Technique - Dylan's Pre-wash Waterless Wash

Musclejunkie, let me try to un-puzzle your confusion as I understand:

You state above: "You have to dry these areas anyways, so why not wash and dry at the same time."

This is what Dylan is talking about and goin to try to avoid on half his vehicle. If you wait until the end of the car wash to address these "hidden" areas when you have the vehicle dry you're going to allow water to drip (trapped in mirrors, trim, emblems, molding, etc...) across these areas that you've not touched yet with anything but a stream of water at the most. These water drips might pull some of the dirt off and redeposit it on your finish in the trickle of water you're then going to wipe off as a possible dirt filled trickle with a drying towel introducing scratches to the cars finish.

If you spray down the jambs, etc and dry them prior to washing you're going to have to go back and dry them again adding unnecessary time.

The idea is that the WW sprayed into the known areas that trap water to later trickle across your dried vehicle will trap more untouched dirt into suspension than the water alone will. So, wiping this off will do less damage.

Make sence?

Dylan, I think you're way too far above the heads of the masses here!

Pressure from the hose alone will not dislodge all the dirt trapped where it can't be reached with the wash mit during the normal wash.

Some of this dirt will come off these areas as water drips across it and be placed on the washed car's finish.

As you dry the car with a WW towel this dirt will now be rubbed against the finish potenially introducing mico marring, swirls, and small spider web scratches.

Simply wetting the known areas that drip water prior to washing with WW might allow the dirt to "hang" in suspension within the drop of WW. If so there will be less chance of this dirt scratching the surface. Wipe off only the "big" stuff.

Not washing door jambs, etc... first, or twice. Simply soaking these known areas prior to beginning the wash to minimize the potential for scratches.

Right?

Yea, I do this on the Goat: takes me four hours+ to wash/dry this car.

R U talking about those areas of dark film in certain areas or are you talking about actual dirt particles? I can not fathom how dirt particles would be draining out of trim or other areas if you blasted the area with water, unless you are using the WW dry method. If you are not using water, wouldn't the blaster get that dirt out? The other problem is that door or body trim sometimes is not glued to the car/truck very well and contains gaps or areas behind the trim that collect dirt. Older cars actually had chrome trim that was metal "clipped" to the body. Talk about a rust hazard! I'm soo happy I discovered the Blaster. It solves a lot of drying issues for me and those hard to dry areas of my car.

No... I was mentioning that dark film as what sparked my thought process.

There is still a high probability that grit is trapped in those areas right after a wash. I know as I've been experimenting and after washing very well, when I blow the seals out around my windows I can pick up dust and dirt particles on a white towel.

Dylan, I think you're way too far above the heads of the masses here!

 

Pressure from the hose alone will not dislodge all the dirt trapped where it can't be reached with the wash mit during the normal wash.

 

Some of this dirt will come off these areas as water drips across it and be placed on the washed car's finish.

 

As you dry the car with a WW towel this dirt will now be rubbed against the finish potenially introducing mico marring, swirls, and small spider web scratches.

 

Simply wetting the known areas that drip water prior to washing with WW might allow the dirt to "hang" in suspension within the drop of WW. If so there will be less chance of this dirt scratching the surface. Wipe off only the "big" stuff.

 

Not washing door jambs, etc... first, or twice. Simply soaking these known areas prior to beginning the wash to minimize the potential for scratches.

 

Right?

 

Yea, I do this on the Goat: takes me four hours+ to wash/dry this car.

THANK YOU! Someone who finally understands my sickness!

In some tight spaces pressure becomes irrelevant the water enters from other locations (i.e. the top of a window seal) and runs down to the bottom collecting debris as it goes. The debris is then held in that area until the water beings to drip. That water, laden with grit now, is for most people wiped away with a towel.

My point here is that this 'drip water' is just as 'dangerous' a swirl maker as wiping your paint when its dusty with just water.

To that end minimizing it BEFORE washing or at the very least removing it safely once it does drip becomes important.

Here's a little experiment I tried yesterday before the wash. I took a foamer spray bottle filled with a mix of water and car shampoo and sprayed down the door hinges. Then I took the Lug/detail brush to clean the area. After I rinsed by shooting the water in the through the door seam. The results were so-so as I had a shampoo stain run out after it was dried. Also it look like the shampoo dried on the hinge because it wasn't completely rinsed off. This did not work like I thought it would. I think the WW is the way to go.

Before

Foaming

Detail brushing

Rinse

Dried Shampoo run off

After

I like this idea Dylan. Typically I do the jambs last with waterless wash, and I use detail spray as my drying agent. I am going to give this a try. Thats why I make it a point to check the forum daily! The folks here always have great ideas.

This makes sense Dylan. Well it makes sense to folks like us.

Definitely makes sense to me and I can't wait until I move so I can have my covered area to do what I want with my SS instead of going to a car wash.

One thing I do...and this is SUPER OCD....

I unscrew the rear tail lights out of the SS and clean the dirt and grit in the holding area.

It also allows me to make sure I don't get wax in between the light & panel. No need to tape off when it's not on there!

I'm still puzzled by all this "stuff" dripping out of these hidden areas. I agree with above post. WW for me on all door sills, hinges, inside trunk and hood areas, etc., before or after the car wash. You have to dry these areas anyways, so why not wash and dry at the same time. I might give it a shot or two of DS too. I know on my cars, these areas get pretty dusty and dirty and regular car washing the exterior doesn't touch them. I suppose water that leaches out of these hidden areas could carry some of this grime with it. So maybe we should clean these areas BEFORE washing the exterior? Still some you aint gonna reach like sideview mirrors.

