Pressure washers: What do you use them for?
- Thread starter DonMTV
- Start date
Thats BS. I have blasted plexiglass (Super soft) that was covered in sand on our houseboat. I did this a day after polishing it to brand new condition. After, i actually looked because someone told me exactly what you thought (not you personally, but a lot of ppl also believe this for some reason). No scratches, whatsoever. Also, i dont care how acidic, or basic a solution is, you won't ever break down sand. I work as a full time lab technician at a college, and have experience with extremely powerful acids and bases, so all the presoak will do (Maybe) is loosen up some of the dirt thats barely on there, it definitely won't dissolve anything. I agree with the person here who said that the foam brush is the most important tool at a car wash. Without some kind of friction, nothing will come off the car.
Anyway, thats my .02
Derrick
New member
- Oct 25, 2006
- 194
- 0
David,
I did not attack your opinion. I merely disagreed with it and gave a factual example to support why I disagreed. BTW Ziggo99 was correct.
My knowledge does not come from washing cars, it comes from managing and maintaining one of the nicest and most technologically advanced self serve car wash in the country. A car wash that was designed to help ultra luxury and sports car owner's keep their own cars looking beautiful. Many of these people will not trust anyone with their cars, especially a detailer.
The owner spared no expense to make sure the cars in this area were able to be kept in immaculate condition. The only thing the users of the wash lacked was knowledge on how to correctly operate the equipment, and so did I when I was asked to work there years ago. I went to work there with one main objective, to correctly learn our chemical's manufacturer process so that I could correctly educate any customer who was willing to learn.
The thing I learned and it shocked me at first is that the modern car wash I worked at was all about science and physics. Brute force was not needed to clean the exterior of a car at that self serve car wash. By following the process, allowing the chemicals and machines to do their jobs, and using a little pressure on the hog's hair foam brush, washing a car without damaging the paint was much easier and acheivable. BTW, I never said we DIDN'T use brushes. You assumed that on your own. I didn't explain the whole process, just the step about presoaking which is equivalent to explaining why you clay a car before polishing.
MikeyC,
A 0 degree nozzle or pencil tip as you called it, can rip the paint off a car with as little as 1000 psi and the wand 6 feet away. The wider the angle of the nozzle the safer it was on the paint and the stupid humans flesh who playfully sprayed each other with it. I can't count the amount of times I've warned people to NOT spray each other with those wands. The wands are not toys and neither are the chemicals that come through them.
stove937,
Using vulgur acronyms is not necessary. I never said presoak will dissolve sand. You assumed that. I did say it will "safely loosen the majority of the dirt if allowed to dwell on the vehicle's paint for the prescribed amount of time". I then explained the next part of the process which was required to properly wash the paint. Chemicals can and do loosen and to a degree dissolve contaminants. Here's proof. Finish Kare Paint Decontamination System, auto paint cleaning system, de-contamination solution
It's a waste of my time to continue explaining the process because your mind seems to be closed to accepting it.
The chemicals I used came from a multi billion dollar corporation that truly cared about cars and the environment, and when used correctly are the best car washing chemicals I've ever seen. I can't say that about most companies. The thousands of customers I've taught and assisted were very pleased when they saw the final results that they were able to acheive by using this company's whole process. So I'll continue to believe what I've learned, acheived, and taught because I've seen the results.
I'm tired of writing. I apologize for wasting your's and my time.
Derrick
I did not attack your opinion. I merely disagreed with it and gave a factual example to support why I disagreed. BTW Ziggo99 was correct.
My knowledge does not come from washing cars, it comes from managing and maintaining one of the nicest and most technologically advanced self serve car wash in the country. A car wash that was designed to help ultra luxury and sports car owner's keep their own cars looking beautiful. Many of these people will not trust anyone with their cars, especially a detailer.
The owner spared no expense to make sure the cars in this area were able to be kept in immaculate condition. The only thing the users of the wash lacked was knowledge on how to correctly operate the equipment, and so did I when I was asked to work there years ago. I went to work there with one main objective, to correctly learn our chemical's manufacturer process so that I could correctly educate any customer who was willing to learn.
