"Spotless" rinse water @ coin-op washes

K

ka1srs

New member
During the winter, the coin-op place helps feed my detailing urge.



I did a wash/clay/AIOx2/SGx2/Blitzx2 winter prep.



The car comes spotlessly clean at the coin-op.



When it's sunny, I use the "spot-free low-pressure rinse" water...I have no clue what's in it, but it works.



30 minutes in the sun and even the glass is clean.



I take it home and QD it in my heated garage and the MFT's come away clean...none of the "invisible film" that can be left w/many coin-ops.



So is it softened water or...?
 
Odds are that they are supplying REAL deionized water. The process removes 'all' minerals in the water, primarily thru reverse osmosis, to leave really pure water. Therefore, when it evaporates from the surface of your car, nothing is left behind!



Car lots use this process (usually subcontracted) and do like 20-30 cars per hour! For about $600 bucks, you can have a system at the house:



www.ionman.com Be sure to read the FAQ. I wonder how much it costs to recharge it?



I'm not affiliated, yada, yada...



Jim
 
Cool!!! If it really works.



I did a coin-op yesterday (because I live in an apt. complex)

Saw the spot free rinse, but didn't use it....had a bunch of water spots after....I will definitely try it next time.



Hey Guys - My Klasse shipment comes in tomorrow. Since you are a Klasser Jman (sorry jimamary, I don't remember if you are a Klasser or not), will AIO remove any of the water spots that may be left after washing that one may miss (you just can't see every dang square millimeter of the car, unless you have 30 hours straight to devote to detailing!!!)
 
I'll be a Klasse'r yet this week. I just looked at my UPS Tracking for a shipment from CMA. Looks like it will take TEN DAYS via UPS Ground. Yeah, yeah, Holiday...

Got stuff today from AutoInt, ordered at the same time, but they are only 100 hundred miles away....



New (original) topic: Deionized water passes thru a bed of two different 3M chemicals to remove solids. That bed needs 'recharging' from time to tiime. Does your car wash do that on a timely basis? You make the call.
 
will AIO remove any of the water spots that may be left after washing that one may miss
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After a good prep, including Klasse, you'll likely just need a MFT and some QD to remove spots.
 
that make a "spot free" rinse.



http://www.turtlewax.com/products/pages/hp155.htm



There is a similar Blue Coral product, but I can't find any info on it.



Interestingly, I found a distributor site that mentions some of the various shampoos that can be used in touchless and touch car washes. They all touted being "high pH" for removing dirt and crud... Probably not very good for your paint's protection, though.
 
I was checking out that ionman thing, and then started searching for other deionizers. Pretty neat stuff. However, for the home user that $600 deionizer is pretty steep, and fairly sizeable. Anyway, it got me thinking. There's no reason one couldn't just go to the local grocery store and buy a few gallons of distilled water. This would be purer than filtered deionized water. Maybe one of those pump-up sprayers with some distilled water would make an excellent final rinse. Or, just some way to pour the distilled water on the car like a final sheeting rinse. It would be about $1 a gallon instead of over $3 per gallon (and the need to store that thing).
 
I'm gonna try to find the time to do this (distilled water in a pump sprayer) tommorrow. I'm thinking that there won't be sufficient pressure/flow to rinse away the 'bad water'. But if it does work... yahoo!
 
Jman5000 said:
During the winter, the coin-op place helps feed my detailing urge.



I did a wash/clay/AIOx2/SGx2/Blitzx2 winter prep.



The car comes spotlessly clean at the coin-op.



When it's sunny, I use the "spot-free low-pressure rinse" water...I have no clue what's in it, but it works.



30 minutes in the sun and even the glass is clean.



I take it home and QD it in my heated garage and the MFT's come away clean...none of the "invisible film" that can be left w/many coin-ops.



So is it softened water or...?
Click to expand...



I agree with Jman5000 100%. I have been going to the coin op for a few months now. I use the low pressure spot free rinse and I don't even have to dry the car off at the coin op. I drive home, most of the water flys off, I use 1 waffle weave to get the last few drips, door sills, under the hood and trunk and the car is done, spot free. Only the wheels and tires require a little extra cleaning/wiping. Use a QD and an MF towel, some tire shine and I am done:xyxthumbs
 
jimamary said:
I'm gonna try to find the time to do this (distilled water in a pump sprayer) tommorrow. I'm thinking that there won't be sufficient pressure/flow to rinse away the 'bad water'. But if it does work... yahoo!
Click to expand...



I wouldn't think too much pressure is needed. All you need to do is displace the water already on the car. Only so much water can sit on the surface. I don't think you could use this to wash the car as the pressure/volume would be pretty low (some other people tried this as an apartment solution, and if I recall, it didn't cut it). When you do a final rinse with the hose to sheet water, no pressure at all is needed. So if you could pour the distilled water without it chugging out of the container (maybe another container would work better?), it would probably sheet off and take any ionized water with it. The little bits that remain would mainly be distilled water. But I'd think you would still want to dry the car off, not air dry it. I would think it would cut down on water spotting while drying, though. I look forward to hearing the results of your experiment. I think I might try this myself once the weather warms up because drying is my least favorite part of washing the car, and I hate dealing with the slight water-spotting that invariably gets left behind.
 
