Water ban? Car washing.

We have a total outside water use ban here, except for commercial car washes, you cannot wash your car. The dynamic of this is "hand car wash" businesses springing up all over the place, sort of defeats the purpose, instead of me washing my car, someone else does it, still uses water, but I have to pay.

I have heard about the waterless system, but something makes me fear it, I always learned that grit will scratch, so maybe I am just not trusting science.

I bought one of those microfiber mitts and figured I could go to the spray and wash, if it isn't covered up with folks in line to wash, and maybe use it, of course they will likely protest, says no hand washing or buckets, etc. on the signs. These car wash owners are in heaven.

Anyone else have this issue? What are your solutions?

We've had the same problem around here too, but not quite as bad as you guys have in the Atlanta area. All outdoor use - car wash, watering the lawn, even watering plants (other than by hand) were prohibited for a good while. Our source for water has recovered more than most everyone else around us. While we're still in a severe drought, our water restrictions have been removed.

Since our home has it's own well, we weren't required to follow the ban. We actually had the option of washing our car, watering the lawn, whatever we wanted to do... In other words, if we wanted to be stupid enough to run our well dry the county said 'have fun'. Needless to say, I pretty much went with the outdoor use ban. I still do. I'm using the water level of our pond to gauge our water usage, right now it's about 5' below full pond, and I'm just not gonna take the chance at running our well dry.

Like you said, the commercial car washes continued to operate, and I did use one of the 'touchless' ones. I just didn't want to have the big rolling brush slap the sides of the E, I think it was better to be dirty than scratched up.

We went several weeks with a very dirty E, and have only washed it once in the past few months, :mad: But we are getting more rain since the first of the year, we're only down about 1.5" per month so far.... Last year we ended up about 16" below normal...

But the well isn't dry, so that's a good thing.

As for the 'waterless' wash, I agree - can't see anything other than scratches coming from that. My advice is to live with it as long as you can, then go do the commercial wash.

Hang in there, we'll get some rain, and all this will be just a bad memory.

Take a look here and see if this is something of interest............ (http://exceldetail.com/NRWStechnique.html)

I read on another forum how one guy went to one of those windmill water dispenser places (you know where you buy ro water). He fills up 2 5gal bottles for 25cents a gallon and dose his hand wash at home. Don't know if it legal.

I live in Woodstock, GA. I bought a clay-detailing bar and was about the get medieval on the Elements when they imposed the outdoor watering ban. Now I run them through the automatic car wash that recycles the water. I have started to wonder, though, if I wash my car in my garage does that constitute outdoor watering? I can detail my cars using less water than I use to take a shower. (Of course as I write this it is raining.)

I swear by Black Magic Wet Shine Detailer (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Magic-BM47016-Shine-Detailer/dp/B000630AHY) and Meguiars Quik Detailer (http://www.autobarn.net/cha-3316.html). Both will give it that just washed and waxed look, without using any water, maintain the gloss between waxings, and extend the times between washes.

I've been taking mine to the car wash and rinsing it off as best I can, but I know it needs to be hand washed and waxed. Sooo... this Tuesday I've got a guy coming to just do the exterior(wash, wax and remove minor scratches and swirls), he'll be doing this out in the employee parking lot of where I work. It'll cost me $50. I figure I'll get him him to come once every 3 to 4 months and I'll do the weekly "wand" carwash myself until the water ban is lifted (if ever). I used "professional waterless washes and quick detailers". Following directions to the letter. That's why I'm having scratches and swirls removed Tuesday. :|

Ya'll are welcome to come up here and use my driveway to wash your E....:)

Of course, you might have to wait a few months for the SNOW to thaw...:rolleyes:

Freezing rain all day today, temps around 0 (Celsius). But it's a welcome change from the past 2 weeks of snow storms - over 38 cm of snow in 10 days...:-(
One good thing about living here, is that we don't get droughts...

Hey! Great responses, thanks. I suppose the spray wash, then the detailer might be a good solution. Lots of food for thought here.

My wife always took her Accord to the brush and slap car wash, it broke her plastic wheels, and pulled out her antenna.

What if you just filled up a bucket inside? Technically there wouldn't be any running water outside. If anyone asks just tell them you're recycling your cleaning water from the inside.

I'm thinkin' the wash in the garage approach might work.:D

No occifer I'm not washing my car. My garage is peeing.:lol:

Just go to the store and buy a few gallon jugs of generic drinking water.
Use one for soapy water and 2 or 3 more to rinse.

As far as I know they can't do anything about it because it's not water from your local district.


