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  1. #1
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    What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Hello folks. How is everyone doing today? I was curious about something. Now, this question is brand and is geared more for the DIY person than the professional detailer. When washing a vehicle, which is more important, pressure or volume? I do not have a pressure washer and simply use a good ole' large and heavy 3/4 inch water hose. I know that some people like to spray their car while others like to float water over it and let the sheer volume of water and gravity do the work. Some use a fine spray and pressure to wash the car and then do a final rinse with water flow to sheet water off rather than have it beed. Here is what I am wondering, if water volume is important and means more than pleasure, would not a simple brass flow valve with a 1/4 valve work better than a fancy expensive nose? Thanks for the help.

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    Regular Member Jon TDS's Avatar
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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Hi there! Welcome to AG. It differs from person to person. One of Mike Phillips' video in washing his car is actually by using a garden hose. Some benefits of pressure washer are use of less water, pressure when you need them like for wheel wells, more foam to lift some contaminants, etc.

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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    When you are looking on the PW specs. The water volume is IMO the most important to compare with.

    When compare when useing a hose. The mix of the highest pressure you can get without effecting the water volume would I look for.

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    Super Member Bruno Soares's Avatar
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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Yeah, you don't want super high pressure for car washing but higher volume is better. But don't go for something with so much volume that it uses the same as a garden hose, you want to save some water while getting more cleaning power due to added pressure.
    Bruno Soares


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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    It depends on the situation. Good pressure will blast dirt and salt off of the surfaces of the paint so less contact with the wash mitt is required. A pressure washer will also use less water but it does not rinse very well. The good ol’ garden hose with no nozzle is the best way to rinse. The flood of water will take all of the suds with it and if the car has some kind of coating, most of the water will roll off.

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    Super Member DaveT435's Avatar
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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Spray from a good nozzle works fine. When using a garden hose the volume will be there, if you switch to a pressure washer then you would want to look at volume. The only time I sheet the water is when I'm done washing the car. For the most part it's the first drying step. If you have a good LSP on the car by using the sheeting method you can get 90% plus of the water off the car.
    2015 F-150 Crew Cab Lariat
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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    I think I need to clarify a bit. I do not own a preasure washer and I do not plan to purchase one. What I am interested in is using our 3/4 inch garden hose. Am I better off using a nossle which provides higher water preasure, or one that allows a large volume of water flow?

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    Super Member DaveT435's Avatar
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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Quote Originally Posted by lovenhim View Post
    I think I need to clarify a bit. I do not own a preasure washer and I do not plan to purchase one. What I am interested in is using our 3/4 inch garden hose. Am I better off using a nossle which provides higher water preasure, or one that allows a large volume of water flow?
    A regular adjustable nozzle is fine. No matter what setting you choose you'll have plenty of volume and it will give you a variety of pressures and pattern for different jobs. Usually high pressure for initial rinse lower pressure wider pattern for rinsing.
    2015 F-150 Crew Cab Lariat
    2016 Chevrolet Camaro 2SS

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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    Quote Originally Posted by lovenhim View Post
    I think I need to clarify a bit. I do not own a preasure washer and I do not plan to purchase one. What I am interested in is using our 3/4 inch garden hose. Am I better off using a nossle which provides higher water preasure, or one that allows a large volume of water flow?
    I say both!

    I've got one of those nozzles with multiple settings. When I'm blasting off bugs, break dust, or heavy dirt, I'll use the high pressure "jet" setting. While rinsing off soap I'll use the "spray" setting. When I've finished washing, I'll go around the car with the nozzel on the "flood" setting and flood rinse the car which, when it's wearing a coating, leaves it nearly dry.
    Drop by to see the latest at The Car Geek Blog

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    Re: What Matter Most, Water Pressure Or Water Volume?

    I do not own a pressure wash. There are two types of wash which Mike Phillips outlines, 1.) Gentle Wash and 2.) Aggressive Wash. Mike once stated it really doesn't matter, regular hose or pressure wash, it's following the entire process which removes bonded contaminants.

    When I first started I would take a vehicle to a coin opp and use the pressure washer. What I noticed was the pressure washer never got off anything that I thought it would. After going through the routine for an aggressive wash, as outlined below, I found that step unnecessary and time consuming. Long answer to your questioning, IMO, a pressure washer is not required.

    When a car comes in that hasn't seen me before, or is absolutely filthy due to neglect, (years of bugs, tar, etc..) a pressure wash really isn't going to do much. I typically follow these steps for an aggressive wash:

    Once this vehicle as undergone this process, it's really negotiable whether a pressure washer or regular hose is going to make a difference.
    1.) Wheels
    2.) Wheel Wells
    3.) Engine / Engine Bay
    4.) Tarminator on bumper cover, leading edge of hood, rockers. I use McKee's Bug Scrubber and remove all the baked stuck on stuff. This works great for the melted crack-filler they use to repair the roads, and ends up on the sides of the car, looking like black string cheese.
    5.) Pre-Wash to remove the tarminator
    6.) Rinse vehicle
    7.) Iron-X ---> Let it dwell, go right to foam gun, don't bother rinsing off the iron-x.
    8.) 2BM Wash with wash mitts
    9.) Clay --> This will remove bonded contaminants
    10.) Compound/Polish/AIO
    11.) LSP
    12.) Final detail trimings (plastics, under hood, door jams, wheels, tire dressings, exhaust tip cleaning, windows)

    For Gentle wash, I wouldn't use a pressure wash. Gentle wash should be:

    1.) Wheels/Wells
    2.) Rinse
    3.) Foam
    4.) 2BM
    5.) Blow Dry
    6.) QD or topping of LSP - < Optional>

    The idea of the gentle wash is a maintenance wash. You don't want to use so much pressure that you degrade your LSP, to include trim, moldings, etc.

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