waterless car wash?

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scimpressions

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Is this waterless car wash a smart idea to use ?does it work?will it be a hit were im at beings as no one uses it?
 
to me, its a case by case basis. yes, some cars you can get away with it if you need to (like you dont have access to water or severe drought conditions) if the car is not real dirty. but if you have access to water I just never see how it makes sense. plus you cant clean the wheel wells, engine, tires, underbody, etc....
 
do u think it would bring business tho with the whole eco freindly thing?
 
It is more expensive than car wash soap, and doesn't clean everything. It also can't safely clean a really dirty car without marring. The less dirty is the car, the safer it is to use. I can't see it being safe, practical or cost effective enough to use for regular car washes.
It is a great way to keep a car clean between washes, for cleaning bird droppings off a car immediately, or other such things. It is very convenient to use for cleaning the car a few days after a wash so you can apply another layer of wax.
 
depending on where you live people may or may not like it. I think there are a lot of people that would not understand it if you told them that you were going to wash their car without water because we have all been taught over the years that a pre-rinse is extremely important to remove loose dirt so that you arent just wiping it all over the paint. and keep in mind that a lot of the people who pay for a detail are elderly people who arent exactly hip to new trends and are very much old fashioned and set in their ways. other people might think its a unique a cool idea. for me, i would never even consider washing a car without rinsing it thoroughly first and I believe the post-wash rinse is the most important step in the whole process. plus, again, how are you going to clean the fender wells and engine without water? and thats a very important part.
 
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scimpressions said:
do u think it would bring business tho with the whole eco freindly thing?
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Whether eco friendly products bring more business depends entirely upon which people would be your customers. Some people are fanatical about eco friendly, others think it's nice, and a lot don't care.

A lot of detailers use Optimum No Rinse, which they use with the two bucket method as a rinseless wash, which only uses two buckets of water plus the water in the spray bottle, which conserves water. A rinseless wash is not the same as a waterless wash.
ONR seems to work well for a lot of people's businesses.
I think you need a steam cleaner if you really want to impress your clients with being you being an eco friendly detailer.
 
Oh boy have you opened a nest of opinions. I'll throw in pinnacle waterless. I put 12 microfiber in a bucket with 3 gallons water and use onr and or dg rinseless with aqua wax. Use one mf per panel. Spray the panel with the waterless and wipe with soaked mf. Never had problem with this technique. Be sure to dry each panel with quality mf and u good to go!
 
jjj said:
Oh boy have you opened a nest of opinions. I'll throw in pinnacle waterless. I put 12 microfiber in a bucket with 3 gallons water and use onr and or dg rinseless with aqua wax. Use one mf per panel. Spray the panel with the waterless and wipe with soaked mf. Never had problem with this technique. Be sure to dry each panel with quality mf and u good to go!
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I agree! The good ol' Gary Dean technique. It works!
 
baknforth101 said:
to me, its a case by case basis. yes, some cars you can get away with it if you need to (like you dont have access to water or severe drought conditions) if the car is not real dirty. but if you have access to water I just never see how it makes sense. plus you cant clean the wheel wells, engine, tires, underbody, etc....
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I disagree. Even with access to water, waterless and rinseless does have it's place.

1) There are cities where it is against the law to wash your car with a water hose, especially here in California.
2) Being able to wash and dry your car in the comfort of your garage when it's 20 degrees or 110 degrees.
3) Being able to wash your car in 15 minutes with a waterless is very convienant.

I use a general rule for washing. Light dust-->Waterless Wash like Ultima Waterless. Moderately dirty--> ONR. Dirty/Muddy-->Touchless car wash followed by UWW+/
 
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Previously compounded with Purple foamed wool and M101, wiped with Eraser.

You can see holos on one photo, no fillers and still needed follow up with a DA and M205.

After a rainstorm and dirty....50/50 on a Black Titan, washed with Ultima Waterless, sprayed quite a bit and let dwell.

It is rare when I wash with buckets and water.
 
