Washing With Warm Water

[Megafast13]

I have a Sink in my garage area that has Cold/Hot Water and a Hose Attachment on the spout. I washed my car today in the 30F Weather with Warm/Hot Water. Everything seemed to go fine as usual, but I was wondering if this is safe for the paint, NXT Wash, etc.

Thanks.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

I think warm water is great for washing. It is pleasant on your hands, and call me crazy, but sometimes I feel (very technical term here) that it might aid in breaking things down that are bonded to the paint. Definitely won't harm anything.

(Keep in mind paint rises to 150+ degrees in the sun on the surface).

[miahjohn]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

I'd worry about the glass! Someone questioned warm water and wax before and the point was made that wax melts and 100 some degrees. I always wash my car with warm water.

[Megafast13]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

I know my water wasn't that hot. I had to obviously make contact with my skin in the wash bucket, mitt, etc.

I was wondering if the heat would remove wax, but wasn't sure.

[Tuck91]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

i have the same setup/ routine as you Megafast and i use warm water thats comfortable on my hands and i have not seen my wax being stripped, like Mark said, paint get hot in the sun. Plus using NXT Tech Wax 2.0 also helps

[Megafast13]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

Okay thanks for the help

[CharlesW]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

You can demonstrate to yourself just how much better warm water is for cleaning.
Quick note: I pre-rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Don't want all that food circulating in the wash water.

To demonstrate, hold a fairly dirty plate under the faucet with cold water running over it.
Now do the same thing with hot or even warm water.
The difference is like night & day.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

You can demonstrate to yourself just how much better warm water is for cleaning.
Quick note: I pre-rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Don't want all that food circulating in the wash water.

To demonstrate, hold a fairly dirty plate under the faucet with cold water running over it.
Now do the same thing with hot or even warm water.
The difference is like night & day.

Excellent analogy. I would really like to be able to wash the car in warm water.

[CharlesW]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

Excellent analogy. I would really like to be able to wash the car in warm water.

Any particular reason that you can't?
I put as much hot water in the wash bucket as I can carry without spilling in the bathtub then finish filling it with the hose when I get it outside.
The pre-rinse and final rinse have to be with tap water temperature, but the wash water can be quite warm.
When I do a rinseless wash which is quite often anymore, I fill gallon jugs with hot water and my rinseless wash product before I take them to the garage.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

Washing with warm water shouldnt be a problem. Just dont use water so hot you can hardly put your hands in it.

Its no different than washing the paint when its 90F outside in the summer.

There is a possibility of shortening the life of the LSP but its sure nice using warm water. Anytime you touch the paint you shorten the life of the LSP.

[G Force]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

warm water sure helps removing contaminants if any, i wash glass last to avoid sudden change of temps.

[mcox]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

Addressing the glass issue, remember that auto glass is either laminated (windshield) or tempered (the remaining windows). FYI, tempered glass is heated to well over 500 degrees then cooled relatively quickly in its manufacturing process. The point being, and I know there are exceptions to the rule based on extreme temps, but warm or hot water "should" not be that big of an issue when washing. A lot of the pay for hand spray washes that I have used, the soap cycle is hot water. Having washed a vehicle in the winter in the upper midwest while temps were single digits the only issue I have had was that the rinse cycle didn't warm my hands the way the soap cycle did when holding the hose.

[danponjican]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

I use water through my pw at about 140F all the time. It definitely breaks down the dirt and loosens up tar, bugs, and misc debris better than cold water. I learned this tip from a old pro exotic detailer.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

Any particular reason that you can't?
I put as much hot water in the wash bucket as I can carry without spilling in the bathtub then finish filling it with the hose when I get it outside.
The pre-rinse and final rinse have to be with tap water temperature, but the wash water can be quite warm.
When I do a rinseless wash which is quite often anymore, I fill gallon jugs with hot water and my rinseless wash product before I take them to the garage.

At our complex there is a car care center. You have to do the washing there. I suppose I could cart gallon jugs over there. But half the time the two bays are used. It would be a huge problem going up and down the stairs with the gallon jugs to make sure the water is warm enough. I am getting lazy in my old age.lol.

[CharlesW]

Re: Washing With Warm Water

At our complex there is a car care center. You have to do the washing there. I suppose I could cart gallon jugs over there. But half the time the two bays are used. It would be a huge problem going up and down the stairs with the gallon jugs to make sure the water is warm enough. I am getting lazy in my old age.lol.

Your situation certainly isn't as easy as walking from my house to my garage or driveway.
I use a couple of old Final Inspection gallon jugs for my hot water transport. Since you have to take your wash bucket, maybe a couple of those full of hot water would fit in the bucket to carry it to the area. I use straight hot water and once you pour it in the bucket, it cools to where you can use it pretty quickly. If you use the two bucket system, carry 4 gallon jugs.
Maybe you could even borrow a gallon or two of hot water from a neighbor close to the car care center.