Rinseless & Waterless Wash Products

I had grown up cleaning cars with a beat up sponge and old bath towels, so when I learned about the proper three bucket system with grit guards, sheepskin or microfiber mitts, and proper microfiber towels, my world was changed forever.  The theory behind this method seemed sound, and the results speak for themselves, so naturally when I was told that it was possible to safely wash a vehicle without a hose, without multiple buckets, without wash mitts, without grit guards, and without shampoo, I was pretty unsure.  In fact, it took me a while to even work up the courage to try this crazy idea out for myself… man am I glad I gave it a shot!

The three bucket washing system is great, no doubt about it, but it can be pretty cumbersome to do on a weekly basis.  A well-maintained car does not generally get too dirty in between weekly or bi-weekly washes, therefore the process of soaking the car with water and suds for cleaning and lubrication is truly not necessary.  I found that on average it would take me about an hour to wash a car and an hour and a half to wash an SUV using the traditional method.

Rinseless and Waterless washing drastically reduces the amount of time, products, and effort that goes in to the washing process.  I now find that I can complete a proper rinseless wash on my SUV in 45 minutes or less in most cases (without even pulling the car out of the garage), and yes, it is completely safe!  To be quite honest, I rarely do a traditional wash on either of our vehicles.  Regular rinseless washes have been the most efficient way for me to keep our cars looking outstanding without sacrificing a lot of my time.

If you are on the fence about using a rinseless product, I’d recommend picking up some Optimum No Rinse and giving it a shot.  I have demonstrated this process to many friends, customers, and other car enthusiasts over the years and most people absolutely love it after they have tried it for themselves.

NanoSkin Mitts & Towels

Using a clay bar is one of the most simple parts of the detailing process, but on a heavily contaminated vehicle, it can be a time-consuming task.  Nano Skin products claimed to speed up this process immensely while also lasting longer than traditional clay.  Detailing clay is something that has been around for as long as I have been into detailing, and I had never heard of another product trying to replace good old-fashioned clay bar until these synthetic options came out several years ago.  I had a feeling it was going to be one of those “too good to be true” experiences, but after spending some time with the Nano Skin Mitts and Towels, I very rarely reach for a traditional clay bar, and I know many others operate the same way as Kevin George demonstrates in the following photo.

These synthetic clay substitutes allow me to remove bonded contaminates much quicker and easier than I could before.  The time required to clay a vehicle was reduced from around an hour to less than thirty minutes in most cases.  One important thing to note is that I have found these products to be considerably more aggressive than traditional clay in that the chances of marring the paint, especially softer paint, is quite high.  In general, I personally only recommend mechanical decontamination of any kind if you intend to follow up with at least a light machine polishing process.

Nano Coatings

Coating products are now considered the pinnacle of vehicle protection by a large amount of professionals and enthusiasts in the car care community, however not too long ago these products were quite new, and some of the claimed benefits seemed almost too good to be true.  Nevertheless, I was very intrigued by these products as they started to gain more attention, so I had to try them for myself.  It has been roughly 5 years since I first started experimenting with coating products, and I can honestly say I will not go back to the “old school” way of doing things.  I use a variety of coating products to protect all parts of my vehicles including paint, plastic, wheels, glass, and leather.

The biggest perk of using a coating product on a variety of surfaces to me is simply the ease of maintenance after application.  Of course, there are many other benefits, such as exceptional durability and a candy-like gloss, that I love as well.   We have a considerable amount of informative articles regarding paint coatings already published on the blog, here are some of my favorites…

• Paint Coatings: Why You Should Give Them a Shot by Reece @ DI
• The Truth Behind Wild Coating Claims by Zach McGovern
• Coating Warranties…Valuable? by Greg Gellas
• What Coating Should I Buy? by Zach McGovern