[1supersport]

Are rinse-free car wash solutions good? I’m thinking about grabbing some for my garage since it’s always raining in Florida during the summer and the closest self service car wash to me is about 20 minutes away.

[RayKinStL]

Just get it ceramic coated by a good detailer that uses a good ceramic coating product and then you can literally wash your car anytime with nothing more than a quick pressure washing and it will be 95% good (then you just do a very occasional deeper washing)

[GHarris]

Yes, they work well if the car is mainly dusty. If it’s really dirty I use a traditional wash. McKees 37.com offers several rinse less products

[LeonardS]

How do you keep from scratching the clear coat with these rinse free products? I don’t understand how you avoid scratching.

[db2022cs]

This is actually something I just did on my 1LE for the first time! I moved into a new apartment and I got a garage now here! But, the downside is they do not have a public place to wash car with a hose hookup. I just finished doing a 1 bucket wash of the car and it was pretty dirty by my standards (dusty and bugs in the front of car.

1 bucket of 4 gallons of water and 2 ounces of Optimum No Rinse (ONR) and the ONR sponge. I did this in the sun around noon and it was high 60's or low 70's outside. The key is to do small sections at a time. I took a spray bottle and mixed it with the 4 gallon solution. I would take the spray bottle, wet an area until it starts to drip and pull away any debris. then I would take the sponge and get out about 75% of the water and just clean the surface and regularly dunk into the bucket. The ONR solution has a really great lubricant to minimize any surface scratching or swirls you might make. It's not perfect but it works pretty well for a single bucket.

As others have said, having the car ceramic coated will make the wash much easier and in some cases you could just rinse off the dirt. This is what I will be doing in a couple months, full paint correction and ceramic coating.

[1supersport]

Originally Posted by db2022cs

This is actually something I just did on my 1LE for the first time! I moved into a new apartment and I got a garage now here! But, the downside is they do not have a public place to wash car with a hose hookup. I just finished doing a 1 bucket wash of the car and it was pretty dirty by my standards (dusty and bugs in the front of car.

1 bucket of 4 gallons of water and 2 ounces of Optimum No Rinse (ONR) and the ONR sponge. I did this in the sun around noon and it was high 60's or low 70's outside. The key is to do small sections at a time. I took a spray bottle and mixed it with the 4 gallon solution. I would take the spray bottle, wet an area until it starts to drip and pull away any debris. then I would take the sponge and get out about 75% of the water and just clean the surface and regularly dunk into the bucket. The ONR solution has a really great lubricant to minimize any surface scratching or swirls you might make. It's not perfect but it works pretty well for a single bucket.

As others have said, having the car ceramic coated will make the wash much easier and in some cases you could just rinse off the dirt. This is what I will be doing in a couple months, full paint correction and ceramic coating.

I’m in the same situation. How do you clean your wheels too?

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by 1supersport

I’m in the same situation. How do you clean your wheels too?

They can be ceramic coated, too, which makes their surface hydrophobic as well and equally helps with dirt.

On that note, many will also suggest that you replace the brake pads with PowerStop Z26s that dust 90%+ less than the original Brembos and sacrifice much less in terms of braking power. Just go and check your wheels right now and you'll see what I'm talking about, these Brembo pads aren't joking , and if you're unable to use a hose for cleaning the car, you may want to consider minimizing the amount of brake dust.

One more thing, ceramic isn't some magical surface protection, you will still scratch the car VERY easily if you aren't careful, and you must also be more careful with water spotting—whenever you hose the car down, don't let water dwell on the paint unless you have RO/water softening equipment.

[eldersCAMARO]

I recommend watching some youtube videos on this. It does work really well, especially with a ceramic coating. I was taught to use super high-grade microfiber towels about 2-5 towels per panel of the car. Constantly folding the towel repeatedly to never use a dirty side for a new area to prevent scratches.

Even washing the towels has to be done a certain way. Good luck.

[Rock-It Man]

I have been using Turtle Wax one step car wash and wax for years. It's their least expensive liquid product.

How to use:

1) Rinse the car with a hose, paying special attention to areas where abrasive particles collect aft of wheels.

2) Mix the product in a bucket with about ten times the amount recommended on the bottle.

3) Wash the entire car with what I call a muppet, i.e. a shaggy fibers device, not a slab of sponge.

4) Rinse just enough to flow the bubbles away.

5) Wash the tire side walls and wheels, and rinse.

5) Disperse water drops on the body with a frequently rinsed sham-wow at least twice, beginning with the roof, hood, trunk lid, and windows. If water spots persist, go back to a wetter sham followed by a well wrung out one.

Oh and by the way, it must be cloudy when you do this, to prevent irreversible spotting.

[22SS1LE]

I do 95% rinseless washing on my cars. Its not less safe than a regular hose wash if you do it correctly.
If its crazy dirty with actual chunks of dirt you can see. Give it a quick rinse with the hose or pressure washer.
If its just dirty from driving in rain some then also presoak.
I spray the car down with my rinseless solution so it starts to break down the dirt and lift it.
After that I wash the car with my rinseless wash.
I use DIY detail rinseless as its my favorite one. I also have ONR and P&S absolute. They all work well but feel DIY does a better cleaning job.
Use a proper wash media. I only use rinseless wash sponges. Either the DIY detail sponge or the Big red sponge by optimum.

Once you are done dry it with a PROPER towel. I only really use The Rag company Gauntlet towels to dry my car.

You dont NEED to have a car ceramic coated to make it work better. A good quality sealant will provide the same experience. Something like DIY Detail Ceramic gloss, Griots Ceramic speed shine, Or any other good spray sealant.


You can do the same washing wheels as well. I do mainly rinseless on my wheels as well.
Have your presoak sprayer ready with rinseless. Have a bucket of rinseless ready with all your wheel cleaning tools in it.
I then soak the wheel with the presoak spray and then wash them with my regular washing procedure with the tools in the bucket of rinseless. Once you are done I give it a quick spray with the rinseless again to wash off the residual brake dust.

Usually takes me about 5-6gallons total to do a rinseless wash body and wheels.
Also it takes me 20-30min start to finish vs a hose wash takes me a good 2hrs or so to do a proper wash and dry

I suck at youtube videos but i made a quick video on my processes on a rinseless wash

[SSDan]

Follow Glen's process found in this link: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...ighlight=Glene

I've been using his method for 6 years and have been very pleased. My car is never super dirty so I haven't taken a hose to it for 2-3 years. I just do what Glen recommended.

[1supersport]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

They can be ceramic coated, too, which makes their surface hydrophobic as well and equally helps with dirt.

On that note, many will also suggest that you replace the brake pads with PowerStop Z26s that dust 90%+ less than the original Brembos and sacrifice much less in terms of braking power. Just go and check your wheels right now and you'll see what I'm talking about, these Brembo pads aren't joking , and if you're unable to use a hose for cleaning the car, you may want to consider minimizing the amount of brake dust.

One more thing, ceramic isn't some magical surface protection, you will still scratch the car VERY easily if you aren't careful, and you must also be more careful with water spotting—whenever you hose the car down, don't let water dwell on the paint unless you have RO/water softening equipment.

These are what I have on all four. I’ll need to look into the PowerStop Z26s more, thanks for the tips!

I’m tempted to get a matte wrap job but I’ve heard it’s very hard to maintain.

[1supersport]

I just noticed my dealership installed window tint has some dust points. Am I way over reacting?

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by 1supersport

I just noticed my dealership installed window tint has some dust points. Am I way over reacting?

Not exactly optimal, but few tinters have a dustless clean room to work in... if it's really bothersome, just ask them to redo that window, it's not a major cost for the dealership.