Sever Shortage of the Most-Used detailing Product: WATER!

**Lonnie** · 04-14-2022, 09:16 AM

This topic seems to be much more political in nature, and it is, than it is detailing-related. But because it is so important to detailing and vehicle appearance/car-care that without it, such activities and the detailing profession cease to exist, so I thought it a detailing-related topic of discussion, albeit extremely controversial.

It it quite apparent that climate change is having an effect on our water supply here in the United States. It is also becoming a point of contention between states or areas that have water and those that do not as to how to regulate, control, and distribute the water supply that exists. I say that because those of you Autopians who live in drought-stricken areas of the US are well aware of the water restrictions imposed by local natural resource or water departments and the effect it has on EVERY facet of living where you do, including vehicle detailing.

Quite frankly, what precipitated (no pun intended) this topic discussion are comments made by federal candidates to the Senate and House of Representatives that water rights and its distribution may be the next reason for civil war in the US.
While that may seem an extreme viewpoint, the fact that a politician on the federal level would even mention it gives credibility to its existence and is an issue to be considered and taken seriously.
The other factor that contributed to this topic are recently signed agreements/accords between Canadian Providences and American states surrounding the Great Lakes that water from these fresh-water lakes would NOT be "harvested/mined/exploited" as a natural commodity and sold for profit by such provincial or state government natural resource departments or private companies and exported to outlying states, Providences, or countries. How this will be enforced or if those accords will be honored or who actually has control of this water remains to be determined.

I know that detailing and car-washing is FAR down on the list of priority allocations for using water, and as stated, some of you are already affected by such government mandates/regulations of those priority allocations relating to car-washing. Quite frankly, I would rather be able to eat food grown in the southeast or southwest states than have a clean vehicle, but that may already be decided by some government entity for me.

I have no good answers to this problem or concern and it does affect my detailing hobby.
What are your thoughts on this controversial topic?

**Accumulator** · 04-14-2022, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Lonnie

What are your thoughts on this controversial topic?

That`s one of the factors I considered when debating whether I`d want to relocate..Water is one of those things I want to just take for granted (along with frequency of natural disasters, weather in general, etc. etc.).

**Bill D** · 04-14-2022, 11:59 AM

There’s too much water here if/when a hurricane hits here!

**crg001** · 04-14-2022, 03:18 PM

I live in southern CA and as such have been dealing with water restrictions for years. There`s not a lot of actual "enforcement" unless you are doing something obvious and heinous, but as time moves on I find myself moving more and more towards water saving measures. I had an undiagnosed leaking water line near the main 6 feet underground last year and after several months of $2-300/mo water bills I just about abandoned traditional car washing entirely!

That`s not to say my cars have been dirty though. Rinseless washes have been my go-to for everything that I can get away with now, and have been experimenting with different ways to enhance that process. I really think rinseless washes don`t get enough credit and recognition for what they are capable of, especially with a good selection of tools.

I`ve even been using it on some of the "disaster" cars people have brought to me to detail. While sometimes a good alkaline pre-soak and rinse is necessary, that is the only running water I would use during a detail. The wash process with rinseless can be done with less than 10 gallons on a very dirty vehicle quite easily IMO. I`m still trying to figure out the best ways to do a full decon without having to rinse and I think I`m getting close to the formula for it.

Anyways, water restrictions have been a thing here for a long time and they are here to stay. As detailers we need to evolve and adapt our craft to stay in line with ecological concerns, including the amount of runoff and toxic chemicals we can potentially introduce into the water table (and our own bodies, but that`s another matter...). I frequent the social media detailing groups and the willful ignorance towards these concerns is pretty saddening to me.

**Coatings=crack** · 04-14-2022, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by crg001

I live in southern CA and as such have been dealing with water restrictions for years. There`s not a lot of actual "enforcement" unless you are doing something obvious and heinous, but as time moves on I find myself moving more and more towards water saving measures. I had an undiagnosed leaking water line near the main 6 feet underground last year and after several months of $2-300/mo water bills I just about abandoned traditional car washing entirely!

That`s not to say my cars have been dirty though. Rinseless washes have been my go-to for everything that I can get away with now, and have been experimenting with different ways to enhance that process. I really think rinseless washes don`t get enough credit and recognition for what they are capable of, especially with a good selection of tools.

I`ve even been using it on some of the "disaster" cars people have brought to me to detail. While sometimes a good alkaline pre-soak and rinse is necessary, that is the only running water I would use during a detail. The wash process with rinseless can be done with less than 10 gallons on a very dirty vehicle quite easily IMO. I`m still trying to figure out the best ways to do a full decon without having to rinse and I think I`m getting close to the formula for it.

