Washing a Car In Cold Weva

[UmBongo]

I washed my car this afternoon and it was 2 degrees celsius.

 

It looked warmer than that before I left the house but my buckets were full of water and there was no turning back.

 

Is this behaviour acceptable or the mark of a mong?

[beko1987]

Perfectly acceptable

[forddeliveryboy]

Using buckets rather than a pressure washer is the obvious giveaway for an autoshiter - still with a degree of common sense. Bit nippy though, even in the warm sunshine? I'm assuming the water was cooler than lukewarm, to protect the layers of carefully applied Carnuba Wax?

[steve_earwig]

Are your doors frozen shut yet?

[UmBongo]

Doors not frozen as it was the modern shite I was washing.

 

Hands like frozen turnips, mind you.

[mercrocker]

Always clean mine when its cold, have found its a waste of time waxing it then though....Salt ridding is my only motivation, however.   Panel gaps on the Minor prevent any freezing shut!

[DVee8]

A couple of winters ago i was washing and hoovering the Jaguar  in -3 for a bride to look at i had spent hours freezing.I then rolled the Daimler out of the garage.

The bride and groom walked passed the Jag without a passing glance at it "I want that one" she said pointing at the Daimler.

Oh well.A job is a job still got paid.

[Split_Pin]

If its mega cold I have a pumper-spray thing, that was meant for paint I think, that I fill with warm water. That way I don't use a lot of water to create icy patches. I only do this to get the salt off inside the arches though, up to the door handles just gets a quick scrub to get the worst of the shite off.

[forddeliveryboy]

I usually wash cars between showers. That way, all the crud comes off well and there's a free no-streak rinse facility. Living in the sticks, it's rarely more than a twice a year thing.

[fordperv]

i washed mine this afternoon as well as hoovering and cleaning the inside, i was peed off it was too cold to give it a coat of polish, 15 minutes later after cleaning it started snowing, your actions are perfectly normal

[Lord Sterling]

Washed my Merc today, but then I paid £3 to someone to that for me as I honestly couldn't be arsed, though I did stop in a street where I don't live to slap on some tyre-shine. Micra should be going in for a wash/scrub up tomorrow. It's been a long time coming.

 

I used to wash/clean/polish my cars at weird times, like at 8pm in the dark or on a cold/freezing day, but then I usually did start at a reasonable and finish at an unreasonable time.

[Barry Cade]

I was always told never to use warm water on a car covered in salt- it activates it or summat.?

[Station]

^ lol wut?

[laser wheels]

Washed the Sierra today. With buckets of cold water from the outside tap.

[Stanky]

I tend to wash the Nissan with a bucket of warm/hot water and a soft broom every weekend at this time of year in order to remove as much salt as possible. Sadly, doing 130 miles a day on A-roads at this time of year means there is more salt attached to my car than paint by the end of the week. 

 

the bucket/broom combo makes it a short job and no cold/wet hands - worth trying if you don't give much of a shit about the condition of the paintwork like me. TBH its not made it lots worse in 3 years of doing this, though it was quite swirly before I got it. 

[steve_earwig]

Were I am there are 2 boilers (electric for summer and wood for winter) and I can reverse the feed so hot water comes out the hose pipe. Very good for slicing off the big chunks of ice that form in the wheel wells but not something you want to point at windows. Where I wash it is gravel so there's no problem with ice on the ground, just the aforementioned doors freezing shut thing.

[myglaren]

I buggered my hosepipe connection when I installed a dishwasher.  Will fix it one day.

As a result I have been unable to was mine since mumble mumble mumble  consequently it is filthy.

Anyway, it is sleeting here so washing it would be senseless.

 

My excuse and I'm sticking to it.

[Lankytim]

I once washed an ERF EC6 lorry with a red hot hose pipe at a food factory, it was minus 10 and the glass headlights exploded. Stupid boy.

[forddeliveryboy]

My daily car has had the full treatment today. First thing and it was several below, breaking down dirt particles into smaller sizes (there are a good few mm of accumulation on the lower body). Then the wash cycle started, a gentle soak at first then a few hours at max, including scouring of the windward vertical surfaces with ice crystals followed by long rinses. The final part of the day-long wash is about to be completed when I drive through the local river on the way to buy a bottle of.

[saucedoctor]

Pressure washer, a big Draper car wash brush and a bucket of soapy water. I hate having a dirty car.

[steve_earwig]

Remembering to either drain or store the pressure washer somewhere above freezing when you're done.

[saucedoctor]

Good point well made. The washer came with a sticker on it saying the same thing.

[beko1987]

I killed my first nilfisk with frost, used to leave it on the floor in mums garage. Took a few years for it to die but it pulsed like a bastard then dues, blowing the fuse in my extension lead with it.

 

Ebay, new unit only for £25 as I could reuse all the kit which was fine. I now store it in the porch cupboard the other side of the wall from the hall radiator, should keep it above freezing at least!

[Timewaster]

If you are worried about making a slippy icy puddle,why not add copious amounts of salt to the water.

 

Simples

[oldcars]

I tend to wash the Nissan with a bucket of warm/hot water and a soft broom every weekend at this time of year in order to remove as much salt as possible. Sadly, doing 130 miles a day on A-roads at this time of year means there is more salt attached to my car than paint by the end of the week. 

 

the bucket/broom combo makes it a short job and no cold/wet hands - worth trying if you don't give much of a shit about the condition of the paintwork like me. TBH its not made it lots worse in 3 years of doing this, though it was quite swirly before I got it. 

Post this on detailing world, they will have a breakdown 

[overrun]

I washed my car this afternoon and it was 2 degrees celsius.

 

It looked warmer than that before I left the house but my buckets were full of water and there was no turning back.

 

Is this behaviour acceptable or the mark of a mong?

Salt is noone's friend.

Do what has to be done.

[Partridge]

I'm too bloody lazy to wash cars these days. I'll happily polish and clean the inside, but setting up pressure washers are effort so I don't really bother. There's some guys up the road who will wash 'n' wax the car for £6, so I take it there now. They do a bloody good job as well. Plus I don't have to freeze, I pay them to freeze for me.