[joed1]

Winter is here in the Northeast and I have a question for those experienced detailers out there. I use a brushless car wash that does a fair job at cleaning the winter crap off. What I am looking for is something I can spray on just prior to going through the car wash that would get more of the road dirt off without removing any of the winter sealant I put on. Thanks in advance for the help.

[ccraig13]

I'm just a weekend warrior when it comes to detailing, but I bought a basic pump sprayer from Home Depot and fill it with Quick Detailer strength Optimum No-Rinse and presoak it before I go into the brushless wash.

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

So no heavy jacket, rain boots, and dish washing gloves to wash the car?! lol

[joed1]

Originally Posted by Kiem@DetailAddict

So no heavy jacket, rain boots, and dish washing gloves to wash the car?! lol

Right now it is -15 degrees in CT. Usually not that cold, but I try to limit hand washing to the warmer, less road salt/sand times. Try to baby the finish as much as possible.

[Gig103]

I agree with just using some detail spray or a 'waterless washes' from Optimum, Poorboys, or CG before going in the tunnel.

[Otruba_843]

Foam cannon with Auto Finesse Avalanche should do a pretty good job of stripping a lot of the dirt off. Doesn't degrade LSP's either.

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

Originally Posted by joed1

Right now it is -15 degrees in CT. Usually not that cold, but I try to limit hand washing to the warmer, less road salt/sand times. Try to baby the finish as much as possible.

I wish I got the option to limiting hand washing to warmer weather... haha That weather sounds unimaginable, CA weather doesn't even come close to that. But, we have some cold days where I'm out washing a car, its not fun at all. Best of luck on washing your car!

[Detailed Image]

Originally Posted by ccraig13

I'm just a weekend warrior when it comes to detailing, but I bought a basic pump sprayer from Home Depot and fill it with Quick Detailer strength Optimum No-Rinse and presoak it before I go into the brushless wash.

This is a great idea. Instead of Opt No-Rinse, you can also put in a diluted mixture of something like P21S Total Auto Wash to help get a bit more of the stuff off the paint.

Also, if you can warm up your garage to a workable temperature, usually 60-70 degrees should be fine, you can run through the touchless carwash then go home and do a rinseless wash with Optimum No-Rinse. I wrote a fairly detailed article on Winter Washing with Optimum No Rinse (ONR) so you can take a quick look and hopefully that helps with your situation.

As you can see from the photos in the article, I go through the same thing here in Chicago every winter!

Ivan @ DI

[Zero_09]

From what I heard most of the brushless washes uses really strong chemicals to clean your car so the sealant is probably gone whenever you go through one of tbose

[Detailed Image]

Originally Posted by Zero_09

From what I heard most of the brushless washes uses really strong chemicals to clean your car so the sealant is probably gone whenever you go through one of tbose

That's very true. I wouldn't say it will remove a good sealant in just a wash, but I have seen P21S carnauba wax simply disappear after only 3 or 4 washes at a local touchless wash. In my article linked to above I do mention that I like to seal the car every 2-3 washes such as these so as to make sure there's sealant on the paint.