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"Waterless" car wash?

Dolebludger
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:58:58 GMT

I just received a catalog from Griot's Garage containing waterless car wash that one just wipes on and wipes off. Now, I live in snow country, and my 2017 C 43 AMG has much grunge on it from the slush and the chemicals used to remove snow from the roads. It is still too cold here for me to do a traditional wash or take the car to a "touchless" car wash, though my garage is warm enough to wash a car. My fear in using this stuff is that there is some abrasive material that gets on the car's finish from the stuff that is applied to the roads to melt the snow. Is this product safe to clean my car, or does it pose the danger of producing scratches in the exterior finish?

badali
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 13:46:24 GMT

I would not try it if there is winter grime and sand on the car. You will have a great risk of scratching the paint. I think it would be similar to using detailer on your car if there is normal dust or have driven in the rain during the rest of the year. I just washes mine the traditional way with soap and water. Nothing beats it... [P_20190222_075825](//muut.com/u/mbcaforum/s3/:mbcaforum:4Mhx:p_20190222_075825.jpg.jpg) [P_20190222_075837](//muut.com/u/mbcaforum/s3/:mbcaforum:Vnm0:p_20190222_075837.jpg.jpg) [P_20190222_075925](//muut.com/u/mbcaforum/s3/:mbcaforum:OluL:p_20190222_075925.jpg.jpg) [P_20190222_075937](//muut.com/u/mbcaforum/s3/:mbcaforum:BxJ5:p_20190222_075937.jpg.jpg)

TomHanson
Tue, 26 Feb 2019 00:14:05 GMT

I found a new product called "Produxa". I'm going to try it. Looks very good.

GregW_Oregon
Wed, 27 Feb 2019 16:50:40 GMT

I use Griot's Spray-On Car Wash for light grime and it works well, but I would be hesitant about using any such product for heave Winter grime.

Alex
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 22:47:16 GMT

Badali puts it well and his proof is in the pictures of the cars he cares for. The phrase Waterless Car Wash can't be right because Wash means with water. Without water it is not a wash but some sort of cleaning, which is OK when the car is not really covered with granular material such as sand, salt or bird droppings. Most of us have at some time or other dusted the finish of a car by just barely touching the body with a plain cloth. Chances are good that if we really looked at the finish carefully there would be some fine scratches as a result. Because without meaning to we rubbed the dust into the finish as the dust was attaching itself to the cloth. Using a liquid wax of some sort is the next step in this process, but not if there is any abrasive material on the body to begin with, which would scratch the finish when rubbed since there is no guarantee that the abrasive material will get lifted up by the cloth before rubbing against the paint finish first. It's only common sense. So I think that the Waterless Car Wash is for people who don't notice or don't ca re about the finish of their car. For fussy car people like most of us here this type of shortcut stuff doesn't pass muster so it is not recommended.

Dolebludger
Sat, 02 Mar 2019 22:43:10 GMT

Relax, guys. I wasn't thinking about using the "waterless car wash" to get a winter's worth of "Colorado Rocky Mountain muck" off of any car. I'll do a traditional wash with my pressure sprayer, soap it down, scrub with a boars hair brush, and dry. But after I do that, when the car is completely dry, a haze forms on the surface due to the snow clearing chemicals they use on the roads here. Car wash soap just won't take it off. I had been advised to use a vinegar mix as the chemicals are alkaline. Just was wondering how that "waterles" stuff would do on that haze.

vince
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 13:41:33 GMT

That brine solution is a pain to remove. I just went through that recently. VDOT (Virginia) treated bridges and overpasses with brine in anticipation of snow that never happened. Do to sub-freezing temps I couldn't wash the car for a week so the stuff had dried for days. I washed the car with a Gyeon microfiber mitt and Meguiars #62 car wash. Most of the brine came off. I did have to spot clean in grooves and missed spots. I used Meguiars Final Inspection and a Ragg Company microfiber towel and the remaining spots came off pretty easily. Not saying that will work in the case of the OP, but it works pretty well for me.

Paul Duboff
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 12:57:16 GMT

I’ve been wondering about that residual haze for years now. Been aware of it since moving to New Mexico. Apparently the local car wash, with its’ copious amounts of water,etc, just can’t do the job.

