New to the product and lots of questions

[avimore]

On 11/15/2018 at 1:12 PM, Setec Astronomy said:

I don't know, but to me, you gents who are saying that your towels get dirty because they get into places the BRS can't....kind of is saying to me you need a different wash media that gets into all the places! 

You make a good point.  I've only done a few washes with ONR/BRS and I still get some dirt on the drying towels.

I'm going to use a microfiber chenille mitt on the next wash to see how that turns out.

[Setec Astronomy]

12 hours ago, AllyChevy48 said:

I have thought about doing a ceramic coating on the car but again It would be after I correct the paint  using a 1 or 2 step. Would love be able to not worry as much with the micro marring and have the benefit of added protection. 

I did my second wash with the ONR this past weekend. I only used one bucket (w/grit guard) and I pressure washed before washing.  I know I have read its okay to rinse off the car before the ONR method however does this hurt the mixture with the added water left over? Is it always recommend to pressure wash the car before?   I did pre soak with a pump sprayer before taking the BRS to a panel and wondered this. I also washed each panel twice and it seemed the drying towels had minimum to none dirt left over.  

I will buy some more drying towels. Thank you for the towel recommendation.   I am not used to drying as much because I would use a blower to help with the process using the 2 bucket method.  

Not sure how much a coating will help really with the micro-marring, I mean it will help some, but some is always going to occur...but if it's coated very shallow marring may be only in the coating, not the paint...at the least it's a sacrificial layer (a very thin one).

Don't worry about the water left on the panel diluting the ONR--it's a small amount of water.  The more loose dirt you can get off by pre-spraying or pressure washing, the better, that's less particles of dirt to grind against the paint while contact washing and drying.  I'm not sure if I mentioned before I usually use a wash bucket with no grit guard (because I'm cheap and it takes at least a gallon of solution to get up to the top of the grit guard), and a rinse bucket with a grit guard with about 2 gallons of rinseless at half strength (to avoid diluting the wash bucket too much with water that comes back from the rinse).  If I do a single bucket wash I always use a grit guard, unless the car is just dusty, then I have been known to wash single bucket with no grit guard...but not too often.

The pluffles are a good towel, the other Korean waffle weaves (the Dry Me A River series) are also very good, different from most other waffle weaves (including the cheaper ones TRC sells).  A lot of people seem to like the twisted loop towels for drying (Twistress, etc.).  I have some but I haven't tried them yet, so I have no comment on that.

[Setec Astronomy]

6 hours ago, avimore said:

You make a good point.  I've only done a few washes with ONR/BRS and I still get some dirt on the drying towels.

I'm going to use a microfiber chenille mitt on the next wash to see how that turns out.

Just another point, sometimes you have some oxidized rubber trim around windows, in the rain gutters on the roof, etc., that will get the towels dirty, but it's not actually dirt that you missed with the wash.  If that's the case you need to (gently) scrub that rubber with something to clean the oxidized portion off (diluted OPC--Optimum Power Clean is good, I might use something milder, depending), and put a dressing on.  Apologies if that was stuff you knew already.

[Ron@Optimum]

It should not effect your ONR mixture to power wash and it is not necessary to power wash before a rinseless wash (I never do).  Power washing might be necessary in areas where salt & sand are used for snow, or when the vehicle gets really dirty/mud caked, etc, to remove the worst buildup.  It's also handy to clean the undercarriage.

[AllyChevy48]

Is the rag company a good place to purhcase drying towels?   I know it depends on the size of your vehicle but how many drying towels do most of you guys use when using the ONR to wash?  

[Detail Mutant]

Quote

On 11/21/2018 at 8:28 AM, Setec Astronomy said:

Don't worry about the water left on the panel diluting the ONR--it's a small amount of water.  The more loose dirt you can get off by pre-spraying or pressure washing, the better, that's less particles of dirt to grind against the paint while contact washing and drying.  I'm not sure if I mentioned before I usually use a wash bucket with no grit guard (because I'm cheap and it takes at least a gallon of solution to get up to the top of the grit guard), and a rinse bucket with a grit guard with about 2 gallons of rinseless at half strength (to avoid diluting the wash bucket too much with water that comes back from the rinse).  If I do a single bucket wash I always use a grit guard, unless the car is just dusty, then I have been known to wash single bucket with no grit guard...but not too often.

 

I'm cheap too but still like to use something to keep my wash media (BRS) from touching the bottom of the bucket and provide a perforated surface for releasing the dirt against.  I use the Chemical Guys Cyclone Dirt Trap which is a substantially lower profile than a standard Grit Guard.  Probably only 1/4 to 1/3 gallon of ONR solution below the Cyclone surface.  Biggest issue with the Cyclone is the horrible finger holes for trying to remove from the bottom of the bucket.  So added some Ty-wraps to the corners as a means for lifting out of the bucket. I however only use the single bucket method.  At the start, I used to use two buckets but as I got more comfortable with the rinseless wash method, I abandoned the second pre dirt release bucket

[Detail Mutant]

Quote

13 minutes ago, AllyChevy48 said:

Is the rag company a good place to purhcase drying towels?   I know it depends on the size of your vehicle but how many drying towels do most of you guys use when using the ONR to wash?  

 

I like the Platinum Pluffle  from Rag Company when doing a rinseless wash with drying aid (Opti-Seal).  The amount of towels required depends on conditions (colder temperatures usually require 25-33% increase in amount towels in my experience) and total surface area of the vehicle.  In the case of the Platinum Pluflle also the size of the towel you go with.  It comes in 16 x 16, 16 x 23 and 20 x 40.  I don't like using the larger 20 x 40 towels when doing rinseless wash with drying aid.  I find larger towel is best for flip and drag method on horizontal panels which is more appropriate when not using drying aid like Opti-Seal.  If you try to fold up larger towel to wipe vertical panels it becomes too difficult to control and usual ends up dragging on the ground.  My preferred size is is 16 x 23 folded in quarters which makes a nice manageable size for wiping panels.  For washing my 3-series E91 wagon, I typically use two 16 x 23 towels and for my wife's Kia Sedona minivan, I use three 16 x 23 towels.  When I wash the cars in the garage over winter (right around freezing point in garage), I typically need an additional towel for each vehicle.