The gallon of distilled water is a GREAT idea.



My home pressure wash has an alternate source (not hose attached to house) water line and I could suck a gallon of distilled through it on low pressure and totally replicate the spot-free effect at the coin op.



Now I can sun-dry the car and spend that time drinking beer.
 
Yeah, I totally agree with Aurora, drying really sucks, especially when you wipe and then the water from the door jambs or the seams in the back comes leaking out and its back to the drawing board, and these leaves water spots too.



The gallon of distilled sounds good too, then drive home (although I only live about 300 feet from the coin op wash), then dry off at home. Anyone still get spots from distilled H20??
 
bmw530i2003 said:
The gallon of distilled sounds good too, then drive home (although I only live about 300 feet from the coin op wash), then dry off at home. Anyone still get spots from distilled H20??
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I really don't see how you could. Water spots are from deposits in the water. When the water dries up, the deposits are left behind. Distilled water gets evaporated and then condensed back into water. So when it evaporates, it leaves behind any deposits. The condensate is basically pure water. It may dissolve/absorb some CO2 or something from the air, but this won't leave deposits. If it is truly distilled water, then there is nothing in it to get left behind. Deionized water is similar, but ionized particles get pulled out by a filter or magnetism or something. However, it often leaves material in the water that isn't ionized. So if this will leave the car spot-free, then even purer distilled water will. I guess the only question is if you can rinse off all the bad water with distilled water. Maybe a few gallons are needed... I don't know.



That's interesting about the pressure washer having an alternate source. Since I wouldn't need much pressure, that might be a cheap and effective way of dispensing the distilled water. Thanks for that tip. I wonder if the cheapie pressure washers have that alternate source, or if it's a high-end feature...



Jimamary, are you trying this today? Looking forward to hearing how it goes! :xyxthumbs
 
While I'm usually a Hand-wash guy, In the winter, I go to a "touch free Lazer Wash" a few blocks away. It is automatic for about 5 bucks (excluding the premium Wax which is a ripoff)

It does several cylces.

Soap #1

Soap #2

High Pressure Rinse

REAL low pressure Spotless Rinse. I'm sure it is De-ionized



I can take the car home in freezing weather, put in the warm garage and overnight it will dry spotlessly except for any stuff that drips out of cracks or molding.



(however, I usually Chamois it off)
 
rad21 said:
I agree with Jman5000 100%. I have been going to the coin op for a few months now. I use the low pressure spot free rinse and I don't even have to dry the car off at the coin op. I drive home, most of the water flys off, I use 1 waffle weave to get the last few drips, door sills, under the hood and trunk and the car is done, spot free. Only the wheels and tires require a little extra cleaning/wiping. Use a QD and an MF towel, some tire shine and I am done:xyxthumbs
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rad,



Which one do you go to? I noticed you live in my area and was wondering if there were any places that were better than that crowded pathetic place in Eagle Rock.



THanks.



Tony
 
Intermezzo said:
rad,



Which one do you go to? I noticed you live in my area and was wondering if there were any places that were better than that crowded pathetic place in Eagle Rock.



THanks.



Tony
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Tony,



There are quite a few in the SFV. I go to the one on Cahuenga and I think the cross street is Burbank Blvd. I usually go at 6:30AM when it's quiet. It's on the north west corner. You would exit the 134 at cahuenga, turn right (north) and head to Burbank Blvd. I'm the only lunatic there at 6:30AM on the weekends:eek:



Bob
 
Intermezzo said:
Thanks for the directions..... Perhaps I'll join you one of these weekends and we can engage in our acts of lunacy together. :)
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Tony,



Let's do it, just pick a Sat or Sun.:xyxthumbs
 
I could've sworn I posted this already, but... It worked! 4 gallons (YMMV) of distilled to wash a Civic. $4.36. I did NOT rinse the car b/4 liberal app of Autoint shampoo. Spraying from a pump sprayer, the Dwater clearly displaced the soapy, dirty water. There is a 'chemical' reaction here that is to our benefit ...since the water is 'pure' , it seems to attract 'bad water' as it flows away. I was quite pleased, and surprised.



I have pics and a mini movie (!) showing the water displacement... maybe I'll have time in the morning... stay tuned!



Jim
 
Cool! So you used a little hand-pumped sprayer, right? Did that require a lot of pumping? Also, do you think it would have worked to just save the distilled water for a final rinse (i.e. after all the soap is rinsed off and the car is sheeted with the hose)? Also, did you use distilled water in the wash bucket (it sounds like you did)? Looking forward to pics/movie!



I went to Shopper's Food Warehouse the other day and they have 3 gallons of dist. water for $2.
 
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