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      06-21-2018, 08:40 PM   #1
BarryJI
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Waterless washes: opinions please

I always get my car hand-washed but here in drought-ridden CA some of the services are waterless. I don't even know what a waterless wash is; can anyone advise?
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      06-22-2018, 02:09 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BarryJI View Post
I always get my car hand-washed but here in drought-ridden CA some of the services are waterless. I don't even know what a waterless wash is; can anyone advise?
I use Adams waterless wash and I love it! It's very reasonable on amazon....The key with waterless wash is quality microfibre towels and using lots lol. If you don't use multiple towels, you will run into problems for sure. I buy the "green" from the rag company. They're not cheap but work amazing. Don't buy the Adams waterless wash towels,those are both expensive and don't work as well tbh. I found them a bit rough.

I don't like the chemical guys option but I hear the Ammo frothe and Optimum are great choices too.

Water less wash is also great as a drying aid.

I hope this helps.
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      06-22-2018, 02:42 PM   #3
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That's very helpful, thank you.
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      06-22-2018, 02:56 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gk09 View Post
I use Adams waterless wash and I love it! It's very reasonable on amazon....The key with waterless wash is quality microfibre towels and using lots lol. If you don't use multiple towels, you will run into problems for sure. I buy the "green" from the rag company. They're not cheap but work amazing. Don't buy the Adams waterless wash towels,those are both expensive and don't work as well tbh. I found them a bit rough.

I don't like the chemical guys option but I hear the Ammo frothe and Optimum are great choices too.

Water less wash is also great as a drying aid.

I hope this helps.
Would you be comfortable letting someone else waterless wash your car or definitely only DIY ?
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      06-22-2018, 05:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottSinger View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by gk09 View Post
I use Adams waterless wash and I love it! It's very reasonable on amazon....The key with waterless wash is quality microfibre towels and using lots lol. If you don't use multiple towels, you will run into problems for sure. I buy the "green" from the rag company. They're not cheap but work amazing. Don't buy the Adams waterless wash towels,those are both expensive and don't work as well tbh. I found them a bit rough.

I don't like the chemical guys option but I hear the Ammo frothe and Optimum are great choices too.

Water less wash is also great as a drying aid.

I hope this helps.
Would you be comfortable letting someone else waterless wash your car or definitely only DIY ?
Oh hell no lol.. I would only do it myself.
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      06-25-2018, 04:51 PM   #6
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Any professional detailer will be able to do this with ease. As was said before, the fluffy MF towels are the key. They help get the dirt lifted off the surface of the car and into the towel. Too thin a towel and where do you think the dirt goes, across the paint surface is the answer. I've had stellar results with BlackFire Waterless Wash Concentrate, Optimum No Rinse, and Ammo. I prefer the BlackFire because I prefer the smell and it's easy to mix. I also use it as a clay lubricant while the car is still wet (drying agent).
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      06-26-2018, 08:08 AM   #7
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There are waterless washes and rinseless washes. If you happen to be in a drought area and have a complete water ban on washing your car, you might be able to get away with a waterless wash. A waterless wash, as the name implies, uses a special detergent where you would put it in a foam dispenser and it sprays out as a foam then you wipe it off with MF towels. This typically takes less than 1L of water (about 0.4 gallon). There is do drips and leaves little to no traces of water use. Check out Ammo NYC's video about rinseless washing


Rinseless wash will use about 1-2 gallons of water. You would use a concentrated detergent like Optimum No Rinse and mix it in a 1-2 gallons of water. You follow the conventional style of 2 bucket method washing but instead of rinsing after wiping down a panel, you can just dry it with a towel immediately.
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      06-26-2018, 09:39 AM   #8
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^ Good basic descriptions of both, but rinseless wash requires more than just 1-2 gallons of water. Those buckets people commonly use hold up to 5 gallons each and if you do the 2 bucket method, that's at least 4 gallons each. You can opt to reuse the detergent bucket/water for another wash, but I'd probably refrain from reusing the dirty bucket.

I tried the waterless wash but I'm not really a fan nor do I like the idea of foaming a dirty panel and just wiping it down, regardless of the marketing. However, I wouldn't mind trying out the Frothe from Ammo. That said, I much more prefer rinseless wash, if I'm forced to conserve water as it still allows for enough lubrication and thorough cleaning without having to worry about microabrasions.
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      06-28-2018, 10:13 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cxp213 View Post
^ Good basic descriptions of both, but rinseless wash requires more than just 1-2 gallons of water. Those buckets people commonly use hold up to 5 gallons each and if you do the 2 bucket method, that's at least 4 gallons each. You can opt to reuse the detergent bucket/water for another wash, but I'd probably refrain from reusing the dirty bucket.
Using the two bucket method, yea, it'll take more than 1-2 gallons for sure (I probably should've upped those numbers in my post, but oh well). But, I've done the multiple towel rinseless wash method before. It truly does use about 2 gallons at most. The method only involves 1 bucket and a lot of MF towels. Instead of a rinse bucket, once you've used a towel, you chuck it into the used pile and grab a new towel from the wash bucket. I've tried it before; had the 5 gallon bucket filled to about 4 gallons. By the end of the wash, there was more than half bucket left of detergent.
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      07-01-2018, 12:26 PM   #10
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I'm a big fan of Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine.

What I do is goto the coin-op self-serve car wash and do a quick water only high pressure rinse. Then, I take a spray bottle with diluted ONR and clean each car panel with a clean microfibre cloth. Super fast to clean a 2-series this way, I find!

Oh, and ONR is a great product if you need to do a quick spot detailing like mud/bird droppings/tar etc. I even use it as a clay bar lubricant.
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      07-25-2018, 11:32 PM   #11
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Here is a picture of my FRS that has been waterless/rinse-less (depending on what I felt like doing) washed for 3 years, and polished once after the first year of ownership. Wouldn't wash it any other way. I use Optimum Rinseless Wash+Wax

The photo was taken after over 100 waterless/rinseless washes. Washed weekly and occasionally used a hose/pressure washer for the underside, wheel wells, and wheels.

65k miles


Last edited by Speedwell-Industries; 07-25-2018 at 11:37 PM..
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