Too Dirty for ONR?

[Speed-Dude]

I was wondering if this is too dirty to wash with onr. what i mean is will i mar the paint by cleaning this with onr. can you please explain to me how you would go about using onr with this car.

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr18/speed-dude/9ab8af39.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr18/speed-dude/a1b3a86c.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr18/speed-dude/46c91b21.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr18/speed-dude/fb223ff3.jpg

thanks for your input :)

P.S. i cant stand looking at this car when it is this dirty but it will be washed tomorrow because its 36 :D. still would want to know later on if its onr safe

[AeroCleanse]

Doesn't look too bad, but you may need to make several passes with ONR to get it clean.

[nitro78]

it can be done just more carefully. i would fill a spray bottle with onr and mist it on rather heavily then wash with onr in the bucket, making sure to rinse the media your using a lot more frequently. however i decided just this week to take my vehicle to work ( heated 8 stall garage) and do a thorough standard wash as i deemed it too dirty for onr.

[nrengle]

What some people have done in those cases is taken a garden sprayer and filled it with a ONR was solution, and spray the car as a pre soak, then come back and do a typical ONR wash, and seems to work pretty well.

[loudog2]

Go spray it down at a coin wash. Then ONR it. That's what I do. Some coin washes even have automatic bays. Makes it even easier.

[CharlesW]

Chances are it would be OK, but I do what loudog2 suggested.
I know a lot of people talk about how the DIY wash will strip wax. Heck, it doesn't even remove road grime. How can it be removing wax?

[RaskyR1]

Chances are it would be OK, but I do what loudog2 suggested.
I know a lot of people talk about how the DIY wash will strip wax. Heck, it doesn't even remove road grime. How can it be removing wax?

Using just the rinse setting, you will be fine. It's the pre-soak chemical that is bad. ;)

I have a gallon of ONR coming tomorrow (first time) and was thinking I should just give her a good rinse at the coin-opp too before using.

[TLMitchell]

I was wondering if this is too dirty to wash with onr. what i mean is will i mar the paint by cleaning this with onr. can you please explain to me how you would go about using onr with this car

Here's a writeup I did on another forum re: my 1st ONR use on a car as covered with winter crud as yours. My conclusion for those that don't have wash facilites available is to, as others have suggested, hit the coin-op car wash to get the worst crap off then come home and fine tune with ONR. Use a separate rinse bucket and keep your mitt clean.
***************************

I've been reading all the threads on just about every forum singing the praises of Optimum No-Rinse. I figure I probably oughta have anything that's getting such universal raves in my arsenal. Then again, I've got an integral, heated, 3-bay garage with hot n cold water and floor drains ::::scratching head:::: Why would I use ONR?!?

I have found some times when the vehicles aren't quite dirty enough to drag out the hose or heat up the garage. For those times I've been using Poorboy's Spray & Wash and been ecstatic with the results. However, considering some pro detailers report using ONR on their details instead of a wet wash I figgered I needed to see what the hub-bub is all about.

FedEx dropped off a box of goodies today with a qt of ONR inside. I've got a couple of days off and my GMC truck is gonna get the full treatment while I try out the new Flex that arrived last week. The truck's gettin' a wet wash and blow dry so I conscripted my S.O.'s black Hyundai Tucson for a little test.

The Hyundai received a polish and detail about a month ago. I figgered it'd be a good candidate for revealing any marring that might occur using ONR. Winter arrived hard and early in NE Ohio so some marks may be the result of salt, crud and numerous washings. Still, I wanted to test this stuff out.

She pulled in the garage with the Tucson covered in typical winter grime and salt spray. Fortunately, winter gave us a bit of a respite and there wasn't ice and snow all over it and the wheel wells weren't packed. I initially decided to do a spot-test and just do the hood because we're expecting a few days of rain, snow & ice.... no sense in going through the effort to have a pristine vehicle for all of 10 minutes next time it leaves the garage.

Intending to just do the hood I read the mixing instructions and added an ounce of ONR to a couple of gallons of water. I washed the hood and dried.... and for some strange reason I thought I could actually stop there. D'OH! No chance....

I don't have a full complement of 'before' pics because I wasn't planning on doing the whole car or writing a review. After a couple more panels and seeing the results I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures.

Not much room to maneuver with two vehicles in the garage so there aren't any full-views and not many specifically targeted before and afters.
I did the left front fender after the hood...... the contrast between it, the rest of the side and the cruddy front wheel is plainly visible.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/2.jpg

The rest of the left side.... the pictures don't actually show how grimey and gritty everything is. When I got down to the rockers and started hearing the grit grinding I wondered if this might be a little more than ONR was designed to handle.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/1.jpg


left side after:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/11.jpg


Right front wheel and fender before:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/3.jpg


Right side after, front wheel still uncleaned:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/4.jpg


Right front wheel clean:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/5.jpg


