One bucket

[TUDM]

Have any of you switched to the one bucket method, where you use a bunch of mitts and don't put them back into your soap bucket? I want to try this as I think it might reduce washing time but then increase time for caring for all the mitts.

[Bill D]

I'd rather care for/ replace the mitts altogether rather than potentially care for wash induced marring. I don't use a bucket at all ( unless you want to use one to hold the mitts in) I just use my foam gun to washing making sure the mitt I'm using at present is plenty sudsy

[LSNAutoDetailing]

1BM is ok for my Daily Driver...
For customer car that is totally trashed (and I mean swirl-o-maticica) 1BM is fine... it's going to get paint correction after.
For a new car prep - 2bm, two Chenille mitts and a good concentration of Megs Hyper Wash + Foam cannon.
For maintenance on a vehicle that is already nearly pristine... 2BM, two Chenille mitts and a good concentration of Megs Hyper Wash + Foam cannon.

Time isn't the issue for me... I can move pretty quick, and if the vehicle is in great shape to begin with, you're not washing it cave-man style, should be: wipe panel, rinse and repeat.
The issue I have is 10 Gal of water instead of 5. When you have an industrial spotless water system, you count every gallon... Each tank exchange is about $65.00!

[FUNX650]

•Sounds like this could, possibly, become
a surpassingly good car-washing process.

•However, at this stage of my life, I don’t
believe my brain still has the necessary
neuroplasticity to restructure itself in order
to accommodate any additional processes.


Bob

[SANTA3013]

Here's my one bucket...

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7DCkdsn/0/7224e42b/L/i-7DCkdsn-L.png (https://curtisbrinkley.smugmug.com/Detailing/n-Dbd5xC/i-7DCkdsn/A)

[Finick]

1BM is ok for my Daily Driver...
For customer car that is totally trashed (and I mean swirl-o-maticica) 1BM is fine... it's going to get paint correction after.
For a new car prep - 2bm, two Chenille mitts and a good concentration of Megs Hyper Wash + Foam cannon.
For maintenance on a vehicle that is already nearly pristine... 2BM, two Chenille mitts and a good concentration of Megs Hyper Wash + Foam cannon.

Time isn't the issue for me... I can move pretty quick, and if the vehicle is in great shape to begin with, you're not washing it cave-man style, should be: wipe panel, rinse and repeat.
The issue I have is 10 Gal of water instead of 5. When you have an industrial spotless water system, you count every gallon... Each tank exchange is about $65.00!

This is just a couple questions I've been meaning to ask someone who actually uses 10 entire gallons of water to wash a car, not including whatever you use to rinse the car.

1) if you're using a foam cannon, why bother filling one bucket entirely with soapy water, which can be deposited via the foam gun? I've looked into a cheap pressure washer and a foam gun, but with the intent to entirely replace even needing a bucket other than to store dirty mitts/towels in.

2) alternatively; I've always wondered why the GDWM isn't more popular even for traditional washing. My wash mitt ended up looking kind of ratty (was admittedly real old) and I threw it away, so in a pinch I just used microfiber towels soaked in my wash bucket with traditional soap. They don't quite hold the volume of soapy water/suds that a mitt can, but it still feels safer and less wasteful to me than using 10+ gallons of water, when I could accomplish the same task with far less water.

It just feels logical that having several mitts and never reintroducing the dirt into the wash bucket would be superior than just having one or two nice wash mitts.

Just to be clear, I'm not attacking you or your methods, I'm just genuinely curious. There's nothing that's more enjoyable to me than the scent of megs gold class on a nice day. I've just never believed the 2BM to be necessarily better at any aspect of washing vs the 1BM, not to mention it consumes so much more water. I mean hell, the paint on my car is in pretty solid shape, and as long as I stay on top of waxing it, a regular pre rinse with just the hose takes enough dirt off that I never even see it build up on my towels.

At the end of the day, you're undoubtedly more experienced than I am, and I just want to pick your brain about it. :)

[LSNAutoDetailing]

This is just a couple questions I've been meaning to ask someone who actually uses 10 entire gallons of water to wash a car, not including whatever you use to rinse the car.

1) if you're using a foam cannon, why bother filling one bucket entirely with soapy water, which can be deposited via the foam gun? I've looked into a cheap pressure washer and a foam gun, but with the intent to entirely replace even needing a bucket other than to store dirty mitts/towels in.

