Washing your car at home

[VTEXTC]

Not to mention, there are only truly, only about 12 weeks a year in Calgary where it is actually practicable to wash your car outside on your driveway....

[JaffX]

Which location(s) allow you to do bucket washing for like an hour? I've been wanting to get into car detailing but not being able to wash at home makes things difficult.

[revelations]

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda


He was. And quite the temper too. I tried to talk to him on a number of occasions calmly to see if we could reach some sort of compromise but nope. He had lived on that block for ages and it was his block, his rules. I was just the "new guy".

Exactly what were going through. Great older area (Deer Ridge) but 10% of the neighbours in the area are as mentioned (this is the way its been for YEARS).

Mentally or emotionally challenged enough to avoid dealing with.

[HiSpec]

You guys should try the 2 buckets ONR method. Works quite well for cars that are little dusty/dirty.

Originally posted by 2Legit2Quit
I just use the 2 bucket method, one bucket for soap, the second for rinse and towel dry after.

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda


Are you saying you don't even use a garden hose? Might as well just wash it with some sandpaper...

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
^^ I squish out the water, then wash a small patch, then wash out any dirt in the bucket and repeat. Not really any risk of dragging dirt over your car by doing it that way.



I do the same actually, I find it gets the car much cleaner than just using a hose/sprayer.

[Buster]

The new house has a garage drain and hot/cold plumbing into the garage. What's the best way to add an in-garage wash bay?

[SportEL]

Optimum No Rinse in a Bucket with Grit Guard and using a Microfibre Wash Mitt or Ultima Waterless Wash with a plush Microfiber towel. Both methods work great for me.

[revelations]

Originally posted by SportEL
Optimum No Rinse in a Bucket with Grit Guard and using a Microfibre Wash Mitt or Ultima Waterless Wash with a plush Microfiber towel. Both methods work great for me.

Great tip, thx.

[Maxx Mazda]

Originally posted by HiSpec
You guys should try the 2 buckets ONR method. Works quite well for cars that are little dusty/dirty.

I detailed cars professionally for years. You simply can NOT do a proper wash without a pressure washer at minimum for the initial rinse, and a bucket and soap to remove the dirt. Two buckets ideally, but one bucket is just to rinse the wash mitt to keep the soap bucket clean.

How do you get anything off the undercarriage with a bucket full of water? Like those people who have filthy wheels and just tire shine the shit out of their brown tires.

[relyt92]

+1 on ONR. If it's actually dirty I'll go spend a couple dollars at the coin op wash to get most of the filth/grime off, then use ONR in the driveway to make it nice and clean.

[Cooked Rice]

Originally posted by relyt92
+1 on ONR. If it's actually dirty I'll go spend a couple dollars at the coin op wash to get most of the filth/grime off, then use ONR in the driveway to make it nice and clean.

Yep, this is how I do it. I have had very bad experiences with the hardness of the water that comes out of the tap in recent years. Last year I finally dumped the traditional wash method for ONR.

$2 at the wand wash to blast off anything loose. Pull out to a drying stall. 4L jug of distilled water($2 at walmart in the health section) into a bucket + ONR and it's done in no time. I can wash in the sun, not worry about soap drying on the car, and it's quicker than a traditional hand wash. I get away with 1 bucket and no grit gaurd by using multiple wash mitts, so a dirty mitt doesn't go back into the bucket. Right before washing I toss them all into the ONR solution, once I wash a panel or two with it, ring it out put dirty mitt aside, dry panel, then grab another fresh mitt full of solution and start on the next section. Repeat.

When I did a traditional wash I would pressure blast the loose debris, then used the 2 bucket wash method plus a foam cannon. I would spray foam into the wash mitt has I ran it over the paint in the other hand to avoid scratches/swirls.

[HiSpec]

Originally posted by Maxx Mazda


I detailed cars professionally for years. You simply can NOT do a proper wash without a pressure washer at minimum for the initial rinse, and a bucket and soap to remove the dirt. Two buckets ideally, but one bucket is just to rinse the wash mitt to keep the soap bucket clean.

How do you get anything off the undercarriage with a bucket full of water? Like those people who have filthy wheels and just tire shine the shit out of their brown tires.

Hence I said 'little dusty/dirty'... not brake dust caked wheels or weeks worth of filth on the paint.

Also, without jacking up the car, it'll be pretty difficult to actually clean the undercarriage. But good for you if you are one of the unique individuals that puts their car on jacks and foam/degrease their undercarriage every time you wash your car.

However, I do agree with you that a proper wash method requires 2 buckets, 2 mitts and water hose.

[asd913]

I wish I had known about Optimum No Rinse before. I lived with a dirty car for years because nothing drives me more nuts than waiting 45 minutes for a terrible wash from a touchless car wash.

Here a video of the method that everyone raves about (called the Garry Dean method). Just use ONR instead of Garry Dean's detail juice. I bought some Optimum No Rinse Wash and Wax and will be using this method to clean my cars weekly.

[asd913]

BTW, Carzilla sells ONRWW for $27 for 32oz. I'd estimate that will wash about 64 cars using the Garry Dean method. It makes me sick to think of how many $8-12 car washes I've paid for when a ONRWW only costs $0.42/wash plus running your towels though the washer.

[sneek]

ONR is the best that we can do with bylaws, but I still hate it. I am extremely careful but I am certain that I have inflicted scratches here and there. You are working with so much less lubricity when you don't have running water. I spend $3-$5 at the coin wash first and then slowly wash it with ONR too.

[Cooked Rice]

ONR bottle cap sizes for measuring:

8oz size cap holds .25 oz or 7.5 ml
32oz size cap holds .5 oz or 15 ml
128oz size cap holds .5 oz or 15 ml

Add 20% more to adjust for hard water (aka Calgary tap)

I find ONR provides great lubricity when properly proportioned with water and works well as clay lube too.