Dolebludger
Mon, 04 Mar 2019 17:34:11 GMT

Guys, I called a local pro detailer and also our state highway dept. I learned that the chemicals applied to our roads are pretty alkaline.Problem is that car wash soap is also alkaline so it doesn't neutralize the haze. The recommendation is to spray on some mildly acidic solution (such as vinegar and water) and wipe off with a microfiber, just like with a detailing spray. I'll give that aa try if and when it ever quits snowing here, and report back on the result.

vince
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 16:34:48 GMT

OP. Hmmm. The pH of Meguiars #62 is 8.8-9.5 - so mildly alkaline. As for neutralizing the brine, it would seem it is not going to be very effective. However, I have tried the white vinegar trick without any luck (it was recommended by Larry Kosilla of AMMO NYC). Admittedly, I was using it to clean the wheel wells and underside of the car. I don't have any problem removing it on the paint as long as my mitt can be lightly passed over the paint. The problem is in grooves (on the bumper, door trim strips, etc. - think W202, W210, etc.). I find a quality boars hair brush works better there. While neutralizing the pH seems like a good goal I'm having trouble figuring out if reaching neutral pH actually breaks the bond between the brine residue and the paint surface. So far my limited experience isn't convincing. Let us know how it works for you.

Dolebludger
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 17:01:33 GMT

Oh, I don't think white vinegar is going to work on something as grungy as wheel wells and undercarriage. My reference was to using it (or some other mildly acidic solution) on well washed painted surface on which a haze has formed after drying.

vince
Tue, 05 Mar 2019 17:33:40 GMT

White vinegar has a pH of about 2.6 so dilute it at least 50/50 with water.

Dolebludger
Wed, 06 Mar 2019 03:05:54 GMT

Thank you, Vince. When the “muck” clears around here, I will give my cars that I drive in winter (including our 2017 C 43 AMG 4MATIC) a proper wash . If I have the alkaline haze, I will try vinegar and water sprayed on and wiped off. I think I will start with about 25% vinegar, and go up from there as needed. And, I will report back on the results. The detailer’s credo is like that of the doctor’s — “ first, do no harm”.

Dolebludger
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 03:02:31 GMT

I tried a spray on solution of 3/4 Aradex Spot Delivery (available at many on line sellers) and 1/4 vinegar on some areas of my car where the rain had washed off the "big stuff". It seems to work in eliminating the haze.

vince
Sun, 10 Mar 2019 14:12:42 GMT

Sounds good.

TAK
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 19:58:56 GMT

Maguire's waterless carwash spray is the best on the market however only use it when you have minimal dirt/dust on the car. Here in Minneapolis I use the touch less carwash locations throughout the winter for my everyday driver but for my weekend car (sl63 amg) the last carwash is in late September and not touched until April....brutal winters here.

TAK
Tue, 09 Apr 2019 20:06:44 GMT

Sorry, for the typo-Maguiar's

Dolebludger
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:30:01 GMT

TAK, Just for my info, what is bad about touchless car washes, other than the fact the often don’t get all the dirt off?

Dolebludger
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:35:56 GMT

I just got the “Rocky Mountain muck” off of the two cars of ours that are 4WD and driven in winter snow, a 17 C 43 AMG sedan and the11 Toyota RAV4. I ran the RAV through a touchless car wash. It did no harm, but only removed “large rocks and small children” leaving a lot of that haze. A heavy mix of vinegar and water and a microfiber took care of that. And the wheels and tires were as dirty as before. I mixed car wash detergent with vinegar in the power washer and cleaned those with it, plus a bit of help from wheel cleaner, a board hair brush for the wheels, and a stiff brush and some tire shine for the tires. I used my power washer and that mixture to wash the C 43, with the help of a bigger boars hair brush on a pole. The mixture of detergent and vinegar did well on the car body, and the synthetic “shammy” got rid of almost all haze. Vinegar and microfiber got the rest.

TAK
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 17:09:53 GMT

I don't have any issues with the touchless carwashes plus the better ones do a great job.

Dolebludger
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 15:56:04 GMT

Yes, send the touchless car washes around here include a strong under-body wash, which is better than I can do with my power washer. I don’t have a lift (I expect few of us do) so it is hard to get the angle right with a power washer