Washing car in winter?

[smartpolak88]

I know this may sound like stupid question, but I would really like to know:
Besides freezing your butt off, is there any other reason NOT to wash the Fit during the winter the regular way, with water & outside? For example, would there be an icing problem or would things like swirls appear right after washing because its cold. I'd rather not spend money on that no-rinse stuff if I don't have to. I live in NJ, average winter temp is like 40F.

[PHOENIX]

unless you park inside........... you"ll have a good chance of freezing your locks/doors shut thats always fun

[smartpolak88]

hahaha yea good point. I'll guess I'll get the no-rinse stuff.

[willmax11]

When the dealer washed my Fit in -40F the only thing that froze up
was the rear washer. I had to blow into my cupped hand a few times
b4 it worked again.

[davela72]

I'm going to order up some of the Optimum No Rinse here in a few. I was never fond of the "no rinse" type products but it looks like many of the pro details are using the Optimum stuff so I'm going to give it a try.

[Super Mario]

When I used to live in Texas I would go inside the house with my bucket and get warm water to wash with so my hands don't freeze.

I would wash in the winter, especially if there's snow in your area. Snow usually = salt, so you want to get all the salt off your car before it causes rust or something.

[airborne200208]

I have no problems. I just wait till its good and cold, no chance of road crap melting soon.

[qbmurderer13]

Optimum No Rinse is definately the answer. I live in orlando so we dont have winter Although I often do my customers cars in my garage to avoid water spotting from the sun. I too was skeptical when trying ONR ( Optimum no rinse). I was thinking how can rubbing all of this dirt into the paint not damage it. Well the key is to almost use no pressure at first and all of the dirt just slides right off and the polymers in the ONR emulsify the dirt and lift it off the car. Another method I use when doing on a heavily soiled car is dilute the ONR into a sprayer bottle at about 1:6 and spray down the entire panel until its completely covered. That way most of the dirt is already lifted off the paint and will provide extra lubrication for the wash mitt to slide across the paint. Always use an extra bucket of clean water with the grit guard as the water/sponge will get really dirty fast if you dont rinse it in a bucket of clean water after every panel. Top off with a nice sealant and wax and youll be set for winter

[gd3vbp]

My typical winter wash is once a week at the quarter wash and if I'm feeling ballsy I'll take the time to dry it off. Just make sure you wear gloves...

This works really well especially if you've waxed before winter.

[Uncle Gary]

I hand wash the car up thruough December, depending on the weather, then switch to rinsing the car at the "U-spray-it" car wash during January and February to rinse the salt off. Up here it may not get above freezing for two months at a time, so it's not easy. Usually, by the time I've driven home, the car is covered with road salt again, since the roads never dry when it's that cold.

When I wash the car (or bike) on the driveway in cold weather I fill the wash bucket with hot water from the house and I wear rubber gloves to keep my hands warm.

[shazaam]

lol 0- -40f is common up here n I just go to the spray n wash no way i'm washing it by hand or somethin . sometimes I'll dry the door jams though if they're perty dirty.