How do you Northerner's wash take care of your cars in the winter???

S

Surfer

New member
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
5,294
Reaction score
0
I washed my truck the other day when it was 55 here in South Florida, I was freezing my azz off, looked like a little girl trying to dance around and avoid the water spray lol. Then I see pics on other boards of people washing/prepping etc their cars dead in winter, you guys are nutz. How the hell do you wash your cars in 40 or below weather?

Long live South FL:awesome: , though it dipped into the 40's past couple nights.
 
Surfer said:
I washed my truck the other day when it was 55 here in South Florida, I was freezing my azz off, looked like a little girl trying to dance around and avoid the water spray lol. Then I see pics on other boards of people washing/prepping etc their cars dead in winter, you guys are nutz. How the hell do you wash your cars in 40 or below weather?

Long live South FL:awesome: , though it dipped into the 40's past couple nights.
Click to expand...
Surfer you are not being nice! :( Those poor people are freezing up there and you know it will be warm and sunny again this weekend!Im the MAN
They will be shoveling snow and we will be shoveling sand at the beach!!;)
 
Surfer said:
I washed my truck the other day when it was 55 here in South Florida, I was freezing my azz off, looked like a little girl trying to dance around and avoid the water spray lol. Then I see pics on other boards of people washing/prepping etc their cars dead in winter, you guys are nutz. How the hell do you wash your cars in 40 or below weather?

Long live South FL:awesome: , though it dipped into the 40's past couple nights.
Click to expand...

Surfer, I lived in Maine for 42 years and there are months at a time when the temperature never goes above 32 degrees.

During those times I would take my car to one of those wash bays and put my quarters in for three minutes of washing off the salt. The soap thing never worked because it would just freeze to the metal and then you would have to work twice as hard with the jet sprayer to get it off. Forget about scrubbing.

What a lot of people do is have a "winter beater". A winter beater is a special car that we drive around in the winter that we don't care about. It's ugly and it's always a mess. The only thing good about a high quality winter beater is that the heater and the headlights always work.

Now that I live in Sarasota I don't think about my winter beater anymore, thank god.

winterbeater.jpg
 
Last edited:
i have to confess that my limit is 50 degrees and any lower then that i go in a touchless wash u kno at the gas station but just the one with the jet streams no touching, so i atleast get the salt of my undercarrieg
 
Meghan said:
Surfer you are not being nice! :( Those poor people are freezing up there and you know it will be warm and sunny again this weekend!Im the MAN
They will be shoveling snow and we will be shoveling sand at the beach!!;)
Click to expand...


I am so used to it now;) . I washed in 45-50 wearing a sweathshirt and tracks. The key for me is wearing some of those rubber wash gloves (that you use when doing the dishes) to keep the cold water off the hands. Makes a big difference. When colder, then self serve and waterless wash (like ONR or DP FIO) in the garage.
 
Ok, first post since I joined...:awesome:

Well, I have been living for the past 4 years up in the north (MA, MD, OH) and sometimes you don't even want to get out of bed! But when you see your car in need of wax, what a feeling to get up and do it! Just feels really good for some reason!

Joey:cheers:
 
Surfer...What I do is fill a 1 gallon or a 32 oz sprayer with water and soap....I spray the truck down at a wash bay ..soak it good....then I use just rinse water to wash it off...truck comes out 99% clean....I use 2 oz's of shampoo in the 32oz spray bottle rest water..in the gallon one I use 4oz's ..when you spray the truck you see the grime just run down....When the weather is mild...40's I go at night when no one is there..I bring a bucket with soap and water...and do a hand wash...dry it...and apply AW....and have a few shots to chase the chill..and be done....

AL
 
I use to have it good, I would rinse the car down at the coin car wash . then I go to the heated garage were I worked, and use qew to finish the wash. I do not work there anymore, so I dont know what Ill do this winter .I do have a insulated garage and a small electric heater , mabe that will work.
 
I washed my truck the two days ago when I got home from work. I worked in my driveway and by the time I finished it was getting dark. When I started it wasn't really that cold outside, I had jeans and a sweatshirt on. But as the sun started to set and the temp dropped I realized that I had turned my driveway into an ice rink. Oops. During the exteme cold I do the same as what the others have said. Go to the carwash and work in a bay on off hours. I know the owners of the local carwash and they don't mind if I take my time in there.
 
