Winter washing?

Seasons Greetings!

My '83 GX is pretty mucky at the mo' having had a trip over the Pennines on the M62 (salt!). The thing is its really cold out and I'm not sure if this is a good time to clean it or whether I would be better off waiting for a warmer & drier day.

The car has recently been resprayed and I don't want to risk ndoing all that hard work - on the other hand if cleaning it in temperatures around freezing is going to cause its own problems then I'll leave it.

Any advice most welcome.

Cheers
Damon

i would say wash it a.s.a.p as the salt will cause body work to rust alot quicker than clean water will.

millfischk69 said

i would say wash it a.s.a.p as the salt will cause body work to rust alot quicker than clean water will.

agree with that

i washed mine once and it was re-freezing as i rinsed down - just becareful as under thecrud you could scratch - so blast with hose/jet wash first then maybe use soft bush instead of sponge etc

but get the salt off asap - i wash cars probbaly 5 times more in winter than i do in summer

i'd say get the hose on it and try and move as much of the grit and shit you can and if your going to hand wash it be very gentle using a decent mitt or something and not a sponge, 2 bucket method and all that.

Hose it to get the lumps off then use hot water. I've got a hose I can attach to the hot tap in the kitchen. Whatever you do don't rub it clean with a sponge.

T

i dont own a foam gun. i do own a trigger spray though. car wash and water in the bottle and spray the whole car with it. leave it a few mins then spray over with a hose. then use cold water in you bucket not warm when you wash it over.
edit: tian dont use hot water it dissolves the salt into the water quicker.

Surely if you hose it off with warm water that removes the grit better than cold and the salt goes with it, no?

T

i'm not a pro washer so i dont know. all i'm going on is what i've been told by a pro.
guess we all have our own methods that we use aye.

Brrrr (rubs hands). Right that's the car cleaned. 2 Bucket method - had to use sponge as don't have a mit but made sure I'd hosed it down thoroughly before putting the sponge anywhere near the paintwork.

I used the hottest water I could bear to handle (having headed out before reading novocaine's post) and then rinsed off again with the hose before buffing dry with the leather. I hopefully got all the salt off.

Cheers for the advice - I need a nice cuppa!

Damon

if the roads are dry,take it for a spin round the bloock,dry the brakes and the body off where the leather dont reach  :wink:
Bert

With the forecast @-4 to -8 for the next few days I'd wait. You'll end up with frozen locks and doors frozen to rubber seals etc. and a slippy drive.

And then the next day its filthy dirty again.

I'd wait until this cold spell is over.

right now you have washed it , you can start cleanining it now ……give a really good dry with the leather , especially door seals, locks ect …and now the bit to keep you warm..
    …give it a good polish .    
 i seem to remember i used a polish called collunite ??   . it gave it good protection against the elements and when it got dirty a blast with the hose , the dirt just literally dropped off   ..great stuff to use .

I was hoping that this weather would have gone by now as I've been holding off taking the old GX out in the snow/salt/slush but yesterday I had to go out to buy food/coal/ cat litter / beer etc so the car is now crudded again!

I am thinking of just hosing it off with cold water (especially under the sills and wheel arches then sticking it back in the garage (not heated but dry).

I suspect the garage temp will drop well below zero in the night but surely a bit of frozen water on the underside is better than leaving salt on the car - isn't it?

1. Drive to local IMO
2. Asked for super wax
3. Pay attendant
4. drive car into machine
5. leave with fresh waxed and dried car

 :wink:

Bert said

if the roads are dry,take it for a spin round the bloock,dry the brakes and the body off where the leather dont reach  :wink:
Bert

I do the brakes all the time now, even just after rain let alone gritty snow.    I ride the brake a bit when I'm nearly home to get them steaming hot just before I get back to the garage, then the discs dry off straight away, good if it's gonna be sat there all weekend for example. Stops them goin manky?

As everyone else has said get salt off ASAP. Use a synthetic sealant rather than a wax for a top coat as it will last longer.

Madferret said

1. Drive to local IMO
2. Asked for super wax
3. Pay attendant
4. drive car into machine
5. leave with fresh waxed and dried car

 :wink:

You'd be surprised at how much damage car washes can do to cars. I used to work at a petrol station and the brushes would literally lift the cars up off the ground, cars were wrecked in there! Apart from the damage caused the machine also stopped working whenever temps were low as the machine and brushes froze up.

Petrol station jetwash machines are much better - but try not to use the brush, and if you do then blast the brush clean with the pressure lance first.