How to Properly Wash Your Car in Cold Weather

MarcHarris

MarcHarris

New member
There have been a lot of questions about this during these colder months, so I made a video to show how it can be done. I think the video answers most questions, but feel free to discuss your own findings / tips as well :)



Don't forget to watch it in HD ;)



 
That's one heck of a video Marc! Great quality and well done! Props!



Sucks to be you though because my local coin opps are enclosed and heated, plus they have card slots so you don't need coins. hahaha :D





Cheers,

Rasky
 
all the wash bays in my area like that wont let you do a wash like that. i was told to leave after sparying wheel cleaner on my wheels one time. owner said i was wasting peoples time wating to use the bay. but great video. May i ask why you dident use onr? instead of the regualer wash?
 
RaskyR1 said:
That's one heck of a video Marc! Great quality and well done! Props!



Sucks to be you though because my local coin opps are enclosed and heated, plus they have card slots so you don't need coins. hahaha :D



Cheers,

Rasky
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No kidding! I couldn't imagine doing that without having a closed stall to wash in. (They don't take credit cards up here in my neck of the woods, though)



Cool vid.



Randy
 
stotte20 said:
all the wash bays in my area like that wont let you do a wash like that.
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That's the case at most of these facilities and they typically have signs posted saying such. I think you've got to get to one of these spray booths during off hours. Otherwise people waiting and mgmt are going to b|tch about the hand-washing, which I can understand. If you are the only person there, I don't think you will get hassled.
 
I scuba dive so when washing in the cold, I wear my three mill dive gloves. Great dexterity and keep my hands toasty warm.
 
stotte20 said:
all the wash bays in my area like that wont let you do a wash like that. i was told to leave after sparying wheel cleaner on my wheels one time. owner said i was wasting peoples time wating to use the bay. but great video. May i ask why you dident use onr? instead of the regualer wash?
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That's why you go late at night or very early in the morning. I doubt any owner will tell you to leave if it's not during core hours. Making $4-6 off of you is better than nothing. However, if there is someone waiting behind you, then the owner is loosing money as a result of you being there.



I actually had the owner talk to me for a while once...he was cleaning bays late at night and asked me why I chose to bucket wash. After talking for a while he asked for my card as he thought he could get me some work. ;)



Be polite and respect them and there should be no problems.



Rasky
 
Amazing video Marc!



I had already tried something similar before (just one bucket and no wheels though, so not really properly done) and it was a lot of additional effort. I can imagine how much harder doing it *properly* would be! Oh, and your car looks incredible!



I found that as long as you are moving fast, spraying water, and NOT too cold there won't be ice... You made an excellent point about "not too cold". I had the audacity to once rinse the car at the coin op when the temp was only 12 F. I barely had time to open the doors, trunk and start driving before the water froze.... :o



I so wish I had a heated garage.
 
Luckily I only live 2 minutes from a coin-op. It was 26 degrees today, and the roads were dry (eventhough there is still snow on the ground). I just run it through there for $2.00 to get most of the stuff off, come home, park in the garage, shut the door and do an ONR wash. It was a nice 47 degrees in the garage today. I even went as far as doing a quick topper of Dodo Juice Double Wax and dressed the tires with Optimim Tire Gel. It is snowing now....6" expected overnight, so no driving the car for a few days....time to fire the truck back up!
 
Great video!!! I wish you'd do more of them. Is this the Coin-Op on 9 Mile? Any reason why you didn't use the glaze/sealant from the wash? It will make the surface bead and help with drying. Plus give it a shinier look with a touch of protection.
 
LMFAO @ seatbelting the buckets...that was epic!



AeroCleanse said:
Seems like a lot of work when you could use hot water and ONR (if you have a garage anyway)
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because ONR can't get into the nooks and crannys or wheel wells like a blast from a PW can.
 
too much work, didnt look like your soap was sudsing up too well either.



i just get 2 hot buckets and a foam gun. wash it, rinse, wash it quickly again and rinse, pull into garage and dry it off.



i cant wait until spring.
 
