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View Full Version : Cold weather washing or apartment dwellers.



AkronSi
01-13-2003, 08:07 AM
I just tried a new product this weekend called Protect All Quick and Easy Wasy. A lot of people like it over at Autopia (http://www.autopia.org) . It's a solution that you mix with water (1 oz per gallon) so that you can wash your car without using a hose. You can get it at camping and RV places. It's about $9 for a bottle.

I gave it a try yesterday since my black car was pretty much white from all the salt. The salt was caked on pretty thick too. You just use a sponge or mitt to lightly wash your car with this stuff and then use a towel to dry it. I didn't apply a lot of pressure and for the really crusty stuff is sprinkled some of the solution on it first before wiping it down.

I really took my time since I didn't want to scratch the paint. When I was done, I didn't notice any scratching that wasn't already there. I also wasn't able to get all the little nooks and crannies clean or the under-body clean. But at least the paint is nice and shiny now!

Sorry for the long post, but it's sort of hard to describe this stuff. It works great though. I would recommend using a pressure sprayer first to at least get the top layer of crust or mud off if it's warm enough.

silver ep
01-13-2003, 08:12 AM
I would recommend using a pressure sprayer first to at least get the top layer of crust or mud off if it's warm enough.
Sounds like doing that first would be the safest route, just so theres no way you'd scratch the paint.

Seems like a really good product, no water spots?

SmoothOperator
01-13-2003, 09:19 AM
The thought of not hosing off small debris first makes me nervous. What's wrong with using a wash-bay?

AkronSi
01-13-2003, 11:10 AM
It was still to cold for the wash bay. Plus it's not always a good idea to splash cold water onto hot metal parts. And, I didn't want water freezing in little cracks and creases.

There weren't really any water spots either. I was surprised because it didn't seem to be drying up very well. I used one towel to wipe it down and then usedn another microfiber towel to try to get the last water spots. But, it left little trails. Once it dryed though (which took awhile because of the temp) it didn't leave any spots. I tried to quick detail the hood, but it was so cold the detailer didn't want to buff off good at all.

I think next time I'll mix up some of the stuff and use a spray bottle to pre-treat the really bad areas. But, it took off all that crud without scratching. I did have to change the water half way through though.

1 fstr si
01-14-2003, 09:52 PM
hey man, its dirty now.


























prolly, i have gone past ur car lately.:cool:

Tekdemon
01-16-2003, 12:01 PM
HAH! I live in Rochester and have a parking spot a gazillion miles from my dorm room and it's 15 degrees outside...

And I bought some wax because I was going to wax it in new york city before coming up here but then it was cold there too and I didn't have an indoor parking space...my mom kept nagging me to just use a car wash but I wanted to do it myself...

So now my car is just dirty...actually the snow cleans it ok I guess.