Waterless car cleaning

[CKAJCA]

I live in Spain where we are often short of water. It can also be difficult to wash the car due to the sun and heat. I have a garage in which I could wash the car using a waterless wash and wax. Has anyone had any experience with waterless washing and can give me your advice and thoughts.
Colin

 

[Raiden]

I use greased lighting now and again and to by fair it does work but does make a mess if not used right


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Raiden]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NHN]

Why not use a popup canopy sunblocker to wash with, albeit the size may cost £100-£200, but this will help & of course folds away after, as tbh its only the real way to wash, with water.

Years ago I had to build a log cabin asap, height of winter, freezing cold & wet, being anal & precautionary, for longevity, I had to coat each individual part & there were several hundred, in wood water, sun protector 3 times each in every crevice & it took me a very long time, I digress, I used a popup canopy & tbf it was brilliant for the job, very sturdy & covered the whole drive that holds 2 cars.

I understand the heat as used to live in Italy, did a turbo change front end removal due to popped turbo with oil & bits of metal through the ic pipping etc at the height of summer, so 40 degrees, trust me. I loved it but damn that was hot.

 

[pelhamsdetailing]

If you're going to go down the waterless wash and wax route for a forseeable amount of time, you may as well get a solution that comes concentrated. You can then use the water you do have use of to create a diluted solution, that will go much further. Using off the shelf waterless wash and wax on a whole car, you'll go through a bottle in no time. ONR (Original No Rinse) is a fantastic product that I use for very lightly soiled door sills, and is also a fantastic clay lube. It doesn't leave any residue or wax finishes, but you could even go as far as mixing the solution with distilled water so that no water spots are left if the product dries prematurely in the sun. The product contains carriers that trap and isolate dirt to reduce any marring or scatching.

Here are the dilution ratios I found online that worked for me:

​

Optimum No Rinse Dilution Ratios (water: product)​

• Rinseless washing- 256:1
• Water softener – 256:1
• Glass cleaner – 256:1
• Clay bar lubricant – 64:1
• Quick detailer – 16:1
• Drying aid – 16:1
• Interior cleaner – 256:1
• Before pre-rinsing – 256:1
• Engine bay cleaning – 16:1

I would like to add that this isn't a solution for medium to heavy soiled cars - light-soiling at the most. It doesn't have the same cleaning power as a ready-to-go off-the-shelf waterless wash & wax, but you could employ a small amount of Koch Chemie Green Star into your diluted ONR mix to get that cleaning power. Koch Chemie Green Star is a concentrated universal cleaner, which dilutes very far, and is an absolute must for me on my day to day jobs.

 

[NHN]

I do enjoy people with knowledge & give real detailed advice, good post.

 

[NM07]

+1 for ONR, it's what I used when I was at Uni and didn't have access to a hose. Did a cracking job Just make sure to dilute it correctly, and use plenty of microfibre towels to prevent/minimise swirling.

 

[CKAJCA]

If you're going to go down the waterless wash and wax route for a forseeable amount of time, you may as well get a solution that comes concentrated. You can then use the water you do have use of to create a diluted solution, that will go much further. Using off the shelf waterless wash and wax on a whole car, you'll go through a bottle in no time. ONR (Original No Rinse) is a fantastic product that I use for very lightly soiled door sills, and is also a fantastic clay lube. It doesn't leave any residue or wax finishes, but you could even go as far as mixing the solution with distilled water so that no water spots are left if the product dries prematurely in the sun. The product contains carriers that trap and isolate dirt to reduce any marring or scatching.

