How to do a Rinseless Wash: Instructional Video & GoogleDoc

[Veloist]

Hi ft86club community,

I've provided an instructional video highlighting basic steps & precautions when using a rinseless wash. I hope that it helps many of you!

Accompanying the video is a GoogleDoc that has a little more detailed instructions, so I hope you guys can utilize that.

Last but not least, please consider sharing this. I'm not affiliated with optimum, but I know many can benefit from using this method.

Thanks!

Video:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDIWipQBAm0[/ame]

GoogleDoc link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation...p=docslist_api

[imom]

Hi, Thank you for taking time and posting up the video. I wanted to say though if you have a black car and really want to avoid any swirl marks or at least reduce the chance of swirl marks... don't do what you show in the video.

If you want to use optimum ONR, then look up Garry Dean wash method and only do a single pass. The fact that you are rubbing back and forth and overlapping the pick up of dirt is not good practice for pro level washing. Synopsis for Garry Dean wash method is two buckets. One bucket soaked with clean towels soaked in ONR and the other bucket is to hold the dirty towels. Use only one pass on the dirty panels.

The other option that I use is waterless with high end MF towels. I use Meguiars D115 rinsefree and wax. I mix the solution with distilled water and spray the panel and wipe down in one direction...if it's extra dirty I go several passes with clean towels or use ONR and use the Garry Dean method. The nice thing is the car is clean and waxed at one time...no need for extra polishing and extra chances of marring the paint. It's a bit scary at first to use rinsefree (waterless), but once you get the hang of it...hardly any chance of scratching even the soft paint on these 86 cars. I've had my car for a year now and hardly any swirl marks...the bird and bee poop does far more damage...even with Opti coat. I recently got PPF on the front clip of the car that I will post a review on. I hope that helps.

Finally...I had a black Z4MR and using the method you described...I had a lot of scratches...the BRZ has hardly any and it's also about the same time or faster than what you posted.


P.s. one last note...even if I use ONR rinseless...I still use Distilled water... I hate water mark and it will etch the paint if you miss a spot. Hard water sucks. A whole car takes about 8 oz for me since I'm so liberal on waterless wipe down. Nice and shiny and well lubed while picking up dirt.

[fretchh]

Thank you very much for taking the time on the video. Great write up!

[Veloist]

Thank you for your feedback!

I'm aware of the risk of overlapping the wipes, but cleaning the car in small sections--instead of a whole panel--reduces the amount of dirt being picked up, compared to cleaning a whole panel. Using Grit Guards + a rinse bucket will let people use the same towel, instead of using a bunch for every panel.

For instance, in my video & every other time I clean, I divide my roof into quadrants. First, I wipe the upper left quadrant (driver side adjacent to windshield), then rinse the towel, put it back into the ONR+water bucket, then continue onto the left lower quadrant. If my car isn't particularly dirty, I still divide it into quadrants but flip the towel's side instead of putting in buckets. In a vehicle like the Toyota Prius, which has a very long roof, I divide it into 6-8 (depending on how dirty it is) sections per side, for a total of 12-16 wiping sections.

For sides alone, I have about 40 segments when I wash my Toyota Prius, and about 28 when I wash my MR2. Depending on how dirty it is, I'm either flipping it or rinsing the towel out after each segment.

The problem with going too in-depth with segmentation is that people who aren't as meticulous with their car may get discouraged due to the perceived complexity or time. I didn't want to overwhelm people--I was even considering omitting the 3-buckets but I couldn't. A lot of my friends, and people in general, who have asked me to make this video (I'm from San Francisco...lots of water restrictions & apartments here too) don't care about swirl marks, but just want a clean car.

But unless an individual is using a Rinseless wash method to make a profit, I'd like to defend my process and say that it's not as bad as it looks, especially since many people are used to using a circular motion when cleaning, or overlapping the same spot 5 or 6 times. Most cars will get Swirl Marks no matter what. The previous owner of the MR2 went to Automatic Car washes, and I haven't corrected the paint or anything yet, but you can barely see that in the video until you look really close.

