Waterless Car Wash

[HamburglarM3]

So the other day, I had some free time and stopped by Canadian Tire to browse around to see if there were any new car care products I could try. One product caught my attention: GoClean waterless car wash.

I thought to myself, if this works, it would be super convenient seeing how I'm living in a condo and don't have access to a water source (or simply if I'm too lazy to do the whole shebang)

For those who haven't tried it, I highly recommend it for regular upkeep of your M. All you need are two micro fibre cloths and a bottle of the $15 GoClean product. A few sprays onto the car and the cloth and some elbow grease later, the car was clean and it claims to wax it too. I wouldn't do it on a super dirty car though and would probably go through a touchless car wash first before trying this.

[DARK_M3]

I rarely water wash my car. Maybe like once every 5 weeks. I usually start with my California Duster and get all the dust off the car. Then a bottle of Meguiar's Ultimate Quick detailer with a few micro-fiber towels. It's fast and easy.

I will ususally follow with an additional spray down with Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax and a couple fresh micro's.

Add in clay bar every 3 months with a full re-wax just to keep things looking their best. Water? Yeah... not too often.

[HamburglarM3]

Interesting. I'll give your routine a try next time!

[frankzlin79]

You guys crazy? It's water that is necessary to wash off dirt and fine dirt. If you don't use water, you'll just be causing scratches to your clear coat due to the dirt. Even dusting the car off first will still cause scratches without water.

[bvhbmw]

A safe hoseless wash is possible using two buckets and some Optimum No Rinse (ONR).

[HamburglarM3]

Originally Posted by bvhbmw

A safe hoseless wash is possible using two buckets and some Optimum No Rinse (ONR).

Just read online about this product. Sounds like a good compromise between the GoClean waterless and full on car wash. I'm always fascinated by better, more efficient ways of doing things...I gotta try this.

[Chowster]

Originally Posted by HamburglarM3

Just read online about this product. Sounds like a good compromise between the GoClean waterless and full on car wash. I'm always fascinated by better, more efficient ways of doing things...I gotta try this.

+1 for ONR. I use it all winter on a weekly basis for mild to moderate levels of dirtiness (inside my garage). Works well even on mild road salt. I would recommend using a more concentrated dilution of the ONR as a pre-soak prior to the ONR regimen (I use a manual pressurized garden sprayer for application). There's tonnes to read about ONR in the various detailing forums.

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by frankzlin79

You guys crazy? It's water that is necessary to wash off dirt and fine dirt. If you don't use water, you'll just be causing scratches to your clear coat due to the dirt. Even dusting the car off first will still cause scratches without water.

+1

Had this conversation on here before and I was called a fool!

I have used ONR but only for light dust never dirt. I have seen scratches and marring on test panels even with ONR, on light and moderate dirt.

Guys, use these products at your own risk, especially if you have a dark colored car!!!

[Erie Von Otto]

Thou shall not use waterless car wash on your M3! 10 hell mary's and four knuckle smacks for you!

[py0413]

I have used a few different waterless car wash product, although it is not for the best result compare to regular wash but sometimes you just have too few options.

[Jaypod]

IMO if you are going to use a waterless car wash, you might as well just take it through touchless car wash - probably the same effect on the finish

[larryn]

I occasionally use Griots spray car wash on my ///M, but only if it is not too dirty - more like if I had just washed it, and it rained the next day...

I use a Cali duster to start, then the spray, with a bunch of MF towels. It takes about 10 minutes, compared to 1-2 hrs.

If it's dirty, I wouldn't even attempt doing this, and it's time for a proper bath.

[Merlosso]

I use ONR also. Excellent product. If you're careful and do it right, it's no more risky than the old fashioned garden hose method and you'll only use a few gallons of water.

1. Fill one bucket with water and ONR
2. Fill a second bucket with clean water
3. Use a brand new, never used microfiber towel (a pack of 30 at Costco is $12)
4. Dunk the towel in the wash bucket, wring it slightly, and do a gentle wipe over the first panel
5. Rinse the towel in the rinse bucket
6. Repeat and do additional passes as needed until the panel is clean
7. Dry the panel with another microfiber towel (I use a larger waffle weave towel for this)
8. Work your way down the car, panel by panel, until the car is clean

Like anything, use common sense. If the car is really dirty, don't jump right in and start scrubbing. If there is mud or road salt on the car, you might need to hose it off first or if thats not an option, go through a cheap touch-less car wash first to get the heavy stuff off.

I wash my car like this weekly. It's fast, thorough, and my paint looks great. Its also convenient because I can do it in the garage, out of direct sunlight. Every 3 or 4 weeks I use Optimum's spray on wax. I couldn't be happier with the results.

[bvhbmw]

+1 for this method

Originally Posted by Merlosso

I use ONR also. Excellent product. If you're careful and do it right, it's no more risky than the old fashioned garden hose method and you'll only use a few gallons of water.

