Revisiting Soaps - Cutting Through the Salt Crust

M

mobiledynamics

New member
Going to dry a new process this year for winter cleaning maintenance

Previous years, always washed car during the winter, when we had a day above freezing, I would wash early so the standby water would dry before it iced up again at night... Ultmately, I know I caused more winter marring than not, each time even after PW rinse, foam soak, etc - in the quest to get the salt/snow crust off.

I`m planning to be completely touchless this winter.
No matter the itch, I just plan to pre rinse, pre foam/soak, rinse and then blow dry all the excess water.
The film that remains behind, I will not touch until winter is really over....

With that said, what soap would you guys recommend.
All the cars are coated with CQF or CQUK. Some have reload as topper. Some don`t.
My current soap in stash that I use is Reset, and Griots Shampoo and 3D Pink.
Soak in stash I don`t use is CGCWG.

If the car is not filthy, I generally do a reset wash.
If I`m doing double duty wash, I do a 3D Pink Foam presoak, rinse and a final wash with reset.
 
As a general rule in my testing and findings is that the current "Snow Foam" soaps at are applied via the foam cannon/gun don`t really do a whole lot as far as cleaning without any agitation. I have come to the conclusion that pre-rinsing a car with water then coming back over with a pressure washer gets the same amount of cleaning done as the "Snow Foam". Now over in Europe they have some (TFR) soaps that are a little more aggressive and really do some cleaning but our EPA stops them from being available here.
 
Ronkh said:
"tfr soaps" ?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I knew better but still did the shorthand.


TFR = Traffic Film Remover


These seem to be much more aggressive soaps smilier to what you find at the "Car wash" that can clean without agitation but are also then harder on your LSP.
 
TroyScherer said:
Sorry, I knew better but still did the shorthand.


TFR = Traffic Film Remover


These seem to be much more aggressive soaps smilier to what you find at the "Car wash" that can clean without agitation but are also then harder on your LSP.
Click to expand...


Thank you. So pretty much hydrofluoric acid or similar.
 
Troy -

Indeed. I`ve watched DW snows for years. I think one of the 1st ones that was touchless for them was CG No Touch.

So you`re saying just 2 double rinses of straight water with PW.
I`m really trying to be ~touchless~ this entire winter.
Many times, I know I will get it clean to paint, only to have the windblown moisture turn the car to speckly white back to white again. This is clean and the car sitting - no driving. It`s just all that salt in the air....
 
mobiledynamics said:
So you`re saying just 2 double rinses of straight water with PW.
I`m really trying to be ~touchless~ this entire winter.
Many times, I know I will get it clean to paint, only to have the windblown moisture turn the car to speckly white back to white again. This is clean and the car sitting - no driving. It`s just all that salt in the air....
Click to expand...

In my testing I have done a front and back door of a 4-door car to make sure it was a fair and comparable test.


  • Front door: Pre-Soaking with a snow foam then pressure washing
  • Back Door: Rinsing with water to get it wet and let the water start doing its job; then pressure washing clean.

When doing this I have found that the front and rear door still came comparably clean and had the same film left over. I have not been able to find a truly touch free method that gets a vehicle totally clean.



For my winter wash method I have started Rinsing and pressure washing, then moving over to a rinse-less wash using warm water.
 
WW formulas have come along way....I keep a bottle of premix in the car for bird bomb.
I don`t have the cajones for WW either in summer or winter...just not my cup of tea.

Who`s going to be the innovator to make a soap that can not only ~encapsulate dirt~ but encapsulate/break up the film so that a heavy stream of pressure washer can clean it down - yet making it semi LSP friendly...
 
This is another use case where I think dry steam (preferably with hot water injection ability) is the way to go. It can be completely touchless so there is no risk of marring, and doing the whole car takes about as long as pressure-washing it. You`d save on chemicals like shampoos and washes, too. I`d want FK1000P underneath for its protective properties and ability to withstand the heat from the steam.
 
Where are you located ? I wish I could be happy with the result of the process Yu deceive. I cannot get a car clean without touching. I did my first rinseless wash and it worked out well.

Good luck.

mobiledynamics said:
Going to dry a new process this year for winter cleaning maintenance

Previous years, always washed car during the winter, when we had a day above freezing, I would wash early so the standby water would dry before it iced up again at night... Ultmately, I know I caused more winter marring than not, each time even after PW rinse, foam soak, etc - in the quest to get the salt/snow crust off.

I`m planning to be completely touchless this winter.
No matter the itch, I just plan to pre rinse, pre foam/soak, rinse and then blow dry all the excess water.
The film that remains behind, I will not touch until winter is really over....

With that said, what soap would you guys recommend.
All the cars are coated with CQF or CQUK. Some have reload as topper. Some don`t.
My current soap in stash that I use is Reset, and Griots Shampoo and 3D Pink.
Soak in stash I don`t use is CGCWG.

If the car is not filthy, I generally do a reset wash.
If I`m doing double duty wash, I do a 3D Pink Foam presoak, rinse and a final wash with reset.
Click to expand...
 
Thorough treatment using whip`s wax followed by a high pressure rinse at the coin op. Then drive home to my garage and do a rinseless wash in my garage. Works great - gets all the salt off safe and effectively and keeps your LSP in tact.
 
There is some terrible technique in this video, but it shows why I think a dry steam (vapor) system -- preferably with water/chemical injection -- is one of the easiest ways to solve this. A cheap $100 steamer from Harbor Freight isn`t going to be as effective, but from around $500 you can get something much more practical and versatile that you can use year-round, inside and out:

 
This is a great discussion - for years I`ve been trying to find a way to do "no touching" washes in the winter, and have yet to find anything truly worth the time. Doesn`t have to be perfect, but most of what I`ve tried has been so far from perfect that I`d rather just stay inside and be warm :-)
 
PRND -

I know your location shows SOCAL, but are you familar with what a salt sanded encrusted car looks/feels like. Or how much rinsing is required....

I`ve got the Hill Injection Steamer. The tank/reserve is nowhere big enough to steam clean the car. Even if it was, I would not want to....
Heat activates the salt - aka, corrosion in the car. I would rather have a boatload of FreeFlowing Hose Pressure Water.

Just short of those touchless soaps that are LSP friendly that are available over the pond.......I`ve yet to have that secret sauce....
I don`t care for WW/RW washes...

Ehh. Well see how it turns out this winter. I expect the film will be on the car for the entire season.....the only difference compare to every year prior, is I`m not planning to *wash the car with a wash medium*, and will only be doing PW rinses, soaps, and Air Assisted Drying...

I`ve that guy where it`s 34 degrees and I`m washing the car outside the garage, etc.......black cars look even more glossier/shiner when there is 2 feet of white snow everywhere. I clean down to bare paint, and 2 days later, it`s all salty again...
If I leave the car outside, the wind blowby, etc will just start leaving salt streaks simply from the salty moisture in the air, etc
 
You`re right, I have no first-hand experience with steam-cleaning a salt-encrusted car, but to me the advantages of using dry steam are self-evident.

Heat adds energy to chemical reactions, but the main contributor to "activating" salt as you say is breaking the ion bonds using water molecules. I would argue that rinsing the car is worse than blasting the salt off with steam in this regard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top