I know there is a wash & wax 'community' here, but I'm guessing most of those guys still hand wash even in the winter. What do the rest of you do? Please answer poll.

 

I still hand wash in the winter. My car will never see a car wash....

Also, I spray the underside after snow storms.

If you have a garage, check out Optimum No Rinse. I love that stuff.

 

With how cold it gets here I absolutely can't hand wash. I use the self spray wash and NEVER even look at the brush. I'm part of the wash and wax guys or at least starting out. This past summer I did a major detail on my tl to bring its paint back to new and I intend to keep it that way

 

It gets way to cold for me to hand wash it now. There is a touch free wash in town that gets the dirt off for the most part, but is no where near as good as I want it. I only go there every once in a while when I cant stand the dirst anymore. So my car is pretty much always a least a little dirty until it gets warm.

 

eh i guess this doesn't apply to me cuz i'm on the west

 

Maybe I should have specified, 'for those who live in cold winter climates'.

Regarding the coin-op and automatic washers, I was under the impression that the strong detergents can harm the paint. I know brushes are the primary concern, but is anyone concerned about those harsh soaps?

 

I only wash it when its warm outside.

 

Hand wash without a doubt. I've never taken my TL through an automatic wash and don't plan on it.

If it's too cold to hand wash, the car just stays dirty.

 

x2

 

iv never thought about it eating away the clear coat b4... guess because my car still looks semi dirty when i come out of them. makes me wonder if their "soaps" are harsh enuf. but i can understand where ur comin from. but id rather have harsh soap for a minute or 2, than salt stuck all over my car, eating it away, which i kno for a fact. so in conclusion, soap>salt.

 

i admit i use the brushes at the car washes but i always run my fingers through em to check for rocks and dirt... but i should stop just sucks after moving out of the house i live in an apt now and thers no where to really get my car clean now... but i never run through the auto unless im just super lazy...

 

i wash mine by hand too. although, i will be a lot more careful now in the cold. i washed my ride a couple weeks ago when it was ~25 out. i thought it was warmer than it actually was. so i drive down the street, like a block or two, & drive back. i get out to dry my car off some, with proper rags of course, and most of my car is an entire sheet of ice . i guess you gotta learn the dumbass way sometimes

 

x3, and no option for it in the poll ethier

but luckily i am able to hand wash it occasionally during the winter, when it does get warm enough outside (but this winter has been :bitter:, so more the touchless for me

 

Optimum No Rinse is the way to go for cold climates. I also use warm/hot water so my hands won't freeze.

 

+1 For optimum no rinse. Its a great product for the winter and those without hoses.

 

They arent going to harm your paint any more than what you use at home.

Its usually way too cold to hand wash, even with a heated garage. Optimum no rince simply wont work around here. I bring mine thru the touch-less car washes (none of them around here use brushes, just water pressure). I dont even waste my time trying any other way, That way the car gets dried too. also i get a underbody flush to help get rid of the 500 lbs of salt on the car.

 

sadly the ones around here won't do the engine bay area, so just from about the firewall and back

 

when its too cold i use the do it yourself high pressure washer and only use the water, don't ever use any of the other products in those things they'll prob strip ur wax. other than that i hand wash the other 10 out of 12 months of the year when theres a nice day to do it

 

anyone ever tried foam?

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I was hesitant about using the soap at the self spray washes at first as well because I'm sure it's not a mild car was soap like the two I use (CG citrus wash and p21 autobody shampoo) when I hand wash. However, I have no other choice because if I simply spray my car with water the panels are left with a layer of dirtiness that I can't stand to see.

Applying a couple layers of a proper paint sealant like Optimum Opti-Seal or FSUPP will help prevent damage over winter and do the best it can at protecting your clear coat.

Also, and this is very important. NEVER EVER EVER EVER use a brush at the car wash. It doesn't matter if you run you fingers through it, it will swirl your clear like no tomorrow. I use australian sheep skin mitts to wash my car and waffleweave microber towels to dry and even then very light marring can occur if I'm not careful.

In the winter don't even bother trying to "dry" you car, just let the water fall off, freeze and evaporate in the sun. You're not actually cleaning your car in the winter at the spray wash, simply relieving the paint (and your wheel wells) of the built up filth until the next layer begins.

