Quick Poll ---Summer Time Washing

[ScottB]

We all know its hot, but Florida has a current heat index equivelant to 105 in late afternoon. So a poll is in order, what is the best tool for washing/drying/waxing a car in the heat of summer ???

 

[Gary Sword]

Not a tool but in the summer I wash my cars early in the morning or the evening. The Florida sun is just to hot during the day unless you have a place with a lot of shade.

 

[JoeD]

I don't know what you mean by TOOL. The only tool I would say is the SHADE! I try to schedule my detailing to start early morning and in the SHADE. If I am not done by Noon I stop and continue either that evening or next morning. Just to hot after Noon and having a Black Car makes it all that worst. Detailing is not my Profession so I don't have to worry about detailing in the Sun.

 

[bambo2888]

Early morning is where its at. Likewise, a garage or EZ Up is a must.

 

[RTexasF]

Paid labor maybe?

My special tool is OCW or AW. There is no way to dry the car off quickly enough to avoid water spots so a once over with either of the above cleans it up.

 

[Mike T]

I Sooooooooooo wish I had a garage to work in, or even shade for that matter.
My times for car care are severely limited this time of year do to the rain and heat.

 

[DantheMan]

I have to admit, having a big garage is nice....

I still wash and rinse outside if I'm at home due to no floor drain in the garage.. But as soon as I'm done with the hose its back inside we go!

 

[beavslu01]

I know what you mean by having shade, my house hardly has any shade to work in and my garage is filled with two other cars and i cant move one of them. I actually got up early to take advantage of the shade today. The only thing for me is that it rains almost everyday in the afternoon, and its been doing that for about two weeks. I have to wait for the late evening to wash my car. But I would say a garage with a fan, a cup of ice water, and a quick detailer for me.

 

[Thejoyofdriving]

I gotta say a garage or some sort of canopy would be really nice. But the problem is that my dad would not let me have "a big ugly piece of sh!t" aka canopy in the driveway.

 

[Largebore]

Payback

I gotta say a garage or some sort of canopy would be really nice. But the problem is that my dad would not let me have "a big ugly piece of sh!t" aka canopy in the driveway.

Ha... Your Dad is just getting back at you for sanding his car.

 

[{FzS}BlacKMagicK]

Shade? What's that?

Between the brutal summer sun/heat and the ridiculously hard water (not to mention the every friggin day afternoon showers/thunderstorms) I'm seriously considering moving again.

I don't know what you guys think a garage is going to do for your washing.

You going to wash it in the garage?

I have a garage now, I take it out one day, can't use the driveway, 'cause there ain't no shade on it, I go in the backyard where bamboo stalks have grown large enough to offer me enough shade at 3:00 pm to wash my car right?

Wrong, it was still so hot that the water/soap dried right up, leaving streaks of white dried up soap all over my car.

The only way I've found to wash my car is to go at night, to one of them self serve car washes, (the lights are bright enough to see everything) I bring a bucket and my own soap and distilled water, shmitt mitt, chamois, and battery powered leaf blower.
I rinse using their soft water rinse via hand gun.

Mine is a daily driver and I have to tell ya, I haven't bothered washing it in weeks, I know...sacriligous, but man, it rains every...single...day.
So I'm like why bother.
The foam gun I bought is all but useless, since I don't want nasty hard water going through it and onto my car, and I have city water mind you, not well water, it's still way too hard, besides the damn pressure is so low from my backyard it doesn't work right anyway.

Don't even get me started on avoiding the timing of sprinkler systems everywhere down here with their nasty, smelly ass water.

Alright, let's talk about the rest of the year.

Perfect washing/driving hell...doing anything weather, but when it comes to washing you have this nasty hard water to deal with.

I have spent hours online researching water softener systems, in the end you want a good one it's going to cost you, a deionizing one is the best, but once again, I'm renting a house. Should I have to spend all this money having this system installed just to wash my car?

I have found this one site that sells a deioning sort of wand like attatchment you hook up to your garden hose, apparently it was originally made to help Floridians wash their mobile homes. It's reasonably priced, of course you get only so many uses out of it, seeing how it's disposable. I didn't get it though, because what's the point if I can't get enough pressure.

So then I started looking into pressure washers, this is probably the best way to go, you can add your own water and soap with some machines, but then your back to the sun again. So I started looking into getting a canopy, but most canopies are made to just fit a car in, you need a pretty large one to be able to walk around it and wash your car in, also, would you be able to see well in it?
Not to mention, is it going to hold up in a somewhat severe thunderstorm?
Or you going to have to pull it down and put it up every time you wash your car...pretty impractical.

Alright, so I'm eccentrically OCD with my car detailing, there's worse things I could be. I just want my car to look better than showroom every day, is that too much to ask? I really don't do it for anyone else, it really is just for me. I know no one else could give a hoot if my car looks fantastic or not, it's just me. But, this is what I'm into.

 

[A1monky]

A canopy is a must. This weekend I washed my car in palm beach this weekend, no canopy. I was going crazy sheeting water on the car every second. In orlando I have a car wash port, and a garage. Its like heaven for washing cars. Oh, and QD are a must this time of year. There is no way to get a spotless wash. CM will take care of any spots easy...

 

[dengood1]

I have to admit that I've got a lot of shade in the morning and in the evening, but at the cost of having all the debris from the trees all the time. I'd rather not have the trees and just wash early in the morning, then pull it in the garage to dry and detail the rest. Something else that could have been added to this poll is a large fan or air circulator. I've got a 42" drum fan in my garage that I could not detail without! Although it's too big for my garage, I love it, but am currently looking to purchase a 30" pedastal oscillating fan.

 

[wytstang]

Night time for me, I woke up one time at 6 am to do the car never again. I'm not a morning person at all, in fact 9am is early for me. I need to win the power ball lotto and biuld my own detial center with high ceilings for ceiling fans and plenting of bright lights. Mmmm and a sound system bed and fridge and I'd never leave lol.

 

[ScottB]

Even with a lotto win I would still likely detail my own cars ... just cannot find someone I can trust to do it as I would and not skip details (pun). I am having a rather rough time recently hiring a lawn maintenance associate. They never come when I want them, and I find myself mowing the front lawn at least once between visits. I like my homes front to look like my cars, well kept.

 

[klumzypinoy]

Bah I just chose all LOL! I sure wish I had some big garage to wash the car in

 

[wytstang]

Even with a lotto win I would still likely detail my own cars ... just cannot find someone I can trust to do it as I would and not skip details (pun). I am having a rather rough time recently hiring a lawn maintenance associate. They never come when I want them, and I find myself mowing the front lawn at least once between visits. I like my homes front to look like my cars, well kept.

That's what the built detail center is for. SO I could do my own car with a lift. Something like this (with a much higher roof for lift space)

Bright lights up top and on the corner of the roof and wall or mount lights more towards the floor.

 

[trl2112]

Early mornin' shade

 

[stoddwilson]

shade . .. canopy

Im the MAN
Shade, or light cloud cover or canopy . . . the heat is a killer and direct sunlight is for mowing lawns?!?!?!?!? Playing golf!!!!!!!Im the MAN

I wash early of late and put it in the garage for everything else.

 

[PhaRO]

A hat, a cold drink and some ONR. Never have any problems even when heat indexes are 100-110.