*** Car Wash / Valet / Detailing Thread ***

So I've been meaning to try rinseless washing for some time and I have to say it's absolutely brilliant.
As most of you with a black car will know, it gets dusty so quickly in the summer, but rinseless removes the need for a full wash each time. It's so slick and even cleans the wheels really well. I'd be pretty confident using it on a fairly dirty car, I'd just take a bit more time and pre-soak more thoroughly.

I went for the Koch Chemie Rrw (based on Jon's video at Forensic), it's outstanding value and pretty much as good as anything else.

Wash method: mix up a bucket of rinseless (250:1), pre-soak with rinseless in the iK sprayer, clean the panel with a wash mitt, then dry it immediately with a large towel. Minimal water spots, very slick surface, very little effort.

I also bought some AG Rapid Ceramic and compared to other similar products it's so easy to apply, the Turtlewax Graphene stuff is a nightmare to buff off in comparison. The AG stuff feels more like a detailing spray. Lasts a while too.

I am a convert!

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pretty much what this chap highlighted when saw it earlier.

You went for a regular wash mitt? Results look great on the 740d!
 
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pretty much what this chap highlighted when saw it earlier.

You went for a regular wash mitt? Results look great on the 740d!

Yeah, I feel like a normal wash mitt should be fine (the DIY Detail guys said it is), I nearly got a legacy sponge but the mitt seems to be doing the job.

The guy in that video is using microfibre towels instead, which is probably ok too.
 
So I've been meaning to try rinseless washing for some time and I have to say it's absolutely brilliant.


pretty much what this chap highlighted when saw it earlier.

You went for a regular wash mitt? Results look great on the 740d!

I don’t know if he’s polished his car, as I haven’t watched any of his videos, but his paint is heavily marred, as if it has been clayed or washed with a poor technique.


Obviously I couldn’t comment whether this is from doing a rinseless wash, but it doesn’t seem particularly safe to me.
 
I also bought some AG Rapid Ceramic and compared to other similar products it's so easy to apply, the Turtlewax Graphene stuff is a nightmare to buff off in comparison. The AG stuff feels more like a detailing spray. Lasts a while too.
Didn't even know they did a Ceramic spray - I'll certainly grab some soon as I'm probably due to reorder some AG products :D
 
I don’t know if he’s polished his car, as I haven’t watched any of his videos, but his paint is heavily marred, as if it has been clayed or washed with a poor technique.

Obviously I couldn’t comment whether this is from doing a rinseless wash, but it doesn’t seem particularly safe to me.

From a professional perspective my paint isn't brilliant, it needs a full machine polish but that'll take about a month with my polishing skills due to the size and colour of the car :( :p

Rinseless has been heavily tested over the years and if done correctly it does seem to inflict almost no marring/scratching.
 
I don’t know if he’s polished his car, as I haven’t watched any of his videos, but his paint is heavily marred, as if it has been clayed or washed with a poor technique.


Obviously I couldn’t comment whether this is from doing a rinseless wash, but it doesn’t seem particularly safe to me.

but his paint is heavily marred

put that in his comments and see what he says :D
 
I don’t know if he’s polished his car, as I haven’t watched any of his videos, but his paint is heavily marred, as if it has been clayed or washed with a poor technique.


Obviously I couldn’t comment whether this is from doing a rinseless wash, but it doesn’t seem particularly safe to me.
His car is covered in swirl marks! :eek:

I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do a rinseless wash...
 
In fairness that video isn't really the best example. You could still follow a normal wash process using a rinseless wash instead of shampoo, it just makes the drying part much easier. Especially on black - light colours are so easy in comparison.

I'd normally go in with a snow foam and pressure washer, but that still doesn't remove everything, so the contact wash isn't that much different. Based on my experience so far there's very little chance of any damage being inflicted especially if you're pre-soaking each panel with rinseless first. It's incredibly slick. I have mainly just been removing various levels of dust though - rather than baked on winter grime...
 
Thats the thing, every review video I have seen of rinseless products are on fairly clean cars, I haven't seen one on a actual dirty car. I too, am not convinced.
 
Out of interest, why not use a quick detailer for that?

Rinseless washes are meant to be much cheaper aren't they, given the dilutions?

As an example, 1L of KC RRW is £12.50 and dilutes at 256:1, 1L of KC FSE is £10.95 and not meant for dilution I don't think. Not exactly talking life changing sums of money but every little helps :p
 
Rinseless washes are meant to be much cheaper aren't they, given the dilutions?

As an example, 1L of KC RRW is £12.50 and dilutes at 256:1, 1L of KC FSE is £10.95 and not meant for dilution I don't think. Not exactly talking life changing sums of money but every little helps :p

I meant that if you’re just taking off dust, why not use a QD instead of going through the process of washing at all, if the purpose is to save time and effort.


The Bilt Hamber Auto QD can be diluted quite heavily, for example, though not as much as Koch Chemmie.



