David Fermani said:
Isn't the humidy in the air already "activating" the corrosiveness of salt? Salt corrode bare, uncoated metals immediately.
Yes, but our cars are not bare uncoated metals.
Unless you're completely removing the body panels off your vehicle, any kind of washing pushes the elements into cracks and crevises. It's also getting pushed just as hard when you splash through slush and salty water puddles. If anything, high pressure washing will flush out hidden areas better than anything.
Yes, but unlike soap, you are not pushing salt water into crevices of your vehicle in the spring-fall. When using drive through car washes or wash bays with a high pressure wand system which is what the vast majority of people do in the winter as its too cold for almost everyone including Autopians to do in North. Depends on diligant you on the "wash" stage...
Again, at the end of the wash cycle you're also flushing out all the remaining loose debris and soaps from these places. I'll take these so called harsh detergents being pre-soaked and blasted into my finish over salt coating it any day.
Harsh detergents vs. protected finish with road grime... i'll take road grime personally in the dead of winter.
The same could be said for many vehicles with the exact opposite regiment. Actually, I can't remember the last vehicle I've seen that was produced in the 2000's that was rusted? Especially one that was washed regularly.
Really.. cause is see a good plenty of them.
How is this any better/safer than any other kind of washing?
I'd rather go through 100 touchless washes instead of 1 hand car wash. I'll take a stripped finish over one that's marred from some hack making $8 per hour washing cars.
The problem is very simply... touchless washes don't get the car clean. Period. They do however after repeated use in my opinion strip the protective coating and potentially damage clears by having harsh chemicals applied directly to them and trim pieces (fading of b and c pillars). I'd venture to say that 99.9% of people going through these washes never go home and apply a wax or sealant (not recommended as the paint is still beyond dirty). So you keep just stripping the car of more protection, in my opinion push salt solution deep in your car crevices which may or may not get cleaned out with the final rinse (especially if you are using a drive through system wash).
My experience in the GTA for the passed 20 years, is that it's better to apply a liberal amount of sealants (multiple coats) prior to the 1st salting and then let your car be until the weather is warms up for an extended period of time where you can do a hand wash at home. I've personally found that this keeps the amount of corrosion to am absolute minimum, keeps the paint looking in prestine condition.. but you do have to live with the fact that when it's below 0C (or freezing) that your car may not look it's best.
Then again, when it's that freaking cold outside does it matter..
I'm an autopian.. absolutely. You should have seen how much i instructed my lexus dealer to be extremely careful with my ISF when i picked it up and subsequently. I do only use the best products possible on my black, soft clear and decently hard silver Acura CSX but at the end of the day, winter is winter and i'd rather take care of my paint by NOT washing it then making things worse in the long run by activating and pushing salt deep into places of my car by washing it with a "pressure" wash either wand or drive through.
That's my experience living in the north, I've found the condition of my paint to be far better year after year since i stopped washing in the winter with "high pressure" car washes (either drive through or wand bays).
As for wash bay's where you park, it is getting harder and harder to find a good one here i.e. that uses virgin water and also offers a DI stage for a final rinse. Most in my area recycle water and let me tell ya.. in the winter.. i can't imagine anything worse then washing my car with a salt bath of recycled water.
As for the drive through gas station washes, the chemicals used in most are horrific. The only way they can get your car "partially" clean is by using aggressive detergents. From what i hear up here, Simoniz ones tend to be the least harsh but at a cost.. least cleaning ability as well. I've heard the ones by Sunoco are the most harsh but leave the car the cleanest.
Now, this is just one mans opinion. If we are talking hand washes at home especially with an ONR type product or mild car wash soap and not using a high pressure wand followed by the use of a quick detailer or a LSP that most detailers provide.. hell, absolutely i'm all for it.
I guess my point is, depending on the how the wash is done... it can be safe and actually a good thing if done by hand carefully.
Howver, washing a car through drive-through high pressure wash or high pressure wash in a parked bay...imo, it is best to leave it alone until the spring.
Paco
) does a fantastic job of getting the dirt to release off of my LSP's of choice. For sealants, UPGP and FK1 1000P release dirt very easily to touchless washes. For waxes, Vintage is the best around for releasing contaminants, but the Collinites do a pretty good job, as well.