If you're really concerned, put just a touch of yellow food coloring in the water.
If anyone starts to criticize, tell them you're "recycling" and start yelling at them for flushing.
:lol:

OK... this has been posted before. I have been using this stuff for over 15 years, I buy it by the case, I am considered a distributor, in order to get it for less. I do not push the product. I keep a case in my garage and a few bottles in my E's. You can't go wrong, and it does not scratch the vehicle, no matter how dirty it is. (Except for Heavy Mud)

Just look at it and decide. http://www.dri-wash.us/

The questions you have can be found on the site.:-D

Bob

Sounds like a recipe for scratched paint unless your car is "quasi-clean" before starting.
Even the car in the demo video is pretty much clean before he begins.

Just look at the "dirty" towel he shows you towards the end.
My towel would be more dirty that that after doing just the painted portion of one front fender.
:rolleyes:

Plus, the warning against spraying directly on panel seams indicates that it will chalk up in the cracks and I'd be real hesitant to spray it on the plastic panels.

You could technically use spray wax such as Wax as you Dry for the same purpose, you just have to be REALLY careful when initially removing the dirt.

Sounds like a recipe for scratched paint unless your car is "quasi-clean" before starting.
Even the car in the demo video is pretty much clean before he begins.

As stated, have been using for 15 years on all my vehicles, no scratches! In the video, the demo car is always clean from using Dri-Wash all the time! There are other videos and other pics showing extremely dirty vehicles being cleaned.

Just look at the "dirty" towel he shows you towards the end.
My towel would be more dirty that that after doing just the painted portion of one front fender.
:rolleyes:
That's the idea:rolleyes:

Plus, the warning against spraying directly on panel seams indicates that it will chalk up in the cracks and I'd be real hesitant to spray it on the plastic panels.

That's with any spray product. Especially plastic panels

You could technically use spray wax such as Wax as you Dry for the same purpose, you just have to be REALLY careful when initially removing the dirt.

Yes you do...

Just sayin...:-D

What if you just filled up a bucket inside? Technically there wouldn't be any running water outside. If anyone asks just tell them you're recycling your cleaning water from the inside.

I tried that. The neighborhood rent-a-cop gave us a watering ban citation. It's not just using water hooked up to an outside faucet..it's a TOTAL ban of any water use outside.

I just go to the local self-wash place with my own sponge and wash my car there. Buck 75 and car is clean.

Yes you do...

Just sayin...:-D

:confused:
I do what?


You say, "That's the idea".
What's the idea; to use it on a clean car?
Wow; amazing. It makes a clean car clean, and doesn't even scratch the paint.
What an accomplishment!

And all for the bargain price of only $156 bucks and change per gallon. (Before tax and shipping.:rolleyes:)

I'd love to see someone try to clean a truly dirty car with that.
How are you going to get the brake dust out of the "nooks and crannys" of the wheel?
How are you going to spray under the vehicle and in the wheel wells?
You can't.

Like I said, it's fine if your car isn't really dirty and you're careful, but if the vehicle is dirty a spray wax isn't going to cut it.


By the way, you actually can use several spray waxes on the panels.
Eagle 1 Wax as You Dry and Turtle Wax Ice just to name a couple.
;-)

:confused:Why is there always a Negative Know it all on every site?

I know... "opinions are like a$$ holes, everyone has one", that's OK:rolleyes::-D

What I use is a product called Optimum No rinse , Plus two buckets of water and a lot of MF towels

1. if the E is really dirty I take it down to the car wash for a light spray to remove excess dirt and while cleaner is on tires spray the wheels to remove brake dust


2. Drive home and on cold days you can do this in your garage . I have a pesticide sprayer filled with water and ONR ( 2 Gallons per 1 oz} use it as a presoak one section at a time.

3. one bucket of warm water /ONR and the other with fresh for rinsing you towel as you move on.

4.Starting From top to bottom one section at a time saturate the towel with ONR / Water and just glide it across the surface after that dry that section off with the MF and move on. The company claims the solution encapsulates the dirt and grime creating a barrier from your paint

Some detailer s use sheepskin or sponge (Schmitt) but I like the MF,s after awhile you will have build up even after rinsing it out in the second bucket so I switch it out with a clean MF.

The cool thing about ONR the it leaves's a nice finsh on the the paint and enriches the look of the plastic panels. As far as safety I have a Nighthawk black pearl and very happy with this product . check out google or youtube hope this helps.

Why is there always a Negative Know it all on every site?

I know... "opinions are like a$$ holes, everyone has one", that's OK:rolleyes::-D

:|
You tell me, I wasn't being negative.

Although, one could just as easily ask why there is always someone trying to pimp their own variety of snake oil on every site, or why is there always someone named Bob in a restaurant, or why does your butt always itch most when there is someone standing behind you in line.....
it's just a fact of life.

I never said I knew everything (though it's nice of you to notice;-)); I was just applying a little common sense to the claims made on that website.
H3!!... I even said it was fine under certain circumstances.