It was pretty nice today so I washed my car when I got home. It was like 43-45 and fairly sunny. I'm warm blooded so it doesn't bother me. I couldn't stand to be down south, I'd sweat to death.
 
I washed my F350 today......it was like 40. It felt more like 30. I was able to wash, clay, swirl remover before the rain :mad:. The truck needed a detail bad!!!!! The last time the truck was waxed was earlier this year. I hope to have the entire truck completed soon.
I still have a 99 Maxima that needs to be detailed also.
 
Surfer said:
I washed my truck the other day when it was 55 here in South Florida, I was freezing my azz off, looked like a little girl trying to dance around and avoid the water spray lol. Then I see pics on other boards of people washing/prepping etc their cars dead in winter, you guys are nutz. How the hell do you wash your cars in 40 or below weather?

Long live South FL:awesome: , though it dipped into the 40's past couple nights.
Click to expand...
Surfer, I think you need a ShMitt!!!:righton: :D
Seriously I have washed my car in cold weather (not the best experience). I usually fill up my bucket with warm water, then add shampoo, and wash.
 
Surfer said:
I washed my truck the other day when it was 55 here in South Florida, I was freezing my azz off, looked like a little girl trying to dance around and avoid the water spray lol. Then I see pics on other boards of people washing/prepping etc their cars dead in winter, you guys are nutz. How the hell do you wash your cars in 40 or below weather?

Long live South FL:awesome: , though it dipped into the 40's past couple nights.
Click to expand...
Surfer, I think you need a ShMitt!!!:righton: :D
Seriously I have washed my car in cold weather (not the best experience). I usually fill up my bucket with warm water, then add shampoo, and wash.
 
What I usually do for me and my customers,is put on a nice wax before it gets to bad out there. Then during the winter, I rinse off the road salt. One lesson I have learned is after I have rinsed off the cars......DO NOT lock them! It is a real pain when the water freezes in the locks. I do have a garage,but this was before I had one.
 
Wimps! What I want to know is how you guys in the SW wash in the 100+ degree temps. Up here 40 degrees is the cut off for me. I do a full wash, blow dry with the leaf blower and then pull in the garage to finish. When it gets colder than that I go to a friends condo and use his wash bay. My cars have never seen any type of mechanical car wash! Remember, our blood up north is just a little thicker than you sun babies.;)
 
ashsarna said:
I am so used to it now;) . I washed in 45-50 wearing a sweathshirt and tracks. The key for me is wearing some of those rubber wash gloves (that you use when doing the dishes) to keep the cold water off the hands. Makes a big difference. When colder, then self serve and waterless wash (like ONR or DP FIO) in the garage.
Click to expand...

Waterless wash? whats that? washing without water sounds strange, scratch scratch?
 
I"ll wash outside down to 35 degrees.Use tepid water and two sheepskin mitts.One heavy duty tossel hat,long underwear and boots(wet feet hurt):) Only real problem I have is trying to convince the neighbors I"m sane.I also grill outside 52 weeks a year,fastest way to eat healthy without a mess in the kitchen.By the way,the neighbors who think I"m wacko sure love the grilled salmon in January when its about 10 degrees.:awesome: Up north here you just get used to it.Don"t like but ya get used to it.Ya gotta be tough to live in Cleveland.:D
 
When I lived in Montreal, Canada the January temperatures dropped down to 20-30 F below zero. When the temp would rise to about 32F,it felt warm in comparison so I would wash my car. The water would freeze as I applied it ....car didn't get clean, but the dirt was better distributed. Living in New Hampshire, I now go to the best brushless car wash. in winter.

MBluvr
 
so its been under 32 for about 5days I got my black car white from the salt, its not going to get 39 untill saturday anyone got an advice? I have no garage :(
 
I usually wash my car in the driveway until it gets below 50*. In lower temperatures, I wash it in the garage using a rinseless wash like DP 4-n-1, Optimum No Rinse, or QEW. I usually run the car through a touchless car wash (with no towel drying of course ;) ) a few times during the winter. This is to get the undercarriage washed to remove the salt and to knock of the larger bits of dirt before washing in the garage. Also, when I wash in the garage I use warm water and rubber gloves to keep my hands warm and dry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top