Distilled water and black paint....

You can - and I do it. However, you likely will want to wipe the car down with something if it's black and you want it perfect.

However, you won't have to deal with any water spots really. The thing is, it's impractical to use 100% DI water during 100% of the wash cycle. So, most people just use DI water for the final rinse.

Therefore, some water can dry if your washing in any type of sun at all and leave very slight water spots - no matter how careful you are. But, these spots are easily just wiped off if your process is correct.

The cool thing about DI water is you can just let the car dry in the sun or drip dry in the garage - come back, then wipe it down. It really does make a big difference.
 
I haven't tried using DI water (besides that Mr. Clean thing that came and went years ago), but, wouldn't you want to sheet the DI water, not spray it? Spraying it on flat/horizontal panels won't go anywhere. Or is that OP from the other site blasting it with that sprayer?
 
Thanks for replying. I just recently learned that we can do
our own hand car washes in our garage although we are limited to short periods of time. Hence, we don't have a long time to
fuss over the "small" stuff.

My car is a garage Queen so it gets more dusty than dirty.
It would be a real time saver given my restrictions.
 
KMdef9 said:
...wouldn't you want to sheet the DI water, not spray it? Spraying it on flat/horizontal panels won't go anywhere. Or is that OP from the other site blasting it with that sprayer?
Click to expand...

The their behind using high pressure DI innthe rinse phase is that you want to displace the tap water from the cracks and crevices and replace it w DI

You could sheet with DI, as long as you turn the flow down enough that it is within the GPM treatment ability of your system
 
allenk4 said:
The their behind using high pressure DI innthe rinse phase is that you want to displace the tap water from the cracks and crevices and replace it w DI

You could sheet with DI, as long as you turn the flow down enough that it is within the GPM treatment ability of your system
Click to expand...

I don't have a "system". The original other party was
using a fertilizer-type hand garden sprayer.
 
Lexi65 said:
I don't have a "system". The original other party was
using a fertilizer-type hand garden sprayer.
Click to expand...

Try it out

If it does not work, Home Depot has a very liberal return policy

Looking forward to hearing about your results
 
I have a RODI system for making water for my saltwater tanks. I use this in a sprayer for my final rinse. No spotting.
 
harleymike said:
I have a RODI system for making water for my saltwater tanks. I use this in a sprayer for my final rinse. No spotting.
Click to expand...

Please provide details e.g., brand of sprayer, size of sprayer
Etc. and specific washing process.

Thanks a bunch! Feed back please
 
I wash, two bucket system. Use foam gun. Just normal water for this stage.
Use a hand held pump type pesticide sprayer I got form Princess Auto that has RODI water in it for final rinse. Then I use a electric leaf blower to dry the car.
Only time cloth touches paint is washing, and there is always a thick coat of soap from the foam gun. Use chemical guys soap.
Works best with a good coat of wax/sealant so water beads off with blower. Any remaining water does not leave spots. I have a TDS meter, and my RODI water is 0 TDS.
 
harleymike said:
I wash, two bucket system. Use foam gun. Just normal water for this stage.
Use a hand held pump type pesticide sprayer I got form Princess Auto that has RODI water in it for final rinse. Then I use a electric leaf blower to dry the car.
Only time cloth touches paint is washing, and there is always a thick coat of soap from the foam gun. Use chemical guys soap.
Works best with a good coat of wax/sealant so water beads off with blower. Any remaining water does not leave spots. I have a TDS meter, and my RODI water is 0 TDS.
Click to expand...

Do you have black paint?
 
I could not imagine spraying a car down with DI in a hand pump sprayer. Your not just getting the car wet - but trying to displace all the water on the car. I assumed the OP was talking about a CR Spotless.
 
swanicyouth said:
I could not imagine spraying a car down with DI in a hand pump sprayer. Your not just getting the car wet - but trying to displace all the water on the car. I assumed the OP was talking about a CR Spotless.
Click to expand...

You can use one of these, (which I use for rinseless washes). It'll wet down a car fairly well, plus it has a brass nozzle that'll adjust from a stream to a very fine mist.

