Wash in Winter?

[ABsKiLLz]

Hey guys just wondering how u guys wash your cars in the winter time. Since its cold I dont know if i should be spraying water all over lol. and i heard the car-wash's are sac-religious around here. So do you guys wait till it warms up or do you guys throw some layers and wash your cars?

[boravr6]

Im fortunate enough to work on a snow removal crew now and then in winter. When i do get to work i wash the car inside the garage and let it sit inside to dry it off.


However when i dont have that luxury, i go for touch less car wash. Not the best job.. but better than nothing. (not sure what im gonna do with the S4 this year though... on stock suspension its too low and doesnt clear the guide rail for the car wash i used to use.

Avoid at all costs those "spray and wash" type places where you have like a coin operated high pressure hose and brush deal. One day you will be brushing your car and its all soapy and on its way to a clean shine.Then as you rinse you realize some rocks or something was stuck in the brush and you just put scratch marks all over the car. 2$ wash is now a 5,000$ + paint job. This happened to my neighbor 15 odd years ago. Im scared witless of those car wash places ever since.


Few things to keep in mind with the car wash though

1. NEVER wash at night.

2.a, Try to cloudy days.... even if its hella cold, try to wash on a sunny day. Once its washed keep the car in the sun. I find this helps naturally dry out areas like doors and trunk so they dont jam up.

2.b, If you have to do it on a cloudy day... bring your shammy and dry out the inside of your doors / trunk. Dont want those rubbers to freeze up agains the inside of the door frame and risk either not being able to open the door.. or ripping a seal.

3. never shammy dry the exterior after a car wash. Lets not lie to ourselves.... touch less wash jobs suck! It looks nice at a glance but when you look real close it leaves alot of dirt and grime on your paint. Shammy dry on all that leftover dirt will wreck your paint job.... dont do it!



Thats what i have done last 10-12 years... i have yet to have a speck of rust on any of my cars!

[heateris]

my winter go-to is a DIY bay with a high pressure hose and a brush. couple hints -- spray off the brush before you use it, wash on sunny days when it's above 32 degrees, and dry out the door jambs real good. i wash both our cars all winter without any problems.

[B6JoeS4]

i got to the local 5.00 car was in the winter. i just polish out all the fine scratches in the spring

[MacDaddy]

I go to the self serve car washes (the ones with the dreaded brush) and use the high pressure rinse only, I clean the paint and the underside. I find the touch less car washes leave alot of dirt behind (just like rinsing does) and stip off the wax(like rinsing does not), most importantly i spray inside the wheel wells and under the car to remove any road salt.

[dustind]

I'm in CA... What's snow?

[swaigo]

do it on a sunny day to avoid pain

1. hose your car down first. this will make things easier and hopefully loosen up salt and dirt
2. fill a bucket up car wash and warm-hot water this will make sure when you scrub down your car your hand doesn't fall off from frost bite.
3. dry it. never wash your car and let it air dry.

that should be it. you can also buy waterless car washes online. you spray it on or mix it partly with water and then wash your car with it then just dry it off. detailersdomain has them. also stay away from car washes i hear they use abrasives for the wheels which can eat the finish. hope this helps..

[lookaught]

I use very warm water in the wash and rinse buckets, cold water in the hose, and try to wash when its sunny and above 32 degree on the weekends. A torpedo heater would be a nice addition.

Just wash fast, it's not that bad. Occationally I will take my car to a carwash but only the ones that use water only, no brushes, just to have the undercarriage washed with high pressure soap to remove salt. They are hella expensive though, like $9. Im convinced that doing this helps to stave off rust on the subframes, suspension, etc.

[Buegie]

you can use a rinseless wash like ONR. You just wash with a mitt and use some sort of WW towel to dry, no rinsing at all. Also, if you wear latex gloves your hands don't get wet and therefore you won't be nearly as cold.

[D's Avant]

Coin operated wash high pressure wash only. No, NO brush for me. I try to clean both cars of the salt when it's above 32'. Def. cleaning the undercarriage and tire wells. I always dry the door jams before I leave the car wash too. Sometimes I use a car duster (One for winter and a seperate one for summer) and then quick detailer to keep it clean when its really cold.