The thing I learned and it shocked me at first is that the modern car wash I worked at was all about science and physics. Brute force was not needed to clean the exterior of a car at that self serve car wash. By following the process, allowing the chemicals and machines to do their jobs, and using a little pressure on the hog's hair foam brush, washing a car without damaging the paint was much easier and acheivable. BTW, I never said we DIDN'T use brushes. You assumed that on your own. I didn't explain the whole process, just the step about presoaking which is equivalent to explaining why you clay a car before polishing.
MikeyC,
A 0 degree nozzle or pencil tip as you called it, can rip the paint off a car with as little as 1000 psi and the wand 6 feet away. The wider the angle of the nozzle the safer it was on the paint and the stupid humans flesh who playfully sprayed each other with it. I can't count the amount of times I've warned people to NOT spray each other with those wands. The wands are not toys and neither are the chemicals that come through them.
stove937,
Using vulgur acronyms is not necessary. I never said presoak will dissolve sand. You assumed that. I did say it will "safely loosen the majority of the dirt if allowed to dwell on the vehicle's paint for the prescribed amount of time". I then explained the next part of the process which was required to properly wash the paint. Chemicals can and do loosen and to a degree dissolve contaminants. Here's proof. Finish Kare Paint Decontamination System, auto paint cleaning system, de-contamination solution
It's a waste of my time to continue explaining the process because your mind seems to be closed to accepting it.
The chemicals I used came from a multi billion dollar corporation that truly cared about cars and the environment, and when used correctly are the best car washing chemicals I've ever seen. I can't say that about most companies. The thousands of customers I've taught and assisted were very pleased when they saw the final results that they were able to acheive by using this company's whole process. So I'll continue to believe what I've learned, acheived, and taught because I've seen the results.
I'm tired of writing. I apologize for wasting your's and my time.
Derrick
David Fermani
New member
- Apr 19, 2007
- 703
- 0
Derrick said:
Sorry, but your example isn’t relevant, accurate of factual and like I said won’t clean a car 100% unless friction is incorporated. Wasting your time letting presoak dwell will surely kill your trim as well as everything else on the vehicle’s surface.
Case in point:
Derrick said:
Besides my 20+ years of washing cars, I was also a part of a very unique multi-million dollar state of the art wash facility. I was partnered with the World’s 1st & only 25,000 square foot Indoor Do-It-Yourself 100% Nothin’ Touching Car Wash in the Metro Detroit area named Poly Pro Auto Wash. 1 of our 3 sites consisted of 13 indoor touchless self serve bays that were climate controlled year round and we supplied customers with In-Bay Vacuums, Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Tire Cleaner, Tire Dressing, Glass Cleaner, Drying Towels, Compressed Air & 10 scents of air Freshener all for no cost. We had the direct corporate support of Simoniz, Blue Coral, Stone Soap Company, CAT Power-Bright and a host of many others who assisted us in making sure the right combination of chemicals were used to clean cars to their fullest *possible* potential. I could go on forever describing all the challenges we faced with cleaning cars in the tough Michigan environment but don’t see the need at this crossing. Bottom line, there isn’t a Coin-Op car wash that can 100% totally clean a dirty car w/o using friction from the foam brush mounted on their wall. That's the big secret advice.
I don’t consider brushes, hand washing or power washing “brute force”. I can only assume your wash has brushes and rely on them to clean because like all other Coin-Ops, it’s a necessity. No matter how much science, physics and thought you put into your system; I highly doubt your set-up is much different that all the other ones that rely on brushes to totally clean their client’s cars and end ultimately ending up scratching them. Unless you’re monitoring the usage of each and every brush on each and every vehicle, inspecting them prior to and during their use, it’s highly unlikely that your system isn’t scratching up your client’s cars. Again, keep on thinking that…Derrick said:
DLB
New member
- Jul 13, 2009
- 1,211
- 0
Up to this point (about 100 different vehicles - some having several details on them), I have had no issue using the pressure washer:
To clean engines.
