1-Bucket Method (Gary Dean) - The best rinseless wash method

[Obsidiank]

Folks,

I saw this over at autogeek and thought I'd share a quick DIY. In case you haven't watched this before I would recommend a quick watch. This method is supposed to be better than the two bucket because you really minimize the amount of dirt that you rub on your car but using multiple MFS instead of a mitt.

I live in Chicago and we have no shortage of hand car washes. But the only places that will truly give you a scratch free wash will set you back around $30.00 a wash. That's a lot of cash. Using the method above, I estimate my per wash cost to be around $6 not including time.

Cost Breakdown

2 Five Gallon Buckets from Home Depot - $5.00
1 1 Gallon HDX Garden Sprayer $9.97
1 32oz Optimum No Rinse Car Wash - $15.99
3 700gsm Microfiber - $12.95
6 600gsm Microfiber - $23.90
1 Waffle Weave - $12.95
2 Gallons Distilled Water - $1.00

Total buy-in cost is < $100. I'm not going go exact here because of tax and shipping and what not. Either way you are spending less than $100. The only variable cost is ONR and at 2oz per wash, you can do 16 washes so that comes out to about $6 per wash. After the first 16, your cost drops to $1.00 per wash.

So a final word about MF towels. I've done all the research anyone who in their right minds shouldn't have spent the time on and decided that the 600gsm and 700gsm towels from microfibertech are the BEST. The are the right weight with no tags and don't shed. I know people have a love affair with pakshak or cobra. Do what works for you but I don't need to go anywhere else for my towels.

Ok, now onto the method in case the video wasn't clear.

1. Fill 1 bucket with 1oz ONR and 1.5 gallons of water
2. Fill sprayer with 1oz ONR and .5 gallons of water.
3. Put all 9 towels into the 1.5 gallon bucket and soak. Wring out the the 3 700gsm ones. I use these as my step one drying.
4. I divided up the twin into 6 "panels" as follows: half roof and door, half hood, fender, and bumper, rear fender and rear bumper. That' one half and then obviously the other side of car is the other half.
5. Spray panel with pre-soak to lift dirt.
6. Wipe down with soaking wet towel. Each towel gives me 8 usable clean surfaces so I make sure to break it up so that I don't really do more than 2-3 swipes before using a clear side. Only back and forth motions, no circular. Use other bucket as used towel repository.
6. Dry with damp 700gsm towel, final buff with waffle weave. I use all three 700gsm just in case I missed some spots and dirt gets on my drying towel.
7. I finish off with a quick misting and wiping of Meguiar's Spray Wax.

I can do my whole car in about 45 minutes. I can do it faster but I generally slow things down to make sure I do it right.

I hope this post has been helpful. It's in my opinion more swirl proof than the two bucket method, uses less water, takes less time.

-Obs

[merlin2111]

I had a talk with Gary Dean the other day and found out that he does not feel that he is welcome on this site due to the high costs of membership.

He then quoted me $800 for a 1 stage paint correction and OptiCoat Pro (he did throw in "a quick wipe down and vacum of the interior"). BTW my car was white so swirls were nearly nonexistent. Not saying he is bad at what he does but he seems to be to focused on profit and fame for me to take much of his advice. Especially when it goes in the face of many more well known detailing professionals.

[Foobar]

His service and products are expensive, but you can always get your own wash material for cheaper and follow his method.

As for sponsorship being expensive, there are smaller vendors than him making it work so I don't necessarily agree that he isn't welcome here any less than everyone else, but I do agree that sponsorship doesn't make a lot of sense for a smaller vendor.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[Richard Cranium]

Originally Posted by merlin2111

He then quoted me $800 for a 1 stage paint correction and OptiCoat Pro (he did throw in "a quick wipe down and vacum of the interior").

That is lunacy!

[Paul_S]

Originally Posted by merlin2111

I had a talk with Gary Dean the other day and found out that he does not feel that he is welcome on this site due to the high costs of membership.

He then quoted me $800 for a 1 stage paint correction and OptiCoat Pro (he did throw in "a quick wipe down and vacum of the interior"). BTW my car was white so swirls were nearly nonexistent. Not saying he is bad at what he does but he seems to be to focused on profit and fame for me to take much of his advice. Especially when it goes in the face of many more well known detailing professionals.

Garry is a extremely respected detailer in the industry and a straight up guy. As for well known detailing professionals , I think you will be hard pressed to find any of them that have a bad impression of Garry. He gladly shares detailing guidance to beginners and pros alike. Many top names are using his single bucket method along with many of his numerous products. He has tons of instructional videos and product reviews out their and can be counted on for a fair review of products regardless of who makes it. Garry has a large client base and charges what his market will bear and is almost always booked up well in advance. He must be doing something right.
As for your car being white so swirls were nonexistent , white only helps hide swirls and makes them harder to see. Believe me to the trained eye they are definitely there.

