Help - Washing in Winter

[mattwelcer]

Hi All,

I have a question what do you all do in winter to keep your car clean? We have turned our hosepipes off to stop them freezing now its winter. So i have no running water supply to rinse the car before/during or after washing.

I don't want to take it to the local wash place as the brushes are plastic and give some great swirls and scratches

So what would you suggest i do so that i can keep our collection of cars relatively clean through the winter here in Germany!

Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Matt

[Tom Claessens]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

Hello mattwelcer.
I'm from Belgium which isn't that far away from Germany. We don't have that harsh temperatures at the moment. (12 degrees celsius at night)

I'd seek a car wash which offers car wash boxes.
You drive to their location with a wash mitt, bucket, shampoo and drying towels and rinse your car using their pressure washer system. Instead of using their brush / soap you make your own solution in the bucket and wash your car just like you would do at home. Rinse your vehicle and dry it. Make sure to wash the reachable underbody parts as these locations are suffering from the salt etc.

[mattwelcer]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

Hi Tom,

Thats a good point never thought of that. I'll have to see if our local garage has a facility to fill up wash buckets!

Only other problem though is that i can't drive at the moment so i would need someone to drive me to the car wash/garage.

Does anyone know of an additional/alternative solution to Tom's one that can be used at home, once again many thanks!

Regards,
Matt

[Abrasive1]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

Quick & Easy Wash, Optimum No Rinse and Poorboys spray and wipe are a few that come to mind. The latter being used for light to medium dirt. However, I would only use the spray and wipe for very light dirt. Unless of course you have a textile plant in your back yard, because you will use a ton of microfibers. I've come to the conclusion that there is no substitute for a hose, mitt and buckets. With grit gaurds of course.

[gorin002]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

i go to shell use pressure wash
since mud leaves are on the raod ones i drive get dirty again
and when its freezing you can`t wash water freez on your body
car
i only go to the shell hang in there til summer time

[Cassman]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

Quick & Easy Wash, Optimum No Rinse and Poorboys spray and wipe are a few that come to mind. The latter being used for light to medium dirt. However, I would only use the spray and wipe for very light dirt. Unless of course you have a textile plant in your back yard, because you will use a ton of microfibers. I've come to the conclusion that there is no substitute for a hose, mitt and buckets. With grit gaurds of course.

I agree. I would use either QEW or ONR. They are rinseless washes. I began using QEW a few months ago because I could get it locally at Camping World. It requires two buckets. I fill one bucket 1/2 full of water with 2 capfuls of QEW. The other is a 5 gallon bucket for rinsing. Use your washing tool of choice and put it in the QEW bucket. Wring it out a bit and wash one section of your car lightly. Then put the washing tool into your rinse bucket and rinse it out. Then do the samething. It takes me about 20-25 minutes to do my whole car - a black car. No marring at all. Highly recommended. I'll never use non-rinseless wash in the cold, dark winter again.

[Freddy]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

You can also fill a jerrycan with water and soap before driving to the wash box. (filling a bucket with a high pressure hose doesn't work).

[cmd]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

your local hardware store should sell a outside faucet that is freeze proof meaning it has an automatic internal pressure release valve just make sure you bring your hose in when your done. hook the water up to the hot water in your house.it will cost a few dollars but is well worth it hot water wont freeze as fast. then you can pull your car into the garage and do it up proper

[nime]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

I keep a very clean car during the winter, and get a lot of comments on how I manage to keep it so clean. I use the high pressure washer every time I've made a longer trip, to rinse off salt, dirt etc, which means at least every other day. I go to my local car club, where there are 3 indoor heated car wash bays. Coin-op high pressure wash, plus free use of ordinary cold water hose and a hot water tap for filling your wash bucket.

Can stay for as long as you want, unless there are others waiting in line. As an example, I spent two hours there last Friday afternoon washing the car by hand with Ultra Plush Chenille Wash Mitt and NXT Car Wash, then claying half the car using the Quik Clay kit. Repeated the wash, and then dried the car with the Water Magnet. Same procedure on Saturday

Now I have to clean + polish with DC, wax with NXT Tech Wax - and top it all off with a coat of #16 :P Actually, I will have to remove some swirls too, but that will have to wait until I get my G-100

[Whelan]

Re: Help - Washing in Winter

In the U.S. I usually find a place that has heated water in their bays, bring my own bucket and mitt and use the pressure wash. It gets a little chilly when your drying and the water starts to form ice but the car is clean.