For those who are or believe they are detailing pros, fanatics about perfection, store their cars anytime there is a slight possibility of rain STOP READING THIS THREAD NOW!!! This is not the thread for you! You will be horrified, angered, and probably feel the need to proclaim your opinion about such topics so that everyone here understands your no amateur.... Well, so what.

Rather, this thread is for those of you out there who have 991 daily drivers, don't mind driving in the winter, heck - maybe even don't ever garage your 911! Your car inevitably gets dirt on it ( ), and could use a good cleaning. But for those of us in cold climate regions, unless you have a large heated garage space and water supply to wash your car indoors, the options are limited to having someone else wash your car for $$, or braving the cold and trying to wash it yourself out on the driveway!

Yes, there are other options for the DIY'er: You could take your car over to a wash stall and power-spray (don't ever use their brushes!!!) your car, maybe bring your own brushes and other supplies and try to do a decent job out in the cold. Maybe fill a bunch of buckets with hot water and try to wash without the hose.... yes, there are options!

But one that I had never tried until recently (I admit I have been a skeptic for years) was a waterless washing spray. The rest of this article is about my recent experience with one product in particular -- Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere. Here's the bottle:


But before I get to how it works....

I daily drive my C4S here in PA. In the winter months, this means I am driving on some of the worst road conditions -- road salt, gravel, sand and dirt that each town uses to the point of environmental abuse, potholes and torn-up roads, along with freezing rain, snow, and more. (One disclaimer here - my "daily drive" consists of runs to the store, starbucks, and me finding long-ways home. In a year I put about 5-7k miles on a car.) I keep my 911 in a nice big 1,200 sq ft garage each night, so at least I don't have it sitting outside in the worst conditions. But I drive my car -- so it gets dirty!

So this past Thursday, it is almost 40 degrees out, partly sunny. I look at my car and the wheels are filthy with brake dust. The car overall isn't too bad, but you can see the film of road grime, water spots from some rain, and so on all over the car. Like many of you, this state of uncleanliness bothers me. So I decide I want to wash it.

I am thinking maybe I'll run over to the local wash where they have power washing hoses by the minute, or maybe I will put on some gloves and just wash my car like normal out in the driveway. But then I come across some YouTube vids of various products being used that do not require any water. And amazingly, they seem to work! So I head out, find the stuff from Meguiar's, and figured I'll give it a try.

But then the second-guessing starts. Maybe my car has too much surface dirt on it, I don't want to scratch it. Maybe there is too much brake dust build-up for the stuff to work properly, etc. I mean, I must have debated this in my mind for about an hour! In the end, I chickened out a bit -- I decided to pull the car out in the sun, turn the external water on and hose the car down and wash the wheels before I use the waterless spray! I know, I know - defeats the primary objective of the "waterless" wash right? Way I look at it, I was taking an extra safety step to protect my paint. I really didn't want to freeze my knuckles off doing a proper two-bucket wash out in the cold.

So I did just that -- I used the hose to rinse all of the dirt particles down off the car. I used my P21 wheel cleaner to wash the wheels, and then used my Echo blower to blow all of the water off the car. Pulled her into the garage, turned on the heat, and pulled out the Meguiar's.

I followed the directions - however I used like 30 microfiber towels, and only wiped in one direction (front of car to back) on any of the larger metal flat areas. So it took me longer. After about 45 minutes, I have to say the car looked fabulous! Applying the stuff is the same as using any detailing spray. Spray, wipe, then wipe with a dry microfiber. Matter of fact, after the Meguiar's, I used their detailing spray to finish-off the car!

I have to admit -- I am impressed with how well that Wash & Wax Anywhere stuff works! Running my fingers over the paint, I could barely find anything to worry about - all I felt was nice cool smooth paint. I was definitely seeing dirt transfer to the microfiber towels (another reason I kept using clean towels!). I am sure that at some microscopic level I am scratching the surface. But nothing that I can see with the naked eye under bright fluorescent lights in the garage. No swirl marks ( I only wiped in one direction without any pressure appied) to proclaim damage -- nothing but the beautiful shine of my wonderful GT Silver paint job!

