Engine bay cleaning!

[babydriver]

I apologize, my tone was not appropriate.

My point from the beginning has been that distilled water has the highest solvation of any type of water precisely because it does not contain any impurities, plus it is very cheap at discount stores or grocery stores. Any other form of purification other than distillation will not remove all impurities. Obviously triple distilled water is the best, but I think personally that regular distilled water is fine. You could also go nuts and use laboratory grade water, but now we are talking about a serious expense and surely totally unnecessary for washing a car.

If a forum member is planning to wash using the two bucket method, which is obviously a good idea, why not go one step further and use distilled water? That way, more dirt and used soap will be held in solution in the rinse bucket, and there won't be anything except soap and water in the wash bucket.

[MonoRaven]

Originally Posted by babydriver

We have a water softener. All it does is reduce the pH of the water so that soap works better. It doesn't remove any of the minerals at all. For that you need a filter or a distiller.

Also 300 bucks will buy you over 300 gallons of distilled water at Wal-Mart. At 1/2 a gallon a car wash using the twin bucket method, that's 300 car washes minimum. At once a week that's about 6 years worth of car washes. Once every two weeks, and you're likely to sell and/or wreck the car before you reach 300 dollars.

Let me guess; you work for or own Griot's Garage...

How do you rinse?

[Stay Fresh Car Care]

Originally Posted by babydriver

I apologize, my tone was not appropriate.

My point from the beginning has been that distilled water has the highest solvation of any type of water precisely because it does not contain any impurities, plus it is very cheap at discount stores or grocery stores. Any other form of purification other than distillation will not remove all impurities. Obviously triple distilled water is the best, but I think personally that regular distilled water is fine. You could also go nuts and use laboratory grade water, but now we are talking about a serious expense and surely totally unnecessary for washing a car.

If a forum member is planning to wash using the two bucket method, which is obviously a good idea, why not go one step further and use distilled water? That way, more dirt and used soap will be held in solution in the rinse bucket, and there won't be anything except soap and water in the wash bucket.

I think you are looking way too far into this matter. While water does play a big role in left over water spots, this problem can be completely eliminated by simple washing with high quality car shampoo and washing during the evening. To many people want to wash their vehicle during the hottest time of day (Afternoon). Simply waiting till the sun starts to come down greatly reduces water spots from forming on the paint. This is because they do not dry as fast giving you plenty of time to go over the car with a microfiber towel.

Have you considered using the pooling technique to prevent water spots as well?

[Tt3Sheppard]

Lately I've been using the idle setting at the self car wash bays. Provides a nice stream into the engine bay for those delicate areas.