Damaging Car Washers.

[Dodgeman]

After turning to AG, educating myself all there is and more about professional detailing, I also discoverd about the paint damage going to a Car Wash could do to your car.
I can do more than a fair amout of car washes myself most of the year, (Michigan) but I did take the cars to local CarWash to rid all salty grimes of the paint during winter. I have no idea what to do when that time comes again. Any ideas would be welcome .

[asd60303]

Go to a self serve car wash and pressure wash the car yourself.

[Dodgeman]

Pressure washing always leave a film of grime on the paint, and when it's below 20 doors and windows freeze up.

[Rhudeboye]

how do they stop the freezing at the car washes?

[Klasse Act]

Why not hit a touch-free wash? I've been using them for years, especially during the winter as I want the brunt of salt and grime to be removed from the car, especially underneath. Now some say they use a stronger soap as its a touch-less wash and thus removes your LSP faster, not sure how true that is but IMO going there is the same as going to a quarter carwash except you stay in the car and the underneath gets cleaned better. Before I go into the touch-free I always pre-treat my tires and wheels and use my wheel brush so they come out nice, sometimes spray up in the wheelwells too. I'm finally in an apartment that offers underground parking so I'll be able to wash my car even more often in the winter time now but when you drive in a couple days of salt and grime the touch-free wash is a great start to get your car "decent enough" before you can bust ut the ONR!

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[Dodgeman]

One method I will try this winter, after pressure washing is to use a waterless product ( I just discovered on AG).

[Bigbull2984]

One method I will try this winter, after pressure washing is to use a waterless product ( I just discovered on AG).

Thats a great idea, thats what I did this past winter. Go to the coin op and then filled waterless wash solution in a garden sprayer. :props:

[Klasse Act]

I'm not going to dog on the waterless wash products out there as I've never tried them personally but the thought of spraying a solution onto the paint and wiping off concerns me. I'm a rinseless guy and atleast there you can control the amont of water you need based on how dirty the section is that your working on, that's my .02 cents worth anyways.

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[tapp1]

What I have been doing in the cold months is going to the coin op and rinsing the car really well. You would be surprised what comes out of the cracks and crevices! Then I use the pre-soak in the self-serve bay...coat the vehicle....then hit the touchless. This cleans really heavy dirt off the car much better than the touchless alone. People always stare at me when the see the car coming out of the bay covered it product....But it works!

[AeroCleanse]

In the Wisconsin winter I use Optimum No Rinse, works great.

[Klasse Act]

Now that I have underground parking the ONR is going to get a work out next winter and since I've got less than 25% of the gallon left now, I'll be getting DG rinseless. The guy who parks next to me says it never gets below freezing down here, so that's a good thing!

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[Angus]

Before I found AG, automatic car washers have always seemed like a necessary evil in the wintertime to me - if nothing else for the undercarriage cleaning. However for those of you with Karcher pressure washers - their Chassis and Under body spray attachment seems like a very nice tool. Now if anyone has one of these and can help me with tips on selling it to my wife...