*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[D0uche69]

As in my previous post(s) I've used both type of vessels and presently use the single bag Pure Final Rinse.

They both work but the convenience of the PFR is a winner every time for me.

The PFR can use loose resin but I have started to keep the bags just incase they are ever phased out so could refill them.

Where I am the water is around 345ppm but get good life from the resin but does drop off rapidly from about 6ppm to 20ppm in no time.

 

[Steedie]

@Steedie, it does seem a bit odd that two products using the same technologies can be so far apart in terms of performance when using the same base-ppm level. I am getting more interested in filters so I would be interested in trying to understand why you think one is better than the other. Both have good reviews and the Raceglaze option is significantly cheaper over time due to refill costs.

I was just posting my experiences with both. No idea why one works better than the other. But I've used the Pure Final Rinse for about 10 washes on my car and washed my dads car a couple of times and each and every time it's been flawless with no drying. Maybe a couple of minor marks on the roof where the water pools but they wipe off with no effort.

With the RaceGlaze, which had only been used once before I'd used it, I used it for two washes, and both times the water left behind really stubborn marks that took a lot of buffing and Gyeon Water Spot remover to get off, and this was all over the car. First time I thought maybe it was an issue with letting the water dry from the bucket wash and not the rinse, but second wash I literally just foam and rinsed and it was exactly the same.

And all I'm saying is that the above is the same experience a lot of people nearby and the two detailers I use have shared with me before I used it. It might have been a duff unit for all I know

I'm not saying that they won't work for others but in my experience, the Raceglaze was a total waste of time as both times it caused more effort to remove the water spots than it would have been to just dry the car

 

[cadmunkey]

Never had any problems with Raceglaze ever. Just thought I'd post to balance the negativity.

 

[Neil777]

No issues with my Raceglaze filter either, our water is around 350ppm.

 

[Dis86]

Just to pipe up, in one of my previous careers I used to design industrial filtration systems. It's worth pointing out that the theory behind the raceglaze filter is correct and it's a more efficient design due to the reduced diameter. It results in less of a dead zone within the filtrate.

 

[MrMagoo]

No issues here with my raceglaze unit, haven't found one water mark since I started to use it

 

[jpaul]

It's worth pointing out that the theory behind the raceglaze filter is correct and it's a more efficient design due to the reduced diameter.

I was considering one of the commericial dva softeners with similar resin capacity, -but- that can be regenerated, which seem to come in at half the price of the car marketted ones,

( located in the kitchen, this can be used to make buckets of water for cars and, equally important, water for my coffee machine; regeneration costs some fresh water plus salt, but restores the resin regualrly to withinn 80% of its as new capability )

 

[Clarkey]

So I'm using Gyeon cancoat as a base and have been topping up with Megs hybrid ceramic. I love the beading, but these spots are driving me to distraction. I wash the car and almost immediately it starts gathering pollen, dust and whatever then any hint of rain or even morning dew and it leaves this horrible mess. Of course, the sun is on it from dawn til dusk on the drive so no possibility to clean during the day.
I'm fed up of having to do a full wash on the car because of some light dusting. Is there a good waterless wash kind of product I can use to clean it off without swirling it up?

 

[Scottland]

Sounds like a job for Optimum no rinse. It's not a waterless wash, but you can use it as a pre-spray or for use with a bucket/sponge.

 

[LiE]

So I'm using Gyeon cancoat as a base and have been topping up with Megs hybrid ceramic. I love the beading, but these spots are driving me to distraction. I wash the car and almost immediately it starts gathering pollen, dust and whatever then any hint of rain or even morning dew and it leaves this horrible mess. Of course, the sun is on it from dawn til dusk on the drive so no possibility to clean during the day.
I'm fed up of having to do a full wash on the car because of some light dusting. Is there a good waterless wash kind of product I can use to clean it off without swirling it up?

This is my car right now, after washing it on Sunday. It's a good use case for RO/filtered water. Then you can simply foam, leave to dwell, pressure wash off with filtered water and leave to dry in the sun.