[Arclight]

1. hose your car down first. this will make things easier and hopefully loosen up salt and dirt
2. fill a bucket up car wash and warm-hot water this will make sure when you scrub down your car your hand doesn't fall off from frost bite.
3. dry it. never wash your car and let it air dry.

The only thing I can add is to use Neoprene gloves. Mine are 100% waterproof and keep my hands mostly warm (until my hands start perspiring too much).

I'm thinking about upgrading to an inexpensive electric home pressure washer this year...

[Groove1797]

If you do not want to wash at home do this...

1. Go to store and purchase 5gal distilled h20. It's 3.99 if you bring a jug
2. Get bucket, mitt, wheel cleaners, etc
3. Drive to pressure washer
4. Use 1 gal of h20 to presoak wheels and scrub
5. Place soap and 4 gal in bucket (its not too cold since it has been in your car)
6. Pay $2.50 and presoak car
7. Soap car before h20 dries out (make sure to rinse mitt after every panel)
8. Pay $2.50 to high pressure rinse car and wet microfiber towels.
9. Dry, dump out water, ring mitt out, etc
10. Oh look! It's beer-thirty

[SpfldS4]

I just bought a 50' hose and faucet to hose attachment to go from my basement sink to my pressure washer. Bucket of hot suds, warm power wash, then pull into the garage for waffle/compressor dry.

But I have to watch the temperatures, I don't want the driveway to turn into a sheet of ice.

[lookaught]

1. Go to store and purchase 5gal distilled h20. It's 3.99 if you bring a jug

Why would you use distilled water vs. regular tap water? You'll be hosing it down with tap water from the pressure wand.

[Groove1797]

Why would you use distilled water vs. regular tap water? You'll be hosing it down with tap water from the pressure wand.

It is warm or at room temp. Artesian water is usually more expensive.

[Poopie]

find a place that will let you bring your own suds and bucket. Thats what i do. It has garage doors that closes on both sides. it still cold as shit, but at least its not windy and the water is heated to cut through the salt.

[tdavit]

distilled water wont leave water spots...

[Poopie]

distilled water wont leave water spots...

doesn't matter if you are rinsing it with regular hose water anyways

[HOFFY11]

i bundle up and wash it the same i always do..i keep it covered anytime i am not using it so it cuts wash amounts down

[samtimtom]

Same process as summertime except I may where shoes instead of flip flops. And I would never wash my car on a day like today. It is freezing here. I think it is only going to get up to like 65...burrrrrr....

Sorry...had to do it.

[scot_w]

65? If I washed the car outside today I would have to be careful not to scratch it with the sleet that is falling. Plus my mitt would probably freeze to the car.

[boravr6]

i cringe every time i hear pressure washer and Audi in the same sentence....

On wheels its all good.... But on paint!!! Once that pressure gets into that barely noticeable chip on the hood.... BAM... watch the paint peel off!!!!

Low pressure hose ONLY... i would rather leave the car dirty than put pressure jet on my paint!

[billyblooshoes]

i cringe every time i hear pressure washer and Audi in the same sentence....

On wheels its all good.... But on paint!!! Once that pressure gets into that barely noticeable chip on the hood.... BAM... watch the paint peel off!!!!

Low pressure hose ONLY... i would rather leave the car dirty than put pressure jet on my paint!

not doubting you, but can anyone back this statement up?

[HOFFY11]

very true..i have a geo tracker that im building into a mud machine and when i powerwash it to get the mud off, getting to close blows clearcoat off and if you have any chips it will just chip it right off like its nothing

[2.slowT]

very true..i have a geo tracker that im building into a mud machine and when i powerwash it to get the mud off, getting to close blows clearcoat off and if you have any chips it will just chip it right off like its nothing

Yeah... But thats a Geo Tracker

[SpfldS4]

i cringe every time i hear pressure washer and Audi in the same sentence....

