Those who experience snow.

[buddy01]

For those who experience snow, what are your car cleaning process? I normally wash my truck at home, two bucket method yadda yadda, but with winter I turn off my water for my outside spigots. I could do a waterless wash without a issue but the undercarriage is still nasty with the salt from roads. I was going use the dreaded automatic wash by me with the undercarriage spray but not really wise to put a hot undercarriage over spraying water. So what all do you guys do?

[PA DETAILER]

NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!

[Mike Hoekstra]

I've lived in North Dakota 45 years. In the winter I will drive through the occasional touchless car wash on the "deluxe" setting to get the undercarriage wash. Beyond that, if I wanted to, I have a faucet inside our garage and our outbuilding with a rolling pressure washer attachment but I've never done it. I have never been meticulous with the undercarriage and it has never been an issue.

[2black1s]

I've lived in North Dakota 45 years. In the winter I will drive through the occasional touchless car wash on the "deluxe" setting to get the undercarriage wash. Beyond that, if I wanted to, I have a faucet inside our garage and our outbuilding with a rolling pressure washer attachment but I've never done it. I have never been meticulous with the undercarriage and it has never been an issue.

Do they use a lot of chemicals on the roads or primarily sand/gravel when it snows? I grew up in Ohio where they kill you with salt and the calcium chloride stuff. I remember traveling west years ago and chemical usage was not as prominent in the western states. Is it still that way?

That may be the reason your undercarriage is not an issue. The chemicals are cancerous. The sand/gravel not so much.

I tend to agree with pro 4x's methodology. I used to hose off my undercarriage and wheel wells and such as often as I could while living in Ohio but it was really a losing battle. Did it do any good? While it may have given peace-of-mind that you're doing what you can and the impression that you're doing some good, in the end the winter always wins.

Just compare a 5year-old California car to a 5 year-old eastern car and that becomes quite obvious.

[PaulMys]

NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!

^^^This^^^

[Mike Hoekstra]

Do they use a lot of chemicals on the roads or primarily sand/gravel when it snows? I grew up in Ohio where they kill you with salt and the calcium chloride stuff. I remember traveling west years ago and chemical usage was not as prominent in the western states. Is it still that way?

That may be the reason your undercarriage is not an issue. The chemicals are cancerous. The sand/gravel not so much.

I tend to agree with pro 4x's methodology. I used to hose off my undercarriage and wheel wells and such as often as I could while living in Ohio but it was really a losing battle. Did it do any good? While it may have given peace-of-mind that you're doing what you can and the impression that you're doing some good, in the end the winter always wins.

Just compare a 5year-old California car to a 5 year-old eastern car and that becomes quite obvious.

Salt, sand, calcium chloride. All of it laid down throughout winter.

[DetailKitty]

NOTHING. Mother nature wins here. I will make sure i have a strong LSP on before winter hits. Then when the temps do moderate, i will do a normal wash at home. Always been that way. Winter wins.

If it does bother you, a coin op wash could be your friend. Blast off all the winter crap.

Then when spring hits, it's DETAIL TIME!

I do the same exact thing.

[MIsnowman]

I agree with what others have said about it being a losing battle. I will also add that, as much as it sucks having to brush off the snow, leaving your vehicle out in the elements all winter is much better for it corrosion wise than parking it in a garage, even if non-heated. If it’s parked inside the temps are warmer and the chemicals are more active than if it’s outside in the cold. The more frozen you can keep it the better.

[acuRAS82]

Adding a link to a discussion happening now about undercarriage washing. I agree that keeping cars cold will impact rusting due to water/salt the least... but tomorrow in PA the weather will go above freezing for sometime and at this point, it’s good to have a home option to at least remove some of the gunk without waiting for rain in the spring to remove it all.

cleaner for undercarriage

[hoyt66]

Paint sealant in the fall and for winter when the weather gets right (3 days in a row below freezing with no precip) I go Garry Dean in the garage. And a few coats of wax here and there just because I love wax and spent alot of money on them.