Is pretreating necessary when rinseless washing?

[2black1s]

I would think rinsing with a hose prior to the actual rinseless would be sufficient. Of course that would also depend on how thorough of a rinse is performed.

If you do a thorough hose rinse first, my thoughts are that will remove most of any particulate contamination and what you're left with is road film. I don't believe the road film would be a major contributor to swirls.

Then again pre-treatment is quick and easy insurance.

If I were to pick between the two - hosing off first, or skipping the hosing and going straight to pre-treatment, I think the hosing would be more beneficial... Although doing both would likely be the absolute safest option.

[Finick]

I would say no, but it depends.

If I’m really being diligent and keeping a solution mixed up and wiping the car down with it every other day or something? I don’t pretreat.

If I pressure rinse the car? For sure not pretreating.

If it’s been like a week or two and I’m gonna do a rinseless? I use a gallon garden sprayer and presoak 1/2 the car at a time.

The thing for me is that I use a hose for my wheels and tires regardless of whether I’m doin a rinseless on the paint. It’s just more enjoyable to use a rinseless wash. So if I’ve got the pressure washer out for the wheels and tires, it’s easy to quickly rinse the paint and then wipe it down with rinseless.

Pretreating with a big garden sprayer really is easy, so even if I don’t think it’s necessary it takes like 2 seconds to do it that way.


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[Markymapo]

+1 for pretreatment; it’s pretty much a habit ( doesn’t add that much more time to the process)

[bob m]

To those who pretreat, what do you pretreat with - just water?

[Bruno Soares]

To those who pretreat, what do you pretreat with - just water?

The same product you're using for rinseless, mixed at a waterless wash ratio.

[DetailZeus]

I think context is important here (what's your environment, how dirty is the car?) but I won't touch a car without some sort of pressure rinse first. Granted I have access to water and great pressure washer setup.

With easy access to water I'd rinse; dirt that's gone can't scratch. Without water I'd pre-treat with the rinseless solution out of a spray bottle.