How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

[Cleantacoma]

It was brought up in a thread about water spots and drying your car, so I decided to take a few pics on what I do and how it works well. Most of you know what this is and how to do it, but some of don't..... until now.....

I rinse my cars with the good ole spray nozzle to help get some of that hard to get stuff off the only issue is it leaves behind all these little water drops that you need to get off in a hurry...

Your waxed surface may look like this after the "final spray"



This is where I have learned to "flood" the car simply remove the nozzle and wet the car top to bottom with the hose like this



You can see the residual water difference here.... Flooding to the left spray to the right



It makes it much easier to dry and less chance of spotting



Enjoy happy washing......

- Brice

[Shawn T.]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Or just use some D114 or D115 :P

Good demonstration. I still use this the occasional times I do a 2 bucket traditional wash.

[Top Gear]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Some people really like the flood method, but I can't see the point. You have to turn the water off, change the nozzle, turn it back on and be careful now that it's flooding, flood the car very carefully, turn it back off, replace the nozzle, and you still have to dry those remaining beads off. So, this either means wiping extensively (creating more spiderwebs and work), or using a blower (eliminating the need to flood in the first place). The blower is obnoxious, of course, but I've found it removes the water very quickly, leaving me with plenty of energy to detail other things around the car. Maybe I'm missing something, though...

[wesleyoh]

For those who use a blower.... do u blow dry or wipe dry first

[Cleantacoma]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Maybe I'm missing something, though...

Ya I dont own a blower

[Top Gear]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

I don't wipe at all to dry the car. I put the water sprayer down when I'm done and pick up the blower. 10 minutes later the car is totally dry

Now, there's likely a major difference as to where we are in the world and the overall weather. Idaho is very dry, Southern California (where Meg's folks are) is very dry, etc, and so wiping can be MUCH easier than here in the Southeast with our Mega Humidity. One of the last times I dried the car with MF towels it took 2 hours!!, and that was after I'd squeegied most of it off with my hands. The water just would not dry and the rags only smeared it everywhere. It soaked 4 MF towels, and cleaning up my own dripping sweat off the paint was also part of the problem. That's what got me to the blower method, thus giving up on flooding, wiping, or even driving to dry the car. None of it works when it's humid

[Blueline]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Some people really like the flood method, but I can't see the point. You have to turn the water off, change the nozzle, turn it back on and be careful now that it's flooding, flood the car very carefully, turn it back off, replace the nozzle, and you still have to dry those remaining beads off. Maybe I'm missing something, though...

I think you are missing something. Unless you have a cheap hose, all you have to do it unsnap (or unscrew)
the nozzle, and bend the hose to almost a kink, and the water comes out nice and slow. When finished, snap (or screw on) the nozzel. No need to turn the water off at all. Using this method, I can use a Kleenex to blot (NOT wipe) up the remaining water. (I exaggerate, but my one drying towel hardly even gets wet)
With a good rubber hose and a snap on nozzle, it is easy.

Oh, and I would not let it run out at such a high angle at the posters picture. Angle the hose low, almost parallel to the panel, and the waters runs off. Maybe it is my superior M16 wax.

[Jimjc]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

I`ve been using a leaf blower for 25 years and I can`t believe why everyone doesn`t. First, there`s no way you can get water out of all the cracks everywhere without one. Second it blows all water off the car, so no wiping. Did you ever finish washing your car then leave and the water and other things blow out of the wiper area all over your front window you just washed or blow out all water from the inside the side mirrors so they don`t leak down the side of the car, that doesn`t happen with a blower, everything is blown out and that`s important if you have hard water you must get all water out of all cracks. Anyway flooding the car with water wastes a lot of water.

[Blueline]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

I`ve been using a leaf blower for 25 years Anyway flooding the car with water wastes a lot of water.

You must have very understanding neighbors. As for water, I "gots" lots.

