Spoiled in the *Hobby*

[chefwong]

There was a time where a mitt and buckets was good enuf

Then, it became that for 80% off the time, HP rinse before a mechanical wash.

In the current stage of the hobby for me.....if it's dirty enough, like in this heavy Nor-Easter rain soaked film , mechanical wash is not even an option till a do a chemical decontamination before the mechanical wash.

Have we become spoiled in the hobby or just more professional in our approach of good, better best.
I am pondering this as while this is probably all overkill for almost 98% of the masses out there,

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Have we become spoiled in the hobby or just more professional in our approach of good, better best.

I think it's a combination of both. I think 25+ years of detailing forums, although their time is past (supplanted mostly by YouTube, and to some degree Facebook), crowd-sourced agreement of best practices has led us to where we are.

I am pondering this as while this is probably all overkill for almost 98% of the masses out there,

We forum-dwellers have always been the 1-2 percent of car owners that know a swirl from a squirrel.

 

[BLM]

Yes the use of pressure washers has increased incredibly. Apparently not only is a pressure washer almost mandatory one that produces 3 gallons a minute is the only pressure washer that a sane individual would consider.
Going back ten years and beyond i guess folks suffered greatly from using a plane old hose to wash their vehicle.
I tried to convince a well known You Tube influencer that a pressure washer wasnt needed to wash a vehicle and he was having none of it.

 

[chefwong]

It added about maybe 10 minutes to my wash routine...more or less. But to the insanity of it all, if I'm going to do a chemical pre-wash, then it's probably worthy of a under carriage wash as well (which it did get today)....

The more access to tools and chemicals we have, the more complex the usual wash routine has become.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

The more access to tools and chemicals we have, the more complex the usual wash routine has become.

I find in most systems things get more and more complex until they collapse under their own weight. In this case maybe in 5 years an AI-enabled touch/touchless wash will be able to get your car pristine without any marring, and you will toss out all your chemicals and pressure washers for a subscription to the AI Wash.

 

[chefwong]

Yes the use of pressure washers has increased incredibly. Apparently not only is a pressure washer almost mandatory one that produces 3 gallons a minute is the only pressure washer that a sane individual would consider.
Going back ten years and beyond i guess folks suffered greatly from using a plane old hose to wash their vehicle.
I tried to convince a well known You Tube influencer that a pressure washer wasnt needed to wash a vehicle and he was having none of it.

That's my problem....if I have the ability to minimize micro marring by using a HP rinse, why not do it.

Here is the thing about PW in the car industry....almost everything is re-invented as a new concept...
The stubby gun fad and what not. I was using quick disconnects 2 decades+ ago. That is nothing new.
It's not an even considered it a stubby gun. It was just a gun with a QD....same with wands. QD

I get that in the consumer detailing world, it's a good spin, since most package guns is a fixed wand:trigger

High Volume, low flow is the same..it's existed forevvvver.....although it's $$$ to produce a decent electric one.....
Gassers are easily doable but in the realm of a high volume, low flow....220V is just not mass market friendly. And magnetic motor aside, the traditional electric ones in this realm have been big. Yes, there are higher flow 120V electrics that have recently come out. The longevity is TBD but I suppose for the residential use, the MTBF should be fine.....

I find in most systems things get more and more complex until they collapse under their own weight. In this case maybe in 5 years an AI-enabled touch/touchless wash will be able to get your car pristine without any marring, and you will toss out all your chemicals and pressure washers for a subscription to the AI Wash.

I don't generally have a pro detail the cars but I did get a complimentary one when I had to bring the car back into the PPF shop to get a panel redone. It was extremely nice and refreshing not having to do a thing. I never understood the allure of that as I do have friends who have mobile detailing at their house and I'm at that stage of getting there where a little bit of instant gratification is kinda nice...

