Semi-Waterless with -5 gallons of water?

[tmurph01]

Looking into going more green, and as a part of that, I am looking into steering away from my conventional 2 bucket and hose system to a system that utilizes as little water as possible.

My worry is running boards, wheels, wheel wells, and front ends. A lot of the cars I detail are driven in the country and on farmland, so they get caked with mud, manure, road grime and bugs.

My thinking is.. power wash wheels and tires, wheel wells, running boards / rockers, and the front end.. thinking power washing will use less water than follow up with a waterless or even a rinseless wash on the entire car. Also looking into foam lancing, but not sure how much water that would require.

Any and all tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[allenk4]

Don't try it on a Black vehicle.

A am convinced that waterless and rinseless washes can only be used on a lightly dusted vehicles that are black.

I do not think my 2009 Yukon has particularly soft paint. I have even tried the Kevin Brown Method on a car that was clean...driven in the rain and washed the next day. I still had micro-marring.


Foam Lancing- An 1,800 PSI power washer typically uses less than 1.5 gallons of water per minute. Good idea to get the big stuff off with the PW and then try the rinseless.

 

[tmurph01]

Good idea to get the big stuff off with the PW and then try the rinseless.

Yeah, thats my thought is try and romove as many big particles first before the rinseless / waterless...

 

[swanicyouth]

What your talking about is kind of how I do a waterless or rinseless wash. I always clean wheels, wells, & running boards conventionally.

Then, I usually foam and pressure wash the car. Depending on how dirty is was, I will then do a waterless or GDWM rinseless wash. When I do a rinseless, I load the panel up with waterless wash before I touch it. I don't do it to save water, I do it because its faster than doing a 2BM at that point and the results are as good if not better.

I've been doing it this way on and off with 2 cars (one black) for a while (2 years) with no noticeable marring. I do take my time and work quite methodically and concentrate on what I am doing. The thing is, you have to spend your time pressure washing very well to get anything abrasive off. Of course this uses a lot of water, which your trying not to do.

Unfortunately, if cars are very dirty, you need to use water. There really isn't a way around it if your concerned with preventing marring. Even rinseless and waterless manufacturers recommend not using those products for very dirty cars.