Why so sensitive about it?

I hope the name calling makes you feel better. But......sticks and stones, my saucy little giblet.
I'm rubber, you're glue; and all that.:rolleyes:

You still didn't answer my questions.

Alas....just to show I'm trying to help, here (http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=42) is a perfect accessory to use with your dri-wash.
:razz:http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif


Now back on topic....

I've always been told that you could wash a whole car with nothing more than a bucket of soapy water.
You really don't have to rinse the car so a hose is not necessary.

Just wash one panel at a time from the top down and chamois it off while it's still wet.

I can't see why they allow you to wash it at one of those spray places, but they throw a fit about one gallon of water out of a bottle.
I can't imagine the car wash places use less than a gallon of water per vehicle.

I can't see why they allow you to wash it at one of those spray places, but they throw a fit about one gallon of water out of a bottle.
I can't imagine the car wash places use less than a gallon of water per vehicle. - Ranger

Well, truth is some of the car washes recycle their water, the newer ones, as it is cost effective, due to the high cost of water here. (my opinion ;-))

My diatribe is those numerous "new" hand wash businesses that have opened up since the ban started. Some of them just changed their business overnight, with one I saw a couple weeks ago, a Car Audio business with a big plastic sign strapped around their normal business sign out front.

These guys are just doing the same thing I would do at home, using water outside, but able to charge me for it. So if I got a business license and started my own car wash business, I could wash my car, evidently, Tree's Mobile Car Wash. I could charge myself one dollar and show losses per wash, resulting in a tax advantages on my 1040 and be immune to jail time for washing my car.

:D

You know...it's too bad that "business opportunity" has become synonymous with "immoral" these days.

Water is a necessity, not something to be used as a temporary bargaining chip.
It really wouldn't bug me, but you know those turdballs with the mobile car wash businesses springing up over-night don't have dirty cars.

We've had the same issues out here before so I feel for you guys.

Take your "e" in the shower with you :lol::lol:

You know...it's too bad that "business opportunity" has become synonymous with "immoral" these days.

Water is a necessity, not something to be used as a temporary bargaining chip.
It really wouldn't bug me, but you know those turdballs with the mobile car wash businesses springing up over-night don't have dirty cars.

We've had the same issues out here before so I feel for you guys.

Well, I don't blame the businesses. It is the morons who make the rules. I understand the need for a business that uses water to have access to it in order to make a living. If they would have written into the restrictions that starting a new car wash business that does not recycle water would be prohibited, it would have made more sense. These hand wash businesses are just taking the legal loophole that was offered them.

The water shortage is nothing that will go away, until new reservoirs are built, even when the drought ends, there will still be shortages. Nothing has been built in this state since the fifties to supply Atlanta, which has grown to about 50-100 times the number of people in the metro area than it was back then. It is all about poor planning. Sort of like, build it, and the water will just come.

Downstream, there are nuclear plants and navigable waters, as well as endangered species that rely on a minimal flow of water, so the amounts that can be taken out are limited by federal law.

Well, finally got around to washing the E, it really wasn't all that dirty, funny thing, we have had a lot of rain and I didn't get caught out in it and get a lot of dirty street water thrown on the E. The wheels were pretty dusty with brake dust.

I went to the spray and wash, took along a Meguire's microfiber mitt and put in $1.50 for four minutes, soaped it down, turned the thing to rinse at one minute to go (they even have an LCD screen telling you how long you have left) but it took the whole last minute to change from soap to rinse. Did a quick scrub with the mitt and put in another $1.50 and rinsed it, the soap finally stopped coming out after about 15 more seconds. All in all, not bad, but not near as good as if I could do it at home. Plus the top had to be left alone except for the spray and it was noticeable. I also had to do some more work on the wheel covers when I got home. I have a car wash brush with a long handle to do the top, I am just worried that if I get too elaborate someone will come along and ask me if I can't read the sign about no hand washing. :rolleyes:

Tell 'em to go to hell - it's not like you can do it in your own driveway, so you have to do it where you can...
I usually go wash the car at 2 am, because I know there won't be someone standing there waiting...

Besides, the ones that complain, are usually the same ones with 20 items in the 8 items or less line....

I didn't think about the 2 am thing. Good Idea.

Yes, I must be more aggressive about this. Having been able to wash my car in my driveway for twenty years sort of confused me. Thanks for the pep talk.

I was more thinking about ownership rather than another customer, I am not worried about other customers. Next time though, it gets clean. I am bringing my brush on a long stick and getting the roof clean!

I can hear the rain outside as I write this.

Yes, big difference this time, it isn't going down to thirty degrees tonight like the last couple dozen times it rained here. What a relief. I think it is time to plant tomatoes.