[LT Zod]

So, for those of you who live in the lovely midwest winters, what do you do?

I only hand wash my '11 GT/CS and have painted stripes on her. That being said, this winter has been kind of crazy here in Iowa and I have a lot of salt on her and she just looks sad and dirty. Yet, I'm not going to wash her outside in 20 degree weather (don't even think the hose will work). I DID spent a lot of time waxing her very well back in early December before all of the snow hit.

Do you wait it out until you have a chance to wash your Mustang or do you think it is acceptable to clean her up in a touchless auto wash?

I just figure that it will strip the wax that I put on and I would be relying on protecting it with auto washes until the next time I can hand wash again. I didn't have this problem last winter because it was so warm and mild.

[txpat3]

I don't have the winters you do, but can relate to hand washing versus touchless car washes. I prefer to hand wash and wax my car, but sometimes the effort and time just isn't worth it. Especially if you want it clean, but know that rain or cold weather is in the forecast later in the week. I'm lucky enough to have found a touchless car wash that really does a great job for $8.

So, I think it's completely acceptable to run her through a touchless car wash at times.

[Tominator]

Do you wait it out until you have a chance to wash your Mustang or do you think it is acceptable to clean her up in a touchless auto wash?

I'll run my car through a touchless a couple times a winter when it's very cold....Thought you'd like this seeing where you live..



It's winter in Iowa And the gentle breezes blow, 70 miles per hour at 52 below! Oh, how I love Iowa When the snow's up to your butt; You take a breath of winter air And your nose is frozen shut. Yes, the weather here is wonderful, You may think I'm a fool. I could never leave Iowa, Cause I'm frozen to the stool.

[elsuave]

Wax does nothing for u but to shine your ride temporary and protect from bird droppings. If i were you id look into a sealant . They last 6months to a year with full protection against environmental crap. When i was 16 back in 2003 my parents bought me 99 Dakota rt single cab. Low low miles in show condition. Back then i didn't know much about cleaning products. But id wax my truck every weekend and my friends thought i was crazy. In the winter id take it through the touchless wash with under carriage wash. I did this at least 2 times a week. Drove like this 3 winters and finally bought a a winter beater. Im 26 now till this very day i have no signs of rust spotting whatsoever. The frame is gloss black.

[08blackout]

Originally Posted by LT Zod

So, for those of you who live in the lovely midwest winters, what do you do?

I only hand wash my '11 GT/CS and have painted stripes on her. That being said, this winter has been kind of crazy here in Iowa and I have a lot of salt on her and she just looks sad and dirty. Yet, I'm not going to wash her outside in 20 degree weather (don't even think the hose will work). I DID spent a lot of time waxing her very well back in early December before all of the snow hit.

Do you wait it out until you have a chance to wash your Mustang or do you think it is acceptable to clean her up in a touchless auto wash?

I just figure that it will strip the wax that I put on and I would be relying on protecting it with auto washes until the next time I can hand wash again. I didn't have this problem last winter because it was so warm and mild.

Im not from the midwest but we get snow. I hand wash mine in the summer but during winter I will usually get it washed every couple weeks at a touchless one. Like the one at sheetz (if you have those) they do a decent job.

Originally Posted by Tominator

Do you wait it out until you have a chance to wash your Mustang or do you think it is acceptable to clean her up in a touchless auto wash?

I'll run my car through a touchless a couple times a winter when it's very cold....Thought you'd like this seeing where you live..



It's winter in Iowa And the gentle breezes blow, 70 miles per hour at 52 below! Oh, how I love Iowa When the snow's up to your butt; You take a breath of winter air And your nose is frozen shut. Yes, the weather here is wonderful, You may think I'm a fool. I could never leave Iowa, Cause I'm frozen to the stool.

Pahaha thats just great!

[412horses]

I prefer to hand wash mine too, but when its this cold I use a spray wash if the car is just dirty or a touchless wash that has an undercarriage spray cycle when I need to get the salt off.

I don't have tape stripes so I don't know what high pressure would do to those but my 3M adhesive held satellite antenna cover doesn't seem to mind.

[08blackout]

Originally Posted by 412horses

I prefer to hand wash mine too, but when its this cold I use a spray wash if the car is just dirty or a touchless wash that has an undercarriage spray cycle when I need to get the salt off.

I don't have tape stripes so I don't know what high pressure would do to those but my 3M adhesive held satellite antenna cover doesn't seem to mind.

I have stock vinyl stripes on mine and they hold up just fine

[Brianwu]

Are touch less washes the only thing near you? If I'm correct touch less use concentrated sprays of water/cleaners to wash the car. And brushless washes? I'd feel safer with that.
Regardless I'm in the northeast, my neighbors think I'm crazy handwashing my car close to freezing outside. But when it does get too cold and the salt is horrible, I go to a brushless wash and get a basic wash with undercarriage spraying. In the parking lot immediately after, I hand wax. It'll do until it's warmer.


