car wash in single digits?

[cc rider]

I'm looking for tips on washing the vehicle. I'm not doing a rinseless in this cold. I go through laser wash(totally touch less). But I'm worried about mechanisms freezing up. There is also one of those self serve bays around me if that's better. Will products freeze up(spray waxes, etc).lots of salt here,and need to remove it.thanks

[wdmaccord]

When it gets that cold, I only do touchless also. Even in my garage it's too cold to do a RW. My cars are between 2003 and 2013 and I don't have any issues with things freezing up (doors, etc). I try to hit the touchless every couple weeks or so. If the temps stay really cold in between, the salt won't be able to do much damage. Every now and then during a cold snap, a 30 degree day might pop up and I do a touchless + RW.

[Ebg18t]

I'd hit a touch less assuming it didn't have those tracks that scratch wheels.

[TomBrooklyn]

What's a laser wash, a touchless, and an RW?

[thoms_here]

Hi there,

I pity your situation, salts a B*I*T*C*H :( I grew up (relative term lol) in Michigan and always used a self serve car wash in the dead of winter. It was by far more powerful and better than the touch-less wash at getting under the wheel wells and getting the salt/dirt off in general. I never had trouble with anything freezing up either and I always tried to dry off what I could (in the bay out of the wind if no one was waiting).

The bad part is the extreme cold doing it but if you love your cars like I did/do I think It's worth it.

Take care and good luck,

Thom

[Audios S6]

I went to the DIY wash just the other night when air temps were -10F. I do this all the time in the winter. Just be sure to dry the door seals and mechanisms as best you can. My local one allows bucket washing if no one is waiting, and when it's -10, no one is waiting, lol.

I'm strongly considering investing in a cordless blower. It should make all my drying activities easier, especially when I'm not in my driveway. Pretty sure I'll get some really funny looks at the DIY wash.

[wdmaccord]

What's a laser wash, a touchless, and an RW?

Laserwash and touchless are basically the same thing. It means it only cleans the car with high pressure water (no brushes). Some use lasers to determine when to turn. On older touchless the sprayer just went around a track, so if you had a smaller car, when the sprayer went around the back of the car it could be 5-6 feet away doing virtually nothing for the back of the car. With the laser, it can maintain a certain distance from each side of the vehicle.

RW is rinseless wash

[Dale1990]

I've used no-rinse wash/wax in the single digits a few times and it worked fine. Drying can be a bit streaky but that is probably the wax misbehaving with the temps.

The problem I have now is the car has collected so much salt in the last two weeks (my black car is a light grey) that I'm afraid to touch it with anything for fear of scratching it. We're supposed to have a heat wave and get up to the mid-20s tomorrow so I'm going to try hitting a touchless wash to get the heavy stuff off (and underbody) so I can do a more thorough job at home.

[slicksierra]

Not sure how you guys anything below 32 degrees. Anytime I try to do anything below freezing. I get water and product freezing on my paint

[KMdef9]

Not sure how you guys anything below 32 degrees. Anytime I try to do anything below freezing. I get water and product freezing on my paint

Are you using hot water and keeping the product warm?

[slicksierra]

Are you using hot water and keeping the product warm?


I think my issue is I try to do too much at once yes I use warm water and keep the product warm but I try to do my whole truck at once and then dry which leads to the excess water freezing on the first surfaces I washed. Maybe I will try and panel by panel approach

[swanicyouth]

Laser wash - or - LazerWash

L- oh- freakin'-L.

If it's in the single digits you can't wash effectively. Either get inside, or wait until it warms up.

[builthatch]

i have temp controlled water. i have a hot feed and cold feed that merges and i can adjust the ratio. i am very careful when spraying down in the super cold because of how sensitive glass can be when it's cold. i start out with a general rinse with cold then gradually increase the temp as i get more detailed with the rinsing. last thing i do is a very warm flood to get most of the water off since i'm not drying (just a rinse).

[KMdef9]

Maybe I will try and panel by panel approach

:xyxthumbs:

It does hit a temp where I could barely wipe the salt off my moms rear windshield without it freezing in seconds.

[jsgntulok]

Reading this thread, I realize how lucky I am. It has been quite cold in Tulsa OK this past week, but not as cold as what many of you experience. Fortunately, my unheated garage is super insulated so never drops below 60 degrees, even when temps around here are in single digits. So long as the cars are not too dirty, I do rinseless using ONR in warm water. I use the method of letting 20 or so microfiber towels, folded in quarters, soak in the solution then use each folded quarter of the towel for a washing pass. A heat wave is expected in Tulsa this coming weekend (mid 50s to the 60s). I'll finally get to do a complete detail on our 2015 Outback. Going to be a fun weekend coming up.