Waterless Detailing, yes or no?

[DOC]

Kenaz Excellent write up DOC.

I won't be going back to my local DIY car wash place any time soon, so I'll give your method a go. Looks time consuming, but no doubt worth the effort.

Kenaz, a few have said looks like it takes longer, thinking about that, i thought to myself " In 30 + years i have ever been only able to clean 1 panel at a time anyway, so where's the difference" The above section to clean probably took no more that 5 minutes if not less in real time, and i am convinced with a bit or prep and practice i could clean the car just as fast , if not faster than before with a good outcome each time.

Laminge I'm interested, what's this outstanding piece of advice based on?.

I don't think he has heard the term Pommy shower before.

ORSM T In regards to the bucket (legality) I have a bucket under home a/c which makes a full bucket easily in the last few days. Theoretically this water is distilled, as it's removed from the humid air. I would guess I can use this for the wash process with no restriction related issues or detrement to the finish?

Yes you could collect he water that way or even a small tank set up from your shed will work, another option is using smaller plastic drums similar to those used in camping to to collect the water.

Failing that you can use a bucket of water legally to wash contaminates from the car, so with that it would be a tough call not to get a bucket of water happening.

I will cover some other bits and pieces of more so in the guide on this topic.

Stevo dissal, I have some waterless stuff here i have used before. Its meguiars speed detailer.
As i said i have used it before, and it works great when the car isnt very dirty. However i dont have the balls to use it on a very dirty car.
Ill bring it over next time and let you try it if you want?
That, with a polishing towel, and polishing cloth work wonders (they dont scratch the paint with the picked up dirt like other clothes and sponges do).

Yes champ that is what is used in step 9. and you are right regarding not using it on a dirty car as such, the same concerns i had, using steps 1 - 8 will get it to a point to use this if very dirty.

In between cleans and a very light dust is fine.

In general, the question was relating to how to wash a car, and in that all your looking for at this point is clean, not shine and bling ( great if its there ) but if not that will be covered of later.

[niko]

if your car is only semi dirty, mild dirt build up and mainly dust, 2bux worth of soap squirting, and take a sponge without a bucket as you don't really need it lol and 1bux to wash the rest off...

$3 car care if your car isn't too disgusting.


and another thing to take note on is spend around 30-50bux on a good quality chamois...

[FRDXR6]

I take a bucket of car wash to the DIY car wash place.

Spend $1 rinsing the car.
Wash car with bucket and mit.
Spend $2 rinsing.
Dry with chamois, and your done.


I do it at night time though when its really quiet, because the car wash people get cranky if you take a bucket there...

[Damo]

i took a bucket and sponge the other day, the car wash guy told me your not supposed to use a bucket here, I looked at his black Skyline and asked him if he would put the broom over his car, he promptly walked away.

[highwaymenace]

Originally Posted by gthofan

if the car is not dirty, or very dusty, buy some "meguires, "quick detailer"
you spray it on, and wipe off with a terry toweling cloth. good luck Krys

Me also being in Geelong have the same problem, but as GTHOFAN said and i also use all the time Meguires Quick Detailer is great its has lubes in it so it will pick up the dust etc. and not scratch your paint and at the same time protect the paint, go to Autopro or Supacheap who sell it at the best prices, also 1 more note on a sedan you'll be able to detail it around 10 times a bottle and its so dam easy to use!!

[DOC]

Ok , A few more pics, and thought i would throw them here ( being developed for the new guide ).

Keeping in the theme of waterless washing ( as a term of speach ) i have used the water spray and my trusty water wash mix to do the wheels, I do clean all wheels first before the body wash to avoid getting crap on paint at a later stage, what you do is your call.

Pic.1 Using a water spray completley wet down the entire area, including under the wheel arches, washing away as much dirt and dust as possible ( as with the car it self once wet don't let it dry out , re spray if needed )



Pic2. Out with the trusty water wash mix and completley cover everything including under the arches.

Note: if your rims are shockers and have not been cleaned for ages or if you want some extra bling , a non acid wheel cleaner would be applied to the rim before this.



Pic3. Going into some extra details here, I have a deicated brush ( Very soft ) for my rims, but before hitting my rims with it i make sure it swims in the water wash mix by spraying the brush itself. This wll further eliminate any chances of swirls / scratches etc.



