Washing in the winter with lots of salt

[AutoApollo]

Hey guys, I haven't had the chance to wash my car in a couple of weeks and it has accumulated A LOT of road salt that is stuck to pretty much every body panel. I'm thinking if I go to wash it by hand, my microfiber mitt might rub in the salt into the paint causing scratches. Of course I would try to rinse as much off as possible but there would still be residue.

[parshooter]

I'd take it to either a drive-thru car wash or a place that has the wands. Knock off as much of the salt/dirt as you can before hand washing.

[ski2]

Do you have a pressure washer--I always us a PW in the winter before a full wash to make sure I remove all the grit before I start my wash process.

[GSKR]

Hey guys, I haven't had the chance to wash my car in a couple of weeks and it has accumulated A LOT of road salt that is stuck to pretty much every body panel. I'm thinking if I go to wash it by hand, my microfiber mitt might rub in the salt into the paint causing scratches. Of course I would try to rinse as much off as possible but there would still be residue.Presoaking it will help loosen the salt bonded to the paint.

[ScottH]

as GSKR said, a pre-soak is great (esp. with a high quality soap with high lubricity). Also don't feel you have to get it spotlessly clean the very first wash. I usually start with a thorough spray down, foam and let soak for 5-10 minutes, spray down and if necessary before hand washing, foam again. Sounds like a lot of work but it's much less than having to spend 3-4 hours polishing the paint out again.

Winter does suck for those that love keeping our cars clean (e.g. the entire AGO community! :-)

ScottH

[hoyt66]

I keep this full of DP rinseless wash and presoak the panels before washing. I wash in the garage during the winter months. It really breaks the salt free like the previous posters have said
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/fb/fbc797fd-c45e-4b0f-b4a7-83f21e3cc474_1000.jpg

[Dapper Don]

I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and work in Washington D.C. and most of the time I am driving so my Ram gets some heavy crud throughout the year and the biggest thing I fight is the salt. Either when I am at the boat ramp in Florida or the winter highways with salt layed all over it is something I learned how to deal with a long, long time ago and I have a little secret for you that I stumbled on by accident and you will not find it in any car care shop or isle. I was coming back from the boat ramp one day with my Waverunners and when I got them home I started my usual washdown routine only I didn't feel like unhitching the trailer so I started my routine with Salt Away. Well I wasn't watching/caring what I was doing so much as it was getting late and the bugs were coming out so I knew the heavy work would be done in the morning so long as I did the basics and didn't realize I had sprayed this stuff on the back half of my truck. After the hosedown rinse, I noticed that the back half of my truck had all of the dried off salt completely rinsed off from not only my recent trip up north, but from the boat ramp as well. The next day when I went to do a more detailed job on my Waverunners I also reloaded the Salt Away and hit my truck in the wheel wells and undercarrage and pretty much everywhere. It's good stuff and works like it should. It also comes with its own hose mixing dispenser as well. FWIW it is my go to remedy for salt issues.

Salt-Away Concentrate Kit with Mixing Unit - 32 fl oz (946 mL) (http://www.saltaway.xyz/KitPage.htm)

[dmund]

From Toronto...I go and powerwash my stang 2 times a week ,I would bring a 2 gallon pump sprayer container to soak down the car powerwash ,then when I get home I do a 2 bucket wash with grit guards in both with detailers pride rinseless wash n gloss in both and some detail spray in my rinse bucket ,once it is dried off with a detail spray I would use a spray wax to maintain that slickness and gloss ,our stang is 7 yrs winter driven this yr....have fun keep detailing....AUTO ONE DETAILING.....ON FACEBOOK

[spazzz]

Yep those Echo sprayers are second to none. I just got the 4 gallon back pack sprayer. The box says 125 p.s.i. but that is probably downhill with a tail wind. It still cranks way more than a normal 1 gallon sprayer.

And the big news is I just ordered a gallon of the Salt-Away.....woot woot.

Gotta wonder why AG doesn't carry a miracle salt remover......oops

[Dapper Don]

I think that unless you are in the boating/fishing/watersports community then this is just one of those products that slip under the radar. I know I would have never thought to use it on my vehicles until I did by accident.

[Klasse Act]

Since its been weeks since a wash AND there's lots of salt I would hit the touch-free drive thru for a couple reasons. First is so the underbody gets a good washing, pic that option when buying the wash for sure! Another good reason is so you get in all the nooks and crannies. Finally the surface salt and dirt gets removed so you can then do a good rinseless or waterless when you get home.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[AutoApollo]

Ended up buying a foam cannon. Thanks for all the responses guys!

[FUNX650]

Ended up buying a foam cannon. Thanks for all the responses guys!
I don't see how foam will remove
built-up salt deposits.

How are you going to rinse the foam off the
vehicle during the Winter months?


Bob

[AutoApollo]

I don't see how foam will remove
built-up salt deposits.

How are you going to rinse the foam off the
vehicle during the Winter months?


Bob

It's pretty mild out right now where I live. Also, it'll hold water on the car which will dissolve the salt