Cold weather rinseless washing

jarred767

jarred767

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What's the coldest temperature you've successfully rinseless washed your car (or a customers) using hot/warm water while outdoors? How cold is too cold?

I've successfully gone down to 30-35 before, but curious if those limits can be pushed at all. I'm using Meguiars D114 if that makes much of a difference.
 
Last year when we had that "Polar Vortex" it didn't go above freezing for almost 3 weeks. I decided I really need to wash my car. The temperature was 20 degrees. I used hot water, washed one panel, then dried it before it could freeze. If I didn't move quickly the water would have easily froze. I had to divide the hood up into two sections to be on the safe side. I wouldn't want to do a rinseless at that temperature again, too much risk at freezing and scratching the paint. During winter I would feel comfortable doing a rinseless at 32.1 degrees or higher.
 
•D114 may help to lower the D114/Water (RW)
solution's freeze-point somewhat below 32°F.
-How much below, though?

•As to using hot water to wash vehicles in
freezing/near freezing temps:
-Hot water has been known to freeze faster
than cold water.

•Question:
-If D114 does help lower the freeze-point of water...
would the use of hot water, for the RW-solution, be
more, or less, beneficial in achieving that goal?



Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
•D114 may help to lower the D114/Water-solution's
freeze-point somewhat below 32°F.
-How much below, though?

•As to using hot water to wash vehicles in
freezing/near freezing temps:
-Hot water has been known to freeze faster
than cold water.

•Question:
-If D114 does help lower the freeze-point of water,
would the use of hot water for the RW-solution be
more, or less, beneficial in achieving that goal?



Bob
Click to expand...
I've wondered if rinseless washes might lower the freeze point.

Any idea of what it would be in rinseless washes that might do this?
 
Hot water freeze faster..... how?

If im at 70° and need to get to 32° thats 38° to lower to freezing point. i would have a higher margin than if i started at say 50° giving me 18° to get to freezing!



Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
 
Outdoors D114 RW, 30-32* is my limit.

In a garage D114 RW, 25-28*.

Just Power Wash and a quick lite dry, I did 18* last winter at 9AM with the sun shining.
 
onsite said:
Hot water freeze faster..... how?

If im at 70° and need to get to 32° thats 38° to lower to freezing point. i would have a higher margin than if i started at say 50° giving me 18° to get to freezing!



Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

True, the hot water lines in my RV will freeze before the cold water lines. I think I read somewhere that molecules get changed some how during the heating cycle.

Dave
 
davidc said:
True, the hot water lines in my RV will freeze before the cold water lines. I think I read somewhere that molecules get changed some how during the heating cycle.

Dave
Click to expand...
Huh that's crazy! You'd think that wouldn't be the case. Now im going to have to look that up, so i can add the answer to my wealth of useless knowledge! Lol

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
 
onsite said:
Huh that's crazy! You'd think that wouldn't be the case. Now im going to have to look that up, so i can add the answer to my wealth of useless knowledge! Lol

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

HAAAAAAAA, good one

Dave
 
onsite said:
Hot water freeze faster..... how?
Click to expand...
Water has both:
-covalent bonding...where the atoms (between the
two hydrogen and the one oxygen) share an electron;
-and: hydrogen bonding...formed between
different water molecules (where the positive
hydrogens of one water molecule become attracted
to the negative oxygens of another water molecule).


IMO:
It's those daggone hydrogen bonds that account
for a lot of water’s strange properties; such as:
-Water becomes less dense when frozen...aka:
"The ice floats phenomenon".


Bob
 
Yeah I tried washing my car last winter and the hot water froze before I could get the rinseless off the car. I basically stopped after one panel lol
 
conman1395 said:
I've wondered if rinseless washes might lower the freeze point.

Any idea of what it would be in rinseless washes that might do this?
Click to expand...

Well... D114 specifically contains Propylene Glycol which is basically engine coolant.
 
40* is probably my limit. Fortunately I have access to a heated space and even then still have some streaking issues until the car warms up.
 
I don't waste my time unless its 40 degrees or more in the garage. My concern is when it starts to freeze and your drying you could cause minor scratching if you don't notice it freeze in time. This is especially important on black! I heat my garage up if it is colder than 40. You also need to think about surface temps of the car.
 
Thanks guys, sounds like my suspicions were confirmed. Looks like I'll just continue on when it's above freezing. My shop will be done in a couple weeks with it me indoors washing area and this freezing nonsense will all soon be ancient memories, it can't happen fast enough.
 
Low 40's for outside for me. A good pair of gloves goes a long way. I'll do rinseless in the garage around 20 but I'm working quick to keep the water on the panel from freezing. Gave my new heater a good test today. 36 and raining outside but the garage came up to 60. Winter washing will be a lot easier this year.
 
Britsdaddy said:
Low 40's for outside for me. A good pair of gloves goes a long way. I'll do rinseless in the garage around 20 but I'm working quick to keep the water on the panel from freezing. Gave my new heater a good test today. 36 and raining outside but the garage came up to 60. Winter washing will be a lot easier this year.
Click to expand...
What heater did you get?
 
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