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[08blackout]

Originally Posted by Brianwu

Are touch less washes the only thing near you? If I'm correct touch less use concentrated sprays of water/cleaners to wash the car. And brushless washes? I'd feel safer with that.
Regardless I'm in the northeast, my neighbors think I'm crazy handwashing my car close to freezing outside. But when it does get too cold and the salt is horrible, I go to a brushless wash and get a basic wash with undercarriage spraying. In the parking lot immediately after, I hand wax. It'll do until it's warmer.


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My bad yeah the ones I was talking about were brushless lol

[laughingdragon]

I use a touchless wash here, and pay more for it since they also dry the car, vacuum, and clean the windows. They will wear on your wax, but one wash will not strip it all off, and with a good touchless it will get it clean and the do have the option for a spray wax that gets sprayed on. (although I doubt as good as a rub on, wipe off wax but don't actually know). I could be an odd man out though, since I try and aviod even rain in my car, and keep it almost spotless 99% of the time. It has only seen rain once in the 7 months I have had it, so most of the time when it does get washed it is mainly washing off a little dust, lol. and yes, my kids give me crap about how clean I try to keep it.

[5.0 Candy REDCS]

If push comes to shove,I'll take her to a touch less car wash with underside spraying jets,and usually get a deal if I do a second run at the same time, the trick is to get as much of the salt off as feasibly possible, the most important aspect for me is the undercarriage wash off., I'm really not doing this to make her look good ( although that helps) but to remove road crap and salt.
Generally, I only drive her when we had no snow.If it's snowing out, I just use my work truck.

[Lord Helmet]

Unless I am missing something, touchless car washes are brushless car washes.

In the winter where they salt or chemical the roads, you should go through the brush-free auto-wash and get the under side sprayed off periodically.

This is from a previous thread I posted in if your car gets really dirty:

Originally Posted by Lord Helmet

I used to run two detail shops and I am very picky with my own cars. The best thing to do when your vehicle is that dirty is take it to a DIY car wash with the high pressure wands. Most of them nowadays have a presoak option. USE IT!
Put your money in (or credit card) and select the presoak option (not the wheel cleaner!).
Drench the entire car in it, including wheels and tires.
Then move to the high pressure wand on "wash" and wash the wheels and tires throughly. From there, start from the BOTTOM of the body and work your way up with the high pressure wand. (When you start from the top down, you're just rinsing the presoak right off - not allowing it to work effectively.) This will allow the presoak to sit longer on the upper parts of the car. - Have your change or credit card handy because you will need to put much more money in it. WASH A LOT!
Move to the high-pressure clear coat protectant if there is the option. Rinse the car with this.
Then use the high pressure final rinse.
You can then use the spot free rinse which is usually low pressure but IMHO, I'm sure most of us plan to dry anyway so this is a waste of money. I never use it.
At this point, if the pressure washer was running properly, i.e. Not weak or pulsating, your car should be pretty much spotless.
Dry car off with a high-quality, scratch-free chamois cloth or, my favorite, the Absorber. The older they get, the better they work. Clean it often at the same car wash using the floor-mat hanger on the wall and the high pressure rinse.

I have been washing cars this way for years and I have never scratched or put swirl marks in a car doing so. Prior to my red Stang, all of my cars have been dark colors, including black.

I would never touch a black car with anything other than an Absorber or chamois after it's clean. Don't use a mit if there is any dirt on the car at all!! Also, wax often or use a wax-as-you-dry supplement if you only do it once a year or something. This will help the grime come off easier when it's very dirty.

It should go without saying but never, ever use the bubble brush at said car wash. If you absolutely have to, spray it off real good with the wand first!

[DenverYZF]

Originally Posted by Lord Helmet

Unless I am missing something, touchless car washes are brushless car washes.

In the winter where they salt or chemical the roads, you should go through the brush-free auto-wash and get the under side sprayed off periodically.

This is from a previous thread I posted in if your car gets really dirty:

Lord is right on...I spent the last 27 years in Colorado, and ice slicer/mag chloride does nasty things, especially to aluminum so my car and truck got rinsed thoroughly underneath regularly. My Mustang didnt spend much time there, but me truck saw MANY miles in the snow/ice etc, and it has an aluminum driveshaft, so rinsing that crap off was very important to say the least.

[LT Zod]

Ya, touchless = brushless. There is a good one that I put my wife's Focus through. I was just told that those things, because they are touchless, use pretty rough chemicals that may not be super nice on the paint. But, I guess the salt is worse.

For $10 it can do a full wash, undercarriage clean, wax, and even rain-x coat.

Might do it to buy me some more time until it warms up. Might be flirting with below zero on Sunday! ha

[JBert]

yeah, any kind of washing is better than leaving that crap on the car . . . except do NOT use the brushes, that would be worse . . . Helmet's tips sound real good, or if that is too elaborate, just use the hand-held hose thing and rinse the car off real good, especially underneath