to salt the roads even though we have only had a dusting of snow. I don't have a garage and there are no touch-less washes within 30 miles of me. Would I be safe just using the coin-op to rinse my car wih water only to get the salt and stuff off and use the hand dryer to get most of the water off the car? Am I asking for water spots with this method?

- Better leaving it alone until we get safely above freezing to do my normal ONR?
- Take a gamble and use the coin-op high pressure soap(hope its not total crap) before rinsing?

Thanks for entertaining the craziness. Lol

 

[ScottB]

I would consider using one of those spray booths to pre-rinse and clean wheels, wells, and underbody as possible. Get the salt off as soon as possible.

Having never lived in a freezing winter, I am certain others could share their best practices.

 

[ct18]

I go to the spray bays and knock off the salt crust with just water. I do have a garage and that is where i do my rinseless after. If no garage i would just spray it down as often as needed until the warm weather comes back.

 

[expdetailing]

No, you will not be able to dry after spraying the car because there will still be a film of dirt/road film/ etc. After spraying, give it a waterless/rinseless wash.

 

[tguil]

You really need to use the coin-op soap. It may remove some wax, but it won't hurt the paint. If the temperature is above freezing use several high quality towels to dry as many panels as your can. If you have the time, apply something like Meguiar's Wash and Wax Anywhere to the wet vehicle one panel at a time before drying with the towel. Give the dried panel a quick buff with a microfiber polishing cloth. Presto...a winter wash and wax job.

 

[expdetailing]

No, you will not be able to dry after spraying the car because there will still be a film of dirt/road film/ etc. After spraying, give it a waterless/rinseless wash.

I like what he said. He seams like he knows his stuff. I mean, who would towel dry just after only spraying down the car? Doesn't the coin-op brush serve a purpose? Yes, it does. To remove the dirt. If the sprayer removed all of the dirt, what's the need for the brush?

 

[Mike@ShineStruck]

Not best practice.. But I literally don't wash the car during winter months
With the constant salt throwdown and kickup its a lost cause

 

[Calendyr]

During winter time, all I do is pressure wash the car with water only. Soap would not cause a problem but it's pretty much impossible to keep the car clean for more than a day here in Montreal... so I don't waste my time trying to get it perfect. For me, it's a matter or removing salt and grime, not making it look perfect.

The key is to apply a good protective layer before it starts to snow, and then just maintenance clean it during the winter months.

If you haven't done it already, Aquapel is amazing during winter. It makes removing snow and ice from windows so easy.

 

[Desertnate]

Not best practice.. But I literally don't wash the car during winter months
With the constant salt throwdown and kickup its a lost cause

I use a slightly modified approach.

Once the weather hits and the temperatures get really cold, I only go through touch touchless car washes. I've found two or three in my area which have an undercarriage spray to get the salt off the important bits underneath.

Do the touchless washes get everything off? Nope. On my black car it's a little obvious, but when there is a constant pray of grime off the roads there is no real point in going for a show-quality wash.

I will admit things are a little different this winter. Yesterday I did treat my car to a touchless and then a waterless wash once I got home. The weather was just too warm not to take advantage of the situation.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's an article I wrote showing how a paint coating can be a real asset for keeping your car clean using a coin-op car wash.


Blasting Bird Bombs at the Coin-Op Car Wash!


Last Wednesday, a huge flock of birds made a stop over in our neighborhood. I think they were Purple Martins, which are native to Florida but I'm not a Ornithologist so don't quote me on this.

On Tuesday, I used the new Coating Detailer to wipe our car clean and then applied the coating booster to freshen the glassy look.

Now fast forward to Thursday and when I walk out to my wife's car I find it's been bird bombed!



This is disgusting....

This once liquid puddle of dissolved bird droppings is now just a dried film of bird droppings...

Fresh coat of Black Label Coating Booster

Had to run some errands so I figured since I had maintained the finish on this car with nothing but the Black Label Diamond Surface Coating since we did the show car makeover on it a few moths ago and because I had just two days ago did a mist & wipe with the Black Label Diamond Coating Booster, I was hoping a strong spray of water would simply b-l-a-s-t the fresh but dried bird bombs off the paint and then I wouldn't have to "touch" the bird bombs or the paint with a wash mitt.

So I drove down to the nearest coin-operated do-it-yourself car wash and for a buck fifty, I used two settings, the SOAP and RINSE buttons and successfully blasted off all traces of the bird bombs.

Protect your health

The benefit to going to the local Coin-Op Car Wash is their sprayers offer powerful water pressure to blast things like dried bird droppings off you car.

This keeps you from having to come into physical contact with the bird excrement which can be a health hazard and health risk.

Here's the paint after rinsing...

Driving down the road, in a few seconds I'm going to do a U-turn onto an empty highway and take her up to speed to blast most of the water off...

Pulled into the nearest parking lot and proceeded to wiper any remaining water off the car using a single Gold Plush Microfiber Towel, the 16" by 24" version.

