Pressure Washing

[DonD]

Thanks, nice to see a recommendation for a product that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. What product are you calling a "rinse less wash" ?

Edited to add that the car has PPF only half way up the hood, no professional ceramic though I do use "ceramic" spray waxes. Don

 

[minn19]

Thanks, nice to see a recommendation for a product that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. What product are you calling a "rinse less wash" ?

Edited to add that the car has PPF only half way up the hood, no professional ceramic though I do use "ceramic" spray waxes. Don

Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine

Clean, protect and detail your vehicle fast with this multi-purpose rinseless wash concentrate. Use it however is best for your project with fast shipping.

www.autogeek.net

 

[showmeyourboost]

Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine

Clean, protect and detail your vehicle fast with this multi-purpose rinseless wash concentrate. Use it however is best for your project with fast shipping.

www.autogeek.net

No rinse, or ONR is amazing. You can use it for a quick detail spray, a car soap, glass cleaner, clay bar lube, or just to soften the water you use in your bucket. It’s cheap, safe and smells really good

 

[FLYARMY]

When someone comments that my car smells good, I smile.

 

[SS_Shooter]

If you have a foam cannon, I assume you have a pressure washer.

Pressure washer is great for use with the foam cannon! Other than that, there is no reason to pressure wash your paint... Either use a 2-bucket method or Optimum No-Rinse.

No rinse, or ONR is amazing. You can use it for a quick detail spray, a car soap, glass cleaner, clay bar lube, or just to soften the water you use in your bucket. It’s cheap, safe and smells really good

This is the way. Optimum No-Rinse is a great way to get your finish very clean with very minimal marring. Much less marring than doing a 2-bucket wash and towel dry. The product has polymers in it that make it very slippery.

I typically do the following:
- Foam Cannon (let it dwell for a lil' bit)
- Rinse whole car with hose
- Wipe a panel with microfiber wash mitt that is soaked in Optimum No Rinse mixture from bucket. Rinse out wash mitt thoroughly after each panel.
- Wipe the panel clean with a microfiber towel
- Spray and wipe each panel with some type of finisher just to remove stray streaks or water spots. I use Duragloass Aquawax 951, which is very versatile. But any good spray wax or spray sealant will work...

 

[rubberduck]

My preferred method and what I currently use is a pressure washer with filtered water. Rinse, foam canon, rinse, natural drying. No towels are involved in any step of this. The reason to use a pressure washer for all water steps is to not use an excess amount of water through the filters which is $$. It’s important to size the nozzle orifice correctly for the pressure washer to achieve the desired GPM and pressure. A decent pressure washer to achieve a reasonable flow rate is going to be about $800. I think the people who have a bad experience with pressure washers are probably using the cheapie models.

 

[5VBW Nick]

Our well water has high levels of chloride in it, or salt. It also has some iron, even after going through the large sand filter. This winter I installed a $14,000 reverse osmosis system that treats all of the water for our house, including the garden hose outlets. Before this system I couldn't wash a car because it would leave a salty film on it. Now I have the best water around.

 

[rubberduck]

That’s pretty bad water. I test chorine in my water from our small neighborhood well and can’t detect any. The TDS reading is 160 which is about medium. I use about 35gal total to wash a car. In the summer I can use 9000gal/month for watering trees.

 

[BW56M]

I think the people who have a bad experience with pressure washers are probably using the cheapie models.

I've got a $100 electric Ryobi (1800 psi/1.2 gpm) that does just as good of a job as my Generac OneWash (2000 to 3100 psi/2.5 gpm) gas model. Matching the correct nozzles in the spray wand and orifice size in the foam cannon, to your specific pressure washer is key. This is not to debate gas vs electric. We all know, that electric pressure washers are much more convenient for washing vehicles.

When using my gas pressure washer, the wand required 037 spray nozzles, while the foam cannon required a 1.25 mm orifice. On the other hand, my little electric Ryobi, the wand requires 025 spray nozzles and a 1.1 mm orifice in the foam cannon. It produces just as much foam as the gas model, albeit less gpm, which is ideal for water conservation. IMHO, a good thick foam bath is much quicker and safer on the finish than a two bucket hand wash. I always have a bucket of clean water handy to occasionally rinse my wash sponge. Yes, I said sponge (ESOTERIC Elite Car Wash Sponge).

However, looking at your system, I realize I'm preaching to the choir. I'd love to have your setup. Sweet!

 

[5VBW Nick]

That’s pretty bad water. I test chorine in my water from our small neighborhood well and can’t detect any. The TDS reading is 160 which is about medium. I use about 35gal total to wash a car. In the summer I can use 9000gal/month for watering trees.

My TDS is around 750 before filtering. Chloride (which is different from Chlorine) was 500, max recommended is 250 for drinking water. After my sand filter and R.O system, I am around 20 TDS.

 

[rubberduck]

I prefer an electric pressure washer and have an AR Blue Clean AR630-TSS. I use a 4.5 nozzle and that gets me around 1100 psi (I have a gauge) and 2.5GPM. My cannon is an MTM Hydro PF22.2 with 3.0 (1.1mm) orifice. I have a McKillans gun which is ok, but would like to upgrade.