Pic4. A common area most people do not bother with is the area inside the wheel nut hollow as most people just tend to wipe the front of the rim leaving this part for uncle Ron, take the few seconds each time and you will notice the difference.



Pic5. Another commonly missed area that soon looks daggy if left alone.



Pic6. Ok out with my trusty baby bottle brush, (if you find one of these grab it and hit it, it has 100 uses ), you can get dedicated tyre brushes, but being old school we made do with what we had, just be gentle do not go near the rims and keep the water wash mix up, you can never have enough.



Pic7. Gently scrub any remaining dirt etc from the black plastics ( if you have them ) and as above keep the water wash mix up.



Pic8. Using our water spray completely rinse the entire area down



Pic9. I would have a pic of the dry process ( the pic was a dud ) but use a very clean deicated MF or TT cloth to gently wipe the rim down, and i have deicated cloth for the tyres ( this is usually the oldest cloth in the kit before its thrown )

Ok one of my secrets , Tyre Gel or Tyre shine ? , well i use both, in that i soak my sponge in tyre shine spray , then add a thin layer of gel to the sponge, what happens here is the spray acts as a lube and allows me to spread the gel evenly without glugs and blobs all over the place.

Also note the throw away gloves, well worth every cent.



Pic10. When applying the Gel, spead the gel evenly and just take it easy as the less you get onto the rims means less wipes afterwards with a clean cloth.

This in itself is another reason for doing this stage before the main body wash, as we can allow it to dry properly and even re apply another coat for a deeper shine if needed.



Pic11. When you have finished applying the gel, hold the sponge in you fingers and pull the glove over the sponge inverting it, Wraping the sponge in the glove until needed next time to keep it clean.



Pic12. And just when you thought we were all done, another area people tend to neglegt is the black sections in the arches, i have a dedicated trim brush, but as with anything i always ( 99%) of the time apply the product ( trim detailer ) to the brush or cloth , never directly onto the car.



Pic13. Applying the trim detail. What we are looking for here is clean crisp lines between the paint and the plastic, Under the lip and around this area is also left untidy in most cases, take the time and the results will speak for themselves.



Pic14. To complete the picture wipe any remaining wet reas from your tyres and gently polish with your tyre cloth.

Spray some window cleaner onto a clean MF cloth and gently wipe over and dry your rims ( this removes any minor smears left on the rim )

The finished product ( the tyre is shiny but sun soaked pic ), Taking the time to keep this area in good condition will make it easy everytime you wash the car.



If your car is perhaps needing some tender loving car, dont stress on it just do a little more each time you wash it, and slowly you will bring it back up sweet.

Hope this helps and adds to the above and once again no hoses or pressure sprays used any where at all.

Pete

[Stevo]

good on ya for posting up the pics and writing that DOC.
I finally think i have found someone even more anal at cleaning cars then me.
(hehe, i know your a specialist)

[FordGirl]

Originally Posted by Stevo

good on ya for posting up the pics and writing that DOC.
I finally think i have found someone even more anal at cleaning cars then me.
(hehe, i know your a specialist)

Oh come on, he's just given you ideas on how to be even more picky!

Good write up Doc, thanks heaps for putting the time and effort into that for us.

[Stevo]

Originally Posted by FordGirl

Oh come on, he's just given you ideas on how to be even more picky!

Good write up Doc, thanks heaps for putting the time and effort into that for us.

Yeah but what takes me 5 hours to do, he can do in 2.!

[niko]

i did the wheel arches on the merc recently, jacked her up, removed the wheel and scrubbed her, as i don't drive it much, it just looks good clean in spots like that when i was done i bolted the new 17's i recently picked up

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Stevo

Yeah but what takes me 5 hours to do, he can do in 2.!

That should take less than 10 minutes all up, Niko sounds great and as you say worth the effort.

I will cover that part in full , in the guide when its completed.

cheers
Pete

[Stevo]

Originally Posted by DOC

That should take less than 10 minutes all up, Niko sounds great and as you say worth the effort.

haha, i was just talking in general mate, not about the wheel arches. I do mine each wash, if not then every 2nd. I generally spray a bit of tyre shine and wipe that over, helps with road grime not sticking on. (like you do, but ive never used gloves.. not a bad idea!!)