 

[grudas]

I am too getting tired of water spots..

how long do you guys find the raceglaze 7kg one lasts? 700/l is one thing but in "real" world terms how many rinses will I get out of it?

summer my car is washed every weekend winter more like every 3-5 weeks.

I'd expect a few months at the very least?

 

[Steedie]

I am too getting tired of water spots..

how long do you guys find the raceglaze 7kg one lasts? 700/l is one thing but in "real" world terms how many rinses will I get out of it?

summer my car is washed every weekend winter more like every 3-5 weeks.

I'd expect a few months at the very least?

Completely depends on how hard the water in your area is, how thoroughly you're rinsing and if you're following the basic maintenance tips

But 6 months might be achievable

 

[grudas]

Completely depends on how hard the water in your area is, how thoroughly you're rinsing and if you're following the basic maintenance tips

But 6 months might be achievable

the water company rates it moderately hard.. or 67.6ca mg/l

not sure how "hard" that actually is but water spots are a massive issue.

 

[Simon]

Use something like sprints and then towel dry. No water marks in my experience, even on a black car

 

[grudas]

Use something like sprints and then towel dry. No water marks in my experience, even on a black car

I want to reduce contact as much as I can.. I already use air to dry the car but there's always areas around the mirror glass, bumpers etc where that water "sits" and dries out.

water spotting is also super annoying so it'd be great to foam the car -> pressure wash off -> rinse with filtered water and leave it as a quick "wash"

 

[jpaul]

So I'm using Gyeon cancoat as a base

what's on the windows then ?

the water company rates it moderately hard.. or 67.6ca mg/l

... and the calcium carbonate ? we have 300caco3 120ca cambridge .. so yours sound small ... and filters seem specced at a default 200caco3

 

[kindai]

I am too getting tired of water spots..

how long do you guys find the raceglaze 7kg one lasts? 700/l is one thing but in "real" world terms how many rinses will I get out of it?

summer my car is washed every weekend winter more like every 3-5 weeks.

I'd expect a few months at the very least?

Depends really how much you hook it up for. In the first year I did weekly

Foam with regular water
Power wash off
Bucket wash
Rinse off with raceglaze water.

And it was only just starting to read 2-3ppm.

The second year I just used it for everything and it lasted 6 months or so.

Ive now upgraded to the 14litre model and am expecting to have to refil it late next year.

 

[grudas]

nice one so 6 months or so between refills should be do-able.

will grab one next month! spent too much on car bits this month already

cheers guys.

 

[Scottland]

I leave mine hooked up to the pressure washer all the time, means I can give the car's a quick snowfoam and blast off without much fear of water spotting. Yes I'm sure I'll go through it a bit quicker, but 10L easily lasts me a year so no issues from me...

For what it's worth, you can get a filled 11L vessel from eBay for about £80-90. Also, if you have a choice the tall and skinny ones work a bit better than the short and stubby ones.

 

[xs2man]

So, after spending some time on my ancient Volvo, fitting new brake parts and changing the fluid, I was deciding whether I wanted to sell up or not. It needs a couple rear springs fitted for it's next MOT, and despite only having done about 3k since its last service, that was now a year ago. It only takes me the 50 miles to the airport, then back again, a couple times a month max, so thought I could maybe get something a bit more fun. But then again, this is in nice condition, and low miles, so I don't know.

So I decided the best thing to do to see if I wanted to keep it or not was to give it a clean.

I went a bit further than I had originally planned to be honest.

Paint:

Rinse
Snow foam
Wash
Bug & Tar remover
Fallout remover
Clay
Machine polish
Wax

Glass:

Wash
Clay
Polish
Gtechniq G5

Wheels:

Rinse
Snowfoam
Wash
Auto Finesse Fall Out (x3 hits, agitated the last 2 times).

That's about all I'm going to do on an 18 year old car. That said, only 66k on the clock, so not too shabby. Was a London car originally, so actually not much rust. Even doing the brakes was fine, everything came off without too much issue. I'd imagine that was only ever done once before with these miles.

Just a shame after all that work, the silver colour means you see nothing. At least it feels smooth.