[Myv]

Originally Posted by merlin2111

I had a talk with Gary Dean the other day and found out that he does not feel that he is welcome on this site due to the high costs of membership.

He then quoted me $800 for a 1 stage paint correction and OptiCoat Pro (he did throw in "a quick wipe down and vacum of the interior"). BTW my car was white so swirls were nearly nonexistent. Not saying he is bad at what he does but he seems to be to focused on profit and fame for me to take much of his advice. Especially when it goes in the face of many more well known detailing professionals.

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium

That is lunacy!

2.5x of highly rated local detailers, crazy...

[Paul_S]

Merlin2111 , I contacted Garry about your comments and his going rate for the process is quite a bit lower then what you have mentioned. Seems to be a serious misunderstanding here somewhere.

[Premium]

Originally Posted by merlin2111

I had a talk with Gary Dean the other day and found out that he does not feel that he is welcome on this site due to the high costs of membership.

He then quoted me $800 for a 1 stage paint correction and Opti Coat Pro (he did throw in "a quick wipe down and vacuum of the interior"). BTW my car was white so swirls were nearly nonexistent. Not saying he is bad at what he does but he seems to be to focused on profit and fame for me to take much of his advice. Especially when it goes in the face of many more well known detailing professionals.

Actually, I feel very welcome here.

Really? You had that conversation with me? Funny, I do not remember it going quite that way...

I quote everyone with that size car the same price... $250 for the wash, decon (clay bar), true one step polish (swirl mark removal), and alcohol wipe down. The MSRP of Opti Coat Pro, per Dr. David Ghoudussi, the owner of OPT is $395, $445, and $495... Small, medium, large. I go per their suggestion, but I charge $400, $450, $500. I charge additionally for glass, and wheels.

I quoted you $650 for the work listed above. High or not, I do the highest quality work available at any price and I stand by it and my products 100%. Its probably better if you had your facts straight before you go bashing someone.

No need to come here, as if I wouldnt see this, or as if someone I know wouldnt see this and let me know, and try to make me look bad. My reputation speaks for itself.

Good luck having your car Opti Coated.

[Enraged21]

Originally Posted by Premium

Actually, I feel very welcome here.

Really? You had that conversation with me? Funny, I do not remember it going quite that way...

I quote everyone with that size car the same price... $250 for the wash, decon (clay bar), true one step polish (swirl mark removal), and alcohol wipe down. The MSRP of Opti Coat Pro, per Dr. David Ghoudussi, the owner of OPT is $395, $445, and $495... Small, medium, large. I go per their suggestion, but I charge $400, $450, $500. I charge additionally for glass, and wheels.

I quoted you $650 for the work listed above. High or not, I do the highest quality work available at any price and I stand by it and my products 100%. Its probably better if you had your facts straight before you go bashing someone.

No need to come here, as if I wouldnt see this, or as if someone I know wouldnt see this and let me know, and try to make me look bad. My reputation speaks for itself.

Good luck having your car Opti Coated.

$250 for a wash, clay, and polish? What about sealant?

[supramkivtt2jz]

Originally Posted by Enraged21

$250 for a wash, clay, and polish? What about sealant?

A lot of detailers in my area have cost fluctuations based on insurance premiums. Since that is the case in my area, I would imagine it is a driving factor for him as well.

For reference, a wash, claybar, singe stage polish, and wax from my last quote was $350. $250 sounds like a deal IMHO

[Enraged21]

Originally Posted by supramkivtt2jz

A lot of detailers in my area have cost fluctuations based on insurance premiums. Since that is the case in my area, I would imagine it is a driving factor for him as well.

For reference, a wash, claybar, singe stage polish, and wax from my last quote was $350. $250 sounds like a deal IMHO

I would gladly drive an hour to have my car detailed by gary dean

[asia_minor]

LOL at people thinking $650 for wash/decon/polish/opti is expensive.

I GDWM my car twice a month. love it.

[Kids Heart]

I mess with this method

I use an smaller bucket to keep the water line neer the top of the towels and has a lip for topping off the spraybottle. I use cheap advance auto $19.99 24 pack micro fiber towels and the 2 pack waffle weave from Autozone for less than $7.

14 towels for a two week clean. Divide the car in 6 sections, one towel for cleaning, one for drying and missed spots and the waffle weave for shine. Spray generously and be careful not to reuse dirty towel surfaces and one towel should stretch to 1/6th of these small cars.

65 cents for a gallon of distilled water, 1 tablespoon of ONRWW fills the bucket and spraybottle.

Tough to release bug smudges i use the onr 8 oz per gal Quick detail mixure. (1 Tbs of onr/16 oz distilled water in a spraybottle). I also keep some of that in a smaller 4 oz spray bottle i picked up at a beauty supply store in my door with a mf towel for bird poo an random smudges.

I've done it twice and it seems to work for me, any tips or critics?