Winter seems to be rapidly approaching, which can only mean one thing for detailing. Cold hands and dealing with frozen water on paint! I live in the northeast region of the US and winter can be pretty harsh here. Salt, rocks and other road grime attach themselves to my cars and frustrate me! Maintaining my vehicles in the winter always seems to be more of a chore rather than enjoyable like the rest of the year. This is only my second winter as a somewhat real detailer. I am now looking to explore different methods for performing my winter washes.
In the past, I washed my cars the same way I would perform a normal maintenance wash. I needed to look at the weather in advance to make sure it was above freezing temperatures in order to do a full wash. About half of the time this didn’t work out exactly as planned. The sun wouldn’t hit the cars, or clouds were in the way and water froze. Doing a full wash is the safest way for the cars paint, but the conditions often make it difficult to do this! Another method I may explore is a rinseless wash. All that would be necessary is a single bucket of warm water, Adams Polishes rinseless wash, and a bunch of clean towels. I would go through cleaning one panel at a time gently and then dry immediately after. My worries with this process are scratching the paint and doing a comprehensive job. My last option is to go to a self-serve pay and spray car wash using their warm water pressure washer. However, we all know their brushes and chemicals are harsh and terrible for a car. I would need to bring my own soap and bucket of water. It is also slightly more difficult to dry because of being respectful and moving out of the wash bay. I would need to pull over and dry it in the sun.
My question to you is, what process do you use for detailing in the winter? What are the positives and negatives of each process?
Question
ajdipao
Winter seems to be rapidly approaching, which can only mean one thing for detailing. Cold hands and dealing with frozen water on paint! I live in the northeast region of the US and winter can be pretty harsh here. Salt, rocks and other road grime attach themselves to my cars and frustrate me! Maintaining my vehicles in the winter always seems to be more of a chore rather than enjoyable like the rest of the year. This is only my second winter as a somewhat real detailer. I am now looking to explore different methods for performing my winter washes.
In the past, I washed my cars the same way I would perform a normal maintenance wash. I needed to look at the weather in advance to make sure it was above freezing temperatures in order to do a full wash. About half of the time this didn’t work out exactly as planned. The sun wouldn’t hit the cars, or clouds were in the way and water froze. Doing a full wash is the safest way for the cars paint, but the conditions often make it difficult to do this! Another method I may explore is a rinseless wash. All that would be necessary is a single bucket of warm water, Adams Polishes rinseless wash, and a bunch of clean towels. I would go through cleaning one panel at a time gently and then dry immediately after. My worries with this process are scratching the paint and doing a comprehensive job. My last option is to go to a self-serve pay and spray car wash using their warm water pressure washer. However, we all know their brushes and chemicals are harsh and terrible for a car. I would need to bring my own soap and bucket of water. It is also slightly more difficult to dry because of being respectful and moving out of the wash bay. I would need to pull over and dry it in the sun.
My question to you is, what process do you use for detailing in the winter? What are the positives and negatives of each process?
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