babyjulie83's wash demo session

[Steve P]

Yesterday Julie brought me her car for some tips on safely washing and drying it. BY 900 AM it was already 85+ degrees. Before her arrival, I had already set up the canopy for some temporary shading of our demo.

Before we washed the paint and glass surfaces, we cleaned the wheels and wheel wells first.

I see more and more threads about water spotting during washing. Unless you are doing this before sun up or after sun down, it can be a source of frustration when it comes to drying. Down here in Texas it is no different. With the summer months, the rinse water can dry in seconds on the surface.

A couple of days ago, I tested the quality of my own water here. With this measuring tool, it shows to have 294 PPM of total dissolved solids in the water. It's these particles that show on the surface after the moisture evaporates or is wiped off the paint or glass.


I picked up a portable water deionizer tank for testing to help make the wash process easier to accomplish. After running the same water source through the DI tank, the sample now shows 0 PPM. This will result in spot free drying.


Starting with the wash process, we lightly rinsed off the paint and glass to remove any light dirt and road film before washing. After showing Julie to lightly swab each panel to break the surface tension that holds the remaining surface dirt and road film, I had her finish each panel one by one from top to bottom.


I rinsed off the the entire car with the DI treated water and watched it evaporate from the surface for the next several minutes.




Julie took these pictures over the next 10-15 minutes to show the drying effect on the paint. If this wasn't with the treated rinse, the surface would be covered in heavy spots as it dried in the sun.












We are looking into selling these tanks/accessories in the near future. Stay tuned for more details.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

[Milk 1027]

That is perfect.

I could use that. Especially out in Bakersfield.

[CamaroSkooter]

How much water does one tank hold? It looks like it just attaches to the water hose and doesn't need any outside power supply. If that's the case, that would be so simple.

[Steve P]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

How much water does one tank hold? It looks like it just attaches to the water hose and doesn't need any outside power supply. If that's the case, that would be so simple.

The white tank you see in the picture doesn't hold any water. Your outside water source connects to the inlet and the DI water passes through the outlet. For this demo, I used the white 4" hose/sprayer connected to the tank outlet to rinse off the car. Your can even connect this setup to a electric power sprayer. The resin which is contained in the tank is enough to treat water for about 35 cars worth of spot free rinses before it needs changing.

Imagine not having to wipe the car down after the final rinse.

[nards444]

good idea but a little extreme.

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by Steve@Tropi-Care

The white tank you see in the picture doesn't hold any water. Your outside water source connects to the inlet and the DI water passes through the outlet. For this demo, I used the white 4" hose/sprayer connected to the tank outlet to rinse off the car. Your can even connect this setup to a electric power sprayer. The resin which is contained in the tank is enough to treat water for about 35 cars worth of spot free rinses before it needs changing.

Imagine not having to wipe the car down after the final rinse.

Just curious, when the tank can't de-ionize any more water, do you have to purchase a new tank, or is it similar to Brita water filters where you just pull out the old "filter" and put in a new one?

Just FYI for anyone considering this approach to washing their cars, DO NOT let any people or animals drink the DI water.

[Steve P]

Originally Posted by nards444

good idea but a little extreme.

Extreme? Maybe.

But for for some, they will get frustrated with the process of trying to remove the spotting due to hard water or high TDS levels without inflicting fine scratches or dulling haze. A diluted distilled white vinegar solution is also a good way of removing water spots from the surface too.

[Steve P]

Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter

Just curious, when the tank can't de-ionize any more water, do you have to purchase a new tank, or is it similar to Brita water filters where you just pull out the old "filter" and put in a new one?

Just FYI for anyone considering this approach to washing their cars, DO NOT let any people or animals drink the DI water.

Only the old resin needs to be poured out and new added when spotting starts to occur. When the total dissolved solids (TDS) are greater than 50 PPM, it is time to change. A TDS measuring meter comes with each DI tank.

[GMtothecore]

Cool, thanks for posting.

[69 Hugger]

Originally Posted by Steve@Tropi-Care

Only the old resin needs to be poured out and new added when spotting starts to occur. When the total dissolved solids (TDS) are greater than 50 PPM, it is time to change. A TDS measuring meter comes with each DI tank.

What about the water spots that get burned into the paint along the shipping route/train yards. Can you get them out ? Is there any reason they don't cover the top panels when shipping ? unless the new paint can't be covered.

[Steve P]

Originally Posted by 69 Hugger

What about the water spots that get burned into the paint along the shipping route/train yards. Can you get them out ? Is there any reason they don't cover the top panels when shipping ? unless the new paint can't be covered.

For those type of spots that occur during transport, I would still go with the least aggressive means of removal. After the initial rinse to remove the loose dust and dirt, I would lightly swab the surface to remove the remaining surface dirt. After rinsing, a clay bar will remove a great amount of them if not all at this time. For more stubborn ones, a diluted solution of distilled white vinegar is another option. On the worse ones I have had to remove, a light abrasive polish with a PC works to remove them.

[Thrillz]

I dont know if i can buy another toy for my detailing collection. Wife may have an opinion on this The only thing on the consumer market kinda like this is the mr clean auto dry system but found that thing sucked pretty bad. Hope this works out for you Steve its show promise thats for sure but ill stick with washing my car at dawn and drying with my leaf blower and towels. Btw how much will it cost to refill the resin when it needs to be changed up?

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by Thrillz

...Btw how much will it cost to refill the resin when it needs to be changed up?

And how do you dispose of the old resin?

[GTAHVIT]

subscribed...