Lots of salt caked on the car. I had the fear of god put into me by this forum about using a touchless car wash for a weekly rinse, so I need to do a rinseless cleaning in my garage. I know ONR encapsualtes dirt, but what happens when it absorbs all that salt into the bucket? Would a two bucket method be best?

 

I have used it on the salty dog, but it wasn't "caked" on there. I would suggest using multiple microfiber towels and yes I would rinse them in a clean bucket after wiping and then back into the ONR bucket. I don't know what is in the ONR, but it does leave some kind of finish that seems to repel the dirt build up at least for a few days or so.

 

What's wrong with using a touchless car wash? And then going home to use ONR to clean? I figured if the touchless car wash...just a basic wash would get the dirty off so then the ONR isn't rubbing dirt on the paint...bad idea?

 

What I'd suggest is making a spray bottle of ONR solution and water, mist it onto the panel you plan on cleaning to pre-soak the contamination, then follow up with your regular ONR cleaning using the 2 bucket wash method. The dirtier the vehicle is, the more frequently you want to rinse your mitt off and work in smaller areas. Hopefully you have a Grit Guard insert in your rinse bucket to help release the contamination from you mitt. Just take your time, use plenty of solution and water and rinse your mitt frequently and you'll be fine. It'll certainly be safe than the touchless!

It depends on the car wash, but typically touchless car washes are going to leave imperfections in the paint due to the high water pressure used. Also, touchless wash solutions are usually very concentrated and will strip off any protection you may have on your paint, so you'd have to go back and reapply your coat of sealant and/or wax.

Hope that helps.

George

 

George, I had no idea touchless washes were that harmful. damn, that really sucks actually. I can't believe our paint isn't strong enough to handle a strong wash. Thanks for the feedback

 

Agree 100% with George on this one.

 

Depending on how cold it is outside you might be able to rinse the car off before doing a ONR/QEw wash.

 

Well, I've now washed the car twice since I bought it. The first time I took it to the local self-service bay and rinsed it on low pressure to get most of the salt off. Then took it home (still filthy) and used ONR with a separate rinse bucket. Used a sheepskin mitt for the upper panels and a microfiber chenille mitt for the lower panel and wheels. Waffle microfiber towel to dry and all-purpose MF towel to finish dry. It was so dirty that had to wash each panel twice with a rinse of the mitt in between. Worked great, and then I applied Opti-seal. I washed it again last week using the same method (rinse first then wash) and it looked great and I only had to wash each panel once. I guess the sealant helps. So no problems using ONR on a salty dirty car. And now it's snowing again today and of course we have a fresh layer of salt on the roads. Now if we could just get a few more of those toasty 50 degree wash days...

 

...oh, and I forgot to mention that I got all my supplies from DI ! Thanks for the advice, George.