1. Fill one bucket with water and ONR
2. Fill a second bucket with clean water
3. Use a brand new, never used microfiber towel (a pack of 30 at Costco is $12)
4. Dunk the towel in the wash bucket, wring it slightly, and do a gentle wipe over the first panel
5. Rinse the towel in the rinse bucket
6. Repeat and do additional passes as needed until the panel is clean
7. Dry the panel with another microfiber towel (I use a larger waffle weave towel for this)
8. Work your way down the car, panel by panel, until the car is clean

Like anything, use common sense. If the car is really dirty, don't jump right in and start scrubbing. If there is mud or road salt on the car, you might need to hose it off first or if thats not an option, go through a cheap touch-less car wash first to get the heavy stuff off.

I wash my car like this weekly. It's fast, thorough, and my paint looks great. Its also convenient because I can do it in the garage, out of direct sunlight. Every 3 or 4 weeks I use Optimum's spray on wax. I couldn't be happier with the results.

[Z K]

I have used ONR before but it does mar the finish slightly on a black car even with a ONR pre-soak with pressurized sprayer, 2 buckets and panel-by-panel method. I used the same technique on a metallic grey car and you never notice the marring. On soft blacks however, beware.

Doing this careful ONR method you aren't saving any time over a conventional wash. It just allows you do it indoors or without a hose.

As for the spray-on wipe off waterless washes, stay very far away from those.

[Raja Ventureshield]

ONR is man's new best friend. I use it all the time. It works very well.

[Chowster]

Originally Posted by Z K

I have used ONR before but it does mar the finish slightly on a black car even with a ONR pre-soak with pressurized sprayer, 2 buckets and panel-by-panel method. I used the same technique on a metallic grey car and you never notice the marring. On soft blacks however, beware.

Doing this careful ONR method you aren't saving any time over a conventional wash. It just allows you do it indoors or without a hose.

As for the spray-on wipe off waterless washes, stay very far away from those.

Definitely allows us Canadians up north to wash our cars inside the garage through the colder months of the year. Saves me some time too, but that's not my primary reason for using it.

[HamburglarM3]

Just tried Autoglym Rapid Detailer. Upon spraying it onto the car body and wiping it off with a new microfiber towel, there is still significant amount of dirt that the GoClean product did not wash off completely.

I guess the reason is that after you finish washing one area of the car, your towel is already dirty, you have no way to rinse it in a bucket of water (when using waterless) and then you are onto the next area of the car wiping it with a dirty towel. The car does LOOK clean but in actual fact, it is still dirty.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by HamburglarM3

Just tried Autoglym Rapid Detailer. Upon spraying it onto the car body and wiping it off with a new microfiber towel, there is still significant amount of dirt that the GoClean product did not wash off completely.

I guess the reason is that after you finish washing one area of the car, your towel is already dirty, you have no way to rinse it in a bucket of water (when using waterless) and then you are onto the next area of the car wiping it with a dirty towel. The car does LOOK clean but in actual fact, it is still dirty.

A detail spray is not a waterless wash product... detailers are designed to be used after you wash the car to boost the paint gloss. Or to clean light dust on a clean car.

[Moxie]

I use the california duster daily after I garage it & follow up with Optimum No Rinse in a spray botle as a quick detailer & MF towels on bee shit & bugs as needed. No pressure/rubbing. Wash it 5-6 times a year & garage it for Winter. Always looks clean -

[DARK_M3]

Originally Posted by larryn

I occasionally use Griots spray car wash on my ///M, but only if it is not too dirty - more like if I had just washed it, and it rained the next day...

I use a Cali duster to start, then the spray, with a bunch of MF towels. It takes about 10 minutes, compared to 1-2 hrs.

If it's dirty, I wouldn't even attempt doing this, and it's time for a proper bath.

This. I didn't mean to give the impression that I go waterless even if the car is actually really dirty with a buildup of stuff other than just dust! I guess since I wipe my baby down almost on a daily basis with the routine I oulined above, it rarely gets to that point.

I will add that I use my big shop vac blower to blow out brake dust (a big 'ol brown cloud! lol) if I'm going waterless as simply wiping things down won't really clear that stuff.

Jet black and I don't notice any increasing swirls or scratches to the clear coat but I do clay every now and then with a full (real) waxing so I think I keep a pretty good protective base layer down which allows me to do the 'waterless' thing regularly.

[HamburglarM3]

Originally Posted by Z K

A detail spray is not a waterless wash product... detailers are designed to be used after you wash the car to boost the paint gloss. Or to clean light dust on a clean car.

Today was just to clean light dust off the car. Prior to this I used the GoClean waterless wash product.

I highly doubt my car will get to the point where it will need a full wash every time if i keep up with the cleaning routine every few days.

Since we are on the topic of cleaning / washing / detailing the car. What is the wax / polish that you all prefer to use?

I've only used Zaino Z2 before on my previous bimmer.