Here are the dilution ratios I found online that worked for me:

​

Optimum No Rinse Dilution Ratios (water: product)​

• Rinseless washing- 256:1
• Water softener – 256:1
• Glass cleaner – 256:1
• Clay bar lubricant – 64:1
• Quick detailer – 16:1
• Drying aid – 16:1
• Interior cleaner – 256:1
• Before pre-rinsing – 256:1
• Engine bay cleaning – 16:1

I would like to add that this isn't a solution for medium to heavy soiled cars - light-soiling at the most. It doesn't have the same cleaning power as a ready-to-go off-the-shelf waterless wash & wax, but you could employ a small amount of Koch Chemie Green Star into your diluted ONR mix to get that cleaning power. Koch Chemie Green Star is a concentrated universal cleaner, which dilutes very far, and is an absolute must for me on my day to day jobs.

Thanks for that exceptionally comprehensive and helpful reply, much appreciated.

 

[royalsteve68]

I live in Spain where we are often short of water. It can also be difficult to wash the car due to the sun and heat. I have a garage in which I could wash the car using a waterless wash and wax. Has anyone had any experience with waterless washing and can give me your advice and thoughts.
Colin

Why not wash the car normally, then use a pure water rinse. You just need to be quick that’s all. The pure water rinse means the metals in the normal water get washed away, it’s those metals that leave the spots If thats what you are worried about.

just need a di vessel with a decent quality resin. I used a normal hose and hozelock gun. Don’t connect it to a jetwash unless you are rich, decent resin is about £100 to £150 per 25kg. Di vessel approach is better than what some windows cleaners use.

 

[pelhamsdetailing]

Today I decided to use ONR on my own personal work horse car, which has been not long ago waxed with AutoGlym UHD. The car is what I use to transport my equipment to customers and is also my daily. The car was lightly soiled, but the bird muck.. my goodness. With that said, i'd rather the poop over someone crashing into it again while parked up on the road. Scratches I can handle. Dented panels? Not so much.

I went through about 500ml of product to do the exterior of all the body work. I did not do the sills, as they are borderline clean. Glass cleaner for the glass, although you can use ONR for glass at the correct ratio, but mine had a ton of bird dump on it. Used roughly 20 - 25 microfibre clothes to do the whole thing, regularly flipping and folding for a clean side and dry side, reducing any chance of scratching or marring. I wiped the car down in the same way I would a paying customer's car: top to bottom on every panel, because the car is dirtiest at the bottom, and the last thing you want to do is wipe in a way that transfers dirt from lower down further up the car.

I'm personally very happy with the result.

 

[royalsteve68]

Today I decided to use ONR on my own personal work horse car, which has been not long ago waxed with AutoGlym UHD. The car is what I use to transport my equipment to customers and is also my daily. The car was lightly soiled, but the bird muck.. my goodness. With that said, i'd rather the poop over someone crashing into it again while parked up on the road. Scratches I can handle. Dented panels? Not so much.

I went through about 500ml of product to do the exterior of all the body work. I did not do the sills, as they are borderline clean. Glass cleaner for the glass, although you can use ONR for glass at the correct ratio, but mine had a ton of bird dump on it. Used roughly 20 - 25 microfibre clothes to do the whole thing, regularly flipping and folding for a clean side and dry side, reducing any chance of scratching or marring. I wiped the car down in the same way I would a paying customer's car: top to bottom on every panel, because the car is dirtiest at the bottom, and the last thing you want to do is wipe in a way that transfers dirt from lower down further up the car.

I'm personally very happy with the result.

If you spending that much time drying it, i would defintely consider using pure water rinse instead, no drying needed, just natually dries - i use a 11kg di vessel with pricey resin - i rinse the car for about 15 mins a car, - saves me a 2-3 hours or so drying 4 cars manually - but i am no car detailer, dont have time for that, but the Audi cars look far better than any car showroom finish i have seen.

The older cars i dont worry about so much due to car dings from selfish people over the 17-19 years, and they are workhorses, so i just ensure they are cleaned properly, but i do a better job that the supermarket washers (not hard though!)

 

[pelhamsdetailing]

It does sound like a great time saver, as the drying does add to it. It took less than an hour to do my whole car and rims, all at a leisurely pace, so i'm very happy with that. If I had my own detailing shop or had a handful of clients daily, the di vessel would be my next natural progression.