To clean undercarriage and wheel wells.
To pre-clean excessively dirty vehicles' paint.
To remove dealer installed decals that people want removed.
To remove previously left over wax and polish residue from certain areas.
And perhaps my favorite use (besides the engine) the clean floor mats.
DLB
To clean engines.
To clean undercarriage and wheel wells.
To pre-clean excessively dirty vehicles' paint.
To remove dealer installed decals that people want removed.
To remove previously left over wax and polish residue from certain areas.
And perhaps my favorite use (besides the engine) the clean floor mats.
DLB
VISITOR
Active member
- May 10, 2007
- 9,859
- 3
david you make some good points. i don't rely on a foam cannon as much as many others do and is why it's collecting dust...
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DLB
New member
- Jul 13, 2009
- 1,211
- 0
DARK HORSE
Active member
- Sep 14, 2009
- 2,537
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Derrick
New member
- Oct 25, 2006
- 194
- 0
"Sorry, but your example isn’t relevant, accurate of factual and like I said won’t clean a car 100% unless friction is incorporated."
Where did you read in my posts where I said friction is not needed? I agree 100%, friction is needed to clean a car. You assumed I said otherwise.
I simply replied that using the presoak correctly will help to get the car cleaner while decreasing the amount of labor involved. I believe a foam brush is necessary, but it must be used at the right time in the process, I was taught. That's all.
I'm asking you to show me where in my posts did I say to not use the foam brush. Can You?
I don't believe you read my post in the context that it was written to express. You seem to have gotten mad because I agreed with ziggy. A pressure washer can and will do damage to paint.
I agree with you also by saying a pressure washer can and will do damage to paint if you don't respect its power and I believe most people at self serve car washes "don't respect the power of pressure washers".
How many detailers use a gas powered 2500 psi on paint, which has the potential to rip paint off a car, when most clearcoat paint applications don't need anything over 1200 psi to accomplish the job safely?
I didn't mean to anger you,
Derrick
About those pictures you posted. If you don't rinse a non neutral, chemical cleaner off completely you risk getting that type of damage. I believe it could also be cause by acid rain or hard water etching(from looking at the windows in the first picture).
Where did you read in my posts where I said friction is not needed? I agree 100%, friction is needed to clean a car. You assumed I said otherwise.
I simply replied that using the presoak correctly will help to get the car cleaner while decreasing the amount of labor involved. I believe a foam brush is necessary, but it must be used at the right time in the process, I was taught. That's all.
I'm asking you to show me where in my posts did I say to not use the foam brush. Can You?
I don't believe you read my post in the context that it was written to express. You seem to have gotten mad because I agreed with ziggy. A pressure washer can and will do damage to paint.
I agree with you also by saying a pressure washer can and will do damage to paint if you don't respect its power and I believe most people at self serve car washes "don't respect the power of pressure washers".
How many detailers use a gas powered 2500 psi on paint, which has the potential to rip paint off a car, when most clearcoat paint applications don't need anything over 1200 psi to accomplish the job safely?
I didn't mean to anger you,
Derrick
About those pictures you posted. If you don't rinse a non neutral, chemical cleaner off completely you risk getting that type of damage. I believe it could also be cause by acid rain or hard water etching(from looking at the windows in the first picture).
loudog2
New member
- Aug 5, 2008
- 2,880
- 0
I do, but like I said "with the appropriate tip".
Derrick
New member
- Oct 25, 2006
- 194
- 0
ONR. I know its not a harsh chemical but it serves the same purpose as a presoak. It'll loosen and make removing dirt easier, without damaging the paint.
Derrick
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Derrick
New member
- Oct 25, 2006
- 194
- 0
I agree. A high degree tip, one with a wide spray pattern is the only type that will work at that high of psi without tearing the paint off. But if a newbie gets too close with these tips they can still do major damage.
Derrick
Bunky
Well-known member
- Jun 20, 2007
- 6,427
- 148
I use ONR and I wanted something a tad bit stronger. There must be something stronger but will not strip the LSP.
