Hi all, I was wondering if anybody here is using waterless / rinseless washing to detail your Ferrari. The place I live doesn't want us to wash cars on the street without risking a ticket. I thought that could be a good way to do it hidden in my garage. Any positive or negative experience? Thanks, Steve.
I don't buy it. Dirt on paint is an abrasive. Perhaps in this controlled environment with fake Dirt on the car it seems to work. However after a real drive with real road dirt, and dirt dried into bug guts, all you will be doing is scratching the finish. What is wrong with rinsing off the dirt before u wash? I'll tell u what's wrong. I Came close to opening a detailing business on the side. In order to wash the cars by hand the town wanted an oil- water separator for the runoff. The building owner expected me to foot the bill $5k. If I don't own the property, I'm not putting money into renovations. I ran. I don't see grates on the floor and I expect they developed that product to avoid the environmental regulations. Btw, Microfiber wash cloths are good but not magical! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've been using optimum no rinse for 11 years on every car (usually about 10) in my garage including the soft black paint on my viper and have no plans on using anything else. I would also consider myself a detail enthusiast, and am capable of full paint correction when needed.
Raimondo: the country of Switzerland has the same laws regarding washing cars in ones driveway, particularly if you use detergents. It's all got to do with unwanted oils seeping into the ground. From an eco-perspective, it's a good thing. Over here we have many car washes with these special hoses that you can use to wash the vehicle, I just use those. Gives me full control to spray it down from as close or as afar as I want. They do not however allow washing things like the engine, this I have gotten done at a dealer since it's part of the regular vehicle checks and the engine must be clean too.
I only use rinseless on my cars that have clear film and only on the parts that have the film on it (most cars are 100% covered). I only use film that self heals. You will scratch your car every time you touch it with anything. i don't even use a towel to dry my cars as I use air. When applying sealant or rinseless (over the self healing clear film) I use very soft MF towels from korea. Not cheap ones from your local parts or warehouse store. I might be a bit nutty though. Having said that; Chemical guys, Optimum, Carpro and Adams are all good products. Here is a before and after pic after paint correction. The lighting is 2x that of the sun. Note the scratches in the paint before. To the naked eye with wax you only could see a little bit of scratches and looked pretty good. With the wax off (top) pic and tons of light, you can see the scratches (I also use a scope). The lower pic is only with polish, no sealant (wax). If you aren't nutty, a good quality product will be fine, use high quality MF towels and use many. Use a lot of product, don't reuse a dirty part of a towel. You should go through 8-12 towels per wash and will scratch your car the least amount possible if you do this correctly. Image Unavailable, Please Login
My personal opinion and experience is that if you want to reduce micro scratches, wet water washes are the only way
I use optimum to wash all my cars to save water since California is perpetual drought. I wouldn't do it if your car is filthy dirty. But for "normal" dirtiness its fine
I water-wash sections of my Spider and immediately dry it - Three buckets, three wash mits, and terry cloth bath towels previously washed with fabric softener... it's not a 'soaking' wash as with a hose. Then follow up with Mothers 'wash n wax'. The top gets vacuumed and followed up with a lint roller. Wheels and tires are washed/cleaned individually... dedicated bucket and mitt.
Griot's Garage Speed Shine is what I use. I only use it when there is minimum dirt on the car. I still wet a towel with water after I have sprayed the stuff on the car and I rinse the towel often. Then I dry with a soft towel. I still wash the car when things get beyond a light soiling. It has a lubricant that prevents scratching and it smells nice!
I'm glad we don't have such nonsense [yet] in the UK. Not being able to wash your car on the drive. Mind you we have that much rain (it's pissing down as I type) the crap on the cars is constantly being washed away. I guess the restriction is on the detergents. I spilled or leaked a load of power steering fluid from my Alfa a couple of months ago whilst doing some work. I'd obviously be in prison now
Griots also has a product that is specifically for this purpose and high pile towels to go with it. It has more lubricants than detail sprays. My cars never get very dirty, so I've used this with good results.
What's funny is how the EPA is regulating such extremes like washing our cars, yet everyday millions of cars drive down millions of roads and tons of oils and other sludge gets put on the roads, then when it rains it all gets washed down the drains, yet washing our cars is the big problem?? ugh
I use Detailer's Pride Rinseless wash. It really works well. It can even remove safely the hardest dirt like mud. It been tried and tested with my wife's Jeep cleaning her moto metal wheels after some offroad runs.
I agree...where do these politicians think the soil, dirt, oil, etc. on the car is going when the car is hit by rain? I think they [the wash restrictions (not water restrictions due to drought conditions)] are simply feel-good laws that have little basis in reality. I use ONR (in a traditional wash method) with great results on my prized cars. I've used it once or twice as a rinseless wash, with a bucket and MF towel, but can't speak to the results as the car being washed already suffered from scratches.
