Waterless Wash vs A Full Wash (my question)

[Isaacrn]

I live in the desert, a city called El Paso, TX. The winds can pick up something fierce, which in turn blows a great deal of sand across the city.

 

I have read and understand when people say, if it is dirty, a full wash is probably in order when asked if waterless wash is appropriate. The thing that scares me about dirt, is the potential for a microfiber/waffle towel to become a big piece of sandpaper.

 

If your car, and mine is a dark almost black one, were covered in a layer of "dust/dirt" would you attempt a waterless wash, or stick with a full wash? I am not really sure how many towels I would actually need to do a full car. Right now, I have four waterless wash towels, but again do not know if I would need more frequent turns of the towels to prevent scratching.

 

Thank you all, and hope this not only helps me, but someone else as well.

 

Isaac

[gencoupe3dot8]

Full wash is indicated IMHO. Anything more than pollen or a very light coat of fine dust, which I would still rinse off first then follow with WW.

 

Happy detailing,

Mike

[Isaacrn]

This actually might be a sad bit of news, especially since I like buying in bulk, and bought a gallon of waterless wash.

 

Those of you using waterless wash, is this something you do daily after work so to speak? WOuld you say that your spending about an hour or so with your vehicle a day doing waterless wash, followed by detail spray?

 

I do not want to derail my first post, but do want some multiple discussions.

[Chewy]

I just had my hood repainted on my black G8. Every morning and every night I spray the leading edge with WW and wipe off the bug guts. Otherwise, I don't touch my car with anything but my Merino wool and synthetic Adams wash pads, shampoo, and A LOT of water. WW is amazing stuff, but if you want to get as close to perfection as possible, use it sparingly.

 

Chris

[Isaacrn]

If this is how you feel Chewy, and I have to say I respect your opinion from many posts that I have read, what type of person utilizes the waterless wash? It almost sounds like the waterless wash is almost a substitute for detail spray for a "show car" so to speak. It does not really sounds like it has its place for a daily driver.

[Chewy]

If this is how you feel Chewy, and I have to say I respect your opinion from many posts that I have read, what type of person utilizes the waterless wash? It almost sounds like the waterless wash is almost a substitute for detail spray for a "show car" so to speak. It does not really sounds like it has its place for a daily driver.

 

Just because I don't want to use it doesn't make it bad or unusable, but I would say that it's PERFECT for the very lightly dusted vehicle sitting in the garage waiting to be taken out once a week, or the person that has a DD, wants it to look good, but isn't as concerned about perfect paint.

 

WW is great before using DS. Clean the car in a safer manner with WW and then make it pop with DS.

 

My DD sits across the street from a concrete plant. There's NO WAY I will try to remove that dust with anything but water, foam, two wash pads, two buckets and a CRAP TON of water...

 

Like I've said, Adams WW is AWESOME!!! I just don't recommend using it if you're going for complete perfection. When you DO use it, spray it down WET WET WET and you have to make sure you roll the towel as you swipe across the finish so that there's a new/clean part of the towel touching the finish at all times. The more towels you have, the better.

[DaveVY]

Waterless wash is a nice product. I use it mainly on the Vette after each drive to wipe down the forward facing surfaces.

 

The Vette does not have any swirls and scratches from using the waterless wash. However, this car is kept very clean, and if it ever does get really dusty/dirty I will usually use the full two bucket wash.

 

On a Mazda6 that sits outside all the time, I don't usually use the waterless wash on it, but have a few times. It has a relatively soft clear that swirls easily. I can effectively use the waterless wash on it by being sure to constantly flip to a new towel surface on EVERY swipe. On that car (assuming it isn't too dirty), I end up using 4 or 5 waterless wash towels, and an extra towel if I am wiping down the door jambs too.

 

In the beginning of using waterless wash I introduced a few swirls into the newly corrected paint - until I learned to NOT force wipe the car clean but just gently glide across it and accepted the fact that I was going to use many towels.

 

I will be going back to regularly using waterless wash now that watering restrictions have kicked in again and am only allowed to use the hose to clean the car one day a week and that day is already booked with other activities!!

[THE Mook]

1. ALWAYS LET COMMON SENSE get in the way of what you do. IF it looks that dusty, get the buckets out.

 

2. WW is a great tool in the arsenal. It has a time and a place however. If your car has an inch of blown dirt on it, sure WW could work...after you drop a gallon of it on your car for enough lubricity to make sure you indeed aren't making a towel turn into sandpaper.

 

3. WW can be used to pre-treat bug carcasses, inside door jambs and cracks to flush dirt pre-wash, on the door jambs and cracks post wash, as a mild engine bay cleaner, a back up for glass cleaner, and so on. I suggest you play around with it a bit more, so that you can understand it's limits.

 

4. Want to really find out? Take ONE panel that has been dirt blasted by the wind. Make sure it's a small one in case you need to correct it. Use the WW as directed in the Adam's Videos, and see what happens. If you induce damage, then you know how dirty too dirty is.

 

That's how I learned.

 

Thank You,

Mook

Edited May 25, 2012 by Mook@Adams

[Chewy]

1. Never let common sense NOT get in the way of what you do.

 

 

Wait... A double negative means... Let common sense get in our way?

[Chris@Adams]

If you are dealing with sand, I would do a full 2 bucket wash.

[THE Mook]

Wait... A double negative means... Let common sense get in our way?

 

Let me edit the post

[mc2hill]

If it was sand, and not dust, I would do a 2 bucket wash, just to be safe.

While I have used WW to do the whole car in the past, I usually don't any more. I use it to clean off bird dropping, to pre-treat bugs or clean them off during a road trip, or use the cleaners to pre-treat emblems, door jams, fuel doors, etc. before a 2 bucket wash.

[Feets31]

I would do a 4 or 5 bucket wash with a pre-soak of suds.

[goheels]

waterless wash is for lazy people

 

[ChargerMatt]

Lubricity.... Nice word mook

[gymrat7953]

Garage dust.... blow off with Master Blaster and then waterless wash. Anything else is a full wash - foam gun etc.

[mjhpadi]

I like the Waterless Wash and use it often but the one thing I have noticed is that the Waterless Wash does not seem to loosen bug remains on the front of the car as well as Detail Spray does...not sure I understand why or whether it is just my imagination but the bug remains just seem to come of a bit easier using Detail Spray then the Waterless Wash. However, I have found that the Waterless Wash does work great after the car sits in the driveway overnight...going over the entire car with the WW and a microfiber does a great job of removing the dust that settled on the car.

[mjhpadi]

waterless wash is for lazy people

 

That would be me, but being older also works on the lazy. Besides there are times that the car just isn't dirty enough to justify washing and drying and Detail Spray but the Waterless Wash will bring it back to looking clean and shiny.

[fly4food84]

Waterless wash is perfect for after driving in the rain. I do it all the time and have not noticed any swirls.

[Dreamworkz]

I second what fly4food said. Stuff works awesome. Then after using it I will go over the car again with DS.

 

 

Dream Workz Auto Detailing using Tapatalk

[So.Chi.Goat]

Yup...ww and then ds...

 

Tapa Mobile..

[Fit08]

I second what fly4food said. Stuff works awesome. Then after using it I will go over the car again with DS.

 

 

Dream Workz Auto Detailing using Tapatalk

 

I like too inspect the paint after a few rounds of this. I find swirsl (very light) after a first wash after recent correction!!

No the mitt is new and clean, two bucket, two mitt (upper, Lower) and very light swirls almost speder web like appear. Either I'm too picky or need to be proven that yes swirl free wash does exist. BTW red car and yes did not miss on correction was 100% sun never lies.

 

Ongoing technique search.