LonnieR

I have always enjoyed washing my own car. I guess it has more to do with time alone to think ( alittle like the zen of it)especially on a beautiful blue sky day. About 6 months ago I decided to have my wife's almost pristine Z4 M Coupe (which she loves) professionally detailed. The detailer was a master and it took him 17 hours to do a total color correction. The car came out better than new.
During that 17 hours, I spent about 13 of it with him learning how to detail. One of the most important things he taught me was how to properly wash a car-especially a black car. He tested my water and found it had 40-50ppm of iron and other minerals in it. It told me there was no way I could wash a car with that water and not cause some damage. He then told me about a water deionizer. Now I'm sure there of some ofyou out there who know all about this. I had heard about such a thing but never really thought it was such a big deal. Boy was I wrong. He told me you can wash a car with deionized water using a microfiber towel and then blow it dry with a leaf blower. There won't be a water spot left on the car. He demonstrated to me and I couldn't belive what I was seeing.
I had always had issues with drying my black cars because of the residual water spots I would get. I would have to wax them off to really get a clean surface in some cases. Of course this often left swirls in the finish.
He told me to buy a water deionizer from Costco. They have it listed in their catologue. He said I wouldn't believe the difference.
I bought the deionizer (about $570) and used it the next time I washed my black Porsche. Unbelievable!
I wet the car down first with the deionized water, filled a clean bucket with deionized water and a cleaning polymer. I then wiped and rinsed parts of the car at a time. When all areas were rinsed, I blow the water off with the leaf blower. Not a spot, stain or swirl anywhere!
Now again, Some of you out there are probably saying "I know that!"- deionizers are the only way to go. I had no clue. So if you are like me, love to wash your own car (for whatever reason) and you want a fabulous spot and swirl free car, get a deionizer. It really makes a difference.

mtbscott

I have read about them several times and with very hard water at my home know one would come in handy. $570 is a bit pricey though, the one I see mentioned the most is called CR Spotless, and their's start around $299. Griot's has a portable roll around one for $370.

Techart_Dreamer

My last Mercedes was black, and I agree, washing your car that you love so much, can be a zen moment. Washing black though........anti-zen moment.

I have a good buddy of mine who is a pro detailer here in SoCal, and after a 17hour detail, we went through how to wash.

It took me probably 2 hours to wash the car, 3 buckets, one for the wheels only, one for the body, and one for rinsing only. Natural sponges, deionized water, quality soap, and then using water sheeting to get a majority of the standing water off the car. Waffle weave towels for drying, never circling, simply laying the towel down and pulling it towards you. Throw some QD on there if you feel some abrasiveness.

We have an actual deionized service that drops off tanks to the house. Call them when its getting close to empty, and they drop another off. Super simple.

-Markus-

tangram

If water is distilled but not deionized would that do the trick?

Techart_Dreamer

Actually, distilled water is considered more pure than deionized water. So yeah, it would.

-Markus-

Hammer911

Lonnie- I've been debating on the de-ionizer, you may have pushed me over the edge. How many gallons do you think you use for a complete wash?
Bob

cmb13

2 comments
1 use a separate bucket for soapy water and one for rinsing the sponge

2 make sure the leaf blower is electric, so it cannot spatter oil on the car

3 always wipe with the direction air travels over the car, so as to avoid swirl marks

Ok I guess that was 3 comments.

mtony

Do the gas blowers really blow oil out?

991Dreamer

FWIW- A friend that owns a high end body and paint shop says to never, never dry you car with a leaf blower. Says it will shoot particles that are in the air on to the car and scratch it. I was very disappointed to hear this as I couldn't wait to dry my car this way.

fineito

Mr. Clean had a deionizer filter in its car wash kit where you just sprayed water onto the car through the filter as the final rinse stage and you could just let the car air dry. I had used it for 2 years, now can't find it anymore at my local Target or elsewhere. Not saying it works as well as the products mentioned, but I found it worked satisfactorily enough for me (I don't live in an area with real hard water, though).

carrerapete

I've been using Toro electric leaf blowers to dry my vehicles for the last fifteen years and NEVER, EVER had any problem with flying debris of any type. The trick is to always hold the blower above the car and aim it downward.

You may run into a problem if you suddenly decide to blow the driveway clean while the car is sitting in the way.



Unfortunately the Mr. Clean company discontinued their system due to slow sales.

I've been doing a lot of research and am leaning toward this system:

vman4639

How is that different than driving your car forward through the same air?

Unless you are kicking up debris from the driveway I think you are safe.

fast1

I've been following the methods described in this link, and have had excellent results: http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...t-surface.html

chuck911

This is a much bigger deal for people depending on the water quality in your area. Not surprised the OP is in Florida. Some places with well water are truly awful. Here in the great Pacific Northwet we just wash and sheet rinse, no problem.

LonnieR

The reason I bought the unit from Costco was that it was so well put together. It has a meter and twin filters. What's nice is when you order online, they send you an extra set of the dionizer.
To answer your question, it depends on how much iron is in your water. Since I have about 40-50ppm, I figured that I use aprox 10 gallons of water all told with a single eash. The filters are good for 800 gallons. They will last me atleast 80 washes.