So, if like me you find yourself not able to make it another day with your car dirty and live in a cold climate, I would say give this stuff a try. I don't think it is a good idea to use it if you have a lot of built-up road salt or mud, but if your car just needs a light cleaning this stuff works very well. And it smells nice too! Would I use it to replace my two-bucket wash routine in warmer weather? He11s No! But when the temps are in the low 30s to 40s, I will probably use this stuff again if the surface isn't too bad.

For those members genuinely interested, I'll be happy to answer your questions. And in turn I'm interested if anyone else has used other brand waterless wash products, and if so what are your impressions?

 

Another great post. I use waterless all the time, even in the summer. I don't let he car get too dirty, so I do it fairly often. Quick and easy, and does a great job. No swirl marks at all, and shine is fantastic after applying wax. Saves lots of time too, you don't have to pull out the hose, fill up buckets of water, dry the car, then clean and put all that stuff back. The trick is to really lubricate - use plenty of product and as plenum says, use plenty of towels and wipe in one direction. I get great results.

 

Excuse my ignorance please... How the dirt/grit particles of the car doesn't scratch the paint?

 

In Dallas washing the car in the cold is not a problem. I am from Boston though and the best product by a mile is optimum "no rinse". A bucket of hot water and a few ounces and it's amazing. The dirt comes off and easy and it dries spot free. Nothing beats a warm sunny day when you can spend the time at a spray wash or your drive way. In the northeast that isn't always possible and optimum works great to get the dirt, salt etc off for a quick wash in the cold months. You can pick it up on Amazon for 15 bucks. I have sent case back to my old man who uses it on his Silverado this time of year.


http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html

 

Never. Ever.

 

Used a do it yourself car wash today.

 

Hawc- I was laughing my *** off on your short response....

 

The spray emulsifies the dirt and lifts it away from the paint to be wiped away. The trick is to let the spray sit for a little while, then wipe away. Also, after each wipe, use a clean portion of your cloth for the next area and wipe in one direction. No back and forth as the dirt on the cloth will act as sandpaper and scratch your paint.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed this post. Mine has lived outdoors since 2012.
Looks like some warmer weather in the forecast. I may give it a washing for the first time this season. ��
Love my GT Silver. Hides dirt very well.

 

I live in NY and in the winter I use optimum no rinse. As stated above, just a few quarts of water, some product, and a lot of towels. It works very well. The trick is to never let the car get too filthy and keep the car slick after it's clean with some spray wax or a similar product. This helps the dirt come off easier the next time and also lends to some protection when wiping the dirt off. I had my car opticoated when I got it. That was the best thing I ever did. It's a coating on the car that resists dirt and swirls. The only thing with the opti is that you must have no swirls before applying or it shows. I get this done on all my cars and just follow the washing regimen above. I drive all year round about 30k miles a year so my cars get pretty dirty so probably wash a car every 2-3 weeks.

 

I was TOTALY against these products for years....I use this stuff ↓↓↓↓ now w/-0- concern, it works great as long as my car isn't caked w/dirt.

BTW, When I do the full court press detail - 1st the two bucket water/ foam gun soap/ wash method, then clay & a mild polish (with Porter Cable) then finally a wax under LED work lights.

The Spray wash product produces no more scratches in the clear coat since the last time I did the drill - in my eyes anyway. Has a very high lubricity......I use a spray wax between washings - either wet or otherwise.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...h+35+ounces.do

 

What I find works well in the winter time is this product that allows you to wash your car in the garage, it doesn't require a rinse. If you don't get carried away with the water, you can easily wash the car with only a little on the floor when done. Then use a Master Blaster air dryer and you're good to go. This is how I do my vehicles in freezing weather and I'm pretty particular....you will find this product highly reviewed around the web as well. Try a small bottle, it works.

http://www.optimumcarcare.com/onrwns.php

 

I am already contemplating using something like this. My entire car except for the engine lid is covered in PPF. So I really don't have to worry about scratches. And I have ceramic brakes so the wheels always look pretty clean.

 

I have been looking at an alternative for the winter myself and I'm going to try a product similar to OptiCoat, it's called Cquarts Finest on the whole car. The detailer tells me all I have to do is take it to those crappy gas station touchless washes and most of the dirt will come right off since their chemicals are so strong. If that actually works and is true, I will be amazed and it's a great solution for the few months in the winter.

 

Those harsh chemicals will strip off that expensive coating in no time. There's $600 or so down the drain literally.

They are meant to be maintained by hand washing.