2) alternatively; I've always wondered why the GDWM isn't more popular even for traditional washing. My wash mitt ended up looking kind of ratty (was admittedly real old) and I threw it away, so in a pinch I just used microfiber towels soaked in my wash bucket with traditional soap. They don't quite hold the volume of soapy water/suds that a mitt can, but it still feels safer and less wasteful to me than using 10+ gallons of water, when I could accomplish the same task with far less water.

It just feels logical that having several mitts and never reintroducing the dirt into the wash bucket would be superior than just having one or two nice wash mitts.

Just to be clear, I'm not attacking you or your methods, I'm just genuinely curious. There's nothing that's more enjoyable to me than the scent of megs gold class on a nice day. I've just never believed the 2BM to be necessarily better at any aspect of washing vs the 1BM, not to mention it consumes so much more water. I mean hell, the paint on my car is in pretty solid shape, and as long as I stay on top of waxing it, a regular pre rinse with just the hose takes enough dirt off that I never even see it build up on my towels.

At the end of the day, you're undoubtedly more experienced than I am, and I just want to pick your brain about it. :)


alternatively; I've always wondered why the GDWM isn't more popular even for traditional washing

Not to hijack the OP's thread... I really don't follow GDWM because I don't have the requirement. I'm not mobile, and in AZ, there is enough of a layer of dust and sand that any vehicle left out over night will have all over it, we call that "Arizona Accent". Doing a GDWM would be like "wet-sanding" out here. Besides, it would actually take more time and resources to do a GDWM than a 2BM wash, using a spotless water system (due to hard mineral rich water and 100+++ degree heat).


1) if you're using a foam cannon, why bother filling one bucket entirely with soapy water, which can be deposited via the foam gun?

People entrust their vehicles to us because of the level excellence we strive for. We mitigate risk at all levels and spare no expense in doing so. The foam cannon is used to pre-soak the vehicle and due to the high lubricity of the soap it will start to loosen the dirt and debris. When I take wash media (Mitt) to a vehicle, I like to ensure that it too has plenty of lubricity.

1BM For my own DD or a trashed vehicle which is getting paint correction is fine. For my two garage queens (two Mustangs) that are in show-car condition I really don't think twice about 2BM. If I can save on water I will, I'm conscious about environment, we rinse sparingly... However, with that said, our spotless system is usually good for 700 Gallons, but that all depends on how the resins react, hot months they will go quicker than cooler temperatures. Each tank swap is $65.00 not to mention a quarterly rental fee.

And actually it's 15 gallons of treated water, 1B w/ soap, 1B for rinse of mitts, 1B for wheels.

Mike Phillips teaches two methods of washing, 1.) Gentle Wash and 2.)Aggressive wash . We have to know when to apply 1 or 2 appropriately. The Gentle wash is for the vehicle that we need to remain in pristine condition. The Aggressive wash is used when the vehicle is already pretty trashed and will require paint correction. If I'm not mistaken, Mike's Aggressive wash goes like this: Wheels, rinse, Iron-X (no rinse), throw the mitts on the hood, and foam up the car and go right to mitts.


My wash mitt ended up looking kind of ratty (was admittedly real old) and I threw it away, so in a pinch I just used microfiber towels soaked in my wash bucket with traditional soap. They don't quite hold the volume of soapy water/suds that a mitt can, but it still feels safer and less wasteful to me than using 10+ gallons of water, when I could accomplish the same task with far less water.

Our mitts are typically never left dirty and in buckets. After use they are washed with all the MF towels using Micro Restore, dried on low/no heat for 30 minutes and placed in bins. Our mitts are replaced annually (usually 1/2 a dozen at a time). Mostly blue Chenille and Yellow Chenille. When we work on a customers vehicle, I use Yellow & Blue combo so I can tell which one needs to be rinsed next. We also have black Chenille wash mitts for special purposes.

If you use a MF with bucket, you want to make sure you don't have a long nap towel as they can actually hold dirt and debris.

