How do you clean your car during the cold winter months?

[twopu]

It just gets to the point where you have to be crazy to clean your car outside during the winter months. I want to take it to the car wash but I`m afraid of all of the scratches. I can go to the touchless places but it does nothing but spray high pressured water which only removes large particles but doesn`t really clean your car. I don`t have access to a garage so cleaning it inside is out of the question. What do you guys do?

[wash_me]

If the water does not freeze on the car your good to go . I wear rubber gloves to keep my hands dry.

[imported_BretFraz]

This topic comes up every year. Please use the SEARCH function. There are numerous threads about winter washing and car care.

[explorer]

I feel your pain, I have put my hose away , what I do now is this:



I go to the touchless, takes away the big stuff like you said, than when I get home I use QEW(PROTECT ALL QUICK & EASY WASH):xyxthumbs I do not do this every time I wash but I do it on the warmer days





Yesterday was my first day at the touchless, funny thing happened, they give me the code, I punch it in and the door would not open , so I call them to check it out , this girl walked in through the side door to see what the problem was, she walks by the sensors and she got a good wash herself :shocked then they found out that the door would not open because they had forgotten to take it out of the manual mode

Felt sorry for her it was 6.AM and very cold:lol :lol



The inside of the car I clean when it is sunny, gets a little warm inside the car :wavey

[centrefire114]

I purchased Quick and Easy Wash, and it only takes about a gallon of water and the vehicle comes out looking good, I havent tried it in the wheeel wells or rims yet scared Ill get some dirt in my mitt and towel and scratch the paint, Im going mobile and dont want to be shut down so I might try washing dealer cars with QEW and see how it does, Im curious how the mobile guys make it in the winter what do you do?

[chris0626]

twopu, bretfraz is right. There have been lots of discussions on this topic, and if you`ll use the search function you`ll get lots more tips than this one thread is likely to turn up.



I remember that when I did the search on this topic last year (I don`t have a garage), I also learned that the commercial places recycle their water, which means you`re also being bombarded by the dirt particles in the recylced water.



I feel sorry for ya, since you`re in one of the weather zones that`s even worse than mine.

[CharlesW]

Originally posted by Lynn

I also learned that the commercial places recycle their water, which means you`re also being bombarded by the dirt particles in the recylced water.

Check the recycled water thing out at any wash facility you may be considering. I found one in my area that does not use recycled water. There may be more.

For some reason I thought all of them would be recycling, but in our area, that is not the case.

I quite often go through a touchless to get the salt crud off and then finish up at home.

Don`t, I say again, don`t dry your vehicle after it comes out of the touchless wash. There will be so much dirt left on the finish you will immediately be in swirl city. Maybe even scratch city.

QEW and Poorboy`s Spray & Wipe get a lot of use in the winter months.



Charles

[chris0626]

I`m with you about Poorboy`s S&W, Charles. But ... it`s gotta be warm enough outside so I can stand to be out there.



Interesting info about who does and who doesn`t use recycled water. I wonder how a regular person can find out about that. :nixweiss

[CharlesW]

Originally posted by Lynn

Interesting info about who does and who doesn`t use recycled water. I wonder how a regular person can find out about that. :nixweiss

I just went up to the attendant and asked him.

Guess what, he didn`t have a clue. Real surprise, huh?

What he did do was show me their utility room and told me to look around. There were no filter units at all and he showed me the maintenance schedule they follow. No filter changes were noted. One thing that really impressed me was the cleanliness of the utility room. The wash facility is at least 2 years old, maybe 3. The place was virtually spotless. I hadn`t expected that.

I do think recycling is required in some areas of the country. I figured they all did it to save money on their water bill. As usual, I jumped to a wrong conclusion.



Charles

[Corey Bit Spank]

I take the cars to the "touchless" wash (Delta Sonic) in the winter months when it is absolutely too cold to be outside getting wet. If it`s warmer, I`ll take it to the booths with my friend with a bunch of quarters, one of us sprays and the other washes quickly, then rinses. Works well.



My theory is that if the salt is on the car, it`s better to get it off. I can fix swirl marks easier then I can corrosian and rust. Plus, our automatic car washes here seem to be fairly good at getting the cars clean. (and the undercarriage spray is another perk). During the summer months they can forget about washing my car there, but from december-march..bah. Just my theory on things.

[imported_chpsk8]

Originally posted by bretfraz

This topic comes up every year. Please use the SEARCH function. There are numerous threads about winter washing and car care.

Although I would agree that this may come up every year, and the search function is handy, but there are new members joining all the time, they may have new ideas that could be posted for all to learn from. So where the search function may be good for old news, I think hearing from the new blood will be great, let`s see what they have to say.



Just my opinion.

[2wheelsx2]

You do have a point. However, it would probably be worthwhile to put up what you found first, and then say "what else can I do"? That way, your thread will summarize everything for everyone in one place also.:up

[shaf]

Originally posted by chpsk8

Although I would agree that this may come up every year, and the search function is handy, but there are new members joining all the time, they may have new ideas that could be posted for all to learn from. So where the search function may be good for old news, I think hearing from the new blood will be great, let`s see what they have to say.



Just my opinion.

The flip side to this coin is that older, more experienced members may be less willing to invest the time and patience to rehash the details of what they had said in the past in so many words.



I know that sometimes I see a post nowadays and don`t want to answer with one of my huge 1 screen long replies because I had already done that once in the past and that was more than enough!



With the exception of the introduction of a new product, detailing advice and methods usually only changes in minor ways. Some of the most detailed and informative posts can be found in the Archives, some written by a few of the "original" Autopia members. There was a lot of discussion and experimentation going on in those days.

[AndyC]

I`m quite lucky as there are a couple of local garages with a jet wash where you simply put in a £1 coin and select your choice (i.e. foam lance, high pressure lance, "hot wax" (ouch) or high foam brush (left covered in crud by the person who last used). I simply use the high pressure spray to remove any dirt on the paintwork if it really is too cold to wash entire car properly. I`m a bit wary of this now as last time I did it, the garage hadn`t put grit around the drain and I slipped and ended up flat on my back completely winded - it may have been at that point, in near freezing temparature, soaking wet and with a sore back that I realized that cleaning one`s car can easily become a bit obsessive.....

[rleven]

I have a gallon of Poorboys s&w but I am afraid to use it in fear of scratching the finish. I have always just used it in the past of bird bombs and such. If the weather is 50 or higher I will wash the car.