Washing your car in the Winter. - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

TONYpepperon1 · 11-15-2013, 01:57 PM

Hey guys. I'm just wondering what everyone does to keep there paint clean during the winter. In my case it's tough because:

A. It is too damn cold to go out there and scrub her down.

B. The pipes are all winterized which means no hose water.

Just wanna hear some suggestions and your own experiences.

HunterGreene · 11-15-2013, 02:11 PM

Well, you have a couple options:

1) Just don't wash it. You won't like it, but at least you don't have to worry about going to an automatic wash

2) Touch-free car washes. Most places (at least here) are open through the winter, and you don't have to really touch the car, and the power washers get off the majority of winter gunk that gets on the cars.

ZionsWrath · 11-15-2013, 02:12 PM

Get a good detail/final step on the paint before salt lands.

Pressure wash off what you can at a gas station washer.

As soon as you can wash in driveway do it.

cnk · 11-15-2013, 02:50 PM

ONR, bucket, warm water, and about 10 microfiber towels. I mix the ONR and warm water in a 5 gallon bucket and submerge all 10 microfiber towels in it. I remove one towel and do a panel, making sure to fold the towel in quarters and move to a fresh quarter with each pass. After all clean quarters have been used, set dirty towel aside and go grab a new one out of the bucket.

This allows me to wash my car in the garage and not freeze my butt or hands off outside. If the car is really dirty, you can put some ONR mixture in a spray bottle and spray down each panel first. Or if you have a pressure washer and it's above freezing, you could probably hose off the car first and then pull it into the garage to finish up.

ZionsWrath · 11-15-2013, 02:53 PM

I like and use ONR but in winter I don't like to do it when my car is covered in grime unless I can at least rinse it first. Probably 1 day of salt and grime from a winter drive is more stuff on the paint than 1 month of summer driving.

Cjymiller · 11-15-2013, 02:54 PM

What's winter?

Regards,

California.

boxer 2.5 · 11-15-2013, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cjymiller

What's winter?

Regards,

California.

Winter = hellish white powdered ice with mountains of salt and sub-zero weather

Regards,

Connecticut.

m.wood0213 · 11-15-2013, 03:01 PM

Simple use this:
http://www.autogeek.net/waterless-wa...-carnauba.html
With lots of good microfiber towels. This one bottle will last at least a year. I use it when its cold (for Texas) and when I need a quick touch up.

TONYpepperon1 · 11-15-2013, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m.wood0213

Simple use this:
http://www.autogeek.net/waterless-wa...-carnauba.html
With lots of good microfiber towels. This one bottle will last at least a year. I use it when its cold (for Texas) and when I need a quick touch up.

I like the sound of this. Anyone else have any experience with this product?

HunterGreene · 11-15-2013, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cjymiller

What's winter?

Regards,

California.

Dearest California,

Please fall into the ocean already.

Sincerely,

Ohio

goshem · 11-18-2013, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Dearest California,

Please fall into the ocean already.

Sincerely,

Ohio

Dear Ohio,

Why do you even exist?

Sincerely,

Your neighbors up north

TONYpepperon1 · 11-18-2013, 09:26 PM

What's a "California"?

azian_advanced · 11-18-2013, 09:40 PM

Dear 'Muricans,

You guys complain about the cold too easily.
Except you Alaskans.

Sincerely,

Canada

HunterGreene · 11-19-2013, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goshem

Dear Ohio,

Why do you even exist?

Sincerely,

Your neighbors up north

Dear M*ch*g*n:

To gleefully beat the living crap out of you in college football (at least in the current era).

Sincerely,

Buckeye Nation

11-15-2013, 01:57 PM	#1
TONYpepperon1 Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Drives: 2013 CBS BRZ Location: Jackson, NJ Posts: 418 Thanks: 97 Thanked 64 Times in 42 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Washing your car in the Winter. Hey guys. I'm just wondering what everyone does to keep there paint clean during the winter. In my case it's tough because: A. It is too damn cold to go out there and scrub her down. B. The pipes are all winterized which means no hose water. Just wanna hear some suggestions and your own experiences.

11-18-2013, 09:26 PM	#12
TONYpepperon1 Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Drives: 2013 CBS BRZ Location: Jackson, NJ Posts: 418 Thanks: 97 Thanked 64 Times in 42 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Washing your car in the Winter. What's a "California"?

11-18-2013, 09:40 PM	#13
azian_advanced *****istrator Join Date: Apr 2010 Drives: 2013 Scion FR-S 10-Series M/T Location: Calgary Posts: 354 Thanks: 137 Thanked 337 Times in 90 Posts Mentioned: 4 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Dear 'Muricans, You guys complain about the cold too easily. Except you Alaskans. Sincerely, Canada __________________ SC10N FR-S #435 of 2500

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11-15-2013, 02:12 PM	#3
ZionsWrath Thanks Join Date: Apr 2013 Drives: BRZ Location: NY Posts: 4,163 Thanks: 5,989 Thanked 3,100 Times in 1,498 Posts Mentioned: 38 Post(s) Tagged: 3 Thread(s)	Get a good detail/final step on the paint before salt lands. Pressure wash off what you can at a gas station washer. As soon as you can wash in driveway do it.

11-15-2013, 02:50 PM	#4
cnk Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Drives: '13 DGM BRZ Limited Location: NJ Posts: 1,201 Thanks: 59 Thanked 547 Times in 339 Posts Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	ONR, bucket, warm water, and about 10 microfiber towels. I mix the ONR and warm water in a 5 gallon bucket and submerge all 10 microfiber towels in it. I remove one towel and do a panel, making sure to fold the towel in quarters and move to a fresh quarter with each pass. After all clean quarters have been used, set dirty towel aside and go grab a new one out of the bucket. This allows me to wash my car in the garage and not freeze my butt or hands off outside. If the car is really dirty, you can put some ONR mixture in a spray bottle and spray down each panel first. Or if you have a pressure washer and it's above freezing, you could probably hose off the car first and then pull it into the garage to finish up.

11-15-2013, 02:53 PM	#5
ZionsWrath Thanks Join Date: Apr 2013 Drives: BRZ Location: NY Posts: 4,163 Thanks: 5,989 Thanked 3,100 Times in 1,498 Posts Mentioned: 38 Post(s) Tagged: 3 Thread(s)	I like and use ONR but in winter I don't like to do it when my car is covered in grime unless I can at least rinse it first. Probably 1 day of salt and grime from a winter drive is more stuff on the paint than 1 month of summer driving.

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