Car Wash

[got3fords]

My Ranger prefers a soft wash. But sometimes my Ranger has been a naughty girl.

Same here. Last Veterans day, I got 2 free Ultimate car washes at any local Exxon. I pulled into one I haven't been before, and after it was too late to exit, I realized it was a brush wash. Whatever! It cleaned up really well, even had auto wheel cleaning. Came out really clean.
I used the other free wash in a brushless one. Didn't clean as well, but felt a little better about it.

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[Rocketeer61]

Touch free, unless you actually want the crud from every vehicle before you to be ground into your paint.

 

[got3fords]

Touch free, unless you actually want the crud from every vehicle before you to be ground into your paint.

Looks like brush style are just fine and work better. It's the cloth style that might be a problem.
" But head-to-head comparisons have shown that the old-school car washes will actually cause less damage to your car’s finish than the newer alternatives because the brushes do not hold onto abrasives (like grit) to the extent that soft cloth scrubbers do."
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/will-a-car-wash-hurt-your-cars-finish/

 

[subquark]

So many approaches. Up until this Ranger, I was the kind that let God wash it and maybe I washed it once a year, but just with a self-service car wash. LOL, I used to pull into a hedge by my garage door with my Scion just to get more clearance into the garage, man did that scratch up the clear coat!

But now I've turned into a Nancy boy and am all precious with ... wait for it .. a pickup truck!

It's a truck! =D

But ... my typical wash is first a rinse with the Active 2.0 pressure washer, then a soap canon with Mr. Pink, then another rinse, then another soap cannon with a 2-bucket method.

Then a dry with the Ego and a stubby nozzle, then air compressor with Vornado, then giant microfiber towels.

Then 303 Graphene on sheet metal and 303 Aerospace Protectant on plastic and tonneau.

The interior is vacuum, moist microfiber wipe, then 303 Aerospace Protectant.

I typically don't do the tires, apart from washing.

What a wuss I am in a pickup truck! =p

 

[WolfgangVTS]

We don't still have to push 303 now that the pitchman is gone , do we ?

I know that I’m out of the loop on this, but what happened to Dave?

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Looks like brush style are just fine and work better. It's the cloth style that might be a problem.
" But head-to-head comparisons have shown that the old-school car washes will actually cause less damage to your car’s finish than the newer alternatives because the brushes do not hold onto abrasives (like grit) to the extent that soft cloth scrubbers do."
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/will-a-car-wash-hurt-your-cars-finish/

without reading the link - the basics of washing anything is that less contact is best. Every contact damages the paint, the degree to which it damages varies based on many variables. What is making contact? How hard is it being pressed into the paint? How dirty is the paint?

If you need to make contact, you should use a soft media, and that media should be as clean as possible - rinsed as needed (between panels or every few passes depending on the level of dirt). The amount of pressure should be just enough to keep the media against the paint, with plenty of lubrication (soap).

this leads to the idea that a touchless wash is good, but in order for a touchless wash to clean the vehicles it has to use harsh chemicals and/or higher pressures of water/chemicals to actually blast the dirt and grime off.

As for brushes vs cloth rags - brushes may be better because they don't "hold" the dirt, but they aren't good. It is a lesser of the evils kind of comparison.

I get that not everyone cares about their vehicles paint like I do. Heck my GF is one of those people who doesn't care what the outside of her car looks like, she just wants a clean interior.

You can get a similar outcome from the touchless washes by going to a wash bay and just pressure washing the truck. As I just relocated from a state where I could wash my vehicles outside year round to a state where I turn the water off to my outdoor spigots for half the year I have taken to taking the truck to a carwash and just pressure washing the big grim off, followed by a rinseless wash in the driveway. But this rinseless wash doesn't provide as great a clean as a regular wash I do when it is warmer out. (I wish I had the cash to buy or rent a shop space that I could use for washing indoors year round . . . )

 

[NotBudule]

I know that I’m out of the loop on this, but what happened to Dave?

It's a mystery to the masses, some claim he's off to cash in on his fame , others claim he never even really was , there is evidence he may have been real, threads , and photos and posts and such, but I believe he was just an early AI experiment ?... real or not, he/it sold some 303 and dampers , that's for sure ( not to me though)...

 

[WolfgangVTS]

It's a mystery to the masses, some claim he's off to cash in on his fame , others claim he never even really was , there is evidence he may have been real, threads , and photos and posts and such, but I believe he was just an early AI experiment ?... real or not, he/it sold some 303 and dampers , that's for sure ( not to me though)...

Wherever he is, I hope he’s okay and doing well.

 

[Mlemos89]

If you're worried about it, I'd say hand wash. I've worked in the car wash world for over 7 years now, and while cloth can catch debris and hurt your paint, touch free also uses harsher chemicals to compensate for being touch free and over time will also damage your finish.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Wherever he is, I hope he’s okay and doing well.

As of a couple of weeks ago, he’s doing just fine. ?

 

[Msfitoy]

Full treatment touchless once a month...coin power spray once a week...

 

[Chris M]

Wherever he is, I hope he’s okay and doing well.

He is.
Chatted with him yesterday.

 

[WolfgangVTS]

He is.
Chatted with him yesterday.

Awesome! Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Msfitoy]

He is.
Chatted with him yesterday.

Does he still have a Ranger? Must really hate us....

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

Must have gotten into a disagreement with the owner. That was one thing I appreciated about Dave as a new member is he made a point to engage with my initial posts and invited me to his made up clubs instantly to make me feel like I belonged here. (A lot of you did and I noticed.)

For those of you still in touch with him @DukeCanBuildit @Chris M please let him know even if he never comes back to this forum his efforts were not for nothing.

Sorry to OP for going off topic.

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