Water wash or waterless wash?

I’m a fan of ultima waterless wash (loaded in a gardening supply pump-sprayer) for touch ups/refresh but not chunky dirt cleaning.
As you likely already know, If you don’t have a wrap, excess cleaning or suboptimal technique will inevitably mar the paint finish.

 

Hey FerrariGirl22, this is a topic that I have worked on for years and I have evolved my thinking. Initially I was a waterless and duster guy. I used Meguiar’s Ultimate Detailer and a duster. Water never touched my car in 10 years.

However, a friend just convinced me to go over to the dark side. I am in the process of having all of my cars ceramic coated and then I will use a power washer and blow dry the car with a garden blower. Nothing but water and air will touch the paint.

Much easier and also the duster actually does cause swirls in the paint.

On the front nose you may want to put on a clear wrap first and then have the ceramic coating over that. The wrap will protect from rock chips.

 

CarPro EliXir Quick Detailer..

 

The problem with all waterless cleaners is that you have to wipe the surface of the paint either with a duster before applying the waterless cleaner and/or after you apply the cleaner to then polish the surface. That leaves swirl marks because you are essentially using a cloth or a duster to rub the dirt into the paint and that causes microabrasions. So while one waterless cleaner may be more effective than the other in cleaning the car, it wont change the fact that you are grinding dirt into the car by using it.

I have a clear bra over all of the surfaces of my red Ferrari and I didn’t notice the microabrasions so much when I used the duster and waterless cleaner. But then I got a black S coupe and I really noticed the swirl marks as a result of using the duster and waterless cleaner.

A friend of mine recently got a black R8. He had the nose done with XPel plastic wrap to protect against rock chips. You could not even tell it was on there (I agree you can tell on my Ferrari that it is wrapped but that is because it is 3M product and done about 10 years ago). After applying the plastic wrap to the nose of the R8 my friend had the whole car ceramic coated including the plastic wrap. The black sparkles, you cannot tell where the plastic wrap is, and he power washes it and the dirt falls right off. Then he blow dries it and a cloth never touches his car. He showed me how he did it and that convinced me. It actually also takes less time than the waterless wash (and the power washer is a great way to effortlessly clean the wheels—something very difficult with the waterless car wash). So I am actually next week getting all of my cars ceramic coated.

I also debated about getting the wrap taken off of my Ferrari since it is a little dull and the micro abrasions of the waterless car washing over the years have scratched the plastic surface. But I was told that they can actually polish the wrap and then apply the ceramic coating over it. We will see on that one but I probably dont have anything to lose. My other cars dont have any wrap so we will start with those first (they are black and electric blue so you will see the results immediately).

 

I was overly clean on my metallic black 911 resulting in Mad swirls.
Got the paint corrected and it looked amazing.
Got it wrapped and some luster was definitely lost.
Finally a ceramic coating: the detailing is easier and the risks to the paint is mitigated.
Many options
It all depends on how you want to do things and where your priorities lay.
Enjoy

 

DON'T DO WATERLESS WASHING. You will damage the clear coat. Get a full paint correction then ceramic coating. Use a quality ceramic safe soap with a microfiber mitt and two bucket method, resin system for spotless rinsing, and use an electric blower to dry the car and you're done. The less you touch the car during washing, the better.

 

Fireman1291, i have not yet investigate the ceramic safe soap part of it. Can you recommend something. I bought the power washer, have the paint correction/ceramic coating appointment, and so the soap is the last piece of the puzzle.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-CWS804-Carbon-Vitalize/dp/B06WLHS7XS/ref=sr_1_40?keywords=ceramic+soap&qid=1557001698&s=gateway&sr=8-40

 

The electric blower really only works after you get the car ceramic coated. I have a video of it working on my off-topic IG Page @nfa_review_offtopic and scroll down and you'll see a video of it working on my wife's car.

 

After paint correction, (fancy word for getting the swirls and scratches out) I now use a car soap foamer that hooks to a hose. Wash with a microfiber sponge and rinse with de-ionized water. No spots. I also blow it dry with a leaf blower. It get the water out of the tight spaces.

Anything else scratches the crap out of the paint. Ceramic coat would be nice. I wonder how those DIY kits work?

 

Indeed. We use a foam gun in addition to this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FJTX8X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And we still dry the car but now it won't spot if the sun gets to it before the blower. I wash at sunset (about to go out now actually) and with the above process we never have a problem. The lengths we go to for a clean car lol.

 

Yes, CR spotless makes a nice system. I have their Simple Chuck unit.

 

What do you suggest if you live where the water is so full of minerals that you literally cannot use water? Living in Woodinville WA, the water was very soft right out of the hose. All you needed was a ceramic coat, then wash it with the two bucket method and let it air dry and it looked like new again. In Las Vegas if you let water dry for a second, it will leave a crazy amount of white water spots that are difficult to remove. I've been using Megiars Final Inspection (I buy it by the gallon) and use copious amounts with several micro fiber cloths - probably about 6 or 8 - and then toss them - I don't reuse them. That's the best I can come up with.

 

Look into the CR SPOTLESS filter system.

 

There’s a huge difference between waterless and rinseless washing. Rinseless is the way to go on everything up to a mediumly soiled vehicle. Check out YouTube for ONR or Optimum No Rinse from optimum polymer technologies. Optimum was one of the innovators of the coating industry with OPTIcoat and they make exceptional products. Done the right way ONR won’t hurt your paint any more than traditional washing

 

Exactly!

OP, here you can read everything and more than you will want to know from people who know because they do it for a living.

https://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/

Also check their Ask A Pro Blog.

 

Paul, it still will create swirl marks (just less of them). Look at step 6:

• Step 6: Clean your wash media in your rinse bucket, running your mitt or sponge over the Grit Guard insert or Dirt Lock to release as much contamination as possible

Translation: After you have ground dirt into your paint with your mitt or sponge and created swirl marks be sure to run it over the Grit Guard to remove as much contamination as possible so that you reduce additional swirls when you go to the next step.

It is much better not to ever touch the surface with any mitt, sponge or rag. You can do that if you ceramic coat, and then use a power washer (foam gun as well if you want) and then blow dry it.

 

I have the same issue here in Tampa. I use the above CR Spotless Resin System I linked. I just replaced the resin chambers for the first time and I never kept track of how many washes they could handle the first time around. This time I have a log book so I can keep track. The system has a meter built in to show the PPM of minerals. It should say "0" for 300 gallons and then start to go up as the resin looses it's ability to trap the minerals. I noticed water spotting as I dried at 300PPM. It'll stay 0 for awhile and man does it make a difference. You'll have one of those "why did I wait so long to buy this" moments.

HINT: Buy a brand new garden hose to wash your car with the CR Spotless System. If you use an old hose it will deposit years of mineral buildup on your car. Also, I bought the mobile version of the resin system and just leave it outside next the to house. This way I can move it for ease of swapping the resin.