waterless car wash

Given the looming hose pipe ban
Has anyone used waterless car washes and if so what you recommend

I didn't know there was such a thing, how do they work?


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Here's one system Caroline



I'll not be bothering with it, we have an excess of rain here and this morning I used the self-wash method - we have had dense fog since yesterday afternoon and the condensation on the car has softened all the dead bugs and light dirt and it is now laying on my drive around the car!

These products are fine if your car is "clean" in the first place.
The thing to think about is scratches. Wiping a MF cloth over your dirty paint work will over time leave marks.
How dirty is your car & what is on the paint work, if it's just a light coating of dust than fine, using a very soft brush duster first & than a spray wipe with some quick detailer i.e car stored in I garage could be ok.
But for a weeks worth of road spray for me it's got to be high pressure water to remove anything before I touch the paint work

(25-03-2012 12:35pm)doug Wrote:  These products are fine if your car is "clean" in the first place.
The thing to think about is scratches. Wiping a MF cloth over your dirty paint work will over time leave marks.
How dirty is your car & what is on the paint work, if it's just a light coating of dust than fine, using a very soft brush duster first & than a spray wipe with some quick detailer i.e car stored in I garage could be ok.
But for a weeks worth of road spray for me it's got to be high pressure water to remove anything before I touch the paint work

Found Valeters pride non scratch waterless system
They say lifts the dirt away from the surface of the car
Another one i found was WOW endorsed by Gary Mabbut

(25-03-2012 03:53pm)stevehill Wrote:  Found Valeters pride non scratch waterless system
They say lifts the dirt away from the surface of the car
Another one i found was WOW endorsed by Gary Mabbut

It may lift the dirt away from the paint work, but where does it go, straight on to the same cloth they use for next wipe
I'm sure some valeters may pride non scratch waterless systems, it only costs them the price of a few MF cloths & some quick spray.
Having your car cleaned in this way is fine for "Jo public" how just needs a clean looking car. But for any detailer it's a big no no.

(25-03-2012 04:33pm)doug Wrote:  It may lift the dirt away from the paint work, but where does it go, straight on to the same cloth they use for next wipe
I'm sure some valeters may pride non scratch waterless systems, it only costs them the price of a few MF cloths & some quick spray.
Having your car cleaned in this way is fine for "Jo public" how just needs a clean looking car. But for any detailer it's a big no no.

had my car done by detailers who use the sponge method black E class covered in cobweb scratches
which was done by moving the dirt around with a sponge
now have get it mopped

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(25-03-2012 04:33pm)doug Wrote:  It may lift the dirt away from the paint work, but where does it go, straight on to the same cloth they use for next wipe
I'm sure some valeters may pride non scratch waterless systems, it only costs them the price of a few MF cloths & some quick spray.
Having your car cleaned in this way is fine for "Jo public" how just needs a clean looking car. But for any detailer it's a big no no.

Doug valeters pride is the make of the waterless car wash system http://www.valeterspride.co.uk

Steve,
My mistake on what you meant by valeting pride. Just read up on there waterless wash system (they all so sell a lot of Truck Wash like products) & I still stand by what I said.
It's fine for supermarket car park cleaners, but would never be used on a mud/dirt covered car in the detailing world.
As for the problems you had after a vist to a detailer, I'm not surprised your paint was left marked if they used a sponge.

Shall we agree to disagree

(25-03-2012 07:39pm)doug Wrote:  Steve,
My mistake on what you meant by valeting pride. Just read up on there waterless wash system (they all so sell a lot of Truck Wash like products) & I still stand by what I said.
It's fine for supermarket car park cleaners, but would never be used on a mud/dirt covered car in the detailing world.
As for the problems you had after a vist to a detailer, I'm not surprised your paint was left marked if they used a sponge.

Shall we agree to disagree

No I don't disagree what method would you recommend just do not want cobwebs

Once the hose pipe ban hits East Anglian on 5th April, I will be using rain water from my water butts.
This is filtered from the down pipe to stop leaves from getting in & when I need it placed in a 25Litre jerry can.
Using my pressure washer I have a 10microns filter bolted on the side to filter out any grit. The pressure washer will pump out the water from the jerry can, much the same as if it was connected up to mains water. But without using a hose pipe
There's nothing to say you can't just fill up a jerry can with mains water, as it's not connected up to the mains.
But as I filter my rinse water from the mains down to 30ppm to stop water spots, I thought I would switch to rain water as this is already soft water & should dry spot free, filtering out fine grit is alot cheaper than filtering out mains water to a Pure soft water.
One thing you can use without fitting a filter is to use lady's tights over the opening of your jerry can, this will filter out almost any grit from rain water taken from a roof.
As my car is only used at the weekend & garaged though out the week, it doesn't get very dirty. So for removing light dust. I use a very fine dusting brush & some quick detailer spray to remove dead flys etc.
Using a waterless system in the summer now & again should be a lot saver than in the winter. I'm only against this type of cleaning a car, after watching the guys at a well known supermarket using it. With there manky old cloths & dirty rise water bucket going from one car to the next without changing cloths.

Use a wash MIT, lambs wool & not a sponge & dry off with a drying towel not a leather.
Or just use your hose in the middle of the night