Anybody refuse to clean a car without a PW......

M

mobiledynamics

New member
OT, but just short of very mild dust - and I mean mild, any of ya`ll refuse to clean your car without a PW.

IMO, there is a night and day difference on how much topical dirt, etc comes off the panels via a PW versus regular hose. The less particulate I move under the mitt, the better...

Maybe it`s sign of getting older, and I`m not really crazed about spending days, hrs - polishing or cleaning, if not just daily washing. But I do like and appreciate a clean ride.....and maintaining them post polish/lsp is one of those daily chores I`ve trying to dial into a science of lsp friendly, and touchless. Hopefully, in 2017 I find the secret sauce to this routine.
 
I like using a PW when washing. But I hate having to drag it out and set it up since it is stored in my garage. If I had a setup where it was always ready to go then I would use it all the time. But my personal garage is not big enough and the wife wouldn`t like it.

On a side note there is a new low water, lower power unit coming out for mobile guys that looks promising but a little expensive.
 
I need to get a decent electric pw, I find myself sneaking off to the coin op to do high pressure rinsing from time to time
 
I can see how it would be cumbersome moving a 65-90lb unit around.
im wall mounted with my hose on a large easy to spin reel . It`s not exactly easy reeling back 3/8 hose


whenever I ever get around to it , I plan on adding hot water to the garage with a valve to set the temper on the outlet feeding the pw so I can wash with warm-warmer water for those times I want heat to cut some of that film....

i was over at family for 2 days and was very tempted to wash the car , but they had no pressure washer on hand . Call me spoiled
 
I know the feeling folks, times it is a pain in the a$$ to use but that are times when one needs to use one. Just pickup a Karcher K3 Follow-Me Electric PW and glad for it, also got a Foam Gun for it.
 
I`m going to have to play with it a little more, but I can see this air injection gun replacing my pressure washer for the majority of my maintenance washes next spring. I`ve only used it once so far but it just blasted through a months worth of salt and crud with ease.

Here`s a quick video I shot of it cleaning my wheels. It`s only hooked up to a pancake compressor too..

https://vimeo.com/197799874


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I`d love to get a power washer but I live in a condo building with a tight underground garage -- the association doesn`t allow washing of cars in the garage. I use a two-bucket rinseless wash from time to time, and while I`m technically washing a car, it uses little water and doesn`t create a mess, so nobody has said anything. But my neighbor`s cars are less than two feet from mine on either side, so a pressure washer is out of the question. Also, there is no faucet in the garage, so I`d have to run a hose from the ground level down the stairs. and over to my car.
 
I usually use one, but not if the vehicle isn`t really dirty (pretty rare occurrence for me though).

IME there`s no need for a potent PW. After having used fairly high-spec pricey ones, I`ve been doing 100% fine with a *really* low-end AR that my wife bought me for ~$75. No, it`s not powerful enough for much of anything other than pre-rinsing the vehicles, but it`s great for that.

I just leave the hose (and I`m running a long, extended one) and the power cord laid out on the floor of the washbay, don`t bother coiling them up unless I have a good (functional) reason to. I`m the same way about the hoses and the powercord for the AirWand- they`re neatly positioned and out of the way, at least well enough that I don`t have to worry about running over fittings/plugs that would get damaged.

MobileDynamics- Yeah, IME the hot water line is truly worthwhile. What about a dedicated water heater (and even a softener :D ) for the shop?

And yeah...

Maybe it`s sign of getting older, and I`m not really crazed about spending days, hrs - polishing or cleaning, if not just daily washing. But I do like and appreciate a clean ride...
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Heh heh, I remember doing near-daily washing/etc. and now think I must`ve been nuts to prioritize the cosmetics of my vehicles that way :O Guess I`m kinda an extreme version of what you`re feeling, and/but I think you and I are on the same page with regard to not causing the need to do correction (for various reasons but especially the time it takes).
 
I`ll still wash without one. Depends where I am. We have some pretty good water pressure around here from the mains.

I do see your point though.
 