I have another portable pressure washer also an AR Blue Clean that was around $200 many years ago. The main drawback is just weak flow rate (~1GPM). Having used both it’s much faster/easier IMO with higher flow rate. Having a good hose and reel make a big difference as well.

Nozzle orifice selection chart:

 

[shbox]

I've got a $100 electric Ryobi (1800 psi/1.2 gpm) that does just as good of a job as my Generac OneWash (2000 to 3100 psi/2.5 gpm) gas model. Matching the correct nozzles in the spray wand and orifice size in the foam cannon, to your specific pressure washer is key. This is not to debate gas vs electric. We all know, that electric pressure washers are much more convenient for washing vehicles.

When using my gas pressure washer, the wand required 037 spray nozzles, while the foam cannon required a 1.25 mm orifice. On the other hand, my little electric Ryobi, the wand requires 025 spray nozzles and a 1.1 mm orifice in the foam cannon. It produces just as much foam as the gas model, albeit less gpm, which is ideal for water conservation. IMHO, a good thick foam bath is much quicker and safer on the finish than a two bucket hand wash. I always have a bucket of clean water handy to occasionally rinse my wash sponge. Yes, I said sponge (ESOTERIC Elite Car Wash Sponge).

However, looking at your system, I realize I'm preaching to the choir. I'd love to have your setup. Sweet!

View attachment 26069
View attachment 26068

I use that same sponge. I got a BOGO deal when I bought it. Softest sponge ever. I mean, it is hard to remove a stubborn bug with it, LOL. I foam, sponge, rinse, dry with an Adams Air Canon.

 

[MatthewAMEL]

I've got a $100 electric Ryobi (1800 psi/1.2 gpm) that does just as good of a job as my Generac OneWash (2000 to 3100 psi/2.5 gpm) gas model. Matching the correct nozzles in the spray wand and orifice size in the foam cannon, to your specific pressure washer is key. This is not to debate gas vs electric. We all know, that electric pressure washers are much more convenient for washing vehicles.

When using my gas pressure washer, the wand required 037 spray nozzles, while the foam cannon required a 1.25 mm orifice. On the other hand, my little electric Ryobi, the wand requires 025 spray nozzles and a 1.1 mm orifice in the foam cannon. It produces just as much foam as the gas model, albeit less gpm, which is ideal for water conservation. IMHO, a good thick foam bath is much quicker and safer on the finish than a two bucket hand wash. I always have a bucket of clean water handy to occasionally rinse my wash sponge. Yes, I said sponge (ESOTERIC Elite Car Wash Sponge).

However, looking at your system, I realize I'm preaching to the choir. I'd love to have your setup. Sweet!

View attachment 26069
View attachment 26068

When selecting a pressure washer for your cars, you want <=1,000psi. And usually around 2-2.5gpm Any more pressure and you are riding the edge of damage. At 1,500psi, you start blasting the coating/sealant off the paint. Above 2,500psi and you are removing clear coat. And FYI, psi and gpm are never measured by the rating on the pressure washer, but by a metered flow rate at the nozzle. That's one of the reasons the gun and nozzle are so important. Also of note is good electric pressure washers will usually require a 20A circuit to move the volume of water needed.

@rubberduck That's an awesome table.

 

[BW56M]

When selecting a pressure washer for your cars, you want <=1,000psi. And usually around 2-2.5gpm Any more pressure and you are riding the edge of damage. At 1,500psi, you start blasting the coating/sealant off the paint. Above 2,500psi and you are removing clear coat. And FYI, psi and gpm are never measured by the rating on the pressure washer, but by a metered flow rate at the nozzle. That's one of the reasons the gun and nozzle are so important. Also of note is good electric pressure washers will usually require a 20A circuit to move the volume of water needed.

@rubberduck That's an awesome table.

You're preaching to the choir, dude. I have a gauge, as can be seen in one of the pictures that I posted. I know what the psi/gpm is for both of my pressure washers, based on the orifice size for all of my nozzles. Yes, 2-2.5 gpm is ideal, but I'm not prepared to spend the kind of money it takes to buy an AR, Active 2.3 or Big Boi. My little Ryobi 1800 using 2.5 nozzles delivers 1050-1100 psi at the tip and almost 1.5 gpm, which makes it more than adequate for a DYI'er. I may order a set of 3.0 nozzles which will reduce the psi to about 900-950 and increase the water flow to about 1.73 gpm. Also, I almost exclusively use 40 degree nozzles, thus further reducing the chance of damage.

What else do you want to tell me, that I already know? Just messing with you!

 

[rubberduck]

@rubberduck That's an awesome table.

There is a lot of useful info on the Obsessed Garage support page. I purchased quite a bit of items from the website. I made extensive use of the aluminum tubing and fittings in my setup. Makes assembly and routing a breeze and professional looking.

https://support.obsessedgarage.com/hc/en-us/categories/360005680833-Pressure-Washer-Support

 

[MookdocOE]

Foam cannon? Lol...anyway 2 bucket CHUCK here with microfiber towels! I use the pressure washer whatever the heck it's called with whatever nozzle is in for my truck at a decent distance not to peel the super cheap, Ultra thin paint coating vehicles have off nowadays.....

 

[BrakeFade]

Never touch Vinyl with a pressure washer. You’ll cause the vinyl to start lifting. Pressure wash around the vinyl, only hand wash in those areas.