With a QD you can atomise each panel, wipe and done. I don’t personally do this but I can’t see it being any less safe than doing a rinseless wash.
 
Thats the thing, every review video I have seen of rinseless products are on fairly clean cars, I haven't seen one on a actual dirty car. I too, am not convinced.
You should always do a good pre wash first , so the contact was regardless which method only has whats left on the car otherwise you'll scratch the car anyway

Out of interest, why not use a quick detailer for that?

QD is not designed for that use. You waterless wash
 
I meant that if you’re just taking off dust, why not use a QD instead of going through the process of washing at all, if the purpose is to save time and effort.


The Bilt Hamber Auto QD can be diluted quite heavily, for example, though not as much as Koch Chemmie.



With a QD you can atomise each panel, wipe and done. I don’t personally do this but I can’t see it being any less safe than doing a rinseless wash.

You could if it’s only very light dust - it depends really. I’ve used loads of QD’s and the rinseless stuff definitely seems more effective and feels safer. And as mentioned, it’s pretty cheap too.
 
I meant that if you’re just taking off dust, why not use a QD instead of going through the process of washing at all, if the purpose is to save time and effort.

I know what you meant, taking off a light layer of dust every weekend with a QD, you'll be churning through a relatively more expensive product to achieve the same thing as a cheaper rinseless wash which isn't involving much of a difference in effort levels after you've mixed a bucket up and is arguably designed to offer somewhat more protection if you're leaning more into 'a couple of weeks of dust' rather than 'a weekends worth of pollen'.

I'd be looking at it the other way - why would you use a more expensive, slightly less well suited product to do the job? :p

I think something to bear in mind here though is that a rinseless wash is aimed at people who will happily use it to take off a level of dirt/dust that someone who cares about detailing as much as you do would be horrified to consider doing at all.
 
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I know what you meant, taking off a light layer of dust every weekend with a QD, you'll be churning through a relatively more expensive product to achieve the same thing as a cheaper rinseless wash which isn't involving much of a difference in effort levels after you've mixed a bucket up and is arguably designed to offer somewhat more protection if you're leaning more into 'a couple of weeks of dust' rather than 'a weekends worth of pollen'.

Just going by previous posts about the fact that RW is quicker, so providing a solution which is quicker still.

QD is not designed for that use. You waterless wash

Depends on the quick detailer - it’s an issue with the industry as there’s no definition on what it should do. Some are ceramic spray sealants, some gloss enhancements, some have cleaning capability like the Bilt Hamber one.



Ultimately depends what you’re trying to do. If the car just has dust on it, then a QD like Auto QD would do the job and save a huge amount of time - all you need is a few MF and a spray bottle.


If it’s too dirty for that, then the best thing to do is a proper contact wash with proper surfactant-based products to trap the dirt ready for rinsing off.
 
I think something to bear in mind here though is that a rinseless wash is aimed at people who will happily use it to take off a level of dirt/dust that someone who cares about detailing as much as you do would be horrified to consider doing at all.

As an example, I think plenty of people would happily dive in using a rinseless wash to tackle this sort of rain spotted dust (some might throw the garden hose over it first...), whilst others would have an anxiety attack just thinking about it but i'm not sure even the most sadistic of lazy washers would consider taking a QD and microfibre to it though :p

AqXR5mZ.jpeg
 
As an example, I think plenty of people would happily dive in using a rinseless wash to tackle this sort of rain spotted dust (some might throw the garden hose over it first...), whilst others would have an anxiety attack just thinking about it but i'm not sure even the most sadistic of lazy washers would consider taking a QD and microfibre to it though :p

AqXR5mZ.jpeg
A reminder that that level of dust will absolutely have minerals and particles much, much harder than paint. It’ll be akin to sandpaper.


Hence it would absolutely need a proper contact wash to remove safely. Rinseless washes do not have the surfactants needed in a high enough concentration to safely remove it, nor are you rinsing the (trapped) dirt away afterwards.


I’m definitely in the anxiety camp ;)
 
A reminder that that level of dust will absolutely have minerals and particles much, much harder than paint. It’ll be akin to sandpaper.

Hence it would absolutely need a proper contact wash to remove safely. Rinseless washes do not have the surfactants needed in a high enough concentration to safely remove it, nor are you rinsing the (trapped) dirt away afterwards.

A lot of the newer rinseless products do contain a fair amount of surfactants though, as they are designed to tackle more soiling than a QD is aimed at, and the idea of the multiple folded towels is so you're not taking a soiled towel with trapped dirt back to the paint at any point - if you tried to go round the whole car without refolding and renewing the towel then you'd obviously absolutely annihilate the paint :p

I’m definitely in the anxiety camp ;)

I think I probably would be too at that level but if I hadn't left it a month since the last wash and it was a bit lighter than that i'd probably consider it :p
 
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