Giving up traditional washing?

RhetoricMixes

RhetoricMixes

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Is it just me or has anyone else abandoned the method of "traditional" washing with soap and 2 buckets? It seems like the market is getting better and better rinseless products and im starting to move my side business away from traditional soap products and using more and products like ONR. Has anyone else done this?
 
I've given it some thought, but I'm not ready to move on to rinseless washes yet. I would like to try it one day. I have the supplies (ONR, towels, etc.), now I need the need to try it.
 
I highly doubt I will be doing many regular washes anymore. Even my customer cars get rinseless washes.
 
I dont know why I just feel the cars get a cleaner wash with all the water going into the nooks and crannies and at the same time I enjoy washing the cars as long as its not too cold.
 
Traditional washes are still my preferred choice for heavy cleaning (i.e. lots of dirt or road grime build up), or when I need to strip the surface using harsher chemical cleaners.

For light duty cleaning, I'll use rinseless and waterless washes. It takes me about 20 min to clean up the car nicely and I don't have to lug around too many supplies (I live in an apartment and the car is in the parking garage)
 
I've pretty much moved to rinseless washes only - I've done literally a handful of traditional washes in the past year or so. I don't have any water restrictions, so if needed, I do pressure wash first, but I just prefer rinseless over traditional washes.
 
I find myself doing a quick wash using Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine more often. However, if time permits, I'll drag out the foam gun, hose, two buckets, leaf blower, etc.....

Ya know, ONR does sound easier.... lol
 
I'm on the fence regarding this subject. What bothers me is that ONR goes away from the concept of allowing the product to lossen contaminants and reduce the amount of rubbing friction. As the these products continue to improve with lubricants and polymers, I can see them behaving like the auto baths or foaming products.
 
I find this debate interesting when you consider that most people use ONR during the times of year when conditions are the worse and cars get the dirtiest...WINTER, yet we keep hearing that some people are concerned that somehow products like ONR are not as safe as traditional washes.

The fact of the matter that many are reluctant to put aside all they have invested in foam guns, lances, cannons, etc. They just can't get around the fact that non-foaming/massive suds products are safe (or even safer) than what they have been led to believe over the years.

Change is always difficult but I would trust using ONR over any traditional wash product simply because of the chemistry involved. Once you understand the chemistry, its clear why these products work as advertised.

Having said that, I have not abandoned using traditional shampoos simply because its not that I don't trust ONR...its because I don't care for doing one panel at a time (wash, dry, going back and forth which requires more wiping steps). I prefer washing the entire car in one shot with a high quality soap that I know will not streak if allowed to sit a while on the paint as I finish the entire car...then blow dry with Master Blaster.

ONR is not a product I would wash an entire car with before drying...it will streak and cause a mess if you allow it to sit on the paint, which then requires another step to wipe it down to remove it correctly. I like it real simple...wash once, and blow dry which means I'm only touching the paint ONCE during the wash cycle.

So for me, its more about the process, not the product. I do use ONR when I can't wash with a traditional wash as its does a fantastic job.
 
bigdriver4u said:
What bothers me is that ONR goes away from the concept of allowing the product to lossen contaminants and reduce the amount of rubbing friction.
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Most people combat this by either pressure washing off gross contaminants (doesn't use that much water), or by doing a pre-soak with the rinseless, usually using a pump-up garden sprayer, although I guess some use a Nomad (also for waterless).

The place I still like conventional is for wheels, tires, and wells, and as noted above if you have a lot of stuff in nooks and crannies (like pollen) that it's easier to rinse out with the hose. Honestly I would do more rinseless washes if I didn't have so much conventional product to use up.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Most people combat this by either pressure washing off gross contaminants (doesn't use that much water), or by doing a pre-soak with the rinseless, usually using a pump-up garden sprayer, although I guess some use a Nomad (also for waterless).

The place I still like conventional is for wheels, tires, and wells, and as noted above if you have a lot of stuff in nooks and crannies (like pollen) that it's easier to rinse out with the hose. Honestly I would do more rinseless washes if I didn't have so much conventional product to use up.
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Good point - I do agree that conventional washing (or at the very least a good rinse) does seem better with the wheels, wells and tires, just because they get a lot dirtier and have more loose grit in there.
 
I was one of those folks that was deathly afraid of rinseless.

I had some DP 4 in 1 for my clay lube, so I mixed up a batch and decided to give it a go, at the urging or AGO members and ScottWax (and others) on OT.

I really enjoyed it on my personal car, and even used it on a customer's black Cadillac STS-V!

I won't do it ALL the time, but cars that are only mildly dirty, and I've previously protected it with an LSP, will likely get the rinseless wash.

I do like the fact that I can perform the wash in the comfort of my garage, and the DP rinseless wash did a killer job of cleaning everything- especially the glass, which didn't streak at all!
 
Rinseless if fine for a decently maintained car, but I would never use it on a very dirty car. I wouldn't really worry about the marring issue, since it has been proven proper techniques can prevent marring with RW on all but the filthiest cars. My issue is that there is no way a rinseless wash can get in all the body seams, and nooks and crannies of a really dirty vehicle. I don't know about you, but I don't think shiny paint matters if road salt and chemicals are sitting in the hidden places on car literally rotting them from the inside out. That is my only worry.
 
Flannigan said:
My issue is that there is no way a rinseless wash can get in all the body seams, and nooks and crannies of a really dirty vehicle. I don't know about you, but I don't think shiny paint matters if road salt and chemicals are sitting in the hidden places on car literally rotting them from the inside out. That is my only worry.
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:iagree:But there are certainly members who live in locales where they are saying "huh? you ran over a salt shaker in the road?"
 
I'll never give up tradition washing, as long as it's still allowed (water restrictions).


Rinse-less definitely has it's place and benefits, but it's no replacement for traditional washes IMO.

Flannigan said:
Rinseless if fine for a decently maintained car, but I would never use it on a very dirty car. I wouldn't really worry about the marring issue, since it has been proven proper techniques can prevent marring with RW on all but the filthiest cars. My issue is that there is no way a rinseless wash can get in all the body seams, and nooks and crannies of a really dirty vehicle. I don't know about you, but I don't think shiny paint matters if road salt and chemicals are sitting in the hidden places on car literally rotting them from the inside out. That is my only worry.
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Agreed. Traditional washing, especially with a pressure washer, is much more effective and efficient at cleaning all those areas.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess i just needed some assurance that the regular wash is never going away. I understand that rinseless washes have their place but what do us weekend warriors with a tighter budget do? I cant really afford nor have the space for a water tank, water pressure machine and gas generator. Is it better to just do a pre soak with ONR in a garden pump since i dont have access to a pressure washer?
 
I don't think I'll ever give up traditional washes. For one its the only option IMO when the car is really or even kinda dirty. I think traditional washes are safer for the car no matter what. Like someone else said I feel like the just get the car cleaner, rinseless washes work well for paint but for wheel wells and rims a traditional wash is still a lot better. And lastly because I just enjoy doing traditional washes. Something about taking my time and making sure my ride is spotless is very relaxing for me.
 
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