Thanks again for your feedback, I really do appreciate it!

Originally Posted by imom

Hi, Thank you for taking time and posting up the video. I wanted to say though if you have a black car and really want to avoid any swirl marks or at least reduce the chance of swirl marks... don't do what you show in the video.

If you want to use optimum ONR, then look up Garry Dean wash method and only do a single pass. The fact that you are rubbing back and forth and overlapping the pick up of dirt is not good practice for pro level washing. Synopsis for Garry Dean wash method is two buckets. One bucket soaked with clean towels soaked in ONR and the other bucket is to hold the dirty towels. Use only one pass on the dirty panels.

The other option that I use is waterless with high end MF towels. I use Meguiars D115 rinsefree and wax. I mix the solution with distilled water and spray the panel and wipe down in one direction...if it's extra dirty I go several passes with clean towels or use ONR and use the Garry Dean method. The nice thing is the car is clean and waxed at one time...no need for extra polishing and extra chances of marring the paint. It's a bit scary at first to use rinsefree (waterless), but once you get the hang of it...hardly any chance of scratching even the soft paint on these 86 cars. I've had my car for a year now and hardly any swirl marks...the bird and bee poop does far more damage...even with Opti coat. I recently got PPF on the front clip of the car that I will post a review on. I hope that helps.

Finally...I had a black Z4MR and using the method you described...I had a lot of scratches...the BRZ has hardly any and it's also about the same time or faster than what you posted.


P.s. one last note...even if I use ONR rinseless...I still use Distilled water... I hate water mark and it will etch the paint if you miss a spot. Hard water sucks. A whole car takes about 8 oz for me since I'm so liberal on waterless wipe down. Nice and shiny and well lubed while picking up dirt.

[imom]

Originally Posted by Veloist

But unless an individual is using a Rinseless wash method to make a profit

First I don't do this for a living nor do I sell the product or have any other vested interest other than showing what is right and wrong from my experience. When doing a waterless wash... or even rinseless, I use about 2 to 3 MF towels... as you said I segment the towels per pass. If you look at the Garry Dean method on youtube you will see... a whole hood is one pass if you like...i use about 1/2 to 1/3 hood per segment. Your bucket with a grit guard is old school and prone to scratches. If you are a pro at this...then you should see the swirl and scratches. After I am done with my towels, I wash them in the sink and there is still dirt trapped. Using the same towel and rinsing the towel will still have trapped dirt and such.

When I have my dirty MF towel..I put it through 2 spin cycles with the setting to high to give it the most agitation to get all the dirt out. I don't see rinsing a towel getting rid of all the dirt and then you are rubbing it into the paint.

I also wanted to address the MR2. Some paint is very hard and some are very soft. Tesla and the 86 car paint is very soft. If you ran it through an automatic car wash... swirl city. My friend bought a Tesla that had being through those type of car washes... my detailer took him 1 1/2 day to paint correct. Okay you saved yourself a towel from washing, but then you scratched your paint... what's easier to correct? The paint or washing more towels.

I'm not here to have a pissing contest... really appreciate you took the time to help others by posting...just disagree with the technique you are showing. Saying some people don't see swirl mark or care is one argument. Taking that type of car to a car show or saying this is great techniq is another thing. If you like the way you do it fine...just try it on the 86 cars and you will see is all I gotta say.

Finally I wanted to address the time factor. A waterless wash after you done it a few times is about the same time as a car wash if not faster once you get the hang of it and you don't have to spend another time waxing the car. I use meguiars D115, but there are many other brands of waterless wash. If you have water restriction... 8 oz of water is far less than rinseless bucket wash anyways. You can't do rinseless with 8oz of water...and if you do it right it cost less because you don't have to spend more on distilled water.

[Veloist]

Thanks for clarifying.

I pretty much adapted the Grit Guard technique from my traditional car washes, and I'm still having positive experiences even after the transfer to ONR, which is why I shared it.

