I just washed the car for the first time since…October?
I use QEW, Quick & Easy Wash. It isn’t a soap; the chemical acts like a magnet to pull dirt off the vehicle.
As I understand it, the product was developed for motor homes. The traditional way of washing one uses a lot of water and RV parks can’t handle the drainage, so they don’t allow it. With QEW, you spray a solution on, wipe with a microfiber mitt or cloth, put that in a bucket of water to release its dirt, then wipe clean with a microfiber cloth. So I used about 3 gallons water, total.
Working solo, I washed the car in 15 or 20 minutes. Of course that’s just the paint—not chrome, windows, interior, etc. But it’s pretty cool stuff. In fact, last year I washed my car INSIDE the garage, because…well, because that’s the kind of nerdy thing I feel compelled to do.
This stuff would be great for apartment dwellers and it seems a pretty green thing to do.
Here’s a more detailed how-to…I only use one bucket, btw.
Science? What’s the science, exactly? It isn’t a soap, but a “chemical” that acts like a magnet to pull dirt off the vehicle? How is that, by definition, not soap? Here’s some science for you: any detergent or surfactant which pulls dirt from something and suspends it in a solvent (most often water) is a soap … of course, who needs solvents even on a car that hasn’t been washed in nigh a year? Just spray a “chemical” (not soap!) onto a car that hasn’t been washed in eight months, then run a cloth across the finish and voila! I guess the rest of us idiots (and every car wash facility in existence) that get the car wet first have been doing it wrong. Is there a dry waxing product to follow up the dry wash as well?
There is no magic shortcut to properly washing a car; water on the car is necessary to act as a solvent before applying any kind of detergent, in order to avoid having the grit in the soap cause micro-scratches in the clearcoat of the car as it is removed from the sheetmetal. All car soaps say this on the directions. Hell, even a can of shaving cream says this. They all say to apply water before use. It may be a non-abrasive solution, as with any liquid soap, but that doesn’t mean it makes the dirt on the car non-abrasive as well. Apparently, at least by your description, this product’s found a way around that, although with the endorsement coming from one who hasn’t washed their car in eight months, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. Anyone with even a mild concern over the appearance of their car wouldn’t wait as long to wash it, and certainly wouldn’t do so with a product so perfunctory in its usage.
I thought washing a car with three gallons of water was a good trick.
It doesn’t produce suds and you don’t need pressure to scrub dirt. I thought I read on their site that it wasn’t categorized as a soap but I could be wrong.
And no, you left out a step. You spray the chemical (already diluted in water), then ‘rinse’ by wiping with a damp mitt. Then you dry with a separate cloth. If it didn’t get the dirt off, the drying cloth would quickly become filthy. And the dirt from the mitt transfers to the bucket when you dunk it back in or else you’d just be moving around dirt.
Wow, where did that come from? Where did I call anybody an idiot?
As I said, you spray on the diluted solution so you do get the car wet…but you don’t spray gallons and gallons to accomplish that.
Re: non-abrasive, that’s why it’s great that you don’t scrub.
As for not washing it in so long…uh, guilty. Been busy and lazy.
Perhaps. You can do a lot of things with less; less soap, less water, less time. Doesn’t mean they get done any better, but I am assuming quality isn’t the objective here.
Yes, already acknowledged … not a soap. What would it be classified as, then?
No, I get the process. I still think it causes abrasions in the clearcoat from the dirt being wiped off rather than rinsed away as a solute in water.
You didn’t. I assumed most people would feel like idiots after finding out they don’t actually need water to safely carry the dirt away from a clearcoat painted surface so as not to scratch it.
And this is exactly why the car doesn’t actually get clean.
The white microfiber towels I use to dry it come through the process pretty clean. If I merely wetted the car and tried drying it off with the towels, they’d be filthy.
Already stated I may have misquoted what I thought I read. Humblest apologies if that is the case.
I think I understand what you’re saying: maybe the towels dry it up but there’s a lot of dirt still there being ground into the clearcoat. As I stated, the drying cloth come through pretty clean, so it doesn’t seem to be in contact with much dirt.
I doubt most people take the subject as seriously as you apparently do Do people really feel like idiots about how they wash their cars?
Have you tried using the same microfiber cloths with regular car washing soap and comparing the results? I bet it’d be similar if you used the same process.
I switched to microfiber cloths from chamois because that’s what the guy who wrote the QEW how-to used. But, comparing a dirty chamois to a dirty cloth seems a fair comparison. I’d say I do much better with QEW.
My car is a medium gray, so the dirt doesn’t seem to show as much as other cars I’ve had, but up close it’s more obvious. Like I said, the towels are pretty clean after drying and it made me wonder how much dirt was there to begin with.
Quoting from the How-to: After dumping you will notice the dirt remains at the bottom, something different than you are use to. QEW makes the dirt separate.
It looks like the dregs from Nestle Quik or something. Strange.
Re: poo Poo, left out a period, of course. :smack:
What I don’t understand is how dirt adhering to the cloth doesn’t abrade the finish as you wipe it off - you’re wiping, not dabbing it off, so there has to be some moment at which dirt particles are in motion across the surface of the finish.
If I understand correctly, the mitt pulls it up like a vacuum cleaner. There’s (diluted) QEW to suspend it when you mist it, and (diluted) QEW in the mitt. You’re not supposed to rub—just glide the mitt across. There might be a negligible amount of pressure, but there’s pressure when a drop of rain hits too.
seems so, thanks for sharing. my personal solution is to just not wash my car (what?) but I’ll keep this in mind for apartment dwelling friends who are more particular.
