Winter Washing
 

For those of you that typically hand wash in the warmer months....what do you do in the cold? Automatic car washes? Manual spray wand? Forego washing all winter?

I used to be a member of one of the automatic "drive thru" car washes with the track that pulls you along , but I am not a fan of becoming a regular there in my GS. Curious to what you guys do...

I take it to a hand car wash place whether it's winter, summer, spring or fall. Well worth the $10, $7 early bird special.

I use a rinse-less wash (Optimum No Rinse) in the warmth of my garage.

Is this like a wet wipe?

My 2017 GS is Atomic Silver and I just take it to an automatic car wash that use soft cloth. I take care of my car but don't baby it. Winter here in Cincinnati Ohio is cold and I'm not going to hand washing her in the cold, no way.

I usually give it a nice coat of quality wax around the Thanksgiving time frame. Then when there is fresh snow and the roads get treated, I'll take it to the car wash on the Friday evening of that week to get the salt off. I'll repeat this as often as necessary from January to March to ensure no salt is left on the chassis.

No, you still use a couple buckets of water and the soap.

https://www.autogeek.net/how-to-use-rinseless-wash.html

No way I would ever use that with the salt crust we get on our cars in the winter...

100% agree with you on that. It's a great product and I've been using it for years, but I don't have to deal with much salt or grime where I live. Just lots of rain here.

You would be surprised with how dirty your car can be any still use ONR effectively and safely. OF course if it is caked in mud/grime combined with the salt, maybe pre-rinse or pressure blast away in a self-serve booth first. ONR falls under "Rinseless Wash" category.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...a0c68ea0f8.jpg

It's great stuff and like you suggest I do like to get a touchless wash or good rinse first if my car gets really grimy. But for the usual winter weather, I find it works great. I've seen people do much more damage with a bucket and hose.

I still hand wash my car, BUT my cold is a whole different ball game than your cold.

I live in California, I use a self-serve booth and bucket wash ONLY. I used to take it to a hand wash place, but it there are literally 1 in a 20 mile radius, so you have to wait 3-4 hours :((((

I live less than a mile from a pay and spray and once home, I bucket wash. After that I usually top off with Kenotek detail spray.

Obviously depends on temperatures. If right around freezing or below, I wash it, by hand, in the garage. If it's warm enough for the outside faucet to work, I will wash outside and then immediately back it into the garage for final detailing. My car has never and will never see the inside of an automatic car wash.

I never let my car get to the point where it takes very long to wash. More frequent washing makes each wash so much easier. This combined with using AMMO NYC layers of protection. Currently waiting for the Christmas break to strip it down and apply a fresh coat of Reflex, Skin and Creme. Then let it sit in the garage out of the elements for 2 weeks.

I would def stay away from automatic car washes. They are never your friend, using the touch less is sometimes OK but if you have a chance I would wash in garage if not an option wash through touch less.