Coochas

Today I did the second test of my new DIY mobile car wash and wanted to share my results,…which were excellent.

I live in Boston in a condo building with a shared garage. Like most ‘city’ dwellings, there is no source of easily accessible outside water supply (i.e. a faucet and hose) likely because of the potential for the undomociled to become ‘regulars.’ Until now I had been washing my car periodically by going to a power spray wash and using my own MF towels to scrub the car. Needless to say, this is sort of a pain especially during ‘peak demand’ car wash hours. It is also not practical for when it’s really cold outside.

I do enjoy washing my car myself and have actually considered moving to the burbs solely to get a big garage of my own,…alas, we’re not ready for that move. Thus, I set out to develop a method to wash my car in my garage/parking lot where there is no running water.

The main ingredient I am using is one of the “rinseless” soaps known as Optimum No Rinse (ONR). HUGE THANKS TO DEANSKI who mentioned this product in a thread and subsequently told me of his own personal success with the product. Here’s how ONR works: mix 1 cap full per 1 gal water, wash car with this solution, then simply wipe off with a MF towel. This works fine, but I’ve made my own modifications detailed below. The product has also received accolades on Autopia.org.

The technique I use to wash with ONR is as follow: I have two large pails each with 4 gallons of water – one with ONR, the other to rinse. I use a Griot’s Sheepskin Mitt (has removable inner rubber glove with Velcro fasteners – fantastic) to apply and scrub one panel at a time with ONR. I rinse the mitt in the rinse pail, then reapply a second ONR with the mitt. i.e. lather, rinse, repeat. I then use the Griot’s soft Squeegee to VERY LIGHTLY swoosh away the macro quantities of water on the panel. I then go to work with a large collection of high-quality MF towels to dry the panel (thanks for MF tips Ben). You do one panel at a time with ONR because if the solution dries on the car, it leaves a film. You don’t need to use the squeegee if it freaks you out, but it helps in the drying process. The finished car is shown in the last few pics below. It was a bit of a gloomy day here today, but I can tell you, this is a great way to wash your car….and it uses very little water. When I’ve washed my car in my garage spot in this manner, there were only very small puddles near my car and no cross-contamination of other people’s property. If you happen to live in water conservation areas, then this is probably also a great technique. And, as long as your garage is heated (for those of us that live in the tundra areas), you can wash your car during the winter.

I purchased a large Rubbermaid utility cart to put all of my detailing goodies on. I’m actually going to replace the one shown in the pics because it does not squeeze through the old entrance to my unit (which is now a closet….LONG story). Here’s most of what’s on the cart:

• Two giant Griot’s wash pails with lids. These are around 55 bucks each which sounds a bit nuts, but these suckers are incredibly sturdy and hold 6+ gallons each. The lids keep the water from sloshing out while I am transporting the utility cart down the elevator and into the garage – i.e. keeps the neighbors happy. The pails have a waffle shelf in them to help soak/rinse your mitt/MF towels.
• One two-sided pail. I fill each side with water to use for cleaning the wheels as I do not want to contaminate my car wash pails with wheel cleaning agents. I use a Boars Hair brush to clean the wheels with Griots wheel cleaner.
• One pesticide type sprayer (2 gallon shown) that serves as a source of fresh water. I use this to spray fresh rinse on the wheels/brakes/exhaust after cleaning these areas with wheels cleaner.
• Cup Holder: speaks for itself, but very important.
• iPod (shown with iWoofer – so I could listen to the Pats game today)
• Griot’s Soft Squeegee
• Griot’s Sheepskin Mitt
• Shark portable vacuum
• Paper Towels & Windex
• MF Towels,…lots and lots of them
• Clip on garbage can for utility cart

I am so pleased to be able to wash my own car in the comfort of my own garage now. Thanks to all of you who helped me with product selections.

ONR Product Site
Autopia ONR Thread

Bestleo

Looking goooddddd Dave!!
I washed mine yesterday.
Merry Christmas!

Tedder Bear

Dave, you've really out done yourself this time - GREAT POST

I've been debating how best to wash mine this winter. Just bought another pesticide type sprayer today. You answered every question I'd asked myself as I made my plans.

Your summary of changing winter tires was good, but this one (& the detail) is excellent. I (and I'm sure everyone else) really appreciates you sharing your experiences and knowledge.

I think you may be on track to give OCBen, DEANSKI, and Edgy01 (other great informational posters) a run for the money

Coochas

Thanks,....but something tells me I'll never be able to clean like Ben !!!

OCBen

Excellent presentation, Dave! Looks like it belongs in a magazine!

I really like your cart there. I wouldn't be surprised if your neighbors thought you were just someone hired to clean that 997 they see everyday, and approached you to see if you could do theirs when you were done with the yellow car.

I like your use of that compression sprayer for fresh water. That's a great way of being able to apply fresh water on a panel first to moisten and loosen the surface dirt film. And then proceeding with the ONR. Is that what you did? How large do those containers come in? I would get the largest feasible that would allow for ease of transport.

Good job Dave! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure lots of guys (or gals) in your predicament will appreciate and thank you for your well thought out solution.

Oh, and your car looks like the day you picked it up at the dealer - it looks brand new!

