Cosmetic upkeep in the winter months

[glocke12]

Every time I go to start this thread, I tell myself I am overthinking it, and than I go outside to wash my 6th gen and am thinking its too cold to do this now and its n the low 50s, what about in Jan/Feb/March?

I am in PA, and they use a ton of road salt and brine. I want to keep that crap off my vehicle as much as possible but I probably won't be able to use my hose and pressure washer at home during those months, everyone else tells me not to use the drive through ( even touchless ) car washes so that leaves only the large " bay type " places with a pressure gun, and I guess I'll have to bring my own car wash soaps since I am sure the soaps there are pretty harsh.

Any other strategies ( besides not driving) for winter washing/detailing?

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[4Runner4Fun]

I think you have the limited options. I really hate salt/rust so I have thorough rustproofing and rinse the salt off (especially the undercarriage) even in the winter with the garden hose. Luckily I have a hook-up in the garage in Michigan so the hose doesn't freeze except for a few really cold days. I lived in PA and it's warmer there. I bet you would have a day above freezing or in the sun within a few days of snow and road salt and could use a garden hose to wash off (just store the hose inside). It'll be too cold to actually wash it unless you're tougher than me but it will keep your vehicle protected.

Your only other option, and probably the best one, is the bay car washes that you mention. I have friends with expensive vehicles that do this in the winter to avoid automatic car washes. I wouldn't worry about the harshness of the soap. The touchless car washes are the ones that use really harsh chemicals.

 

[rbland]

I own a self-service car wash with simple high pressure hoses and am constantly washing my personal cars. Don’t worry about that soap, it won’t hurt your paint. If you use a foam brush, make sure you clean it first with high pressure soap if you feel you need to get tough to remove grime off. You seem like a perfectionist, so I if you could get your car back home to a garage before it dries, spray Mequires Quik Wax on it and wipe it dry with micro fiber towels. It’ll look fantastic. You’ll get your hands cold, but you’ll have a great looking car!

 

[6thGen1419]

I own a self-service car wash with simple high pressure hoses and am constantly washing my personal cars. Don’t worry about that soap, it won’t hurt your paint. If you use a foam brush, make sure you clean it first with high pressure soap if you feel you need to get tough to remove grime off. You seem like a perfectionist, so I if you could get your car back home to a garage before it dries, spray Mequires Quik Wax on it and wipe it dry with micro fiber towels. It’ll look fantastic. You’ll get your hands cold, but you’ll have a great looking car!

I've been doing the rinse less car wash technique with Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine Version 5 - ONR Rinseless Car Wash Soap as in the YouTube video:



Just a bucket of water, a pump sprayer, the ONR, a detailers sponge and then microfiber towels for drying and applying the Meguiar's follow-up spray wash and wax.

I use the pressure washer hoses at the do-it-yourself car wash bays for underneath.

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