Waterless car washing

Chris

Chris

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For those of you who are into detailing, are you guys doing waterless car washes? If so, what products are you using and what’s your process?

I’ve been wanting to get into this trend due to being annoyed with the long, traditional process of washing a car with water only to have to try and dry every nook and cranny.

Curious to hear from people who are doing this.
 
This works pretty good if you’re in a hurry, but you do need to buff it really good.

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Apparition said:
I had my truck ceramic coated. Looks great with minimal effort. I wash it in a touch less automatic car wash at least 3-4 times a week and on occasion dry it by hand but it barely shows water spots if I don’t.
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Down here we have that hard mineral water that will etch your paint permanently if you don’t clean it off pretty quickly after washing it 😮

Fixer6 said:
This works pretty good if you’re in a hurry, but you do need to buff it really good.

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I take it it must streak quite a bit, hence the need to buff?
 
Chris said:
Down here we have that hard mineral water that will etch your paint permanently if you don’t clean it off pretty quickly after washing it 😮



I take it it must streak quite a bit, hence the need to buff?
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It has wax in it, so as it does take off light dirt very well, you have to buff the wax for shine. I use one microfiber towel to clean the dirt off, and then a additional one to buff the wax left behind.
 
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Back when I had my Harley, washing was a love/hate chore. It was Black with tons of chrome. It looked awesome when it was clean, but washing sucked because, we also have hard water. A bike has a lot more nooks and crannies than a car. I never cared for waterless washes because I was worried that it would get scratched from the microscopic surface contaminants, black shows every imperfection. So I would wash it and used my leaf blower to dry it. Worked great and I do the same with my cars.
They sell blowers specifically for cars, but the leaf blowers always worked for me.
These are pretty awesome too if you have one close by:
https://www.harborfreight.com/6-sq-...ing-towel-64312.html?_br_psugg_q=drying+towel
 
egclassic said:
Back when I had my Harley, washing was a love/hate chore. It was Black with tons of chrome. It looked awesome when it was clean, but washing sucked because, we also have hard water. A bike has a lot more nooks and crannies than a car. I never cared for waterless washes because I was worried that it would get scratched from the microscopic surface contaminants, black shows every imperfection. So I would wash it and used my leaf blower to dry it. Worked great and I do the same with my cars.
They sell blowers specifically for cars, but the leaf blowers always worked for me.
These are pretty awesome too if you have one close by:
https://www.harborfreight.com/6-sq-...ing-towel-64312.html?_br_psugg_q=drying+towel
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So funny! I've been using the leaf blower on my car for years now. It works very good at getting the water out of the nooks and crannies.
 
Does anyone use or have Chemical guys products? Recently bought a few of their items to try out. Wanting to get better at detailing/getting that slick newer than new car shine and feel. Also bought a car foamer recently and next will be a buffer/polisher, but that seems like a whole new skill to learn in an of itself.
 
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Jamesval035 said:
Does anyone use or have Chemical guys products?
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I have used a few of their products. I didn't notice any difference from other products I typically use like Meguire's, Surf City Garage (best tire coating) or 303. I've been wanting to try some AMMO products, but just haven't got around to it yet.

Jamesval035 said:
next will be a buffer/polisher, but that seems like a whole new skill to learn in an of itself.
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When you get here, make sure you get a random orbit polisher with an extra long cord or battery powered. Also, you'll want to learn how to use clay at the same time.
 
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So I can't say I've ever heard of washing a car without water... is it basically spraying some cleaning chemical on and wiping it off?

Here, I just go through a car was and drive around a bit... let the wind do the work. And if I need to wash the Jeep I can't image doing it without a pressure washer...
 
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DaveF said:
So I can't say I've ever heard of washing a car without water... is it basically spraying some cleaning chemical on and wiping it off?

Here, I just go through a car was and drive around a bit... let the wind do the work. And if I need to wash the Jeep I can't image doing it without a pressure washer...
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Depends on your circumstances. Me , for instance, I started washing my motorcycles like this mostly because i could do it inside the garage. Same thing with the jeep, if it's just dusty and I'm bored I'll "dry clean" it. I'm not real anal with it though, it's not a show car.
 
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BlueC said:
I have used a few of their products. I didn't notice any difference from other products I typically use like Meguire's, Surf City Garage (best tire coating) or 303. I've been wanting to try some AMMO products, but just haven't got around to it yet.



When you get here, make sure you get a random orbit polisher with an extra long cord or battery powered. Also, you'll want to learn how to use clay at the same time.
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Ya, plan on getting some clay bars as well. I'll probably start on my daughters Civic or my Jeep. since both those paints need some TLC
 
Jamesval035 said:
I'll probably start on my daughters Civic or my Jeep
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Good choice. My first time with clay and polish I decided to do my 4-door truck. About 24 hours of work later it was nice, but I was tired. My Jeep took about 16 hours start to finish the first time, but it was bad, very heavily water marked. Each time after that has been about 8 hours.
 
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Chris said:
I’ve been wanting to get into this trend due to being annoyed with the long, traditional process of washing a car with water.
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Get into this as a business kinda thing? After working in Coastal Ca's water works and seeing what "water conservation" storm runoff requirement are in place, I can offer a actual car wash was still good to go, but the mobil guys with wash and detail services are being required to place the vehicle in a pool of sorts and all wash water must be recovered and not allowed to run into the gutter or street drainage system. Same went for pressure washing a building before painting,cleaning sidewalks,driveways etc and that sort of thing.
Keep in mind this is in Ca, but I hear AZ called now is "Calizona" and its just a matter of time before Ca's finest rule the roost. If you came up with a "environmentally" way with great results to clean vehicles you'd make a killing.
 
I haven't used water on my '99 since buying it two years ago. It gets a good wax job in the spring and a California duster cleans the dust off after that. That said, I know I'm not your average Jeep owner. This one's a well preserved summer toy, not a daily driver.
Our nine year old Ford Escape is the year round DD. Mother Nature washes it.

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BlueC said:
Good choice. My first time with clay and polish I decided to do my 4-door truck. About 24 hours of work later it was nice, but I was tired. My Jeep took about 16 hours start to finish the first time, but it was bad, very heavily water marked. Each time after that has been about 8 hours.
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lol, holy hell this sounds like a process. I guess i'll have to block out an almost entire day to clay.
 
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