Those who experience snow.

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buddy01

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For those who experience snow, what are your car cleaning process? I normally wash my truck at home, two bucket method yadda yadda, but with winter I turn off my water for my outside spigots. I could do a waterless wash without a issue but the undercarriage is still nasty with the salt from roads. I was going use the dreaded automatic wash by me with the undercarriage spray but not really wise to put a hot undercarriage over spraying water. So what all do you guys do?
 
NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!
 
I've lived in North Dakota 45 years. In the winter I will drive through the occasional touchless car wash on the "deluxe" setting to get the undercarriage wash. Beyond that, if I wanted to, I have a faucet inside our garage and our outbuilding with a rolling pressure washer attachment but I've never done it. I have never been meticulous with the undercarriage and it has never been an issue.
 
Spikey Mike said:
I've lived in North Dakota 45 years. In the winter I will drive through the occasional touchless car wash on the "deluxe" setting to get the undercarriage wash. Beyond that, if I wanted to, I have a faucet inside our garage and our outbuilding with a rolling pressure washer attachment but I've never done it. I have never been meticulous with the undercarriage and it has never been an issue.
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Do they use a lot of chemicals on the roads or primarily sand/gravel when it snows? I grew up in Ohio where they kill you with salt and the calcium chloride stuff. I remember traveling west years ago and chemical usage was not as prominent in the western states. Is it still that way?

That may be the reason your undercarriage is not an issue. The chemicals are cancerous. The sand/gravel not so much.

I tend to agree with pro 4x's methodology. I used to hose off my undercarriage and wheel wells and such as often as I could while living in Ohio but it was really a losing battle. Did it do any good? While it may have given peace-of-mind that you're doing what you can and the impression that you're doing some good, in the end the winter always wins.

Just compare a 5year-old California car to a 5 year-old eastern car and that becomes quite obvious.
 
pro 4x said:
NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!
Click to expand...

^^^This^^^
 
2black1s said:
Do they use a lot of chemicals on the roads or primarily sand/gravel when it snows? I grew up in Ohio where they kill you with salt and the calcium chloride stuff. I remember traveling west years ago and chemical usage was not as prominent in the western states. Is it still that way?

That may be the reason your undercarriage is not an issue. The chemicals are cancerous. The sand/gravel not so much.

I tend to agree with pro 4x's methodology. I used to hose off my undercarriage and wheel wells and such as often as I could while living in Ohio but it was really a losing battle. Did it do any good? While it may have given peace-of-mind that you're doing what you can and the impression that you're doing some good, in the end the winter always wins.

Just compare a 5year-old California car to a 5 year-old eastern car and that becomes quite obvious.
Click to expand...

Salt, sand, calcium chloride. All of it laid down throughout winter.
 
pro 4x said:
NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!
Click to expand...

I do the same exact thing.
 
I agree with what others have said about it being a losing battle. I will also add that, as much as it sucks having to brush off the snow, leaving your vehicle out in the elements all winter is much better for it corrosion wise than parking it in a garage, even if non-heated. If it’s parked inside the temps are warmer and the chemicals are more active than if it’s outside in the cold. The more frozen you can keep it the better.
 
Adding a link to a discussion happening now about undercarriage washing. I agree that keeping cars cold will impact rusting due to water/salt the least... but tomorrow in PA the weather will go above freezing for sometime and at this point, it’s good to have a home option to at least remove some of the gunk without waiting for rain in the spring to remove it all.

cleaner for undercarriage
 
Paint sealant in the fall and for winter when the weather gets right (3 days in a row below freezing with no precip) I go Garry Dean in the garage. And a few coats of wax here and there just because I love wax and spent alot of money on them.
 
for the ease of use, POWER WASH to clean, allow to dry and hammer it with FLUID FILM or the like. then when weather allows, a good hot wash cleans it right off
 
I'm dealing with it right now. I am heading to the local coin op self serve and blast all of the crud off of the vehicle. Then it will get a rinseless wash in the driveway when I get home.
 
Coin op when warm enough. If it gets into the 40s I've been known to bust out the power washer, do a legit wash. Then I cry when I have to go somewhere because I live off of a dirt road. The warm weather makes that a soupy mess for awhile.
 
It’s 30 degrees and a perfect day for the coin op and a rinseless wash with Griots Brilliant Finish rinseless. I actually prefer Wolfgang Uber as it rinses and wipes away more cleanly. I previously coated the wheels with Griots 3 in 1 and the grime rinsed right off.
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For me, it's a touchless car wash with an undercarriage spray, then directly home for a rinseless (ONR) wash and 25 minutes or so on wheels and tires. I used to do this a couple of times a month, but now that I've retired from my career, my driving is down by 75% right now, and I've only done this twice in 2021. Works well for me.
 
Yeah if you got a touchless with undercarriage sprayer go for it. I would re apply LSp in spring if using those though. The detergents Can wreak havoc on LSP’s

After the touchless i prefer to waterless wash and dry. If you’ve got salt and such look into Ammo frothe with their Boost winter wash. Designed to neutralize winter road salts.


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Like many responses so far, I do very little. Winter is the "dark time" when my vehicles are perpetually dirty for months on end.

When temperatures get above freezing and I know I can get the car washed and home before it would freeze up, I go through the touchless car wash with underbody spray. Until then the car is simply dirty and stays that way until conditions improve.
 
I'm happy that I've done the good work before the snow. The car gets dirty for sure, but if it ends up just raining the car looks pretty good. My wheels look like trash, though. Job #1 in the spring is a wheels-off cleaning and coating.

The last 4 years here in CT have been pretty manageable. But this entire Februrary has been a trainwreck. We might see mid 50's by Saturday. If so, I will definitely do a wash. My last was I believe was early or mid November. Yikes!
 
We hit the high 50's here yesterday so I quickly washed my car when I got home from work. I had to finish it in the dark, so it is not my finest work by any stretch, but the salt has been washed off and my wheels are no longer black with brake dust and road grime. I'm happy for now.
 
Finally calling for some decent temps this weekend. So a proper wash is in the books...
 
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