Opinions On Prerinse With ONR

[BLM]

Want to try prerinsing with ONR when washing my daily drivers via the two bucket method with car soap.Especially this time of year when they get driven on slushy roads etc.On my other vehicles I do rinseless method with ONR but they don't come out in Winter.
Anyway would like to hear opinions on spraying the ONR on the dry/soiled vehicle and letting it sit for 5 minutes then rinsing with the hose then proceeding with the contact wash. Or rinsing with the hose first then spraying the ONR with a pump sprayer, letting it sit for 5 minutes, then proceeding with the 2 bucket contact wash without rinsing with the hose again.Also I was considering using a 1/128 ratio for the ONR and if I chose to rinse the car first with the hose and sprayed the ONR after the car was already wet that 1/128 ratio would be getting diluted down further because the car is already wet.
The two opposing points I see are the following. If I spray the dry car first with the ONR it will loosen some of the dirt and that will be somewhat eliminated by rinsing with the hose afterwards. Or if I rinse the car first with the hose then spray the ONR prerinse it will leave some additional lubrication on the paint to help against making.
To add to this I am not inclined to getting into foaming the vehicles first or even though I have one I don't want to go through the hassle of getting out my pressure washer and then having to put it away afterwards. Trying to keep the process as simple as possible but still getting a half decent wash out of the process.

[Setec Astronomy]

I'd hose the car off first, if you have a nozzle that has a "flat spray" pattern I find that's the best for knocking stuff off. Then wet it down with that double-strength ONR mixture and let it drip off for a while. You might want to go around again if you've got nothing to do while you're waiting. I never found ONR to do much to that salt crust, but I was always too cheap to use it at the higher strength, plus it was several versions of ONR ago the last time I tried that, probably V.2.

[MisterSnoop]

You could try spraying a panel with ONR, rinsing and see what happens. My expectations would be low on that. I would consider a pump up or cordless foamer. As long as you don't use a product that requires a pressure washer to rinse off, you can leave that put away.

[grambow]

I exclusively wash with rinseless. Here are my thoughts...
I am in WI and in the summer I prerinse with rinseless, pressure wash then contact wash with a sponge and rinseless. (one bucket)
In the winter, generally I dont "wash" my vehicles unless it is about 40 degrees or so. When it is under 40, I go to the local self serve wash where I presinse with rinseless then pressure wash off. The drive home gets most of the water off. The rinseless does not get the road film off. All I am really doing is blowing the salt and dirt off the paint. The reason I prerinse (in summer and winter) is my belief that the rinseless solution will encapsulate the dirt, creating a cushion that is less likely to mar the paint as its getting blown off.

I still foam the wheels but I never foam the paint and I have never used two buckets FWIW.
I have used a spray bottle, manual pump sprayer, battery powered sprayer and keg sprayers for my rinseless pretreat. The keg sprayer works best for me followed by the battery powered.
Hope this helps!

[evo77]

Pre-rinsing with a RW is a WASTE OF TIME and product.

If your concerned with grit/debris on the surface prior to a hand contact wash, then a good high pressure water rinse will do just fine. What remains afterwards is road film and soiling that can be safely removed (using a good practice) with a quality shampoo or RW.

[Setec Astronomy]

Pre-rinsing with a RW is a WASTE OF TIME and product.

Are you saying it doesn't do anything, or that it isn't necessary with a rinseless wash?

[evo77]

Are you saying it doesn't do anything, or that it isn't necessary with a rinseless wash?

The OP has asked specifically whether or not pre-rinsing with ONR, letting it dwell for a few minutes and then hosing it off on a dry, dirty vehicle is beneficial. He is curious if whether or not the RW "breaks down" dirt (assuming loose dirt) which aids for a safer, hose and bucket contact wash.

My answer is NO. It is a waste of time and product.

As I stated previously, a good high pressure rinse alone prior to the contact wash is more than sufficient to remove loose surface contaminants. There isn't anything magical in a RW solution that is going to dislodge these contaminants (either by initial contact or by dwell time) that other wise a strong stream of water can't do.

[Optimus Grime]

The OP has asked specifically whether or not pre-rinsing with ONR, letting it dwell for a few minutes and then hosing it off on a dry, dirty vehicle is beneficial. He is curious if whether or not the RW "breaks down" dirt (assuming loose dirt) which aids for a safer, hose and bucket contact wash.

My answer is NO. It is a waste of time and product.

As I stated previously, a good high pressure rinse alone prior to the contact wash is more than sufficient to remove loose surface contaminants. There isn't anything magical in a RW solution that is going to dislodge these contaminants (either by initial contact or by dwell time) that other wise a strong stream of water can't do.

According to the most imminent Yvan Lacroix, using a RW is a great way to encapsulate the dirt and safely remove it without marring the paint which can happen (according to him) when blasting grit away with 2000 PSI of water. Do I personally believe this? Not really but what do I know.

As other's have suggested, if there is a ton of dirt and grit, use a hand sprayer or foamer and apply a good pre-wash. I think either Auto Foam or Touchless can be removed with just a hose and then proceed with a rinseless contact wash.

[Bill D]

I’d believe 2000 psi can blast grit into paint. Makes sense to me. That’s why I only use a hose when washing.

[Texchappy]

I think it helps some (purely anecdotally) but I think a lot of time use it unnecessarily. I’d only use it with obvious caked on grit or super dirty cars.