Touchless/foaming soap to remove salt and add beading?

[JD3020]

Living in Ohio and doing snow removal/salting make it a battle keeping our trucks and equipment clean. Especially this year when we're out a couple times a week spreading salt, its pretty normal for me to wash trucks twice a week. My personal truck i try to keep waxed with Collinite 845 or Xpress wax but it doesn't take long for road spray from my 35"s to blast it all off and stuff just clings, can easily tell when the wax breaks down and beading goes away. And its the same thing on our salt/plow trucks, wax just doesn't stand up to repeated abuse and washes. Ceramic coating isn't a viable option even though it might be effective long term, and i'm not sure if i can justify the cost to apply something like Hydro Blue on a semi-regular basis on multiple trucks. And i'm trying to stay touchless so a quick spray wax isn't really an option either. Not looking for something that will last weeks, as i'm literally washing trucks as soon as the snow event is done and trucks are ready to be parked. So is there a soap that will wash cleanly and add some beading to help the salt spray run off and keep things looking a little cleaner, or am i asking for something that doesn't exist?


As for what i'm washing we have 4 trucks, 2 with plows/spreaders, and 2 skid steers. Washing indoors in a 75* shop on city water, with a 1800psi 5gpm heated pressure washer. Normal routine is to roll a vehicle in, hit everything with the foam cannon and let it dwell for a few minutes, and give it a thorough rinsing with 200*+ water. Finish up with a leaf blower and between the warm shop with fans on and hot water they dry quick. Everything comes out looking darn near spotless, and without ever touching a wash mitt it saves me a lot of time and cuts down on scratching. So far i've just been using CG citrus wash and gloss since i'm out of my usual Duragloss 901 and keep forgetting to order more.

 

[SJK2]

You need to get "undercarriage washers" also to get that "Salt" removed from under the vehicles.............

 

[TMQ]

Sounds like your current system is a winner. "Darn near spotless without touching a mitt" This is the key---keeping it clean and spotless without touching!.

However---after winter passes or just before next winter you'll probably need to do at least a clay job. Only need to do this once a year.

Then I would take the time and machine down some McKee's High Def sealant. This will make cleaning through winter much easier. Also reconsider Hydro Blue. To make it more cost effective, maybe apply after every other wash or two...

Again, just my thoughts and from what you are saying---I think you got it down about as good as it can be.

tom

 

[SWETM]

If I would have to chose from the products here on AGO. I would test a small bottle of different degreaser. You have a big advantage to have access to a heated PW. You just need something to loosen the all different grimes up before hitting it with the PW. I would test Optimum Power Clean and 3D orange 88 citrus degreaser first. Play around with dilution with OPC and see what is needed for your trucks. Same with 3D orange a dilution between 1:4 and 1:10. Get a black Kwazar pressure bottle to apply them with. It's fast and most of the time more cost effective since the spray pattern from them is even and thin. There is more potent degreasers out there and often needs to combine them with 2 different kind and 2 application. But since you have the heated PW I think they will suit you well.
For the protection I would recommend you to test a spray on spray of sio2 product. Since sio2 can stand the heated water better against a wax that you rinse right of. When useing the spray on spray of don't have heated water when doing this. You don't use much of this stuff when applying them. The first times you maybe need to apply to the whole truck but then you only need to apply it to the lower panels and back of the truck. And I dont think you will have to apply it every time either. Test a small bottle of one of them like McKees 37 Hydro Blue or carpro hydro2 lite or gyeon wet coat. They are available in gallon sizes when you find your product. I think this is a easy way to apply a protection and have used wet coat this winter only. Maybe you can test a foam sio2 like carpro hydrofoam or gyeon bathe+ . Hydrofoam I think is available in gallon size also. I give you some links to look at

https://www.autogeek.net/128oz-optimum-power-clean-apc.html
https://www.autogeek.net/3d-orange-88-refill.html
https://www.autogeek.net/kwazar-super-hd-sprayer.html
https://www.autogeek.net/carpro-hydro2-lite1.html
https://www.autogeek.net/carpro-hydro-foam-liter.html
https://www.autogeek.net/gyeon-wetcoat-4liter.html
https://www.autogeek.net/gyeon-bathe-plus-liter.html
https://www.autogeek.net/mckees-hydro-blue-128.html
https://www.autogeek.net/mk37-hydro-blue-5gallon.html

 

[MattPersman]

I don’t know if you will get what you want with one step. I also wouldn’t think that 845 was gone so soon. It’s not bulletproof but perhaps it’s contamination or road film all over it that’s not being removed. You would need some sort of mechanical agitation against the paint to get it cleaner and see if the “protection” reappeared

There are products like salt away to remove salt from vehicles. Probably many more in the marine industry considering they live in salt water.

So again I think you are gonna need more steps. A product that will clean with out touching is gonna be unlikely. But also then you still need to add robust protection


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Desertnate]

You're not seeing the water beading as well because there is most likely still a film of salt/road grime on the vehicle. The only way to get the car clean enough to restore 845's amazing beading is a hand wash.

I used 845 for many years before going to coatings. I was always amazed how I could run our vehicles through a touchless wash and regain mediocre beading, but after the first hand wash in the spring 845 would often start beading like it was freshly applied.