Are there any soaps for maintenance washes (non coated vehicle) that don't dry as fast as others? I do my washes at the coin wash, mainly because of lack of space for washing my large truck, I bring all my own soap, wash pad etc. Being that its a large, full size truck, it takes a bit to get around the whole truck. Even doing so in the evening, when temps are cold, the soap is usually drying in places before I'm finished. I've only used Meguiar's Gold Class and their Ultimate Wash and Wax, both had similar results with dry time. I haven't seen any issues with it drying, it appears to rinse off but it would be nice to avoid it.
Looking for a carwash soap that DOESN'T have wax in it, sell me on YOUR favorite!
- Thread starter Klasse Act
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PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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I have a full-sized truck as well.
Try dividing the wash between the drivers/passengers side.
You could try keeping all the panels wet, but I have found this to be nearly impossible.
Otherwise, give Rinseless Washes a try. You'll be a believer.
That would work but also cost more, since I do it at the coin op. As it is, the initial rinse down and final rinse combined cost me about $12. This truck is a beast, my 2 ft. ladder barely gets me high enough to reach the whole half top of the cab, and its not lifted.
I don't know enough about rinseless, it scares me. Seems like a safe option for a garage queen/collector car maybe?
acuRAS82
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- May 30, 2017
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RW is for anyone who wants a clean car, anytime/anywhere. It’s best to use if the car is washed frequently, i.e. not caked in mud or grime. If it is, I would just keep your process of pre-rinsing.
PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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$12 plus your products?? Ouch.
Like acuRAS82 said, unless your truck is caked in mud or extremely filthy (which by your description, it does not seem to be), then Rinseless washes sound like your cup of tea.
Pre-treat one or two panels at a time, use the RW, (read up on the technique. It is VERY simple), dry the panel(s), and move to the next section.
Easy, effective, time saving, and in your case....... money saving.
Yep, unfortunately the truck is too big to fit in my driveway and I'm not into doing stuff on the street. The self wash is $3 for 4 min. and then $X by the minute after that. I fire it up twice during the process and usually have a combined total around $12.
The truck is generally pretty clean aside from a layer of sand/dust, that begins almost immediately after washing, it sits outside 24/7. I anticipate it being even dirtier as we get into some rain, being on the job site etc.
I will look into the RW, in my head I cant understand how wiping down dirty paint, dipping that dirty rag into the same bucket and repeating over the entire vehicle could be good ha ha. I'm sure there is more to it that I am missing. I could understand power washing first, then doing a RW.
PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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Yeah, there is no using the same towel. You use many towels, and the used ones NEVER go back into the RW solution.
You have a tough set of circumstances. :/
Ahh, that makes more sense. I wonder how many rags it would take to do a crew cab Ford Super Duty, 20? Lol. How many times can the rags be reused before they are just too loaded up with dirt?
PaulMys
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- Jan 14, 2014
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20 sounds about right. You have 8 sides to each towel when folded in quarters.
Your towels will last years if washed correctly with a quality MF detergent.
Yeah the dwell time is the trick for the most cleaning ability from it. The longer dwell time from it you can get the better it will clean or release the dirt easier. When the temperature goes down you often gets away with a longer dwell time. Here it's also a difference between the different foams on how they act and how strong they are. IIRC the GG BOSS Foaming Surface Wash has a kind of 2 foams in 1. Where the first runs slowly off and the second is for keeping it wet and leaves a thinner kind of soapy suds behind. This is usually what you want and actually with a great sheeting LSP this can be a problem since it's runs off to fast. Then the more you use foam the more you learn how the product you use acts. As in how thick foam is the products sweet spot to get the longest dwell time from it. The most common is when you have the foam too thin and it runs off to fast in maybe 2 minutes or so. But more common with a foamcannon but can happen with a foam gun also. Is when you get over the edge of the foam gets to thick. The shaving cream thick foam and when you foam on to much of product. It gets to heavy and runs off faster cause of that. So I try to find the middle where you get a foam that clings on the paint and slowly runs off. And also leaves a wet film after it is to prefer.
Then the prewash foam can only do so you get the dirt loose and not getting it squeeqe clean after it has runned off. And that's when a good PW comes in. So you have a good width 15-25 degree nozzle tip and not the 40 degree nozzle tip. And have a water pressure enough to clean off the dirt with. Then on this forum I sound like an alien when describe how I do when cleaning off prewash foam or any chemical pretreatment. I start from the bottom and work my way up with the water pressure from the PW to clean with. Dirt runs off better on a clean paint and can re-attach to the the dirt it runs over if you start from the top. And you get harder to clean the bottom of the vehical. This is just common practice here in Sweden when doing this. When it comes to rinsing off the car soap I do like everyone else and start from the top. When you start from the bottom and work your way up you also see easier where you have cleaned with the water pressure from the PW.
So if you would notice and feel that you have a thick foam and you still don't get the longer dwell time. Test to dilute the prewash a step weaker.
The CG Honeydew Snow Foam I have not used. But in the testing I have seen being done when comparison with other prewash foams. I have seen it getting low points for it's cleaning ability. Think that if you get it you will see your GG BOSS Foaming Surface Wash out perform the Honeydew Snow Foam. The great prewash foams is usually on the higher price if you don't live in the UK LOL. But you don't want to strong prewash foam either. I used a kind of prep prewash foam the other day and it impacted good on the LSP. So that's not something I will use for maintance washes LOL.
To you who have the big truck and wanted to have a car soap that didn't dry on the paint while you are washing. I would get the McKees 37 SiO2 Wash. As it's not a problem if that dries on the paint in the sun. So it would not be a problem if it dries on the paint for you. And says to be easy to rinse it off even when it has dried on the paint. Could be an option to go with. Sorry but didn't remember your nickname on the forum LOL.
/ Tony
Thank you, I'll take a look at that stuff.