Below freezing temps

Winter start date is Monday, December 21.

Temps may not get above freezing. Hoses are frozen, and washing your car at a car wash is not an option.

I imagine detailing spray is useless.

How to you clean you truck (and cars)??

 

Try searching waterless cleaners. Never personally used but some one here use them.

 

I do a couple layers of Collinite here in MN then don't touch the truck til spring.

If it gets too unbearable, I go to the quarter DIY heated carwash later at night with my buckets.

 

I used to have issues with winter when I lived in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa. The best fix I was able to find was a relocating to Alabama. I haven't had a single winter issue in three years.

 

ONR (optimum no rinse) waterless wash. I believe CarPro makes one too. Need a couple buckets, running water from inside the house, and a bunch of microfiber towels.

 

I have never been to one. This may work.

Sorry, been there in the summer. Not going to happen. But thanks!

 

I don’t

 

No garage available as the Corvette stays in there all winter undergoing work for next years track events. Besides, it isn't heated.

I did look at this YouTube video: ONR Optimum No Rinse Vol 1 (How to properly use it and when) for cars,trucks,boats,planes,Rv's. - YouTube

It seems like this would work if the car isn't too dirty. But when you have sand and salt stuck to the car, I be hesitant. Even though the video says the dirt is lifted off and will not scratch.

 

Something about black trucks with white salt and sand.

 

Bring your hoses inside so they don't freeze and you can easily wash your car on a 20 degree day. Otherwise, why is a brushless car wash not an option. With all the sand they put down here there is no way I am going to be doing a washless carwash on my truck. Yeah, microfiber picks up stuff...but when is it full? Does all that stuff come out when you wash it? I took and wiped saw dust with a microfiber cloth one time. That stuff never came out of the towel after many, many, many washes.

 

Sure car washes aren’t open? Or do you just not like them. Around here they’re open down to around single digits. I just go to the touchless drive through one every week or 2 depending on snow fall. Once a month I’ll do the hand held one to get under the truck real good. They all have garage doors you can close and heat.

 

There's a limit to rinseless and waterless washes. Seek out your local DIY coin-op car wash.....bring lots of quarters. Try to get there at an odd time....people get a little testy when they see you bring the buckets out. I've done it, and I bring two buckets....one with my soap mixture, and one with 4-6 mitts in warm water (don't use two bucket method). I also use the "spot free rinse" option.....probably just a weak assumption that they're actually filtering the water as opposed to the regular rinse. When I get home, I'll do a rinseless wash technique to get any spots that hit the vehicle on the way home. I go over it to make sure it's dry, and then hit it with a topper. I then go inside, pour two fingers of Crown Royal, and look out the window at my shiny truck.

I'm not a big fan of Greg from Mastersons, but he does a pretty good video on taking your car to one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3G8ZbYWwAY

 

Great video. Never been to a coin car wash. Also, he is in short sleeves so it can't be too cold. I assume they work in sub-freezing temps. But the video address concerns about sand and salt. You can pre-rinse the truck and get off a lot grit. Then wash, then rinse. If it is 17 degrees, I may not spend quite that much time cleaning the inside of my windows . But 'll give a try. Are these places usually staffed? They mention going on "off-hours".

 

The ones that are staffed typically also have some type of 'automatic' wash bay.....the 'off hours' recommendation is also because other patrons are generally not very patient when you break out the buckets. I might invest in a Worx Hydroshot, or something similar, so that I do not have to worry about trying to get to the car wash. You can feed them with a hose in a bucket, so you can use warm water. You'll not get nearly the psi that these coin-ops have, but it is still better than nothing.

 

Definitely my go to in the winter. I'll bring my own bucket of water and soap with a mitt. Get a couple bucks of coins and start. In the winter, really isn't much off hours at least where I live. Once it's below 35, not many people want to manually wash their ride.

 

I looked up Worx Hydroshot. Feeding it from a bucket sounds great. I looked up the price. It is >$100.

Understandable. I will have to give it a try.

The one thing the guy (in the video) had that I don't have are buckets with a sealable top. Looking on Amazon I can buy a lid for a bucket I have.

 

Adams polishes has a good deal on 2 (5 gallon) buckets with gamma seal lids......39.99 for the pair.....use code 'present' to get an additional 20 pct off

 

No salt here, lucky to get sand. Silver truck = no wash till spring. (May)

 

It’s better than Michigan and Iowa in the summer. Iowa was 95 degrees with zero wind.
Michigan was 95 degrees with no wind and all of the humidity pulled off of Lake Michigan.
I’ll take northern Alabama over any of those.

 

`The kids asked me what I wanted for Christmas. One of the things I mentioned was Griots Ceramic 3 in 1 Wax. Unfortunately we are getting a predicted 12+ inches tomorrow. So much for detailing.