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scimpressions said:
i was thinking of eco touch how is this product?
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It evaporates fairly quickly in the heat, and turns a bit sticky. It has a nice scent to it. It has excellent cleaning ability and a fair amount of lubricity. I used one spray bottle so far. I only used it on beige, but it didn't seem to streak much, if at all. Because it kept evaporating, I figure I had to use 3 times as much as if I were to use it when cool. I want to love the product, but thus far, I just like it. I like Poorboys Spray and Wipe more, as well as Griot's. However, in cooler temps, it might work very well. That's all the experience I have with it.
 
Shortspark said:
I agree! The good ol' Gary Dean technique. It works!
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+1000

I tried the "Gary Dean" method with ONR this weekend and it seemed to work well considering it was on a Jet black BMW. I didn't notice any marring from this process (used only a gallon of distilled water).

The car was only moderately dirty. I probably would do a traditional 2 buckets wash if it was dirtier.
 
psnt1ol said:
+1000

I tried the "Gary Dean" method with ONR this weekend and it seemed to work well considering it was on a Jet black BMW. I didn't notice any marring from this process (used only a gallon of distilled water).

The car was only moderately dirty. I probably would do a traditional 2 buckets wash if it was dirtier.
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Yep, I'm a total believer. If the car is filthy, take it to a touch less wash or a coin op, give it a good rinsing first. Ill also wash my tires and wheel wells at a coin op first. I then go home and do a rinseless, puts my mind at ease knowing 85-90% of the dirt is off the car and all that's left is a haze of dirt that the rinseless solution has no problem handling. I have chrome wheels and was completely hesitant about wiping them down with a mf and rinseless, but after pulling out the halogen and seeing if it scratched, it didn't. At least none I could see. I saturated the wheel with waterless, washed with rinseless. I agree that a traditional 2 bucket and hose is the way to go as you can thoroughly clean everything, but when it's cold, hot, or pressed for time and you need an alternative to safely bring your car back up to autogeek status, a rinseless wash is tough to beat.
 
:iagree:

yes, this last reply makes the most sense. i keep coming back to one thing......if you have access to water, by all means, use it and do the regular full wash and rinse. but I do understand that for anyone east of about Colorado, we dont know what its like to have to deal with water restrictions and shortages. so it makes no sense, 95% of the time, to use a waterless or rinseless wash. i just know that with my car, there is no way I am washing it without rinsing it first. granted its a $50k Benz, but people on here are known for using extra caution when dealing with our paint finishes but then they go and wash it with lots of dirt, dust, and grime without rinsing first. but again, it comes down to where you live and the regulations. pretty simple to me: if you can use water ......by all means - DO IT!!!
 
Blackthorn One said:
It is more expensive than car wash soap, and doesn't clean everything. It also can't safely clean a really dirty car without marring. The less dirty is the car, the safer it is to use. I can't see it being safe, practical or cost effective enough to use for regular car washes.
It is a great way to keep a car clean between washes, for cleaning bird droppings off a car immediately, or other such things. It is very convenient to use for cleaning the car a few days after a wash so you can apply another layer of wax.
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Really?

I have a 128 oz Pinnacle WW concentrate that I got for $60. That 1 gallon makes 32 gallons of WW solution. I use about 1/4 a gallon a wash, twice a week. So that ends up to about 1/2 gallon a week, 2 gallons a month, 24 gallons a year.

With that math, me washing my car TWICE a week will cost $60 for 1 year and 3 months.

Pretty cost effective to me!
 
I don't even bother to do anything to the car between washes. It simply doesn't pay and is more work than its worth. The more you touch the paint the more you potentially ruin it. That's an inevitable fact.

The only way to prevent doing harm to the paint is to: a ) touch it as little as possible, b) when you do touch it make darn sure you have laid the proper foundation by first protecting it properly before you touch it ...and when washing use clean media every time you touch it ( G. Dean method).

I'm not a fan of the two bucket method although its better than nothing. You will never remove all the dirt off the wash media by wiping it across a plastic grit guard... Then reintroducing that same media back onto the paint. The grit guard is better than nothing but its not good enough in my opinion to prevent introducing spider web scratches back into the paint. You only have to be in a hurry and screw up once .. To ruin your paint.
 
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