Do you see anything wrong with this wash?

[YankeeFan]

Too cold and too dark to wash at home but wanted to ge rid of all the salt from the car. I found a place that has a touchless wash. Pretty cool, as an arm circles around the car washing and rinsing. After that, I drove it into an empty bay to wipe down. Thought it best to use a QD to lubricate as I dried just in case the wash didn't remove as much dirt, hoping to prevent swirl marks. The towels looked clean, won't know about swirls till tomorrow. Anyone try something like this? Any tips on how to further reduce the chance of swirl marks?

Best thing is an hr later the car looked soooo good!!!

Thanks,
Howard

 

[nick19]

No no no no no... terrible. Hand-washes only bro!! Those "swirl inducing" machines are horrible. Let alone pay for it.. What's "touchless" about a machine that TOUCHES your car. They use very harsh chemicals in those machines...

The only thing useful at those DIY places is the pressure washer they have. Other than that, a waste of money.


A good wash mitt, bucket and soap will do. Or better yet, a FOAM GUN! I love mine..





-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

 

[ltoman]

Or better yet, a FOAM GUN! I love mine..





-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

I BET YOU DO! LOL
Sorry, just could not pass up that opportunity, nick!:awesome: Im the MAN :applause:

 

[nick19]

I BET YOU DO! LOL
Sorry, just could not pass up that opportunity, nick!:awesome: Im the MAN :applause:

I have never seen a gun foam so much, you'd be suprised how much foam comes out of mine. It's all in the secret ingredient..soap that is. DP Xtreme Formula...



And now, back on topic. :cheers:

 

[YankeeFan]

No no no no no... terrible. Hand-washes only bro!! Those "swirl inducing" machines are horrible. Let alone pay for it.. What's "touchless" about a machine that TOUCHES your car. They use very harsh chemicals in those machines...

The only thing useful at those DIY places is the pressure washer they have. Other than that, a waste of money.


A good wash mitt, bucket and soap will do. Or better yet, a FOAM GUN! I love mine..





-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

Not sure I understand. How does it produce swirls? The arm has no brushes, so nothing touches the car other than their soap (yes it makes me cringe) and water. I agree the soap is an issue but the only swirls can come from me wiping it down. I was hoping the QD would help in that area. Or am I still missing something?

Thanks,
Howard

 

[Kelso]

nick, dont forget we're in florida and i doubt he is so the weather is probably unbearable for handwashing a car and in a sense, anything is better than nothing i would think?the road salt can destroy the vehicle.... but those touchless washes use high Ph and Low Ph chemicals to loosen and remove the dirt so they will probably remove any sort of wax you have on it too

 

[nick19]

Not sure I understand. How does it produce swirls? The arm has no brushes, so nothing touches the car other than their soap (yes it makes me cringe) and water. I agree the soap is an issue but the only swirls can come from me wiping it down. I was hoping the QD would help in that area. Or am I still missing something?

Thanks,
Howard

This is the thing with the big "arms" that sweeps across your paint, "loosing" it up, or is it something else? This is the only sort of DIY machine around here.. maybe I'm not getting it. Who knows.

nick, dont forget we're in florida and i doubt he is so the weather is probably unbearable for handwashing a car and in a sense, anything is better than nothing i would think?the road salt can destroy the vehicle.... but those touchless washes use high Ph and Low Ph chemicals to loosen and remove the dirt so they will probably remove any sort of wax you have on it too

I concur; the wax is probably gone, along with anything else you had on there. A durable wax like #845, Meg's #21 etc. can make cleaning it much easier. I would invest in some durable wax like above, and just use some DP 4-1 wash, where you can even wash your car in a heated garage with this stuff. Go figure! I would invest my money into a 4-1, and a durable wax.



Take care..



-Nick :cheers:
5-Star Auto Detailing

 

[Adde]

i use em since its around 39 in IL I cant wash myself I just use crystal mist as I wipe it down

 

[YankeeFan]

nick, dont forget we're in florida and i doubt he is so the weather is probably unbearable for handwashing a car and in a sense, anything is better than nothing i would think?the road salt can destroy the vehicle.... but those touchless washes use high Ph and Low Ph chemicals to loosen and remove the dirt so they will probably remove any sort of wax you have on it too

Yeah living here in Philly they tend to over react to a dusting of snow, tons of salt everywhere so I thought this was the lesser of two evils. Thanks for the info on the wax, hopefully it will warm up on the weekend so I can attend to that.

Howard

 

[RTexasF]

They have those here in Texas and call it a Laser Wash. It is 100% no touch just chemicals, water pressure, and blow dry. The laser system tells you when to stop the car and governs how the spray arms go around it by measuring the dimensions of the car.

I think your idea has merit but if this is the same kind of wash it doesn't clean a dirty car very well. The next bright sunny day will tell the story when you scope out the paint. Have I used them? You betcha!

It's not my norm but when the car is dirty and time is short.....better clean than crappy! That's what the PC or the Cyclo is for when time and weather cooperate.

 

[3Dog]

We use tunnel touchless for company trucks when needed. Yes the shampoos are stronger..but.. most of use have pretty good protection on our vehicles.
Still havent figure out the swirls from the wash Nick spoke of...unless we are thinking of two different types of washers.
If its too cold to wash or you have been on salty roads, better a tunnel wash than no was at all.