Cant wait for your guide.

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Stevo

haha, i was just talking in general mate, not about the wheel arches. I do mine each wash, if not then every 2nd. I generally spray a bit of tyre shine and wipe that over, helps with road grime not sticking on. (like you do, but ive never used gloves.. not a bad idea!!)

Cant wait for your guide.

Cheers bud, my mistake re the time, all is good, re the tyre shine yes it is another option to the trim detail and does a great job with good results.

[mabba1987]

What rims are they? Off an AU model yeh?

[DOC]

Originally Posted by mabba1987

What rims are they? Off an AU model yeh?

They are the BA 18" rims in Shadow Chrome, they were part of the DevilR / Enforcer Limited release ( sticker pack BA ( 125 of each ))

[Dean C]

Sounds good Doc, good write and the pictures made it nice and clear. I have been doing a similar method for a while and you are dead right its no fuss and doesnt take any longer to wash a car. We just have to re eduacate our selves in learning a new wash method, and it sure beats going to a car wash.

[JADED6]

Gee that spray bottle seems like awful hard work :P
Run on down to bunnings and get one of those pump up containers for pesticide and you will have enough liquid to do the entire car. Some of them come in 1 to 2 L (not the huge backpack type ones)

[DOC]

Originally Posted by JADED6

Gee that spray bottle seems like awful hard work :P
Run on down to bunnings and get one of those pump up containers for pesticide and you will have enough liquid to do the entire car. Some of them come in 1 to 2 L (not the huge backpack type ones)

LOL Bunnings is a long way, can i drive down instead of running ?

All is good, there was mention of a bucket with a pump in it, that has just came out somewhere, but i suppose it does not matter in what way the water spray hits the car, hose , pressure pump etc it's just the idea as each state will have differing laws re water restrictions.

I did ring the doods here in SA re that exact question and was told NO that i could not use one. ?

Don't know why but it was deemed a garden spay device and therefore off bounds.

[alleyezonme]

its a pretty good idea i think, waterless detailing, due to the stupid water restrictions. ill have to give this ago some time, not on my car though.

[Aaron_EF8]

I did ring the doods here in SA re that exact question and was told NO that i could not use one. ?

And that shows the mentality of SA Water right there. It's illegal to use a pressure pump that sprays over 0.5L/min, but it's ok to tip bucket upon bucket over your car (which usually makes it dirtier anyway).

I tried this on the EF the other day, which was only really covered in dust and white specks from last time I washed it with tap water. I don't think it took much longer than it would to spray/wash/rinse/chamois the car with a hose and a bucket of water. It's also handy because you can do it in the shed, you don't have to find somewhere with a hose and drainage for the water to run off.

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Aaron_EF8

And that shows the mentality of SA Water right there. It's illegal to use a pressure pump that sprays over 0.5L/min, but it's ok to tip bucket upon bucket over your car (which usually makes it dirtier anyway).

I tried this on the EF the other day, which was only really covered in dust and white specks from last time I washed it with tap water. I don't think it took much longer than it would to spray/wash/rinse/chamois the car with a hose and a bucket of water. It's also handy because you can do it in the shed, you don't have to find somewhere with a hose and drainage for the water to run off.

Good stuff, yes its possible to do the whole car in the shed, re SA water the bucket thing, i am sure they know the bucket may use more water, but they also know its a pain the b um and is possibly why that rule exists.

alleyezonme its a pretty good idea i think, waterless detailing, due to the stupid water restrictions. ill have to give this ago some time, not on my car though.

Just try a penel, you will be surprised and there's no dodgy stuff here if you think about it, your just replacing the stream of water to a spray rather than hose or pressure pump. I have done it on my car and would not post this up if it would harm your car. Common sense and the brain need to be in gear at all times though.

Pete

[blackers10]

i tried this yesterday
how do you get most of the suds off??
mine moved around but they didnt disapear like they did in yours??
or did you use a DRY mitt and just wipe it over the panel to collect the suds??

after rolling down the driveway and grazing my knee..
then 1/2 sliding down and tipping 1/2 a bucket of rinse water on my head and drenching my self..
my car was done

but my chamois came out BLACK from the dirt in the suds..
unless im doing something wrong?
i did it panel by panel starting with bonnet roof and boot