Newbie - What is 2 bucket system?

[Mark2]

One question actually a few If you use two buckets. Do you wash one side first, empty them, refill and wash the other side or do you wash one side and then the other or do you run back and and forth, side to side since you always shold start from the top and work your way down?

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Mark2
One question actually a few If you use two buckets. Do you wash one side first, empty them, refill and wash the other side or do you wash one side and then the other or do you run back and and forth, side to side since you always shold start from the top and work your way down?

Might not be a bad idea to refill the buckets, if your car is very dirty to begin with.....I will do this if there's a lot of dirt on the car.....Like in the wintertime.

I always wash from the top down, and that means going back & forth until I finish those areas.

I then find me a starting place on the side somewhere, and go around the car in one direction. I also like to wash the lower panels twice before moving on to the next section too.......There's nothing worse than giving the car a final rinse, just to find out later that you missed a spot.

[Accumulator]

Mark2- If I see much dirt in my rinse bucket(s) I replace the rinse water. If I think I'm using up too much of my wash solution I'll mix up some more. The "running around" factor is why I got the redundant systems well, that and the whole dumping/refilling thing. I predict that once anybody tries the "redundant systems method" they'll forget about the cost and never look back.

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
I saw a caster bucket holder thing (Dolly) for $35.00 a-piece..[picture attached]...

I have the yellow rectangular buckets for my wash/rinse, but I use the bucket holder thing for my wheel/tire bucket and for household buckets too. It works well. Mine's called a "bucket buggy" but I suspect they're all made by the same people. It seems really sturdy, like it'll last forever and a day.

[rusty bumper]

I saw the "Bucket Buggy" on Google just now. It's priced a little less than the one offered by Grit Guard.

A homemade version might work though.

Hehe......I made a 24" dolly out of .75" plywood and some castors last year! I have a 20 gallon plastic tub that sits on it too. I made it so I could drian water out of my 30g aquarium without having to carry the water through the house.

Now that's an idea for washing multiple cars at once.

Now, all I need is an extra large grit guard.

[Mark2]

Accumulator: Nice to see you here too on MOL this is a very nice forum IMHO

Does the mitt get better cleaned if I rinse it in the rinse bucket or if I rinse it with my hose? I have a triggertype nozzle with different settings and I think I get the mitt very clean this way too.
I also bought a foamgun, which I use for pre-rinsing the car. It's called Hydrofoamer and it has a "metering tip kit to allow you to customize the dilution ratio. The HydroFoamer's dilution range is 12:1 to 128:1." What ratio is ideal in your opinion?
Link: http://www.petedge.com/sdx/108394.jsp

[Accumulator]

Rusty Bumper- Good idea for the aquarium. Once you start putting things on casters there can be no end to it. I have all sorts of things in the shop on casters these days, like the plastic trash cans I store my towels and applicators in.

Originally posted by Mark2
Does the mitt get better cleaned if I rinse it in the rinse bucket or if I rinse it with my hose? I have a triggertype nozzle with different settings and I think I get the mitt very clean this way too.

I'd just do what appears to work best, and keep some spare mitts handy just in case. I'm probably overly cautious, but I swap mitts before I think I have cause to worry. Just doing the "better safe than sorry" thing.

I also bought a foamgun, which I use for pre-rinsing the car. It's called Hydrofoamer and it has a "metering tip kit to allow you to customize the dilution ratio. The HydroFoamer's dilution range is 12:1 to 128:1." What ratio is ideal in your opinion?

I get asked this all the time and I never have a good answer I mix my wash solution for the gun by eye and then adjust its dilution until it "looks right". Pretty crappy explanation huh?!? Sheesh, you'd think I'd measure things carefully if only so I could tell people what I do, but even *very* rough mixes work great for me.

I'd find a dilution that doesn't strip your LSP and still provides what you're after (which is probably what you're already trying to do ). I don't do as much pretreating with mine, generally using it for my "extreme wash technique" that you've probably read about elsewhere. So I probably use a weaker mix that you'd want to use. If you match your shampoo with your LSP right (can take a few tries to find a pairing that works right) you'll eventually come up with a mix that will work for you. Megiuar's #62 would probably be my choice out of their extensive range of shampoos (due to its great lubricity).

For the ultimate in redundant systems, besides all the buckets, I have two hoses per side, one dedicated to the foam gun and the other for rinsing.

[Bill D]

I'm a huge fan of Accumulator's extreme washing technique and I'd say my foam gun is as equally essential to me as my Cyclo or PC.

I have a similar set up with hoses, one with the foam gun, the other connected to a filter for the rinse water.


Occasionally I may have a 5 gallon bucket for rinse water and another for soapy solution but I generally just cart 2 pails--one holding plenty of clean sheepskin mitts and the other for storing them after I use them.

I saturate a mitt with the foam gun, then the panel I'm washing, wash that panel and maybe part of an adjacent panel and then switch over to a fresh mitt entirely. I average about 5 mitts used per wash.

Since I have them, I make use of them and I feel more at ease with switching to a new mitt entirely every area or so. Makes the washing technique even more extreme.