How to keep clean during the winter?
 

Any tips? Also anyone have good ways to wash the car indoors? I park in an indoor garage but wouldn't be able to wash the car in the traditional way there. I've been thinking spray bottle just to get the surface dirt off...

good question, i've been wondering about this myself as the temp has gotten colder.... i've never had a car that i cared enough about to wash during the winter

how does everyone wash their cars when it's cold out?

Grin and Bear It!
 

Get some warm clothes, and try to minimize the time you spend doing the job. In order to get the car looking good, there really are no shortcuts. If you take it to the carwash, or cut corners, your going to end up with a bad wash, and swirl marks.

I am going to try and cut out the drying process by using one of the "Mr. Clean No Dry" product. I don't know how well it works, but it can't do any harm (If anyone has used it let me know).


I would be careful with the spray bottle technique, doing it that way would probably add some swirl marks, because you are not washing the dirt off. Essentially all the dirt would be on your towel, and you would just be moving it around on the paint.

Good luck!

I was thinking that if I could get small sections wet enough most of the surface dirt would "wash" off and I'd just let it air dry. What the hell I'll give it a shot and see what happens. I've got a couple coats of Zaino on it and I don't think I can do any harm by wetting everything down and letting it drip dry...

Color
 

What color is your car?

Titanium

No Worries
 

That color will hide swirls better than my color, black. Give it a shot.

Get some ProtectAll Quick and Easy Wash. It is for people who have to wash in water restriction areas and can't use a hose. The QEW, as it's called for short, is formulated for a lot of lubricity so that you can wash without a hose and not scratch your car. I have used it before and it works great, as long as you are careful.

You need two wash buckets. One you fill with warm water, the other you fill with warm water and put the specified amount of QEW in it. You can use sheepskin wash mitts or soft microfiber towels to do the washing. Just make sure you have at least two or three of whatever you decide to wash with so you can switch when it starts to get dirty. You'll also need a couple microfiber waffle weave towels for drying the car off.

Basically, you work one panel at a time, starting at the top of course. You put your mitt in the bucket with the QEW, slosh it around, wring it out so it's not sopping wet, but is still wet, then wash a panel with it. When you're done with the panel, put the mitt in the bucket with just water and grab your waffle weave towel and dry off the panel you just washed. Then slosh the mitt around to get the dirt off and dip it back in the QEW bucket and move to the next panel. Do this until you finish the car.

It works very very well. I know it sounds scary but the people over at the Autopia forums swear by the stuff and they are majorly picky about taking care of their cars.

If your car is really dirty with lots of mud or salt buildup, you should spray it off with the hose first to get the caked on crud off. What I do is take mine to the quarters car wash place to spray it off - just with water, not their crappy soap.

You can get QEW from here:
http://www.protectall.com/qelg.htm

I just fill the bucket w/ some luke warm water. Since during the winter mornings it's usually around 40-50 degrees here in vegas so just some warm water goes along way to making it a little easier. Plus once you start wiping it down w/ the sponge your body temp. goes up so I don't feel it as much. Of course I cant feel my hands either cuz that warm feeling goes away real quick, but hey whatcha' gonna do, gotta keep it clean.

Jealous, I wish that was my winter
 

40-50 degrees what are you kidding me? I thought we were discussing temperatures below freezing, that a nice spring/fall day up here in the North East. I’ve been washing my car in those temperatures for the last month. Just put on a warm sweat shirt, and go to work. If your working hard your body heat will keep you warm.

As far as what wax to coat your cars with for the duration of the winter season, in case anyone's wondering, some of the suggestions I've seen are Meg's #16 and Collinite (or here), among other suggestions within those threads.

Also, here's one guy's method for washing in cold winter weather, which invariably also led to a QEW suggestion.

Oh cool, thanks for the extra info!

Washing the car in cold weather is so much more of a pain. It's a small price to pay since i'll be driving it less and less anyway.

anytips for washing the underbody of the car?...I do have a special sprayer that extends

Holy crap, I've never thought to wash the underbody of the car, although if you're going to do it, I imagine a good ol' pressure washing would do the trick. As low as our cars are to the ground, though, I imagine it would dirty up really quickly. Would it really be of any benefit to wash the underbody then?

the salt will eat away (etch) into metal and other surfaces...really dirty I'm not worried about, it is always dirty down there...but salty? you've got to do something about it...the only protectiong is Krowning (oil spray) but it is hard to find, expensive, and you would have to do it every winter

so washing it is our only option albeit an annoying one...but how do we do this properly?

A suggestion for the undercarriage...your mazda dealer has a treatment that lasts five years on the undercarriage and has a tranferrable warranty. It protects against all corrosion, and it gives your car a quieter ride. I had it done to my * and it works beautifully.

really? I thought those dealer treatments were hogwash

but I'll definitely look into it

I'm still thinking Krowning is the best treatment even though it works for only one winter and then must be reapplied

my theory is this. They garantee the stuff for the life of the vehicle (I checked over lunch...it's life and not five years) so if anything does get corroded, I am not responsible. But so far I have had no problems, and I can notice a difference in the noise I hear from the undercarriage

good point in that you aren't responsible :) :) I'll definitely look into it...thanks Blue!

Sorry, I forgot about the salt thing. We don't have to salt our roads here in GA, foruntately. I have friends who live in NYC and my parents used to live in Chicago, so if I hear anything through the grapevine, I'll pass it along to you (although the Mazda suggestion seems sound--how much extra does it cost?)

The undercarriage is part of a full treatment. You can buy it in a package, or peice by peice. I got the whole deal which includes paint sealant, sheetmetal protection, undercarriage coating, and interior protection from UV ray fading and stains. Everything except the interior is transferrable, so the package helps with retaining resale value. The whole thing cost me $700, but I never have to do it again.

I use the: Mr. Clean Auto Dry.
It's a great product
Doesnt require drying..
but uses alot of water
their trick is in the soap. it dry's automatically.

I have no idea what this has to do with this thread... but that's how I wash my 8.


:)

I wouldn't use mr. clean soap whatsoever!...good at sheeting off wax :)

You don't need to use their soap to eliminate the spots, that’s done with the filter by de-ionizing the rinse water. You can use Zaino or whatever floats your boat and it will still work. I used the thing once and determined it worked, but not well enough to bother with. So now I'm just gonna go out and grin and bear the cold weather, there really are not shortcuts to perfection.

pfft... that's why I paid $900 to my dealership... if my car looses it's shinyness or my interior is stained, they will clean it or re-wax it a no charge.

:)


(and the secret is in the soap... not the filtered water)