I`m with you mobile, now that I have one I can`t see washing without it. It`s a cheap big box hardware store one, and it works better than I was expecting but I freaking hate the hose on it. It kinks and won`t coil up nicely.

The more dirt you can remove from your paint before wiping, the safer your wash, right?

Dream house would have a wall mounted unit, with a nice hose and a reel, hooked up to heated DI water. The other wall would have a master blaster with an extended hose. Oh and the car would have a magical hydrophilic oleophobic coating that would sheet water so it could evaporate by the time I`m done blowing out cracks.
 
Zeus : most big box "1/4" hose are just cheap PVC.
It may exist, but try to upgrade the hose to a rubber one. You may need to swap fittings, etc and get a hose in 3/8 which def does come in rubber. The issue is that 1/4" hose is considered resdi. grade consumer PW hose, and a quick look, and I don`t see nil-none offering in rubber. The hose will be heavier in weight though....


Accumulator : I was thinking on typing my response, and I realized it`s a pretty simple answer. Gone are the days where I want to spend the full weekend detailing, or the mini half day wheel details - simply for the fact I`ve got 2 lil ones under the roof now, and it`s changed my perspective. I`d rather spend that time just building and making memories ^_^

Cheers and HNY all
 
mobiledynamics- I hear you on the shifting priorities. No kids here, but our dogs mean a *LOT* more to me than our vehicles.

One of the reasons I don`t obsess about my wife`s A8 is her frequent hauling of people who aren`t irresponsible, but aren`t, uhm...Autopians either. Their memories of riding with her are *NOT* gonna be all about "the car that had to be kept perfect", let alone the "b!tchy lady who fussed about her Audi". I bet you`re gonna raise your kids with a proper respect for the vehicles, but ya gotta be reasonable, huh?

Little girl riding with Accumulatorette once said "My friend`s dad has a car like this, but his is different....you can touch it". I`ve always had mixed feelings about that comment.

DetailZeus- Glad to hear your cheapie pw is working out OK. And I know exactly what you mean about the hose...that`s part of why I just let mine lie there.

845guy- I agree about the need for decent water pressure. I had to go to some pretty extreme lengths to improve it at our house/shop but IMO it was worth it.
 
This is my first post over here, but I too have an electric pressure washer that I love. No it`s not high end by any means, but I`ve attached quick connects so I can change between the pressure washer and regular hose nozzle with out spending too much time. I`ve also added a hose extension for the pressure washer so I no longer have to move it around the car with me.

I usually end up doing trucks, and using a pressure washer to get the wheel wells go much faster.
 
cameronthmpson- Welcome to Autopia!

The Driver said:
I only use a PW, far less water and far more cleaning ability.
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But, maybe another of my quirks, I don`t like it for *rinsing* except with DI water (which I try to conserve). For rinsing off suds I`m all about volume as opposed to pressure.
 
For rinsing, I prefer the hose too and this is merely due to how the water reacts on coated surfaces

When I rinse with the PW, the water just seems to do a combo for beading/sheeting on whatever direction I`m pointing at - and it`s not like I`m exactly pointing at the ground at all times. All I want is the rinse water to fall straight down. I find I`m actually working harder to get the rinse water to rinse straight ~down~ if I`m using the wand.

Acccu. No DI for me. Had a CR spotless. Was not my cup of tea. Sold it.
I just dry with a blower and follow-up with a single 16" MF that get`s maybe 25% wet from the minor blobs I need to catch.
 
mobiledynamics said:
Acccu. No DI for me. Had a CR spotless. Was not my cup of tea. Sold it.
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I can understand that; I`m not really a CRS fanboy but begrudgingly accept that I need it for certain specific things.

I just dry with a blower and follow-up with a single 16" MF that get`s maybe 25% wet from the minor blobs I need to catch.
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Sounds similar to my AirWand approach, though my vehicles just trap *SO* much water :(
 
I love a power washer for at least the first rinse to knock all the loose sand and grit off the truck or car. Around my area there is a lot of sand and it rains a lot so the lower body panels and the in fender wells are always covered in grit and sand.
 
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