Pressure Washers and Wax

[cd36]

Hey,

I'm new to the forum, got sent over here by some people from lxforums.com, alot of great information around here.

I recently did my first full wash/wax on my new (to me) 2006 Chrysler 300C (Linen Gold). I clay bared it and waxed with NXT Tech Wax 2.0. The car looks great, next time I think I may need to try to get rid of a couple of small scratches in it, but since I need to borrow a garage as I don't have one, and its the middle of winter in Winnipeg, and it was my first time doing this, I didn't have the time to do a full polish/wax and wanted to see how this would turn out.

It turned out great, but now I'm going to have to try to keep it looking like this till spring, when I have a bit more flexibility in what I can do to it. Typically before this wax I would take it down to the local coin op car wash, spray it down with the pressure washer quickly to get alot of the salt and dirt off the car, then do a quick hand wash and dry with ONR.

Now how well does wax hold up to a pressure washer? Am I basically going to lose my coat of wax the first time I pressure wash the car? What about if I'm in a quick bind and need to take it through a touchless car wash? I only would do it on the cheapest setting, where they don't apply any of their waxes or anything, I would mainly just use it as a quick way to blast salt off the car, especially from underneath.

I know its not ideal to do this, but I have to be realistic. Its the middle of winter in winnipeg, its my only car (I bus to work, but I drive the car everywhere else), I live in an apartment with only outdoor parking (will change in the spring hopefully), and I'm trying to do the best that I can to keep my car clean, and keep the salt off of it, without having a place to wash it myself. The coin op is nice, but I have to go at absurd hours when its not busy so I can do my ONR and dry.

Anyone else have to put their wax through a pressure washer, and know how it holds up? Thanks!

[RaskyR1]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Hey,

I'm new to the forum, got sent over here by some people from lxforums.com, alot of great information around here.

I recently did my first full wash/wax on my new (to me) 2006 Chrysler 300C (Linen Gold). I clay bared it and waxed with NXT Tech Wax 2.0. The car looks great, next time I think I may need to try to get rid of a couple of small scratches in it, but since I need to borrow a garage as I don't have one, and its the middle of winter in Winnipeg, and it was my first time doing this, I didn't have the time to do a full polish/wax and wanted to see how this would turn out.

It turned out great, but now I'm going to have to try to keep it looking like this till spring, when I have a bit more flexibility in what I can do to it. Typically before this wax I would take it down to the local coin op car wash, spray it down with the pressure washer quickly to get alot of the salt and dirt off the car, then do a quick hand wash and dry with ONR.

Now how well does wax hold up to a pressure washer? Am I basically going to lose my coat of wax the first time I pressure wash the car? What about if I'm in a quick bind and need to take it through a touchless car wash? I only would do it on the cheapest setting, where they don't apply any of their waxes or anything, I would mainly just use it as a quick way to blast salt off the car, especially from underneath.

I know its not ideal to do this, but I have to be realistic. Its the middle of winter in winnipeg, its my only car (I bus to work, but I drive the car everywhere else), I live in an apartment with only outdoor parking (will change in the spring hopefully), and I'm trying to do the best that I can to keep my car clean, and keep the salt off of it, without having a place to wash it myself. The coin op is nice, but I have to go at absurd hours when its not busy so I can do my ONR and dry.

Anyone else have to put their wax through a pressure washer, and know how it holds up? Thanks!

I've been using a pressure washer to wash cars for over 20 years and I've never seen any negative effects from using one. Obviously you don't want to use a gas pressure washer putting out over 3000psi with a narrow tip, but the coin opp pressure washers are very safe and only run around 1000-1500psi. In the winter I go to the coin opp and hand wash or I will just give it a good rinse and then ONR at home.

The touch-less washes do use some stronger chemicals to help loosen all the dirt from the car which will definitely shorten the life of your wax. If you do decide to use the touch-less wash you may want to try and go over the car with a qucik detailer or quick wax to boost the protection.


Oh and welcome to MOL!


Rasky

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Welcome to MOL

I'm not really for sure about how many pressure washes from a touchless car wash will remove the wax, Never give it a thought, haven't used them to many times.

But like you said, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And getting rid of that salt is important! And there's a good changes theirs no wax on there any way with all the salt so the water pressure would be the least of the worries. But in spring/summer you could always use the UQW if it's not to cold to add alittle protection back until you have time to do a good detail.