Anyways, water restrictions have been a thing here for a long time and they are here to stay. As detailers we need to evolve and adapt our craft to stay in line with ecological concerns, including the amount of runoff and toxic chemicals we can potentially introduce into the water table (and our own bodies, but that`s another matter...). I frequent the social media detailing groups and the willful ignorance towards these concerns is pretty saddening to me.

Yeah i been digging a Bilt Hamber pre wash followed by a Frothe wipe down. Guess I should bucket wash while I get a chance.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**dgage** · 04-14-2022, 06:59 PM

I just used Reset in an IK Foam 12 Pro as a pre-wash but my car wasn`t that dirty so I used that as my wash; foam then scrub with multiple wash mitts. That process felt much more lubricated than a traditional bucket wash. So not exactly rinseless since I had to rinse Reset but I`ve used Frothe with the foamer. Most of my washes are rinseless even without restrictions, primarily because I don`t want to waste water but also because my vehicle isn`t usually that dirty. Looks like I`ll be working to track down a rinseless foamer that is more traditional than Frothe. Then again, I likely need to play with Frothe more as well.

Regarding climate change and the lack of water, I feel politically it is starting to reach the tipping point where it can`t be denied but I`m sure that is wishful thinking on my part. As you said, too political, which means two opposite sides that cannot work together and cannot agree. In today`s politics, agreement is weakness and weakness is a death sentence. I wish moderation could take hold and make headway.

**Lonnie** · 04-15-2022, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by dgage

I just used Reset in an IK Foam 12 Pro as a pre-wash but my car wasn`t that dirty so I used that as my wash; foam then scrub with multiple wash mitts. That process felt much more lubricated than a traditional bucket wash. So not exactly rinseless since I had to rinse Reset but I`ve used Frothe with the foamer. Most of my washes are rinseless even without restrictions, primarily because I don`t want to waste water but also because my vehicle isn`t usually that dirty. Looks like I`ll be working to track down a rinseless foamer that is more traditional than Frothe. Then again, I likely need to play with Frothe more as well.

Regarding climate change and the lack of water, I feel politically it is starting to reach the tipping point where it can`t be denied but I`m sure that is wishful thinking on my part. As you said, too political, which means two opposite sides that cannot work together and cannot agree. In today`s politics, agreement is weakness and weakness is a death sentence. I wish moderation could take hold and make headway.

dgage:
This is a two-part answer to my question/concern and the first part is very well detail-related, meaning it fits my 2022-resolution to keep this forum detailing-centric as much as possible.
Perhaps a parallel topic is: What are the best methods to conserve water doing a rinseless wash AND what are the best products to use for doing that. You`ve outlined your approach to those questions in your above response.
MOST rinseless washes happen for three reasons:
1) Local water restrictions imposed by local or state governments overseeing water rights
2) Convenience (too lazy to drag out a hose or time constraint; AKA, quickie-wash or lack of an outside water spiket/faucet water supply (I am think renters)
3) Too cold outside to do a conventional two-bucket wash, so a rinseless wash is done inside a heated area (garage/building/business), with an attempt to use as little as possible of water to avoid getting the flooring wet while still trying to clean a vehicle as thoroughly as possible, given how "dirty" it is AND avoid damaging/swirling the exterior finish. (At least that is the goal!)

The second one on the political aspect is well understood. I never thought of "compromise" agreement to get something done as a weakness, BUT I think that is the perception by many individuals, both elected politicians at all levels of government and their constituents (including non-voters) they represent: MY WAY and WIN or NO WAY. There is no "middle ground" in politics within all three branches of government: executive, legislative, or judicial. How that relates to water usage and its distribution is are ready in the works, hence my opinion on this topic in this forum.

My other concern is just water quality itself for human consumption. That was brought to the forefront with the heavy-metal lead issues in Flint, Michigan and how the government created and handled that whole water-quality fiasco. We have our own issues here in Wisconsin with farm manure run-off from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) AKA large corporate dairy farms getting into underground aquifers accessed by residential wells and "Forever Chemicals" (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS) used in manufacturing, particularly those from a local foam fire-fighting company in Northeast Wisconsin. Our state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is in hot water (no pun intended) over how to handle and regulate these contaminates, trying to balance business concerns of economic responsibilities to operational feasibility with the impact it is having on public personal heath concerns.
Another concern I have is that brought on by the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. My fear is that some hostile government entity will use chemical warfare or nuclear missiles & explosions to taint the Great Lakes water supply. It is one way to render the Midwest area of the United States and mid-southern Canada almost uninhabitable. Not exactly detailing-related, but a concern none-the-less that would effect far more than just my detailing hobby!