Washing/Rinsing undercarriage without running water

[FUNX650]

There is only one coin-op car wash about
15-20 mins drive from my place. So by the
time, I will be back from this place, the under-
carriage will be salty all over again.

Hence, looking for something that I can do
in the parking lot so the car can at least sit
clean overnight.

Sounds like you possibly share the
parking lot with other tenants?

Please don’t forgo their safe passage by
creating possible slip/fall hazards from
your undercarriage cleaning effluent.


Bob

[SixZee]

In the conditions you describe, even if you were able to clean the undercarriage at home, the minute you left your parking lot it would be dirty again. In the depths of winter, our cars are never totally clean for more than a few minutes to a day or two. The whole point is to simply knock down the bulk of the grime and salt to the best of your ability. Your best bet would beto go to the coin-op on a day when the roads are dry and clean it out.

What are the automated car wash places like in your area? Around my area most of the automated car washes, both with brushes and touchless. You can actually see the equipment sitting at opening of the car wash bay, so there is no question as to whether it is there or not. By selecting the middle to top tear wash options you get the undercarriage/wheel well option. I use the touchless washes and will drive through the opening REALLY slowly to blast off all the salt.

That is true. Even on a dry day, the dried salt on the road makes its way underneath or on the car.
Automated car washes make me cringe when I see the kind of cars in the line. As I said in the OP, these places do claim undercarriage wash, but even after paying their best offering ($38 for a car wash), my car's undercarriage is always bone dry.
It is pretty frustrating to see all rusted underbody of a 5-year-old car.

Sounds like you possibly share the
parking lot with other tenants?

Please don’t forgo their safe passage by
creating possible slip/fall hazards from
your undercarriage cleaning effluent.


Bob

Yes, I do share the parking lot with other tenants. Not that rich yet to own a house in NYC.
And yes, I make sure that my rear end is covered in that regards as well. All work is done at the extreme end of the parking lot, which is way out of everyone's way.

[Desertnate]

That is true. Even on a dry day, the dried salt on the road makes its way underneath or on the car.
Automated car washes make me cringe when I see the kind of cars in the line. As I said in the OP, these places do claim undercarriage wash, but even after paying their best offering ($38 for a car wash), my car's undercarriage is always bone dry.
It is pretty frustrating to see all rusted underbody of a 5-year-old car.

I thought you were talking about the hand wash places, not the automatic ones.

Interesting those places claim to have an underbody, but you can't tell it's done. Around here, the underbody spray consists of high pressure jets aimed at your wheels/wheel wells off to each side of the bay and a line of jets which spray water as you drive in. There is no missing it going off and it's actually pretty effective.

[rangerbay]

There is a product called Saltaway that's made for marine use. It rinses salt off surfaces with just a sprayer of any kind. I use it with a 2 gallon sprayer for removing salt off any surface.
Try it. My boat is used exclusively in salt water, and it not the trailer have any corrosion.

Bill

[FUNX650]

Yes, I do share the parking lot
with other tenants.

And yes, I make sure that my rear end
is covered in that regards as well. All work
is done at the extreme end of the parking lot,
which is way out of everyone's way.

Bob

[SixZee]

I thought you were talking about the hand wash places, not the automatic ones.

Hand wash places are no different.

There is a product called Saltaway that's made for marine use. It rinses salt off surfaces with just a sprayer of any kind. I use it with a 2 gallon sprayer for removing salt off any surface.
Try it. My boat is used exclusively in salt water, and it not the trailer have any corrosion.

Bill

A colleague mentioned it but AFAIK, most small boats are made of fiberglass and/or their paint structure may be different than that of the car, being in the water all the time. So I didn't consider any of those as I wasn't too sure if it will harm the paint in any way. There are many products actually

Salt Away
https://www.amazon.com/SA32-Salt-S-A.../dp/B00144EOLC

Salt Off
https://www.amazon.com/Star-brite-Sa.../dp/B004A7J8FW

Salt Terminator
https://www.amazon.com/CRC-SX128-Ter.../dp/B00546F77G

I would love to know if anyone tried it and it worked. It will be great to keep a spray bottle in the car to give a quick wipe down after the trip or at the end of the day.