As I started posting my thoughts, I think I need find my way back to just a mitt and 2 buckets......life was so much simpler although just not as clean with all the gidgets and gazmo's we have these days

 

[yakky]

1 bucket, 1 chenille mitt, a grit guard and a hose is my setup for almost every wash. Leaf blower and a cheap eurow waffle weave for most cars. A PFM for the nicer cars. 20-25 minutes per car and done including a spray wax. Spending longer doesn't make the car look any better. If I have extra time, which is rare, I hit the trim with something.

 

[Bunky]

When I purchased my first pressure washer (for around the house too) there were 3 electric options: cheap plastic (Karcher like) that lasted a year for most, an AR unit around $600, and the Kranzle. I got the expensive Kranzle. I had a gas one but it was used at another location. Now there are many lower priced units.

The elephant in the room is rinseless to me that shows much is marketing in the effort to outsafe each other by adding more products and tools. They are selling the experience.

 

[TroyScherer]

I think some of this is people or companies always trying to sell us the next best thing or improvement. This is especially true for those of us that are engineering types and always looking for a better way or improvement.

At some point we just need to find a point where we are happy with the time spent as well as the outcome. Overcomplicating things isn't always better.

Having and using a pressure washer is great; but I find that if it isn't a full already setup system I tend to not want to pull everything out and set it up every time. So I then default back to a regular hose.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

@TroyScherer that was a great encapsulation of the phenomenon.

 

[Azure]

Nobody here will like this, but I've full-laziness in my washing. If my car is just "typical dirty", I'll rinsh first and the go super heavy with snow foam using a neutral soap and hand wash with a microfiber mitt. I'll add more snow foam if needed, but I really go heavy with the snow foam up front. Still do wheels and tires the same, brakebuster in MTM and spray wheels and tires and use tire brush and wheel brush.

 

[yakky]

I think some of this is people or companies always trying to sell us the next best thing or improvement. This is especially true for those of us that are engineering types and always looking for a better way or improvement.

At some point we just need to find a point where we are happy with the time spent as well as the outcome. Overcomplicating things isn't always better.

Troy, focusing on outcome is a great way to do it. We humans tend to fall in traps of wanting to outdo others or like you say, looking for a better way. The manufacturers are always hyping things and convincing people that what they have isn't good enough. If you focus on outcome, you will find yourself spending more time getting the car in better shape than worrying about your product catalog.

 

[BLM]

I think some of this is people or companies always trying to sell us the next best thing or improvement.

The majority of the products today are good to very good. Maybe we already have the best and dont realize it.
Have a cheap electric Karcher. Havent used it for years. I have an Eley hose system with great flow and good pressure. Dont need a pressure washer and contend that most others dont need one either, especially on a well maintained vehicle. Only place a pressure washer is needed is on a neglected vehicle.

 

[Bunky]

I think some of this is people or companies always trying to sell us the next best thing or improvement.

Not some...but almost all especially the enthusiast brands. It is interesting 20 years ago we were getting great results without the all the new required stuff today.

Now, wax is making a comeback to use as a topper over a coating since an enthusiast cannot it alone.

 

[chefwong]

The majority of the products today are good to very good. Maybe we already have the best and dont realize it.
Have a cheap electric Karcher. Havent used it for years. I have an Eley hose system with great flow and good pressure. Dont need a pressure washer and contend that most others dont need one either, especially on a well maintained vehicle. Only place a pressure washer is needed is on a neglected vehicle.

I disagree....Everything is all full port 3/4 on my GH setup, and also depending on the material of the 3/4 hose, one can notice small water pressure difference between the material of even a 3/4 hose....but it doesn't replace the PW. The PW does knock off particulate much more effective than anything coming off the tap. Maybe that puts me into sn0b category but if the car has been driven through rain, or basically has anything more than a light dusting, I do prefer to HP rinse it off to get off stuff that my tap hose won't knock off before the mechanical wash.

I don't calculate $$$ per wash but as a WAG, there is considerably a lot less water used when I do a full wash with HP vs LP.
I do like to do my final rise with LP regardless .

