How much water for rinseless wash?

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
There was a discussion on another forum about getting water to a site that had no water source.
One thing I noticed was the large quantity of water that several/most people were talking about transporting.
Remember, this is for a rinseless wash such as ONR or 4 in 1.
Personally, I only use two gallons of water but I have used just one gallon and it was sufficient.
I use one gallon with water and 4 in 1 for washing in one bucket and another bucket with the a gallon of the same solution for rinsing the wash mitt. Plain water would probably be fine for the rinse, but a fellow member suggested the solution rinse so I didn't dilute the wash mix with plain rinse water. Sounded logical to me.
Anyway, I could fill 2 gallon jugs with the water/soap solution, haul them to the site, pour them in my buckets and be ready to go. In fact that's what I do only I just carry them to the garage. :)
Seems like it should be pretty easy.
FWIW, a professional detailer that has done hundreds of vehicles with rinseless washes uses just one bucket and has no problems.

How much water do you rinseless wash users need to clean a vehicle?

Charles
 
I use about two gallons in a single bucket, no rinse bucket. If it gets really dirty I just dump it and make up another batch. I mix according to ONR's directions.
 
I use 2 gallons with ONR. I've mixed up a fresh batch a few times when I had a full size truck, but only when it was really dirty.

I have a 3 & 5 gallon bucket with a snap on covers that work great for washing on the go.
 
I made up 5 gallons the other day...big mistake, way to much, I will try three next time...

I do use a seperate bucket for rinse though and a seperate sponge.
 
I use 2.5 gallon of water, mixed with 3 oz of ONR.
There's probably no problem with it, but that is well over twice as much ONR as is supposedly needed.
In fact, the lesser amount of ONR needed when compared to DP 4 in 1 is one of the things that people seem to be so impressed with.

FWIW, I also use a 1 oz. per gallon ratio of ONR, the same as with 4 in 1. This is based on the recommendation of a member that has used a lot of both products.
As I said in another post, I don't notice any difference between the two products when mixed that way. Maybe if I used the lesser amount of ONR, I would. :confused:

Charles
 
I recall it saying on the ONR bottle to use 1 oz of ONR for 2 gallons of water.

Charles- I usually use 2 or 3 gallons of water for rinseless washing.
 
I recall it saying on the ONR bottle to use 1 oz of ONR for 2 gallons of water.
You recall correctly, but it seems like very few people use that dilution ratio. Most posts I read talk about using one oz. per one gallon.
That is the proper mix for DP 4 in 1, but not for the ONR.
It seems to be working for everyone, though and I guess that's the important thing.

Budman said:
Charles- I usually use 2 or 3 gallons of water for rinseless washing.
2 or 3 gallons in one bucket or 2 or 3 gallons total in both a wash bucket and a rinse bucket?

Charles
 
I do use a seperate bucket for rinse though and a seperate sponge.
The separate bucket for rinsing the wash mitt/MF/sponge I understand, but how do you use another sponge?
What ever I use to wash with, I throw in the rinse bucket while I dry the area I just washed. I then rinse the mitt in the rinse water and load it up again from the wash bucket.
I do use a separate wash mitt for the wheels. I use the same wash and rinse solution, just change to an old mitt. Is that what you are referring to?

Charles
 
For a small vehicle I'll use 2 gallons in one bucket. If it is really bad I'll bring out a second rinse bucket. I have never added any solution to the rinse bucket, I actually never thought about it until you brought it up a few weeks ago. For a SUV or truck I'll use 3 gallons in the wash bucket. I'll be honest that I don't always use the two bucket method but I can't say I've seen anything that'll make me want to use the two bucket method exclusively. Using a single bucket if that's all you have or able to have, is still as safe as two buckets, in my opinion. I do agree that the second bucket is a good precaution to reduce the risks of marring during the washing process.

As for washing the paint and wheels and tires, here is what I do. I use my wool sea sponge and wash the entire vehicle one panel at a time. By the end of the vehicle (depending on how dirty it is) the water is fairly dirty. I then take an additional sea sponge (it's not a wool one, a little more aggressive) and wash the wheels, tires and then the wheel wells with the left over solution in the bucket. I rinse both sponges very thoroughly after or before the next wash.
 
For some reason I just thought of Poorboy.
Poorboy---> :rofl :lol2: :lmfao :lol: :stick :funny:Us
He has to love all this confusion while he sits back and thinks:thought:"Why don't those dingbats just use Spray & Wipe and be done with it?"

:D
Charles
 
I have the big three of rinseless washes available to me and I have used them but each time that I have I have wished that I had used S&W instead. It makes me think I am lazy. Two gallons of water for a rinseless wash versus four ounces of S&W. Lazy is a winner.
 
There's probably no problem with it, but that is well over twice as much ONR as is supposedly needed.

Hey Charles,
I said it wrong. It's actually 2 oz of ONR inside 2.5~3 gallon of water (which still is more than instructed, but I feel more safe this way), and another 1 oz of ONR as a pre-soak spray bottle (inside a 22 oz spray bottle). Sorry for the confusion.
 
I can tell winter has arrived. We are back to discussing rinseless washes. I haven't seen this much action on this forum for a long time. It must be too cold to be outside detailing. But the hunting is fine. :D

I use about two gallons rinseless wash mix (2 oz. of QEW) to do my truck. When I use a rinse bucket I add QEW to the rinse water. (Why QEW? I have lot of it and it works.)

And if my truck is darn dirty I head to the coin-op first.

Tom :cool:
 
And if my truck is darn dirty I head to the coin-op first.

Tom :cool:
The DIY spray wash has always been part of my routine for a really cruddy vehicle prior to Spray & Wipe. I think the same thing will probably be true for the rinseless washes.

Charles
 
The problem is that in the winter when our fine men and women clean our roads, they leave a trail of salt and sand that is enough to fill the Sahara desert. Resulting in by the time I get home do to other cars, puddles, snow banks I drift into...the car gets almost as bad as it was.

Honestly I wish they put nothing down and I could just drive over the clean white snow.
 
The problem is that in the winter when our fine men and women clean our roads, they leave a trail of salt and sand that is enough to fill the Sahara desert. Resulting in by the time I get home do to other cars, puddles, snow banks I drift into...the car gets almost as bad as it was.

Honestly I wish they put nothing down and I could just drive over the clean white snow.
The same thing happens here and I sometimes find myself thinkg the same as you.
Then I remember the "good old days" when they didn't use all the salt and sand.
The joys of tire chains, putting them on and maintaining them, snow tires, studded tires, the line up of 20 to 50 cars trying to get up an icy hill because one vehicle couldn't make it and caused all the others to get stuck as well. Having to be very selective about where you stopped at a stop light or stop sign so you weren't the one that couldn't get going again.The many fender benders you had to try to keep from becoming a part of. The few fender benders that I was a part of.
I decided that maybe putting up with the sand/salt might not be quite so bad after all. :)
I do wish they could get some of the sand off the parking lots when it is no longer needed, but I finally figured out that they intend for me to haul it away for them in the floor mats of my vehicles.

Charles
 
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