vassey50

I was reading xcantuaj 's post here on cold weather car washing, and it reminded me all to well of my battles with the elements to keep my car gleaming through the winter season. What I'm interested in is getting your feedback and tips on the products you use (if different from summer use) in the cold weather months. And although my neighbors think I'm a lunatic to be washing my car every couple of days in the cold, I tell them it's the most important time of the year (for me anyway) to keep the car detailed and free of the salt and all the other crap the road crews use on the streets.

So I'd like to hear what you use as winter products or products that may hold up to the elements better, waxes? tire dressings? cloths? etc. And I'm unfortunate as like most and do NOT have access to a garage at home or underground parking which makes the winter months even more of a PITA. As I write this post and see my dry, cracked, abraded hands from detailing in the cold with my warm water pails, I find comfort that there's more 'lunatics' out there, just none on my street.

vassey50

For my part, car washing is a big one in the winter. I usually fill an old laundry detergent jug with my Meguiar's Deep Crystal and water, drive to the car wash, rinse, ruin my hands for a while, then rinse again. For drying, my chamois tend to not work well in the cold so I have to keep some warm water and use my MF's instead. For my tires in the winter I use a product called Dress All. It's a heavy on the silicone, and it tends to go on a lot easier in the cold, although it doesn't last for very long on my Michelin X-Ice. Maybe a couple of days. Washer fluid is the Rain X winter formula, yellow I believe. Seems to work and has never frozen on my nozzles. Cold weather waxing is a big problem too. Right now I use the S100 Carnauba. Since I can't spend too much time waxing or polishing, I try and apply a fast, protective coating on, helps when simply rinsing the car off from salt. I usually start my day or end my night watching the weather channel so I can come up with some sort of plan for the detailing. And the temp gauge in the car for outside temp is a savior as well. B/c when it reads anything above 0 Celsius, I'm usually going for the detailing gear. Which is no longer in my trunk b/c this cold weather freezes everything Jezuz, how bitter am I?