I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

[FlaresideLariat]

First off, just want to say hello because I haven't been here in quite a while.

My car was seen nothing but my own two hands work on it, and I would like to handwash it but the only problem is I live in an apartment complex.

*cringe* Thinking about taking my beauty over to the public car wash makes me nervous...

How do those of you living in apts do it? I did a search on here, came across the You Tube video of the person hooking up a hose to their sink faucet, and taking it outside, lol...

Advice?

[Carfire]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

Yeah I was going to tell you about that video.
Is there are garage at your complex, because a lot of the ones I have seen, have a garage with a spigot.

[3Fitty]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

You could always take it over to the local coin wash and use the high pressure rinse to wash off the heavy debris, bring it back to your apt and wash with ONR. Not as good as a traditional wash, but better than nothing.

[roushstage2]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

I have a hose at my apartment.

I'd say you have a couple of options:
1. ONR
2. Take your own buckets and mitts with water and soap to the car wash and just use it to rinse.

[stdwdh16]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

Being that I live in an apartment, I have been trying to come up with an acceptable solution to this too. The best that I have come up with is the sink adapter for the hose. Problem is that in my complex the parking lot is almost always full, and I don't want to upset anyone else by getting their cars wet. I guess I'm just gonna go with the rinse at the coin-op and ONR unless someone else has a better suggestion.

[tguil]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

Wash/rinse at the coin-op followed by ONR or QEW at the apartment. If your car is not very dirty ONR or QEW will work very well without the coin-op pre wash/rinse.

ONR and QEW are both very good products. You simply need to be a little more careful with them than with a normal wash.

Tom

[roushstage2]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

A tip if you go with ONR. Get a 3.5 gallon bucket that is round the entire height and does not taper so you can fit a grit guard in there and get a snap-on lid for it. I got my clear 3.5 bucket and the lid from Lowes. Get the Grit Guard from ADS. As for wash mitts, get a Meguiar's Microfiber (these really seem to be the best IMO for use with ONR) and a misc. one to use on the wheels and tires.

Fill the bucket up with 2 gallons of water and 2oz. of ONR. The Grit Guard will sit in the bottom half of the water. Snap on the lid and head to the car wash. Rinse. Use your MF mitt on a panel and scrub it pretty good on the GG just to be safe. Dry the panel. When you get to the wheels, use that lid to set your wet MF mitt on to keep it from getting dirty. After you're done, just dump the ONR out and toss your mitts in the bucket and be on your way.

[FlaresideLariat]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

ONR?
QEW?
GG?

Sorry, I've been out of the detailing loop for a little too long. Thanks for the responses, everyone. Once I get these abbreviations out of the way I'll be able to respond more,lol

[Tom Weed]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

ONR?
QEW?
GG?

Sorry, I've been out of the detailing loop for a little too long. Thanks for the responses, everyone. Once I get these abbreviations out of the way I'll be able to respond more,lol

ONR: Optimum No Rinse Wash
QEW: Quick and Easy Wash

The above are pretty similar

GG: Grit Guard

[tguil]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

Do a search on

http://www.autopia.org/forum/index.php

For more information on QEW and ONR.

Tom

[FlaresideLariat]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

hmm, this seems very doable. Thanks roushstage2.

So the grit guard is just used to scrape your mitt? (Normally I hose off my mitt before I dip it in the bucket every time). So the grit guard is a fairly new concept for me.

Hate to be lazy but what kind of ONR wash does Megs offer?

[akimel]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

A tip if you go with ONR. Get a 3.5 gallon bucket that is round the entire height and does not taper so you can fit a grit guard in there and get a snap-on lid for it. I got my clear 3.5 bucket and the lid from Lowes. Get the Grit Guard from ADS. As for wash mitts, get a Meguiar's Microfiber (these really seem to be the best IMO for use with ONR) and a misc. one to use on the wheels and tires.

Fill the bucket up with 2 gallons of water and 2oz. of ONR. The Grit Guard will sit in the bottom half of the water. Snap on the lid and head to the car wash. Rinse. Use your MF mitt on a panel and scrub it pretty good on the GG just to be safe. Dry the panel. When you get to the wheels, use that lid to set your wet MF mitt on to keep it from getting dirty. After you're done, just dump the ONR out and toss your mitts in the bucket and be on your way.

[akimel]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

Hate to be lazy but what kind of ONR wash does Megs offer?

Megs does not offer anything comparable to Optimum No-Rinse. It can be ordered through any number of onine re-sellers.

I have been using it since early November. It really does work well, though it still feels strange to me. It just doesn't feel like it should work--but it does.

For further information about ONR, check out this thread: The Definitive ONR Thread. Also see this video by ScottWax:

[roushstage2]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

hmm, this seems very doable. Thanks roushstage2.

So the grit guard is just used to scrape your mitt? (Normally I hose off my mitt before I dip it in the bucket every time). So the grit guard is a fairly new concept for me.

NP. The grit guard is actually made to keep grit on the bottom of the bucket underneath it so you can't pick it up with the mitt again and scratch the paint with it. You can kinda scrub the mitt against it though too to help clean it a bit better.

Oh, the mitt will probably start to turn black. It's ok, just keep going. It will wash out.

[Sal329]

Re: I live in an apartment-- how to handwash without going to carwash?

2 buckets, a Proline Grout sponge from Lowes and some ONR