[Top Gear]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Didn't mean to start a war, but yeah, I think you're exaggerating the effectiveness of flooding, Blueline. It's just too much trouble monkeying around with a water hose and it doesn't actually do what I need done, which is to dry the car of the very same tap water to prevent any spotting, reduce residue, dust cling, etc. Jimjc is absolutely right.

Still, if you're in such a dry climate that bathroom tissue is all you need to dry off your car, then I can see why you're probably not needing a blower. By the same token, maybe you can see why flooding is a complete waste of time and energy where I am?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

This nails it about as well as anyone possibly could nail it.......

I think you are missing something. Unless you have a cheap hose, all you have to do it unsnap (or unscrew)
the nozzle, and bend the hose to almost a kink, and the water comes out nice and slow. When finished, snap (or screw on) the nozzel. No need to turn the water off at all. Using this method, I can use a Kleenex to blot (NOT wipe) up the remaining water. (I exaggerate, but my one drying towel hardly even gets wet)
With a good rubber hose and a snap on nozzle, it is easy.

Oh, and I would not let it run out at such a high angle at the posters picture. Angle the hose low, almost parallel to the panel, and the waters runs off. Maybe it is my superior M16 wax.

Well, OK, maybe the last point about it being due to the M16 is your modesty showing....... as good as M16 is, it's your technique here that really does the job. For the record, when I bucket wash this is exactly how I do it, too.

With our water here in SoCal if I were to use a leaf blower to dry the whole car I'd be leaving little trails of water spots all over the place. Sure, they clean up really easy with some QD but if I have to follow a blower with a towel anyway, I'd rather save the time and just use the towel to blot up the small amount of water that remains following the sheeting rinse. And, yes, I know this for a fact with our water because I just had to try the blower method for myself. Didn't like it for the body of the car, but it is great for the wheels.

But at the end of the day, we all have little variations in all the different processes and, as long as your variation isn't doing any harm to the paint (or whatever surface you're working on) who's to say it's "wrong"? If the sheeting method works for Cleantacoma and the blower method works for Top Gear, guess what? You're both right!

[Top Gear]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

Wow, I wouldn't have thought that in super-arid Southern California (or anywhere out West in/around the desert regions, all of which I've visited and greatly enjoyed) you'd have "trails of water spots" from using a blower vs drying by hand. Is it the water sprayed, or the low-humidity into which it's drying, or both?? Perhaps in very arid climates, the water is evaporating in such a way that the blower is just pushing trails of spot residue around? (This cries out for a MythBusters-like test!) If so, yes, I'd think the flood and wipe down technique is probably best, and the blower would create more work.

Here in the Southeast, where we can sweat even while sitting in air-conditioned comfort (think Pacific Northwest rain levels of humidity, but with heat), the opposite is true: Wiping more than like a few beads or so, enough to start soaking the towel, will streak and smear even with clean towels, while patiently blowing with air will dry the surface like magic, and with absolutely no hint of spotting or residue. That's where many of my comments are coming from.

I think it's all due to the blown air (on "hi") creating a much lower relative humidity around the point of impact on the paint, such that any moisture and the contaminants dissolved within are all effortlessly evaporated off the surface. Again, I need no wiping after blowing dry at all, not to dry further, not for spots. If I re-boost with Gold Class Quik Wax, for example, the effect is truly stunning

Thanks Mike

[Bunky]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

The flood process is quicker if you invest in quick disconnects and a shut-off. It just takes a few seconds to turn off water, remove sprayer, and quick connect the hose (use a cut off hose with a quick disconnect). I then either use a Metro Master Blaster or towel depending on the mood.

[goldenlight]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

why not just get a fireman hoze nozzle.. You can find these at big box retailers. Walmart, lowes, Home-depot, Autozone, AdvanceAutoParrts.

[STRIFE]

Re: How to rinse using the flood method (with pics)

^ yea..I have one of those.....so I never need to unscrew the nozzle...amazon has them too