Coin operated pressure wash for winter cleaning

[emichon]

Before winter I put on a coat of Klasse AIO + Sealant & Pinnacle souveran wax, and obviously up north it's winter, and it's cold, full of snow, dirty and full of salt :)

The car is starting to get really dirty and I was thinking of bringing it to a coin operated car wash with the pressure wands to at least remove a bit of the dirt that accumulated. I'm planning on only using only water as I imagine the soaps they use in the car washes are too harsh. Is there a chance that the pressure washing could strip away whatever is left of the wax/sealant?

Unfortunately I have no garage, and it is still too cold to hand wash, and probably will be too cold for the next couple of months.

[allenk4]

Pressure washing with water only should not remove any LSP.

I do agree with your thought that the detergents used in the "High Pressure Soap" may remove LSP's over several washes.

[c8n]

My local coin op car wash has 2 settings; 1st is pressure WASH and 2nd is pressure RINSE. Of course I didn't read carefully and used pressure wash which includes soap. In hind sight, I guess either one would have been fine if I didn't get lazy and did a quick no rinse wash when I got home but being tired makes you lazy. The car sat in my garage for about 2 or 3 days before I got around to giving it a good wash which is when I notices water stains... or should I say soap stains that would not come off with a regular wash. It had to be polished. Lesson learned and since then I do not use their soap and I wash as soon as the car is in my garage.

I guess my point is that I believe those car wash soap are very harsh.... or they use really hard water.

[Mike Phillips]

I used a coin operated pressure wash to wash our Mercedes yesterday.

I recently washed the car and then applied the Black Label Diamond Coating Booster to it, in fact just last Sunday, see pictures here....


Car Wash Day at Autogeek (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/76294-car-wash-day-autogeek.html)



On Wednesday, a huge flock of Martins, (kind of looks like a Robin), came to our neighborhood and left bird droppings everywhere including all over the Mercedes-Benz.

I was off on Thursday and had to run some errands but the car looked gross. Drove down to the local do-it-yourself car wash and use the wash setting for the spray gun and then the rinse setting.

I figured the coating could withstand whatever they used for the soap.

Here's what I know, dried bird bombs blasted off easily and after drying the paint looked like it did before the Martins came to town.


I took enough pictures with my iPhone to write an article including pictures of the coin-op car wash.


Stay tuned...


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Is there a chance that the pressure washing could strip away whatever is left of the wax/sealant?




I'd say yes, at least a little if you use the soap/wash setting. Waxes wear off so it woujld hard to know how much is left anyway.


Look into coatings....



:)

[MarkD51]

Getting salts, and nasties off sooner, than later is always better.

I've done such for years, and here's some important considerations.

Often, Spray Car Washes can use recycled water, and the water can be hard. Driving off, and letting waters dry could place some nasty water spotting on the paint that might prove difficult to get off. Bring a bunch of towels, and if at all possible, it would be extra nice if you can somehow have a clean bucket of water as well to rinse dirts off the towels as you go.

Another smart thing, is insure you wipe dry all door jambs, trunk lids, and gas tank filler doors. In the winter, you can then easily find yourself locked out of your own vehicle, unable to get in, or fill gas.
Matk

[wildwilly1]

I go through a touchless at least twice a week its only $5 does pretty good job. I have a black car that has collinite 476 on it has for three mths still beading like crazy

[wdmaccord]

Getting salts, and nasties off sooner, than later is always better.

I've done such for years, and here's some important considerations.

Often, Spray Car Washes can use recycled water, and the water can be hard. Driving off, and letting waters dry could place some nasty water spotting on the paint that might prove difficult to get off. Bring a bunch of towels, and if at all possible, it would be extra nice if you can somehow have a clean bucket of water as well to rinse dirts off the towels as you go.

Another smart thing, is insure you wipe dry all door jambs, trunk lids, and gas tank filler doors. In the winter, you can then easily find yourself locked out of your own vehicle, unable to get in, or fill gas.
Matk

I don't think it would be a good idea to use towels after just a touchless wash or handheld HP rinse. Lots of film will be left behind either way. A rinseless with good MF towels...yes.

[10secdream]

I use the soap at the local coin operated car wash. My vehicle is currently coated with DP Paint Coating and it is holding up awesome (6+ months). My wife's vehicle currently has Blackfire Crystal Seal and it lasted about 2 months in winter conditions.

[MarkD51]

I don't think it would be a good idea to use towels after just a touchless wash or handheld HP rinse. Lots of film will be left behind either way. A rinseless with good MF towels...yes.

That's often a tough choice, which will be the lesser of all the evils?
What I usually did, when living in Chicago all those years, and finding the necessity of a PW, I'd concentrate on doing only the lowest of the lower panels, and the chassis, That's often where most to filth, and salt would be.

Reasons for this is as I say earlier, when temps are well below freezing, you'd wind up with everything frozen afterwards, windows, doors, locks, everything. Then I would do bucket washes on the upper panels, glass.

Often, one cannot usually strive for perfection under extremes without heated garages, and a set up like a pro detailer might have with heated shop, or like the folks down in Stuart Fla with mild winter temps, etc, you learn to get by the best way you can, and hopefully, with whatever method, incur the least amount of damage to the vehicle, while getting the nasties like salt off.
Mark

[Lakeside Detail]

My local coin-op is awesome, hot water and you can adjust the wand to get under your wheel wells really nice. Really a good way to get most of the winter scuzz removed. For under the wheel wells and other sensitive areas I would try the PW first without pulling the trigger, as there is quite a bit of pressure even without the trigger pulled. I will not PW if temps are below 30f.

[shagnat]

Not using a pressure washer below 30*?????? Who the heck would?! It's gotta' be in the 50s before I even "think" about it. :)