However, I completely understand if someone would disagree with it, especially if their judgment is based on their own experiences.

Originally Posted by imom

First I don't do this for a living nor do I sell the product or have any other vested interest other than showing what is right and wrong from my experience. When doing a waterless wash... or even rinseless, I use about 2 to 3 MF towels... as you said I segment the towels per pass. If you look at the Garry Dean method on youtube you will see... a whole hood is one pass if you like...i use about 1/2 to 1/3 hood per segment. Your bucket with a grit guard is old school and prone to scratches. If you are a pro at this...then you should see the swirl and scratches. After I am done with my towels, I wash them in the sink and there is still dirt trapped. Using the same towel and rinsing the towel will still have trapped dirt and such.

When I have my dirty MF towel..I put it through 2 spin cycles with the setting to high to give it the most agitation to get all the dirt out. I don't see rinsing a towel getting rid of all the dirt and then you are rubbing it into the paint.

I also wanted to address the MR2. Some paint is very hard and some are very soft. Tesla and the 86 car paint is very soft. If you ran it through an automatic car wash... swirl city. My friend bought a Tesla that had being through those type of car washes... my detailer took him 1 1/2 day to paint correct. Okay you saved yourself a towel from washing, but then you scratched your paint... what's easier to correct? The paint or washing more towels.

I'm not here to have a pissing contest... really appreciate you took the time to help others by posting...just disagree with the technique you are showing. Saying some people don't see swirl mark or care is one argument. Taking that type of car to a car show or saying this is great techniq is another thing. If you like the way you do it fine...just try it on the 86 cars and you will see is all I gotta say.

Finally I wanted to address the time factor. A waterless wash after you done it a few times is about the same time as a car wash if not faster once you get the hang of it and you don't have to spend another time waxing the car. I use meguiars D115, but there are many other brands of waterless wash. If you have water restriction... 8 oz of water is far less than rinseless bucket wash anyways. You can't do rinseless with 8oz of water...and if you do it right it cost less because you don't have to spend more on distilled water.

[Ec1990]

Not trying to hijack your thread but here's my personal technique.

It's a quick cut out from my blog about using multiple sides of a single towel without going over paint with a dirty side of the towel.

"For this take your towel soaked in solutions and gently wring it out. You want it wet but not completely soaking and dripping water. With towels with a short nap and long nap side use the longer nap. This lets the more dirt get trapped deeper and since you're trying to minimize swirls and scratches you want to avoid dragging dirt across the paint surface.

When you first start washing your car lay the towel folded in 1/4s flat on the surface and drag with absolutely zero pressure as so.

Now you're going to be picking up dirt and grime as seen here.

To avoid dragging this back across the surface lift slightly on the front of the towel

When you're done lifting 2 or 3 times your towel will have lines of dirt similar to this. After each panel is complete I dry using a Cobra Guzzler HD, again as little pressure as required folded in 1/4's.

If you're towel still has solution you can continue using a different 1/4 of the towel. You can see here where I used all 4 of the long nap side.

"

If anyone wants the link to the blog post or products used feel free to message me , I don't want to start spamming my blog links here as I feel it is in poor taste.

[imom]

Ec1990, I do similar to what you do, except I prep the panel with the waterless solution so it has some lube and helps lifts the dirt. My MF towels are dry, but I spray into the MF towel before I wipe... just as you, I don't or least try not to overlap...if a panel is small, I do one pass, but I do a snake pattern so it's one stroke.

[Ec1990]

Originally Posted by imom

Ec1990, I do similar to what you do, except I prep the panel with the waterless solution so it has some lube and helps lifts the dirt. My MF towels are dry, but I spray into the MF towel before I wipe... just as you, I don't or least try not to overlap...if a panel is small, I do one pass, but I do a snake pattern so it's one stroke.

Yep I've heard of that before.

Personally I'm not a fan of waterless washes I like rinseless better with soaked towels. But if you've found a good technique that is safe for the paint more power to you.