[malvern_man]

Originally Posted by ukk

I found this thread incredibly informative for car washing and this thread for leather cleaning. Thanks for all the insightful info.

Context

I had recently bought a Carbon Black X5, and plan to wash the car myself at a monthly cadence. The paint has been ceramic coated using CQuartz SiC. I have the ability to wash the car in my driveway as there is a hose bibb located to the side of the garage. I have a Karcher pressure washer with adjustable pressure settings and I purchased a Karcher suction hose (SH5) to be able to use de-ionized water to spray down the car as suggested in this thread.

I was planning to use the CarPro Reset shampoo (second step in steps mentioned for "homes with water" in the first post), but I need to consider alternatives as my city recommends using a car wash or water-less methods to minimize pollutants flowing into the storm drains as stormwater is untreated.

So I now plan to use McKees rinseless wash to minimize the amount of water and pollutants that can flow into the storm drain adjacent to my drive way.

Below are the steps that I plan to follow.

Steps

1. Spray the car down with de-ionized water using a pressure washer.
2. Wash each panel in one direction with a microfiber mitt using Mckee's rinseless solution.
3. Spray the car down with de-ionized water using a pressure washer.
4. Use an Ego leaf blower to blow dry the car.
5. Use a microfiber towel to buff dry each panel.

My (ignorant) washing questions

1. For a rinseless wash, is it important to do Step 5 immediately after Step 2 for each panel, and should Step 3 and 4 be eliminated?
2. In case Step 2 is replaced with "shampooing the car and washing panel by panel", can we wait until the end to rinse off the car all at once, instead of rinsing panel by panel?

Now, my second question above is for times when I plan to take my car to a self-serve car wash occasionally.

Overall Question
My city says "avoid washing or pressure washing cars in driveways" to prevent storm water pollution. The city's compliance efforts related to vehicle washing primarily focus on commercial entities/businesses. Reducing residential vehicle washing activity involves mostly regional outreach and education efforts that identify alternatives to washing directly into storm drainage systems.

I am thinking pressure washing + rinseless washing the car on my driveway should be okay, but I might be wrong, and would greatly appreciate other folks' thoughts on this.

To answer you question about taking your car to a self serve car wash my answer would be no, no, no, no...unless of course you want to ruin your paintwork and ceramic coating the first time you go there. Foaming brushes...holy shit...they should be banned from the planet, how much dirt and grit from other cars is trapped in the bristles, you'd be safer using sand paper to clean your car. Plus, what chemicals are being used in the products that are being used, here in the UK these type of car washes use the strongest products available which end up staining and ruining your paintwork.

As for storm water pollution, a lot of today's products are biodegradable and are safe to go into the drains.

Rinseless washes...I'm on the fence about these, I'm a member of a few car cleaning forums and some people love them and others hate them, I don't think I'd ever used one as I'd be to afraid of damaging the paintwork, plus you can't beat the satisfaction of giving your car a proper clean.