SilverCivic said:
And as soon as you drive back home you have to do it all over again.
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Not true. This is a therapeutic thing - not a "my car is going to stay clean for weeks" wash. Having a (relatively) clean car feels great after over two months!





RaskyR1 said:
That's one heck of a video Marc! Great quality and well done! Props!

Sucks to be you though because my local coin opps are enclosed and heated, plus they have card slots so you don't need coins. hahaha :D

Cheers,

Rasky
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Spoiled!!! Enclosed AND heated AND takes cards? Come on man... tell that guy to open a place in Metro Detroit :D





tom p. said:
That's the case at most of these facilities and they typically have signs posted saying such. I think you've got to get to one of these spray booths during off hours. Otherwise people waiting and mgmt are going to b|tch about the hand-washing, which I can understand. If you are the only person there, I don't think you will get hassled.
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Exactly. Every single one I've ever seen has those signs. Of course the DIY bays around here aren't all that popular; I've NEVER seen a line. If there was a line I'm sure I'd wait until another time.





rdorman said:
I scuba dive so when washing in the cold, I wear my three mill dive gloves. Great dexterity and keep my hands toasty warm.
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PERFECT idea and thanks for chiming in with that. I'm going to have to look into those :)





dfazekas said:
Great video man.

How's the CQuartz holding up on the saab?

Have you noticed any difference in cleanability?
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Thank you! So far so good. Didn't do a lot of true inspection and this was the first wash since application.

As you can probably tell in the video - the car cleaned very well and very easy. After the initial rinsing it looked a million times better and everything else came off with the mitt and no pressure.





AlexRuiz said:
Amazing video Marc!

I had already tried something similar before (just one bucket and no wheels though, so not really properly done) and it was a lot of additional effort. I can imagine how much harder doing it *properly* would be! Oh, and your car looks incredible!

I found that as long as you are moving fast, spraying water, and NOT too cold there won't be ice... You made an excellent point about "not too cold". I had the audacity to once rinse the car at the coin op when the temp was only 12 F. I barely had time to open the doors, trunk and start driving before the water froze.... :o

I so wish I had a heated garage.
Click to expand...



If I had a heated garage, the video would have been "What You Wish You Had In Order To Properly Wash Your Car In Cold Climates" :D

It certainly can't be too cold or you'll run into ice problems which could potentially scratch your vehicle.

I feel like wheels are an option, but one I wanted to take advantage of - I was already out and it would only take an additional 10 or 15 minutes, so it was worth it to me. Thanks for taking a look!





Street5927 said:
Luckily I only live 2 minutes from a coin-op. It was 26 degrees today, and the roads were dry (eventhough there is still snow on the ground). I just run it through there for $2.00 to get most of the stuff off, come home, park in the garage, shut the door and do an ONR wash. It was a nice 47 degrees in the garage today. I even went as far as doing a quick topper of Dodo Juice Double Wax and dressed the tires with Optimim Tire Gel. It is snowing now....6" expected overnight, so no driving the car for a few days....time to fire the truck back up!
Click to expand...



That is certainly one way to do it (I've ran my car through a touchless wash and then came home to ONR and re-seal the paint). Good for you for taking the time to do it right - even going as far as waxing and tire dressing!

Hope you and the car manage through the coming snow without any issues :)
 
Guess what everyone?? It's winter time again and I think we should all revisit this thread in remembrance. I know I am seeing that I'm no longer able to wash out in my driveway in Florida wearing shorts and a tee shirt these days.
 
That was a crazy cool video! Great production value! Fun and informative. I loved the intro of the tools. And strapping in the water buckets was a hoot! You're a brave man! :)
 
David Fermani said:
Guess what everyone?? It's winter time again and I think we should all revisit this thread in remembrance. I know I am seeing that I'm no longer able to wash out in my driveway in Florida wearing shorts and a tee shirt these days.
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Oh poor baby - welcome back to the Great Lakes :D



Brad B. said:
That was a crazy cool video! Great production value! Fun and informative. I loved the intro of the tools. And strapping in the water buckets was a hoot! You're a brave man! :)
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Thanks! I kept getting so many questions on this, and felt I had a pretty good way of doing it, so I finally got around to making a video of it all.
 
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