On wheels its all good.... But on paint!!! Once that pressure gets into that barely noticeable chip on the hood.... BAM... watch the paint peel off!!!!

Low pressure hose ONLY... i would rather leave the car dirty than put pressure jet on my paint!

Haha...Low pressure + distance = paint safety. And yes, you can can blast the wheel wells and wheels. I've seen what high pressure and no distance can do on my deck and concrete....common sense.

[sakimano]

I just go to a Petro Canada station near by. They have a 'glide' wash which is awesome

You drive up, and your car sits on a full conveyer belt (thus nothing effs with your wheels , or if applicable, lowered body)

there is a touchless option and a touch option. I go touch. Touchless sucks the bag, and relies on INSANE water pressure sprayers to try to clean the car. It's a silver S4 so it's hard to fk up the finish. Besides, it's an S4 not a Veyron...I think a car wash is fine.

[CruzS4]

i see a lot of you guys in this thread are from the philly burbs. you should definitely check out duke's firehose company on 202 in blue bell. it's a carwash but nothing abrasive touches your car but water and soap. it's awesome, and great for winter when you don't feel like freezing your balls off and doing a handwash yourself. here's the link http://safetywash.com/

[Fizikal S4Avant]

Just find a hand car wash and let someone else do the dirty work. There is one downtown Indy, 12 bucks inside and out plus tip. Not in the best part of town but definitely worth not suffering in the cold and not effin up your paint.

[scot_w]

Some of the downtown parking garages hand wash for monthly parkers (or if you catch them on a slow day). I am sure that is the case in other cities Indy size and larger.

[billyblooshoes]

i see a lot of you guys in this thread are from the philly burbs. you should definitely check out duke's firehose company on 202 in blue bell. it's a carwash but nothing abrasive touches your car but water and soap. it's awesome, and great for winter when you don't feel like freezing your balls off and doing a handwash yourself. here's the link http://safetywash.com/

just checked out their website. noticed they offer detailing services and figured it might be legit or whatever. 200-300 dollars for a half ass detail? basically do your interior, wash, and hit it with a clay bar and then hand wax it. no paint correction? ridiculous if you ask me...

[CruzS4]

just checked out their website. noticed they offer detailing services and figured it might be legit or whatever. 200-300 dollars for a half ass detail? basically do your interior, wash, and hit it with a clay bar and then hand wax it. no paint correction? ridiculous if you ask me...

yea that is ridiculous, i was only suggesting it for a wash during the winter months which would run you less than $20. i do the waxing etc myself before the weather turns cold, let's say early-mid october. the salt in the winter is a bitch and i go to this place just for a wash

[snowbird]

Some of the downtown parking garages hand wash for monthly parkers (or if you catch them on a slow day). I am sure that is the case in other cities Indy size and larger.

I used the "pro detailing" service in my office parking garage for the first time today. I thought - they wash enough cars to know how to do it right.

I am FURIOUS about what happened. Swirls EVERYWHERE on my black paint. I asked the guy what he used to wash it, and he pointed to a 1/4 filled bucket of muck-water and a grimy mitt.

I'll have to deal with it (via PC) in the spring, but a word of advice: do not EVER use these parking garage "detailing" services. I'd rather leave my car dirty all winter than do that again.

[scot_w]

Funny. We've got an old guy in the garage I frequent that uses a foam cannon and a Grit Guard bucket. MFs hanging up to dry all along one wall. I think he treats the cars he washes better than the owners.

Oh and sorry your experience was bad. I hate when I pay to have something done that causes me more work in the end.

[sakimano]

dot dot dot

Thats what i have done last 10-12 years... i have yet to have a speck of rust on any of my cars!

Good tips there about the coin-op and the shammy post touchless. Try a leaf blower to dry it off with air!.

P.S. re: the lack of rust, isn't that because you don't keep your cars long enough for them to rust? I can't remember the last time I had a car rust, but that's probably because I move them out after 4-5 years. If you've had carS (not car) in the past 10-12 years, might be the same reason for you.