How To Keep Your Car Looking Its Best Using Alternative Ways To Traditional Washing

[Marc08EX]

Do you live in an apartment complex or a condominium without a garage? Do you live in an area where the city enforces water restrictions? I don't even have to ask if you like to keep your car clean. You're here for that main reason. But your current living situation makes it hard for you to wash your car with free flowing water, a premium car shampoo and the two bucket method often.

Detailing science and technology have advanced in ways we wouldn't imagine. There are now various methods to wash your car properly that will fit you living situation. They are:

1. Rinseless Washing - this method still uses a bucket and water. It's preferable that you use a premium wash mitt such as Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt and the grit guard to ensure a safer wash technique. The main difference between this and the traditional washing is that the solution doesn't produce any suds allowing the user to wipe the paint clean right after washing.
2. Waterless Washing - this method uses a spray bottle with a pre-mixed solution that will safely and effectively clean your paint. You spray the product onto the paint, wipe the solution then buff it off.
3. Quick Detailing - this employs the same product delivery and technique as the waterless washing but with one main difference. This is only used for light dust.

If you're reading this article, I'm assuming that you still haven't taken the plunge on using these washing alternatives yet. I know what you're thinking. "It's not safe." "It will scratch my paint." "It won't clean my paint effectively." Etc. I was like that and thought the same way. But when you're forced to live in a situation without a garage and no access to free flowing water and hose then you're forced to think otherwise. You can't let your car stay dirty for a month or more right?

The products that are available for each method are:

1. Rinseless Washing: Rinse Free Express Wash
2. Waterless Washing: Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere
3. Quick Detailing: Ultimate Quik Detailer, Gold Class Premium Quik Detailer, M135 - Synthetic Spray Detailer, Last Touch, Quik Detailer

Techniques / How-To:

RINSELESS WASHING:

Here's a list of additional products should make rinseless washing safe:

• 5 gallon bucket
• Grit guards
• Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt or microfiber covered foam.
• Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels or any premium microfiber towel.

Let's get started on how to properly clean your car using a rinseless wash.

First, you need to put your grit guard into your 5 gallon bucket and then fill it with water.



The amount of water will depend on you. Most people use 3 gallons when they do rinseless washing but I prefer using 4 gallons to add some kind of buffer. Meguiar's instructs users to add 1oz of solution per 2 gallons of water for normal cleaning or 1oz of solution per 1 gallon of water for extremely dirty cases.



Measure out the solution you're going to use. In my case, I dispensed 2oz of rinse free express wash to be used for my 4 gallons of water.



Pour the solution into the bucket and mix thoroughly.



Place your microfiber wash media in the bucket and let it soak in the solution.



Now, your washing solution has be prepared so it's time to wash your car. Bring out the bucket along with multiple Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels out to your car.



I want to mention that it's important to always keep your wash media clean when using rinseless wash. Also, it's best to work on a small section or a panel at a time.

To start washing, you need to get your wash media drenched in the rinseless solution and start cleaning the car. Don't go like a madman and start wiping the entire hood or the entire car in random directions. You need to be very cautious, careful and meticulous about your technique. In the following set of pictures, I'm washing the passenger half of the hood. In cleaning the paint, I employ Mike Stoops' technique when he uses waterless wash (Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere - Tips & Tricks). That is, to tilt the wash media at every stroke exposing a clean part of it. This is shown below:









When done correctly, you'll have multiple dirt lines in the wash media. One obtained from every stroke. After you've clean the entire work area, I like to flip the wash media and run it over the entire section one again to make sure it's clean. I don't tend to be as cautious in this step because the area should have already been cleaned from the initial pass. You're just trying to pick up dirt that's floating around or may have been missed. Hopefully there aren't any.

After you've done cleaning this area, get your clean Supreme Shine Towel and use it to dry that area.



Now this step is very important to do in order to lessen the chances of scratching your paint finish. After you wash every work area or panel, you need to clean your wash media. What I like to do is to rub the wash media against the grit guard. Here's a picture of what the wash media looks like after washing half of the hood:



Now you don't want that dirt to be rubbing against the paint as you move on to the next section right? So after cleaning the wash media against the grit guard, this is how it looks like:





Now your wash media is ready to be used SAFELY on the next work area.

Now repeat this process until you finish the entire car a section at a time. Here are some picture of the rear quarter panel being cleaned.

Dirty:


During:


Clean:


Optional Step:

• Ultimate Quik Wax

If you have the time and inclination to bring up your paint to a higher level, then you need to use this amazing product! You can wax your entire vehicle in minutes. Simply spray a small amount of product per panel, spread the product using a microfiber towel and buff off any remaining residue with another microfiber towel. Here's what it looks like:





Now repeat this process for every panel until the entire car is finished. After you're done, stand back and admire the beauty of your car's finish.

Here's a quik tip video on Ultimate Quik Wax:



WATERLESS WASHING:

Here's a list of additional products that should make rinseless washing safe:

• Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels or any premium microfiber towel.

I don't need to write a how-to article for this because our very helpful administrator, Michael Stoops wrote a in depth and detailed how-to article on how to safely use this product. The article can be found below:

Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere - Tips & Tricks

Here's a quik tip video on Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere:



QUICK DETAILING:

The procedure for this method is exactly the same as waterless washing with the exception of the amount of dirt this product can handle. This product can only handle very light dust. You use this product when you want to remove light dust after your car's been driven in a day or two, after your car's been sitting in a show for a couple of days, and to remove light finger prints and bird bombs.

[Marc08EX]

As a person who was absolutely terrified on using these alternative methods, I want to say that these products work and they work extremely well. The most important thing is that it doesn’t scratch the paint more than your traditional washing method provided you use the right technique and common sense. If you haven’t tried these AMAZING products yet, you need to give them a shot. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.

Here are some before/after shots using the RFEW and UQW:

Before:



After:



Before:



After:




Here are some beauty shots showing how great these products work:

[Marc08EX]

Here are some other products available that Autogeek offers:

Waterless and Rinseless products list:
Waterless car wash products, ecotouch waterless wash, griots waterless wash, optimum onr, automotive waterless car wash

Quick Detailers and Spray Waxes products list:
Quick detail sprays, spray waxes and spray sealants provide instant shine and paint protection! Pinnacle Crystal Mist, Wolfgang Deep Gloss Spritz

[theclock12]

Thank you for the in-depth review, helpful for those who want to try these methods.

[FUNX650]

Excellent post Marc, filled with all of the information, as well as nuances,
(par exemple: The Michael Stoops: "Regimented-Toweling-Process"),
necessary for implementing alternative car-washing methods.

Thanks for your time and efforts in doing so!

Bob

[WRXINXS]

Thanks Marc, I was just looking for a good article like this to get ready to take the plunge to rinseless washing!

[SR99]

Hi Marc, good post. Re: "Do you live in an apartment complex or a condominium without a garage? Do you live in an area where the city enforces water restrictions?"

I just wanted to add that for the people still on the fence about trying these methods, it shouldn't be considered the "method of last resort." None of the above quoted conditions apply to me and I use it as my preference, and by far my most frequently used method.

[BobbyG]

Hey Marc,

Wow, what a great thread and review!

This is a thread that everyone should bookmark for a reread and also for passing along to anyone that might need this level of detailed information.

Tremendous contribution Marc and than you for putting in the extra effort for the rest of us!!

[Marc08EX]

Glad to hear you all liked the article!

Thanks for taking time to read it. I hope this helps someone.

[01GreyStangGT]

Great article! I've been doing rinseless and waterless for about 3 years now. Hardly ever hose wash.