No trace of the bird bombs and more important... no trace of any bird bomb etchings!

No way of knowing if it was the Black Label Diamond Surface Coating or the Black Label Diamond Coating Booster that protected the paint from the corrosive bird droppings that sat and dried on the paint but one thing for sure, there's no etching and the bird bombs themselves blasted easily and completely off the paint for a $1.50.




On Autogeek.net

Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating

Black Label Diamond Coating Booster

Black Label Diamond Coating Detailer

 

[Ebg18t]

@ Mike - is the PBL coating thicker or stronger than the BF Coating or the WG Uber coating? Can you post the pros:cons of these 3 again since they are all PBMG products?

 

[parshooter]

Do NOT hand dry after using the wand. Those do not take enough dirt off and you'll scratch your paint if you do towel dry.

 

[parshooter]

Driving down the road, in a few seconds I'm going to do a U-turn onto an empty highway and take her up to speed to blast most of the water off...

Aren't you affraid of scratching the paint, cause I'm sure you picked up some debris on your jaunt down the freeway.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Aren't you affraid of scratching the paint, cause I'm sure you picked up some debris on your jaunt down the freeway.

Nope.


rops:

 

[RaskyR1]

Well the winter temperatures are finally here and they have started to salt the roads even though we have only had a dusting of snow. I don't have a garage and there are no touch-less washes within 30 miles of me. Would I be safe just using the coin-op to rinse my car wih water only to get the salt and stuff off and use the hand dryer to get most of the water off the car? Am I asking for water spots with this method?

- Better leaving it alone until we get safely above freezing to do my normal ONR?
- Take a gamble and use the coin-op high pressure soap(hope its not total crap) before rinsing?

Thanks for entertaining the craziness. Lol

Is the wash near you enclosed and heated? The ones in Minnesota are and I will go there late at night with my 5 gal bucket and wash and dry right in the stall using only the rinse setting. Pre-rinse really well, wash, rinse, dry.

Video on winter washing by Marc Harris and Jacob Bunyan
https://youtu.be/oVtnRoiIRRI

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Aren't you affraid of scratching the paint, cause I'm sure you picked up some debris on your jaunt down the freeway.

Just to add....

The MB has the Ceramiclear paint system. As long as you're careful with ANY procedure the paint simply doesn't scratch.

In my opinion the Ceramiclear paint is the nicest factory paint on the market. See my article here,

Ceramiclear Paints - Be Careful

And I completely disagree with everyone that states Ceramiclear paints are rock hard.

They are perfect as the hardness/softness factor goes.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

@ Mike - is the PBL coating thicker or stronger than the BF Coating or the WG Uber coating?

After purchasing the SLK350 we did an show car makeover to her here at Autogeek, the write-up is in the "Pictures from Thursday Night Garage Projects" forum group.

At that time we applied the Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating and since then I've maintained it with the PBLSC except when we used this car for one of my Competition Ready Detailing Classes to teach how to apply paint coatings and at that time we applied the Blackfire Crystal Coat Paint Coating.

Since then I've re-applied the PBLSC once or twice. We actually just traded the SLK350 off for a SL500 with only 10,000 miles on it and like the SLK350 it has the Ceramiclear paint system on it.

Watch for a future write-up when I do a full exterior detailing and apply a coating to it. So far I've done nothing except drive it. You can see it as the demo car for the foam gun here,

Pictures from January 9th, 2016 Cars & Coffee

Can you post the pros:cons of these 3 again since they are all PBMG products?

That would take some time and some research and I don't have that kind of time today and I have to get off the forum and update my Power Point Presentation for next week's January Competition Ready Detailing Class.



:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Do NOT hand dry after using the wand. Those do not take enough dirt off and you'll scratch your paint if you do towel dry.

That's probably good advice for the average person, especially if the car is not well taken care of and regularly maintained.

I regularly maintain all our vehicles as a normal habit.


I did hand dry our MB using a single Gold Plus Jr. microfiber towel after first blasting the car down the road. The paint was as clean feeling as I wiped it down... as if I had just waxed it. (but it was coated not waxed)

Of course, one of the benefits to using a paint coating instead of a traditional car wax or synthetic paint sealant is how they resist dirt build up in the first place. The term is self-cleaning and from my experience it seems to be a very real benefit.

Of course, everyone's mileage may vary...

 

[dlc95]

Nice write-up, Mike!

Love that car too!

 

[NYV6Coupe]

I would never use the brush provided at a wand wash facility, i've seen too many people washing their muddy 4WD vehicles after doing some off-roading. I've seen them so muddy top-to-bottom end-to-end that i couldn't tell what color it was.

Who knows what kind of crud is stuck in the brush bristles.

I like what he said. He seams like he knows his stuff. I mean, who would towel dry just after only spraying down the car? Doesn't the coin-op brush serve a purpose? Yes, it does. To remove the dirt. If the sprayer removed all of the dirt, what's the need for the brush?