Also when it comes time for you to pull forward for the drying step in the touchless wash just go ahead and pull on out and get to the side out of the way and then quickly spray on some ultimate quik detail on your wet surface and then dry off yourself. Helps in the drying and also leaves a fresh coat of hydrophobic polymer protection.

After all it is the missing link between washing and waxing and this will be of some help in your paints surface care and protection until you can do a complete detail.

Hope I've helped answer your question and give you some other options when you do have to use these touchless washes but if you think about it water pressure remove tuff dirt and grim from the surface so it's not good for just a thin application of a wax or sealant.

[cd36]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Welcome to MOL

I'm not really for sure about how many pressure washes from a touchless car wash will remove the wax, Never give it a thought, haven't used them to many times.

But like you said, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And getting rid of that salt is important! And there's a good changes theirs no wax on there any way with all the salt so the water pressure would be the least of the worries. But in spring/summer you could always use the UQW if it's not to cold to add alittle protection back until you have time to do a good detail.

Also when it comes time for you to pull forward for the drying step in the touchless wash just go ahead and pull on out and get to the side out of the way and then quickly spray on some ultimate quik detail on your wet surface and then dry off yourself. Helps in the drying and also leaves a fresh coat of hydrophobic polymer protection.

After all it is the missing link between washing and waxing and this will be of some help in your paints surface care and protection until you can do a complete detail.

Hope I've helped answer your question and give you some other options when you do have to use these touchless washes but if you think about it water pressure remove tuff dirt and grim from the surface so it's not good for just a thin application of a wax or sealant.

Well this weekend I just gave it a wax to help protect it, but I'm trying to figure out what I can do to make it last. Luckily we haven't had the salt trucks out lately, so road salt should be minimal. The car still looks quite good.

Good tip on the detailer/quick wax after the car wash, that may be the way to go. Typically when I dry the car I don't use a rubbing motion, I pat the car dry. After going through the car wash though it should be fairly clean, suppose there isn't much risk of damaging the paint from rubbing in a quick detailer then.

Thanks for the help, I knew keeping this car looking good through the winter wouldn't be easy.

[cd36]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

in case anyones interested, here she is with her first coat of NXT Tech 2.0 on her.

[Andy M.]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Hello and welcome to MOL!

Nice looking ride you have there. I removed one of your posts as it was doubled.

Andy M.

MOL Moderator

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

You sure do keep it nice! great looking car!

[TOGWT]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Touch less’ carwash

Cleaning requires; a cleaning agent (soap, detergent or a chemical cleaner) and friction. Without friction a very strong cleaning agent is required. Heated water breaks down water-soluble soiling faster as it reduces overall chemical usage because it reduces the surface tension of the fibre. Heat acts as a catalyst promoting quicker reactions between chemicals and the soil thereby minimizing dwell time.

Most so called ‘Touch less’ car washes today use a low pH acid as a first step, an alkaline to neutralize it and then high pressure water to wash cars. Hand washing is MUCH preferred, doesn’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons:

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Welcome to mol. Your car looks great.

[tguil]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Most so called ‘Touch less’ car washes today use a low pH acid as a first step, an alkaline to neutralize it and then high pressure water to wash cars. Hand washing is MUCH preferred, doesn’t use an automated car wash period, touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons:

Let's have a little more information on this.

This winter I actually have been using the coin-op's "pre-soak" prior to the detergent wash followed by a rinse then Quick Easy Wash (rinseless). I have been using Meguiar's Ultimate Spray wax after each wash. So far the results seem to be OK. My truck has a very good application of NXT 2.0. I should add that I only use the "pre-soak" when I am dealing with really "nasty stuff".

Tom

[Golden]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Welcome and nice ride! I really like that color....never see it.

[cd36]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax

Hey guys, thanks for the welcome and the compliments. I hope I can keep this car looking like this.

Thanks for the heads up on the touchless washers too. I will try to avoid them as much as possible, even if I go to the coin-op and spray it down quickly its better than nothing. The only think I like about the touchless is the undercarriage wash, its tough to do at the coin op.

Maybe once the snow is gone and before I do my spring clay/wax I will take it through one of those washes to wash the underbody as best I can. THanks guys!

[mrdj]

Re: Pressure Washers and Wax




Looks great! It's fun to see a great looking car shown with a snow backround.