6936863053188lg.jpg


Or even one of these. Just that it doesn't have a good nozzle.
841688002920lg.jpg


Better yet is a stainless steel sprayer. They'll last a lifetime. Don't remember where I got mine (and don't use it on cars after years of bug sprays and hydrofluoric acid). It's something like this though.

2787_400x400.jpg



The thing about using Distilled Water is it's really cheap (in the grand scheme of things).

Filtration systems are good to have, but the up front cost is huge. Take a CR system @ $450 rated for 300 gallons and you're over $1.50 per gallon (with shipping). New refills are $120 for 300 gallons (.40¢ per gallon) but you have to figure in your amortization cost on the unit. Say you bought the refills and the system and used it all the first year for 600 gallons you'd have closer to $1.00 a gallon. Go through 600 gallons year 2 @ $240 (plus shipping) and you're getting closer to .70¢ a gallon by the end of year TWO!

Around here I can buy DI or RO water for considerably less than .70¢ a gallon.

But the most important part is I don't have to invest well over $825 just to get it for that price! Don't know about you, but I have plenty of other things wanting money from me. :laughing:
 
^ with the CR Systems yr paying for ease & convenience - which to me is worth a lot.
 
cardaddy said:
You can use one of these, (which I use for rinseless washes). It'll wet down a car fairly well, plus it has a brass nozzle that'll adjust from a stream to a very fine mist.

6936863053188lg.jpg


Or even one of these. Just that it doesn't have a good nozzle.
841688002920lg.jpg


Better yet is a stainless steel sprayer. They'll last a lifetime. Don't remember where I got mine (and don't use it on cars after years of bug sprays and hydrofluoric acid). It's something like this though.

2787_400x400.jpg



The thing about using Distilled Water is it's really cheap (in the grand scheme of things).

Filtration systems are good to have, but the up front cost is huge. Take a CR system @ $450 rated for 300 gallons and you're over $1.50 per gallon (with shipping). New refills are $120 for 300 gallons (.40¢ per gallon) but you have to figure in your amortization cost on the unit. Say you bought the refills and the system and used it all the first year for 600 gallons you'd have closer to $1.00 a gallon. Go through 600 gallons year 2 @ $240 (plus shipping) and you're getting closer to .70¢ a gallon by the end of year TWO!

Around here I can buy DI or RO water for considerably less than .70¢ a gallon.

But the most important part is I don't have to invest well over $825 just to get it for that price! Don't know about you, but I have plenty of other things wanting money from me. :laughing:
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. Can you elaborate on your car wash
Method and how long it takes to finish with that hand held
Sprayer and just how much Distilled Water you use and
how wet you get the paint!! Feed back please
Thanks!
 
Lexi65 said:
Thanks for your input. Can you elaborate on your car wash
Method and how long it takes to finish with that hand held
Sprayer and just how much Distilled Water you use and
how wet you get the paint!! Feed back please
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Bump. :buffing:
 
The 'quick' of it.....
Being as you don't really need a grit guard (nothing goes back into the solution) you can use your clean water bucket. (Mine is the soap bucket, keep dual grit guards in both soap and rinse bucket.)

If it's not black paint (or non metallic colors) you can actually use tap water for the wash bucket. I'll *always* use distilled in the sprayer though.

Any-who.....
Generally 2~3 gallons of water and 12~18 clean microfibers. Only use one side of them, and only use them ONCE. (I'll use a lesser towel on the rockers, bottom of the bumpers, tail pipes etc.) I won't even put my open hand on the back of the towels, just hold them by the corners and lightly pull them across the panel(s) in ONE DIRECTION ONLY. (Not circular.)

If the panel needs another 'swipe' I'll use another towel.

Then to dry it down I'll spray heavily with the distilled mix (also pre-spray the entire vehicle concentrating on below the side moldings, behind the wheels, back deck lid, back bumper etc.).

From there it's switching to PAINT QUALITY towels (as in finishing work towels) to dry down. Preferably something like 530 GSM towels as they are more absorbent. I'll do more laying the towel down and patting the surface of the towel than I'll do outright wiping. I *will not* use waffle weave for rinseless washes, EVER.

Finally.... I'll take a QD spray and finishing towels and go over the entire vehicle. :D
 
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