ComradeGrumbles
05-19-2013, 10:18 PM
For anyone interested in getting cleaner hose-water on the cheap for washing your precious cars, here's my story.
I'm always a fan of washing my car at home due to the overall lack of quality at commercial car washes. I will never EVER be seen at an automatic car wash, and I will only go to a hand-wash in the most dire of circumstances. The problem I've had with washing my car at home though is constant water spotting. No matter how well I dry my car, I always go back later and find horrible spots.
In order to help with this issue, I went looking for a way to get cleaner water out of my hose. This led me to pick up a drinking-water filter that is used for campers. A friend of mine goes camping often and suggested this idea. I found a filter for less than $40 at my local sporting goods store and got to work.
After hooking this filter up to my hose, and then running a brand new *Clean* hose out of the filter, I had done it. The first wash I've done left no water marks. (At least none that I have found!)
At some point, I would like to purchase the best of the best in the water filtering systems available here at autogeek. For the time being though, this is the best I can do. Who else has done something like this?
PS:
On another note, the "New and clean" hose that I have attached to the output of my filter is one of those "as-seen-on-TV" shrinking and expanding hoses. You know, the ones with the ridiculous commercials that claim they never kink and wrap themselves up after use. I must say, this thing is a LOT nicer than I had expected. Although it certainly doesn't coil itself up when you turn the water off (It doesn't even come close), it's actually very nice. It's soft enough that accidental contact with my car won't scratch, and it's very light and easy to maneuver.
All the benefits of this hose aside, it does not feel durable at all. I can't imagine it'll last more than a year of normal use, although I'll have to see how it fares in the long run. Even so, I only paid $5 for the 25-footer. For the time being, it's leaps and bounds better than my heavy industrial-grade rubber hoses!
I'm always a fan of washing my car at home due to the overall lack of quality at commercial car washes. I will never EVER be seen at an automatic car wash, and I will only go to a hand-wash in the most dire of circumstances. The problem I've had with washing my car at home though is constant water spotting. No matter how well I dry my car, I always go back later and find horrible spots.
In order to help with this issue, I went looking for a way to get cleaner water out of my hose. This led me to pick up a drinking-water filter that is used for campers. A friend of mine goes camping often and suggested this idea. I found a filter for less than $40 at my local sporting goods store and got to work.
After hooking this filter up to my hose, and then running a brand new *Clean* hose out of the filter, I had done it. The first wash I've done left no water marks. (At least none that I have found!)
At some point, I would like to purchase the best of the best in the water filtering systems available here at autogeek. For the time being though, this is the best I can do. Who else has done something like this?
PS:
On another note, the "New and clean" hose that I have attached to the output of my filter is one of those "as-seen-on-TV" shrinking and expanding hoses. You know, the ones with the ridiculous commercials that claim they never kink and wrap themselves up after use. I must say, this thing is a LOT nicer than I had expected. Although it certainly doesn't coil itself up when you turn the water off (It doesn't even come close), it's actually very nice. It's soft enough that accidental contact with my car won't scratch, and it's very light and easy to maneuver.
All the benefits of this hose aside, it does not feel durable at all. I can't imagine it'll last more than a year of normal use, although I'll have to see how it fares in the long run. Even so, I only paid $5 for the 25-footer. For the time being, it's leaps and bounds better than my heavy industrial-grade rubber hoses!