I did some testing on an idea I had yesterday and I'll have the write-up/pictures this afternoon. I actually have something better to do today than sit on the forum

I've actually been doing this for a while. I would find that small amounts of water would drip down where the door seams are after washing that would leave a small line on my side skirts. I found by cleaning my door jams and under the trunk first it eliminated the faint lines i'd get from run off. This is actually all I use waterless wash for. I never had an issue drying it was the very slow run off that I'd see a couple hours later.

How about using a sprayer with wash water (car shampoo solution) to pre-spray all the door jambs etc.. I am hoping that the wash solution loosens up all the dirt so that the water from the washing will rinse it off?

 

Can't spel..

I like this idea!

cool stuff dylan, i usually after my wax before the detail wipe the water from the inside of the doors with a mist of DS or if its still dirty some WW.

I've actually been doing this for a while. I would find that small amounts of water would drip down where the door seams are after washing that would leave a small line on my side skirts. I found by cleaning my door jams and under the trunk first it eliminated the faint lines i'd get from run off. This is actually all I use waterless wash for. I never had an issue drying it was the very slow run off that I'd see a couple hours later.

For what it's worth. I NEVER get drips or runs.

After completing wash I quickly grab my electric 200mph leaf blower and go after the whole car from the top down. Concentrating on the problematic areas (mirrors, badges, and cracks). I finish with the wheels.

Then I mist the whole car with DS (I might try WW based on this thread) and dry it with my great white towel. Turning it after each section is complete.

Then I drive the car in the garage and pop the hood and trunk. Using compressed air I then revisit all the problematic areas. Including the trunk, engine compartment and door jams. Wiping all the water up with DS and drying towel. (Again, I may switch from DS to WW on this step too.) Is there dirt in this water eradicated by the compressed air? I agree with Dylan and think there is.

And I promise you there is NEVER a run or drip on my car.

On a side note, this process takes me no longer than 1.5 hours.

Alot a great information here, pretty cool thread. I do have one question, just thinking of different methods. I see some people use WW as a drying aid, and of course we all use DS. Has anyone ever done a 50/50 mix of WW and DS for their drying wipedown? If not, I may try it to see how it comes out. Thoughts?

Alot a great information here, pretty cool thread. I do have one question, just thinking of different methods. I see some people use WW as a drying aid, and of course we all use DS. Has anyone ever done a 50/50 mix of WW and DS for their drying wipedown? If not, I may try it to see how it comes out. Thoughts?

Very interesting thought... Give it a go and let us know. I'm sure they can be combined. But I'd get the okay from Dylan first.

Alot a great information here, pretty cool thread. I do have one question, just thinking of different methods. I see some people use WW as a drying aid, and of course we all use DS. Has anyone ever done a 50/50 mix of WW and DS for their drying wipedown? If not, I may try it to see how it comes out. Thoughts?

Sundog tried it a while back - http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/tips-tricks/3860.htm. I mixed a bottle up, but turns a weird gray color and turned to bottle opaque. It worked ok, and now that you mention it, I may mix up another batch a see it it helps cut down on the static on the truck.

Lovin the idea of this thread. I COMPLETELY follow where you're going with this Dylan. My only thought is it already takes me 2-3 hours to detail my big fat Mopars, lol. Adding another step now adds more time......DANG YOU!!! But I completely agree with removing the chance of scratches/swirls even further than before!

I use my sham wow for that. After I get done with washing the truck/firebird/jeep I use the sham wow to pull all the water out of those areas that will leak water if I don't get it out. I follow all the trim with the edge of the sham wow pushing the corners in to pull out all excess water. I can put them inside the mirror base and not have to worry about messing up a great MF towel. I don't use them on any of the panels of the vehicles but they are good for getting all the water out of those tiny little places water loves to hide. Plus I don't have the money for a vac and blow!

There you have it... I'm planning a few experiments to test whether or not my theory holds true, but I have noticed that if I do half of my truck using my new method, and half ignoring the 'suspended drip grit theory' the side that I don't PRE-CLEAN i pick up noticeably more grit on my towel while drying.

This whole thing might be taking it a tad far, but being a detailing enthusiast lends itself to being a tad OCD don't you think

I think I like this theory...let's see how others will respond and add to it. I'll start:

On dirty vehicles, I use a compressor to blow out debris prior to doing anything. I also use the compressor to blow out water when done and if I see dirt or gritty particles come out from badges or cracks, I'll rinse again.

As for Waterless Wash, I've professed my love for this product many times and love it as a drying agent.

Something for DVD volume 8??

- Darryl

Thanks Darryl and thats good feedback... it was just one of those DUH! moments... I had just finished washing my truck, dried it, chased the drips for a bit, then opened the doors to dry the jambs.... while drying I noticed how much grit was still in there and if its there where else is it?

Planning to expand on this and if I can find a good solid process that fills all the holes maybe it will be in the next vid.

How about using a sprayer with wash water (car shampoo solution) to pre-spray all the door jambs etc.. I am hoping that the wash solution loosens up all the dirt so that the water from the washing will rinse it off?

Can't spel..

Let me throw something out there. Instead of using WW on the entire door jamb area, you use car shampoo/water mix in a foaming spray bottle and a trim brush? Maybe not so much in the door jamb, but in the door hinge area. If you hit that area with a brush it should help remove that run off. I would think that when you rinse the car off it will rinse the soap off the hinges. I don't know if this would help in the other areas too.

What do you think? I'm just throwing out ideas.

Edit - Doug, you beat me to it.

Will give it a try this weekend!

I think we should call it the Von Kleist Law.