Rinseless vs. Waterless Vs. Traditional washing
Which one should you choose?
You didn’t know that there was more than one way of washing a car, did you? Well in today’s topic, we will discuss all the types of car washing methods that are available in the detailing world, What’s the difference between all the washing methods? How to properly execute each method of washing? What are the benefits of each one? And which process is better? So let's begin with the traditional car washing method that has been used for centuries and it's still used today.
As aspiring detailers and serious DIYers, one of the first things we tend to learn is “How to properly wash a car?” in the process, most of us end up learning what’s known as the 3 bucket method. To those of you who don’t know what the 3 bucket method is I will explain, it is the process of using 3 wash buckets with grit guards in them and dedicating each one for a specific purpose. One bucket for wheels and tires, 1 bucket for car soap and water, and 1 bucket for rinsing off the sponge. Now the way it ends up working is you use the wheel and tire bucket strictly!!! For cleaning wheels and tires, some detailers including myself use it for engine bay cleaning as well to dip and clean tools as you clean the engine bay. Now the car soap and water bucket, also known as “the wash bucket” works in correlation with the rinse bucket, the way that works is you dunk your wash mitt in the wash bucket do one pass on each side of the sponge then instead of dunking back into the wash bucket, you dunk it in the rinse bucket to rid of all bugs, dirt, and contaminants off the sponge and not contaminate the wash bucket. Neat right? With this process, you minimize the amount of scratching and swirl as much as possible. The only negative process of this is, that it's 3 buckets!!! Three buckets you have to carry, use, and drag around the car as your washing after some time takes a toll on your body. So then what do we do? Let's look at Rinseless washing next.
Rinseless washing has a few different benefits compared to the 3 bucket wash method. For one, you only need roughly 1.5 ounces of the specialized solution, 1 bucket with 2 to 3 gallons of water, and a specialized sponge made for rinseless purposes and that’s it! Now you don’t have to buy the special sponge for rinseless washing but I'm a big believer in trying to stick to the manufacturers' developed methods as much as possible. Second, this process unlike using soapy water doesn’t require you to rinse off the vehicle from soap residue, hence! The name “Rinseless”. This technology eliminates the rinsing step of traditional car washing, which creates ease of use, and time efficiency for the user. Cool right? What about the wheels and tires? Personally, I would still keep a second bucket dedicated for engine bay detailing, tires, and wheels. This product also has multiple uses such as becoming a clay lubricant and detail spray just by adding an extra ounce of the solution to the same amount of water, it can also become a fantastic window cleaner, a water softening solution for cleaning and maintaining the inside of steamers, and shampoo machines, and you can also use it for interior cleaning!!! Almost too good to believe isn’t it? The product I'm talking about is “Optimum no Rinse” also known as “ONR”. They have their original formula, and their wax-infused formula to add some protection to the vehicle as you're simultaneously washing the car. Rinseless is not a new thing anymore, it's been out on the market long enough that other major brands have made their own version like Mckee’s N-914 Rinseless wash which I hear can give ONR a run for its money. The only negative thing about this product in my personal opinion is that it's hard to mentally get over the fact that you only need a few things and it works just as good as the 3 bucket method. Ok, enough about rinseless, let's move on to waterless washing.
So how the heck! Do you wash a car without water!? Simple, with a waterless solution developed and engineered for that exact purpose! Waterless washing was mainly developed for states where heavy water restrictions were created, causing detailers and car enthusiasts in those states to have an extremely hard time doing their jobs when their jobs require water as the main ingredient to clean cars. So to combat this restriction waterless washing came to be. Now how do you do it? Simple you spray the solution onto the panel you want to clean, fold your microfiber into 4 and wipe in one direction. Isn't that going to scratch the paint though? Well, both rinseless and waterless solutions were developed with polymer technology that scoops and engulfs the dirt off the panel and basically hovers over the paint surface. Even though there's that type of polymer technology you still have to do your part as the user, as your wiping in that one direction you need to make a scooping motion in that direction so you're lifting the dirt off the paint surface of the car. This method only requires a spray solution in a bottle with no dilution and a microfiber. This method of washing is also great for enthusiasts who live in apartment complexes without a wash bay available. The negative part of this method is that this method is mainly for light to medium soiled vehicles, and you require a whole lot of microfiber towels to wash a car, specifically around 18-20 microfibers IF!!! You're following the method I explained, now in the time that waterless washing has been around, there's a possibility that there have been new methods created to minimize the number of towels used who knows?
So which method would you consider to be the best method? Well, it all depends on your city, and what you think after you test them out yourself. Only you can decide what is the best type of washing method for your personal use, I only brought to light what types of methods are out there in the industry. Personally, I'm a fan of the 3 bucket method, and the rinseless method, unfortunately, I can't get over the fact of having to use that many towels to wash a vehicle.
At the bottom of this post, I have listed links to the types of materials I talked about on this topic for your personal convenience:
o Mckee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash
o Meguar's Ultimate Waterless Wash & Wax
o The Rag Company Ultra Black Foam Sponge
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