 

always hand wash, and during the winter i just wait for a day above freezing. not everyone can do that.

 

wat do you guys use when the car has alot of dirt especially round the rear bumper side area i always hand wash my car but wen its really dirty all the little pieces of dirt and gunk gets stuck to the mitt and doesnt come off the mitt. should i use a brush when it gets that dirty?

 

Seeing as I'm in Alabama the cold isn't much of a problem for me so I just hand wash.

 

you mean all the crap that gets sprayed up from the tires on the back bumper's side

if so, try to rinse it off with a hose first, to get it somewhat clean (a pressure washer works great on that part but not necessary though), if still not somewhat clean, wipe it with your hand before you actually wipe it with the mitt, so more of the dirt is knocked off before the mitt actuallys sees it

also if no lip kit on the rear, the accesory mud flaps would help keep alot of that shit off the bumper in the first place

 

I've tried the touchfree car wash places and the car never seems to get clean possibly due to MN harsh winters. I actually go to Mister Car Wash and it works very well because they utilize brushes to clean out all the road salt and sand.

 

Some of you act as though your paint will fall off as soon as the wax is gone.

Your paint will be just fine using the soap in the car washes. If you are that anal about your finish you probably already wax and clay the car to begin with. If so you will probably be doing it in the spring regardless. Your finish will be just fine. If clear were that susceptible to the elements they would have come up with something else by now to protect your car.

 

a BIG NO-NO, yesit gets it cleaner, but leaves alot of scratch marks, think about how many other people's dirt is also in those brushes
touch-free is really the only way to go for car-washes, may not be absolutly spotless, but ALOT cleaner then before, and it gets dirty again real fast anyways, so kinda pointless (at least for me) to try and get it spotless during the winter

 

yeah as long has a you have a good wax job on the car it should be fine, cause the wax should be doing it's job and protecting the paint anyways


old school varnish paint proably would have had more issues with carwashes then the modern paint everyone has on their cars nowadays (OEM's proably stopped using varnish paint a good 20+ years ago)

 

^^^mods please make it say "25+ years"

 

the car washes dont use anything for soap the strength of your home liquid dish soap- and that stuff will remove wax from the paint if you are getting ready to claybar and detail
otherwise dilute it heavily or buy real car wash soap

MisterClean spray thing with the built in final rinse filter and special soap thats super slippery works good for me- spray with soap- hand mitt wash-rinse- filtered final rinse and it doesnt need drying for the most part...dries spot free with the filtered water

then the leaf blower knocks off most of the water thats left in the door channels, trunk rim, wheels-brakes etc etc
Getting water out of those spaces seems important to me

good wax of your choice is a must to protecting the finish all year

 

, always thought about doing that (but got no leaf blower ), since that is basically all the car washes due for drying your car

 

they sell small leaf blowers as motorcycle driers! for way too much money compared to a 20 dollar leaf/lawn blower

the neighbor laughed until they tried it, now every week I hear that familiar whine and know its car washing day~

 

yeah i was thinking of one from home depot or something, not some "specialized" one
but the funny thing is that your neighbor tried it in the FIRST place, so must of thought it was a good enough idea to try


but i understand for a motorcycle and such cause of trying to dry all the small crevices and such, be a pain in the ass to do with a towel

 

i found that motorcycle dryer for $80 at home depot

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Ou...atalogId=10053


or this one for $239 lmfao
http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Ou...atalogId=10053

ps: don't forget to read the review on that one, really funny

 

I go to the self service places and clean out the underside, wheel wells and give the car a good rinse after a storm. I found a place near my job in Brooklyn called Autobath. They hand wash and dry with a leaf blower and finish with a QD wax type spray. Good enough for the winter.

 

sometimes i go to the touchless car wash thats 30 seconds away from my house and get it washed then come home and wipe the car down with a microfibre towel quickly

 

i washed my TL , in minus 20 celsius weather today, as soon as i put the water on it would freeze, even when the water was boing hot

i was quick and had a friend dry off with a towel right after.. it looked good

it was soo cold that my outside water hose had frozen

 

haha your krazy dude.. but i remember i did that once too but it was like -2 degrees celsius it was a sunny day after some snow and all the snow had melted and i thought it would be ok to wash my car but after id notice that icicles started forming from my side mirrors lol