 

[nick19]

Yeah living here in Philly they tend to over react to a dusting of snow, tons of salt everywhere so I thought this was the lesser of two evils. Thanks for the info on the wax, hopefully it will warm up on the weekend so I can attend to that.

Howard

And you guys in colder climates should invest in DP's 4-in-1 wash. Highly recommended. :cheers: This takes washing from outside, to inside the garage..




-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

 

[nick19]

We use tunnel touchless for company trucks when needed. Yes the shampoos are stronger..but.. most of use have pretty good protection on our vehicles.
Still havent figure out the swirls from the wash Nick spoke of...unless we are thinking of two different types of washers.
If its too cold to wash or you have been on salty roads, better a tunnel wash than no was at all.

We are... We have machines here that use these like 10' long peices of nylon, I believe, that swipe and "massage" the soap into the car.. a 100% swirless car, regardless, will come out with tons of swirls. An un-sightly thing for sure!




-Nick

 

[YankeeFan]

This is the thing with the big "arms" that sweeps across your paint, "loosing" it up, or is it something else? This is the only sort of DIY machine around here.. maybe I'm not getting it. Who knows.




I concur; the wax is probably gone, along with anything else you had on there. A durable wax like #845, Meg's #21 etc. can make cleaning it much easier. I would invest in some durable wax like above, and just use some DP 4-1 wash, where you can even wash your car in a heated garage with this stuff. Go figure! I would invest my money into a 4-1, and a durable wax.



Take care..



-Nick :cheers:
5-Star Auto Detailing

It's more of an arm that circles the full perimeter of the car, it's not going over the top. I would never consider anything touching the car in that manner. Thanks for the wax info. Hopefully the weather will allow it on saturday.

Howard

 

[3Dog]

We are... We have machines here that use these like 10' long peices of nylon, I believe, that swipe and "massage" the soap into the car.. a 100% swirless car, regardless, will come out with tons of swirls. An un-sightly thing for sure!




-Nick

There you are correct..the blue shammeys are bad.
Ours ( NCW I believe) are just sprayers..and we dont use the drier because with that you get the spray wax.

 

[YankeeFan]

And you guys in colder climates should invest in DP's 4-in-1 wash. Highly recommended. :cheers: This takes washing from outside, to inside the garage..




-Nick
5-Star Auto Detailing

I read about this on another long thread about rinseless wash but it scares me more as I would be rubbing, with a MF, an area full of dirt. I understand the area is sprayed a lot but the whole concept still scares me.

Howard

 

[nick19]

I read about this on another long thread about rinseless wash but it scares me more as I would be rubbing, with a MF, an area full of dirt. I understand the area is sprayed a lot but the whole concept still scares me.

Howard

I would recommend using a wash mitt, just as you would any wash. Wash with the mitt, and dry with a MF. Justin SWEARS by this stuff..

 

[MikeyC]

I read about this on another long thread about rinseless wash but it scares me more as I would be rubbing, with a MF, an area full of dirt. I understand the area is sprayed a lot but the whole concept still scares me.

Howard

Before I discovered rinseless washes I used to take my car to the Laser wash. It really doesn't get 100% of the dirt off. So, if you're QD'ing it afterward you may be inducing some swirls. Also, I wouldn't use Crystal Mist afterward as that's more of a spray wax than a cleaner that provides lubrication. I would use something like Poorboy's Spray & Wipe and then follow up with the Crystal Mist.

As Nick stated though a better alternative is a rinseless wash soap used in your garage. I've used them a few winters now and they're unbelievably effective. I know it's hard to comprehend that they work, but experience tells me they do.

 

[YankeeFan]

Before I discovered rinseless washes I used to take my car to the Laser wash. It really doesn't get 100% of the dirt off. So, if you're QD'ing it afterward you may be inducing some swirls. Also, I wouldn't use Crystal Mist afterward as that's more of a spray wax than a cleaner that provides lubrication. I would use something like Poorboy's Spray & Wipe and then follow up with the Crystal Mist.

As Nick stated though a better alternative is a rinseless wash soap used in your garage. I've used them a few winters now and they're unbelievably effective. I know it's hard to comprehend that they work, but experience tells me they do.

Thanks for the info. I guess I will try the rinseless wash after all, as it appears many think it's a better alternative than the touchless wash.

Thanks,
Howard

 

[nick19]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will try the rinseless wash after all, as it appears many think it's a better alternative than the touchless wash.

Thanks,
Howard

DP 4-in-1 is being used as rinseless wash. 1 oz per gallon of water. I use a two bucket method, with grit guard in one I rinse my wash towel in. Cobra detailing cloth is being used to wash the car. I fill about 2 gallons of warm water in each bucket, add 2 oz of 4-in-1 to wash bucket, and wash in straight lines. One section at a time, be sure to rinse the towel very well ( I rub it across grit guard insert), then wring it out, dip it into wash solution, and wash. Then I dry a little larger section at a time, using the same towel, be sure to rinse it well, dip it in wash solution, then wring it out.

This process worked for me very well.

I am going to try this. I had a good idea how to use it, but getting some advice from someone who has used it, makes it easier.





-Nick :cheers:
5-Star Auto Detailing