Washing with No Rinse, one bucket and a $20 Pesiticide Sprayer

[racingbeat]

THis weekend I picked up one of these 2 gallon pesticide sprayers at Home Despot. $20, I bought the neon yellow Ortho version. The pressure is very good, more than enough to do the job. Lots of water left over. For my Boxster S, 2 gallons is more than enough.

http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/841688/841688000322mi.jpg



http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=75887-1306-190164&lpage=none



I added 2 ounces of Optimum No-Rinse to the pesticide spryaer (1 ounce per gallon of water).

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-34154371804963_1902_15495320

http://www.detailcity.com/optimum-no-rinse-wash-shine-32-ounce.html



and with one small one quart bucket of clean Rinse water and my Sea Sponge

I wiped in the direction of the wind for each panel. Dunked the sponge in the bucket and squeezed out all the dirt. Chased it with a damp waffle weave.





after cleaning the paint I resused the rinse bucket water and the reamaining

Water in the sprayer to clean the wheels and wheel wells. This $10 Meguiar`s wheel face brush is my buddy.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/autopia_1902_11370117

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/meg-x-1020.html



I Followed up each panel with a quick detailer/cleaner (I use FK 146) and wiping clean with a MF or waffle weave to remove any water spots.



Quickest car wash peformed so far. I guess this is a "one bucket" Approach.

The Pesticide sprayer does a great job. You can adjust the valve to a fine spray mist or a more solid stream.

The solid stream did a good job of rinsing off the wheels wells. And with the mist I cleaned the door jambs and door sills.

[seth812]

that`s a great idea. i was looking into getting one of those sprayers for carpets, i think i saw one for sale at lowes for like 5 bucks in their flyer

[chml17l]

RB--Nice write up and technique.



Q1--Did you only use one sea sponge for the entire car and it remained clean enough with just rinsing? Q2--You did not saturate the sponge with ONR solution but used plain water instead to rinse the sponge? Q3--Do you prefer the sea sponge over mf and where did you purchase the sponge?

[racingbeat]

well since its only my second NR session I kept some grout sponges from HOme Despot on hand.

I think a couple of sponges is the best bet. On the first pass I did saturate the sponge with NR.

But once it went into the rinse bucket I just flooded the panel with the sprayer.

The Sea SPong seem to stay cleaner DURING the wash better than MF.

I want to try the sheepsking mit next time. But I think the pores in the sea sponge have an edge in reducing marring.

[legionofdoom]

No issues with only using a bucket for rinse? The sprayer was enough to get the car wet without a wash bucket?

[imported_reeeko99]

Could you do this with Car Wash Soap and have a Poor Man`s version of a Foam gun ?

Would the sprayer generate foam with the soap?



Nice write up.



How do you like the No Rinse ?

Have you used it much in any other form?



I was thinking of trying that out sometime this year and order up a bottle.





Thanks,

[racingbeat]

Well the issue I did come across (which is why I used several sponges) was that after dunking the sponge in the rinse water the sponge was still dark/stained. Maybe that`s a good thing. The dirt is in the sponge and not ON the sponge surface.

I gave it a good couple of dunks but the soot and dirt had stained the sponge (came in out in the washing machine afterwards just fine).



The Sprayer was MORE THAN ENOUGH to soak the car. We`re talking about two gallons here. Its more than you would think. And its directed in a precise way so there`s very little waste. I`d say I still had half a gallon left over after I sprayed down the wheels and wheels wells (a few times).

Just keep pumping that handle and it feels like your using a regular hose. You`ll be impressed.



As for a poor man`s foam gun I think it could work. Instead of two buckets you could have one 2 gallon for rinsing and a second sprayer for your soapy water, maybe smaller one gallon for that part. You would still need at least one of those small 1 quart bathroom cleaning buckets to dunk your wash pad/sponge/mit. I`m thinking its a good idea to have some No-Rinse in the rinse bucket as well. From the write up by Optimum, No Rinse `encapsulates` dirt and debris making it sink to the bottom of the bucket so that the rinse water on top is clean. So I guess you would want No Rinse on both ends: on the sponge/mitt and in the clean and dirty water buckets.



Home Despot had 6 grout sponges for like $3. That`s almost disposable in my book!

I also noticed they had imitation sea sponges in the paint department. Those imation sponges are used to blot walls for a marble like effect with contrasting paint colors.



p.s.

The sprayer is the best way to clean wheels without actually using a hose.

Another advantage is that you can water down the car without actually touching it.

I don`t think you can do that with the regular two bucket No-Rinse approach.

I`ll also be suing the sprayer to rinse down the canvas top with Raggtopp cleanser and an OXO feather tip brush.

[Pennypacker]

That is such a cool idea! I`m tempted to try that. Living in a condo, any rinseless wash techniques/options are golden. Thanks. :)

[racingbeat]

Do it!

you will think you are soo cool.

By the way, for Autocross/track junkies its also a great way to spray off the pebbles from your tires between laps.

[shortspark]

Nice write up. I use QEW and also DP4in1. I`ve not tried the Optimum yet as I am very happy using these others. I have done the same as you to an extent. I use the sprayer as sort of a pre-soak. I hit the bottom of the panels with the spray (or wherever I notice the most dirt) and let it sit for a while I get the two buckets going. You can almost see the dirt "melt" off after a while. Then, I use the traditional two bucket method and the pre-soaked areas are much easier to clean. I`ve never thought of doing the entire job with the sprayer. I`ll try it next time.



I`m also going to try using a mf towel for the cleaning next time. I usually use a sheepskin mit but I`ve heard the mf does an even better job with rinseless washes. The grout sponge is yet another good idea to try.

[-Lebowski-]

Heh thats funny I have been doing that for about 3 years with QEW although now I have switched to DP`s 4 In 1

[racingbeat]

1 bucket or two?

I still can`t believe this thing is this functional for only $20. I feel like it should be developed for car washing a bit more. Maybe with shoulder strap and a valve measuring cup to pour in the No-Rinse.

Or maybe like two chambers one for plain rinse water and the other with No-Rinse.

[Beason]

Does anyone know how much liquid the ONR cap holds?

[imported_hooked]

1 bucket or two?

I still can`t believe this thing is this functional for only $20. I feel like it should be developed for car washing a bit more. Maybe with shoulder strap and a valve measuring cup to pour in the No-Rinse.

Or maybe like two chambers one for plain rinse water and the other with No-Rinse.



Hmmm...sounds like one of those Mega-Super-Soaker Water Guns to me! :chuckle:

[Beason]

Does anyone know how much liquid the ONR cap holds?



nevermind, I measure it out. Its about half an oz.