Random after shots, some with flash, some not:
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/10.jpg



http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/12.jpg


http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/6.jpg

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/7.jpg

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/8.jpg

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/9.jpg


I used a blue chenille MF wash mitt which others have recommended for use with ONR. It picked up the grit but didn't appear to want to get rid of the dirt when going back in the bucket. Still, I detected no scratching and the mitt loaded with ONR & water glided over the cruddy surfaces. When I got to the wheels and wells I couldn't bear to use one of my favortie mitts so I dug out one of my old cheapie, underhood mitts. Here's the aftermath:

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww304/tlmitchell99/ONR%20Test/IMG_0392Small.jpg

When emptying the bucket there was not only grit in the bottom, there was mud I had to dig out with my hand. I guess ONR gets things clean, huh?
I'm still undecided on this product for my uses. If my vehicle needs washed or I'm going to do someone else's I prefer a wet wash. It gets the crevices clean as well as water in the door jambs and around the hood and trunk which enables a quick wipe to leave 'em sparkling. With ONR you'd have to clean 'em specifically.

It took me a little over an hour to do the whole vehicle and I didn't get the nooks and crannies nor did I clean the jambs or wipe around under the hood the way I usually do with a wet wash. It takes me a little over an hour to wash, blow-dry and blot with waffle-weave as well as all the jambs and a light wipe under the hood using my traditional 2-bucket method so I didn't save any time. And the results are no better. IMO, than using PB's Spray & Wipe on the car if it weren't so cruddy and grimey. Truth is, this car needed *washed*. But it was a good test for ONR, which does what it's supposed to do and does it well.

I gotta wonder about the pros that report using ONR when they detail a customer's car instead of dragging out the hose. I s'pose if the vehicle is 'Southern California dirty' vs 'NE Ohio winter dirty' it'd be a time and water saver. For those that don't have access to a hose or garage this stuff would be the ticket as well.

TL

[Speed-Dude]

I know a lot of people talk about how the DIY wash will strip wax. Heck, it doesn't even remove road grime. How can it be removing wax?

yeah haha i have noticed that too. im planning on taking it to the diy wash and then use showtime to clean it up some more. would i also be able to give it a coat of mothers fx syn wax or will it not bond properly?

[Speed-Dude]

TLMitchell that is an excellent review. i am surprised that onr did not do any scratching to the paint. now all i am wondering is what was your process

[bignfuzzy]

TLMitchell that is an excellent review. i am surprised that onr did not do any scratching to the paint. now all i am wondering is what was your process

:iagree: Heck of a review! :D

[TLMitchell]

TLMitchell that is an excellent review. i am surprised that onr did not do any scratching to the paint. now all i am wondering is what was your process

Wasn't much of a "process"... like I sez, I was eager to try the product and didn't plan on the whole car, just a quickie test on the hood. ONR is really slippery and it appears to keep the crud away from the car when using it. No marring on that black finish. I was pleasantly surprised!

Basically, I added an oz of ONR to a bucket that was just laying around cuz I didn't feel like digging out the 5 gal jobs for what was just *supposed* to be a quick look-see. I used the ONR-wet mitt and started at the top rinsing the mitt back in the ONR bucket after each panel. Wiped dry with a waffle-weave and gave each panel a quick buff with a clean MF and moved on to the next. Once the sheet metal was done I dug out a crappy old mitt and did the wheels and tires then gave the wheel wells a quick swipe.

Next time I'll dig out the right tools and use a dedicated rinse bucket and Grit Guards. Keeping the mitt and ONR mix clean and doing the least gritty panels first is the ticket. Save the lower grunge for last and on the grittiest panels do increasingly smaller areas to prevent spreading the grit around.

Very effective way to get the vehicle looking good if you have no alternative. Like I said in the other post, if you have a coin-op nearby I'd advise getting the worst crud off and fine-tuning at home with ONR. Personally, since I have the facilities, I expect I'll be doing a wet wash when the vehicles are loaded with winter crud. Those times where it isn't *quite* dirty enought to drag out the hose I'll use ONR or Spray & Wipe.

TL

[loudog2]

I use the same blue micro chenile wash mitts. they work great with ONR and regular summer washes.

One of the things you have to watch is the sand and gravel. Cities and highway departments are using this in the salt mix more, to save money. It is easy to drag one across the paint in the mitt. This is why I always spry it down at the DIY coin wash. Plus, I can spray under the body to get as much salt off as I can.

[bignfuzzy]

I use the same blue micro chenile wash mitts. they work great with ONR and regular summer washes.

One of the things you have to watch is the sand and gravel. Cities and highway departments are using this in the salt mix more, to save money. It is easy to drag one across the paint in the mitt. This is why I always spry it down at the DIY coin wash. Plus, I can spray under the body to get as much salt off as I can.

Brrrrr ... I grew up in the Mid-West and I don't miss the winters at all. All this talk of salted roads and freezing temps is giving me flashbacks! :D I knew I lived in FL for a reason! Oh wait ... we have hurricanes ... rats!

[supercharged]

I personally think it's a bit too much for ONR, I wouldn't take chances. What I would do it foam the car up while it's dry with a foam gun, or even better off foam cannon. Let the foam dwell for a few minutes, rinse it off well. Then wash the car with ONR. Doing this you will remove a lot of debris touchless. Hope this helps.