As Mike Phillips states, 'the proof is in the pudding'. When we did this brand new Stingray (new vehicle prep), the owner saw our process first hand, was awe struck at the attention to which we were switching new colored mitts between the buckets, which lead to doing three of his other vehicles along with other referrals. His review was stunning which lead to more business.

https://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/NDMyMDBENDRBMDdEQzFGODRDQUY6ZmJkNTNhNDM3ODhhMWUxYW QzZDcyN2UzZTI3YmNjZWI=?uid=7ceb4549-f52a-421e-afed-bfb4d62ee58b


When this vehicle pulled in, I wasn't concerned about 5 gallons vs 10 gallons, and we used net new mitt's, private stock MF Gold Plush Jr's and even broke open a new Pinnacle Ultra Fine Poly Clay Bar.

https://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/NDMyMDBENDRBMDdEQzFGODRDQUY6MzE5Y2UxMmRjN2UxODYwOT lhYmNjZmU4YTM3M2JiMDE=?uid=eadd76c0-0b65-41fc-ab8e-afa41ad58a41

Our MF towels are bundled on a grading system - Private Stock, A, B ( for removing compounds and polishes), C (interior, door jambs, engine bays & wheels) and all else. For the PS, A and B towels, we inspect after ever wash and lint roll them.

This customer insisted that whatever towels we used they were new and never used on another vehicle. (hence Private Stock) and forum member Mediscott can attest to that one. We used net-new everything for this customer, new DA pads, new MF towels, new clay bars...

https://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/NDMyMDBENDRBMDdEQzFGODRDQUY6MzgwYTlhYTI1MTFjMDYwMD NlMzk2ZWY3NjJmODc2ZTk=?uid=1b590474-e0cc-48ac-8f71-ac5b6a858fed


Like I said in my post above.... My DD (1BM), it's the dog hauler.... My two garage queens coated with CQ UK - 2BM +1B... I don't really feel like abrading and re-coating... I typically always use 2BM + foam, but recently used 1BM on a trashed Maxima. I have no issues with 3 OZ's of hyper wash in one bucket in addition to the car getting foamed.

Everyone is going to have their own techniques, methods, and reasons for doing one way vs. another. We at LSN have our own reasons, and our customers seem to be pretty happy :)

Hope all this helps!

[JustJesus]

Have any of you switched to the one bucket method, where you use a bunch of mitts and don't put them back into your soap bucket? I want to try this as I think it might reduce washing time but then increase time for caring for all the mitts.

I have switched to using multiple wash mitts. Doesn't really take extra "time" to carry them all. I have them bagged and just pull one out, one by one, as it is used. For me, I save time over using a Grit Guard, cuz I can be anal during that step. Much prefer multiple mitts.



Everyone is going to have their own techniques, methods, and reasons for doing one way vs. another. We at LSN have our own reasons, and our customers seem to be pretty happy :)

Hope all this helps!

Thanks for that post, LSN. Everyone WILL have their own technique. What I suggest to the OP, is to try those various techniques, and see what works for *you* :)

Myself, I use different techniques, depending on where I'm at, and what I want to accomplish.

[Bill D]

I mark my mitts per section of the car I wash with. Usually I reserve the most plush ones for the hood, roof and trunk deck. I use older ones for the wheels

[yakky]

Foam makes for cool pictures.

I like to pressure wash the dirt off and then single bucket all the way. The water doesn't even get dirty until I hit the wheels and wheel wells.

[chet31]

I have switched to using multiple wash mitts. For me, I save time over using a Grit Guard, cuz I can be anal during that step. Much prefer multiple mitts.

.

Saving time is why I am considering trying multiple mitts.

[Finick]

Like I said in my post above.... My DD (1BM), it's the dog hauler.... My two garage queens coated with CQ UK - 2BM +1B... I don't really feel like abrading and re-coating... I typically always use 2BM + foam, but recently used 1BM on a trashed Maxima. I have no issues with 3 OZ's of hyper wash in one bucket in addition to the car getting foamed.

Everyone is going to have their own techniques, methods, and reasons for doing one way vs. another. We at LSN have our own reasons, and our customers seem to be pretty happy

Hope all this helps!

I appreciate the thorough response, and I certainly wasn't questioning your practices or results. You do beautiful work, that's for sure. I was just curious as to the though process behind it all. :)


Foam makes for cool pictures.

I like to pressure wash the dirt off and then single bucket all the way. The water doesn't even get dirty until I hit the wheels and wheel wells.

That's pretty much my experience with my daily driver, as well. I don't have a pressure washer, but I can go a couple weeks between washes, and as long as my wax/sealant is going strong, so much rinses off that I basically don't ever see anything in the bucket at all. That's not to say there isn't something in there that could scratch, but the water certainly doesn't come out murky or anything like that.

Hell, most of the time I just fill my wash bucket with 1 gallon of water, and 2x the recommended soap dilution since I'm on well water, and one mitt gets me through the whole wash without ever looking dirty at all. Just a quick dunk in the bucket and rubbed against my finger tips, and I get back to it.