 

[BLM]

Chief, ive been washing my own and my friends and family’s vehicles for many years. With just a hose. The fact that i do it regularly allows for the force( if one could call it that ) is sufficient to remove the soiling. That combined with todays chemicals such as Primus or BH Touchless make cleaning much easier. The same goes for cleaning wheels which tend to need sttonger chemicals of which there are many choices.Maybe because i was washing before pressure washers became so prevalent makes one not as necessary. But i have zero issues getting my vehicles clean with just a good hose system such as my Eley. The key is getting good flow and pressure.
Different strokes for different folks.

 

[yakky]

I think a pressure washer speeds things up. But setup time takes away from that efficiency gain. Blasting off the surface does buy you a little more margin to be sloppy with wash media. I used a pressure washer for a couple of decades. New house, I haven't set it up to be quick, but I will eventually get around to it someday....I hope.

I miss it most for wheel wells and tires.

 

[chefwong]

Chief, ive been washing my own and my friends and family’s vehicles for many years. With just a hose. The fact that i do it regularly allows for the force( if one could call it that ) is sufficient to remove the soiling. That combined with todays chemicals such as Primus or BH Touchless make cleaning much easier. The same goes for cleaning wheels which tend to need sttonger chemicals of which there are many choices.Maybe because i was washing before pressure washers became so prevalent makes one not as necessary. But i have zero issues getting my vehicles clean with just a good hose system such as my Eley. The key is getting good flow and pressure.
Different strokes for different folks.

Indeed different S for F. I don't use prewash chems unless I have a genuine use case. I prefer to minimize the effects of LSP. For my use case, LSP doesn't last as long on PPF, so the more neutral the wash, the better.

I do use pre-wash for every wash during the winter. Beyond the winter season, I only use it if I feel like a plain Jane H20 HP pre-wash is not going to cut it it and needs a chemical bite. Same with wheels. I tend to use shampoo and let PW do the work.

Are your running a Eley Hose in your -Eley System-.
If you are running a eley hose, that hose is 5/8"
For LP, I prefer 3/4 hose. It's noticeable in both flow and volume.
If you're running a Eley hose, try a 3/4, including the leader hose to the reel

I think a pressure washer speeds things up. But setup time takes away from that efficiency gain. Blasting off the surface does buy you a little more margin to be sloppy with wash media. I used a pressure washer for a couple of decades. New house, I haven't set it up to be quick, but I will eventually get around to it someday....I hope.

I'm faster and I'm slower with a PW....
For the main panels, I'm faster as I can contact wash faster as the HP rinse has gotten most of the stuff I need to be careful with if I was just doing a LP wash

With a low pressure wash, I'll jab the ez detail around the wheel wells and call it good. I'm not too keen on scrubbing said area as I'm getting lazy.

But with the HP, I end up feeling like I'm a dental hygenist.
1st HP rinse is with a wand just to get the majority off.
Then I switch to just a nozzle tip and gun, as it's easier to control and get the wheel wells super clean because I can now manage the gun at a closer range and *angle the curvature-sweep* as I high pressure rinse it out.
I ultimately spend more time doing WW cleaning with a HP PW as it's a different POV on task to clean

 

[BLM]

Yes im running the Eley hose which is 5/8. But its a full 5/8 even in the fittings. I have a dedicated one inch Pex line run to the Eley system and my pressure is set at 70 psi so im getting excellent flow and good pressure. With the Eley cleaning tip installed im getting some good results if i need to clean anything more than average.
A couple years ago i had to decide between a pressure washer and the Eley system. I figured i need a hose regardless so why not get the best made.
I actually ordered and tried the Eley watering tools and at the time i had a 1/2 inch supply and my pressure washer set a good bit lower so the results were substandard. I sent it back which one can return an Eley product if just not satisfied. I then cooked up the plan to run the dedicated one inch line and the second time i bought the whole system. The reel, the watering tools and their hose. Much better results second time around.
I know most detailers use a pressure washer but i really dont need one. I do have a Karcher electric unit but havent used it for years. Its not a real great unit anyway.