EDIT: What the heck is your car doing under that extended crane boom?

kauai_diver

Excellent post very nicely done! This may be worthy of an article in a car magazine, definitely worthy of a sticky post.

cbdoc

What an awesome post! I live in SF and this is definitely very helpful!

JFScheck

Great Post (as usual)...

Coochas

Thanks for the compliments peeps!

Ben - I had the impression that some passers-by definitely thought I was a wash-guy but noone asked me to do their car for them. Maybe it was the mix of Aerosmith and Brahms that I had playing. I used the compression sprayer mainly to 'get in' places like the lugs/brakes/muffler tip. These pesticide sprayers rinse areas like that out very well. You could definitely use it to 'pre-treat' a panel but I did not do that. On Autopia, I believe there are a few people who put the ONR mix in the compression sprayer and use it that way. This particular sprayer is a 2-gallon model and cost about 20 bucks at Sears. They come in 1, 2 and 4 gallon,...and probably more. This Solo sprayer has a hand pump for compression built into the carrying handle - I've already broken one of the little plastic locking clips but it works great,...you get what you pay for I guess.

Coffee's kicking,...gotta go,....then off to work!

Deanski

Coochas:
Glad to hear you like the results from ONR!! It's a great product in removing dirt from a finish with very little effort. As you probably witnessed, it "melts" off the dirt quite well. By doing this, it makes it that much easier if you do decide to rinse. The pump sprayer is a great asset to have when doing the car, as you said, it works extremely well in those hard to reach areas with the mix of ONR/Water. I've done an experiment in using distiled water/ONR and a deionized water/ONR. Seems the deionized will not leave any chance to spotting. The distilled also did quite well in both prevention of spotting due to minerals and helps the ONR sheet off the dirt a bit better.

I've had people use ONR mix while at one of the self-serve carwash bays with very good results as well. The added benifit is the avalibility of a high pressure rinse spray, that will remove anything ONR did not float off, which is very unlikely, but it helps those areas that cannot be reached by normal washing.

Although the whole reason for ONR is to remove the rinse from washing, it's very difficult for mostly anyone not to rinse just out of habit. Adding a rinse sure doesn't hurt at all, in fact whenever possible, rinse as often as you like.

Drying is the key to a scratch-free finish. With a MF Waffel Weave towel, drag it and let it absorb the water rather than pressing down and wiping back and forth. Use it like a chamois.

As for water blades, I've used them. One very small spec of dirt and you'll have a mess. At least with the MF, it stands a chance in trapping the spec. As long as you clean the blade with each pass it should minimize any marring from dirt.

What I use to dry with now is a Toro hand-held leaf blower with a filter on the intake. As long as the area is wet from the washing, you will not pick-up dirt unles you point it downward. If you move the car to anther area to dry and the area is also dry, DO NOT USE IT! Use the towels or water blade.

Once dry, check the finish for anything not removed. It may need to have that area clayed. I'm in the process of testing one of DF Towels new sponges that simulate claying a finish. Pearless Sponge so we shall see. Sure would be nice if it works well enough.

After all the washing and testing/claying, time for your QD and some very plush MF towels. I use the Poorboys "DMT" towels for this: Poorboys DMT or the Alipine Fiber towels from DF Towels: DF Towels Concours Towels which are very soft as well, but not as deep a nap as the DMT.

Great pics and write-up by the way!!!!

Regards,
Deanski

djantlive

how is ONR different than regular car wash? what makes it safer to use with little water?

OCBen

This is where I would use a product like this if I had no access to water for washing where I lived. And for city dwellers there are usually plenty of these spray wash centers. You can never go wrong with more rinse.
I would say that it is proper washing technique that is the key to a scratch-free finish, as it is primarily gritty dirt that is responsible for the majority of fine scratches on your finish, and how you go about separating that scratch agent from your car's finish is key to keeping micro-scratches to a minimum. When you dry, you're starting off with a clean, contaminant free finish. Of course, if you don't use proper drying techniques here you'll have wasted the good efforts you spent in your careful washing. Conversely, if you don't use good washing techniques to remove the dirt, it doesn't matter how good your drying is, as your finish has probably picked up micro-scratches during the wash.

So really, both processes play a role in the prevention of scratches, but it is proper washing that is most critical, as dirt is the primary agent of most of your scratches.
Yep, I wouldn't recommend them either. Tried one once and ended up with a fine hairline scratch. I now use it just for the windows, as glass is tougher than paint.

uzj100

It's different in that you don't rinse after you apply it to the surface, you just dry it as noted by Deanski et al.

I'm a huge fan of ONR and use it all the time. I too use the sprayer, but with ONR in it to "pre-treat" the panels. I will spray and let it soak a bit while I mix up the regular solution. I just bring my wash bucket in the house and fill it with warm water (I have soft water) apply, then dry. This product is a real time saver. I use a rinse bucket with a grit guard in it--also with warm water--and I agitate the sheep skin mit in the rinse water after each panel.

This is a great product

Edgy01

Dave,--with the sort of 'assets' that you have I'm surprised that some woman hasn't made you a gift of a home with a 4 car garage...

OCBen

They keep trying but Tripod's wife has him on a short leash.