We are in the thick of it now aren't we? The dead of winter. There could not be a worse time to think about car care, right? Right? RIGHT? 

WRONG!

It can be tricky, but now is actually the most important time to wash your car. This season brings the absolute worst elements for your vehicle to deal with and, while those elements also work against the act of cleaning your vehicle, anything you can do this time of year will pay off big time. Now is the time your car is getting its dirtiest, so we need to be thinking about cleaning it MORE regularly, not less. I hope you took my advice in the Fall Car Car Checklist blog post. If you did, then all that prep work for your paint is coming in really handy right about now!

Now, the obvious thing I know, "Matt, its freezing out, how the heck am I gonna wash my car?!?!" Allow me to propose a few solutions for you and a few other modifiers to help you get the most from whatever you are working with.

1. Touch free wash to rinse-less wash at home

In the winter, if you do not have your own heated wash bay, your local touch free washes are your best friend. They will be open quite a bit in the winter even into a little bit of freezing weather when there is no way for you to do anything at home if you wanted to. You want to hit these options up at any chance you can get. Once a week if you can. This will help you keep the winter grime from building up and give it less chance to bond. This will help keep the salt at bay and slow any reactions it is starting with bare metal on your vehicle. 

• • For touch free washes you need to make sure your local establishment has great spot-free water. If you perform a touch free wash, you cannot hand dry your vehicle as there is still a layer of road film on your car that will only come off with agitation by hand with a wash mitt/towel/sponge. 

Touch free washes are a great option but what about that layer of road film? That is where a second step to the process comes in, the rinse-less wash. In general, it is possible to skip the touchless wash and go straight to the rinse-less process but I only recommend that for very lightly soiled, or maybe dusty, cars that just need a quick spruce up. That is because you are foregoing the pre rinse which removes a large volume of damaging material from the paint. You would also be without the safety of the high lubricity of a standard car shampoo. As you can tell, a winter daily driver will not fit the bill for a rinse-less wash alone. So, go to a touch free wash to remove the vast majority of damaging material and that prepares you for a nice rinse-less wash when you get home. No need for spigots or hoses!

If you have a heated or at least above freezing garage, you can do a rinse-less wash after a touchless wash any time you please. If you are like me with no heated space to work in, you are stuck waiting on the weather to break. It needs to be above freezing or your rinse-less wash will turn to slush on the paint much quicker than you would think.

To rinse-less wash your vehicle, you will need your favorite rinse-less wash solution, a small bucket, several plush microfiber towels or a rinse-less wash sponge, a drying towel and a pump sprayer. 

• • Mix the rinse-less wash solution into your wash bucket and sprayer per the instructions on the bottle.
  • Soak your microfiber towels in the bucket solution while you pre-soak a few panels with the pump sprayer
  • Gently wash each panel with the microfiber towels. Closely watch how you fold the towel and switch to a new side as you pull dirt from the vehicle. This will keep you from dragging dirt from one portion of the car, onto other portions increasing the chance of marring or scratching the paint. When your towel is completely dirty, set it to the side, do not put it back in the clean rinse-less wash solution.
  • As you finish each panel, dry with your drying towel.
  • Work your way around the entire vehicle and, there you are, all finished! This entire process should only take you 10 or 15 minutes.

A few of my favorite rinse-less wash products:

• Optimum No Rinse: The OG, The king, one of the most versatile detailing products on the market. So. Cheap. There aren't many must haves, but this is one of them.
• Armour Detail- Hero: Armour is making a splash with its lineup and their rinse-less wash stood out to me in one of my recent cleanups at the house. Its good stuff and worth a try if you want to try something new.
• Autofiber Double Flip: These things are sick. I have always used 500 GSM microfiber towels for rinse-less washing, its nice, you get 8 total wash sides when you fold it up, but I actually prefer something a little thicker and these deliver. You get half the sides but more than double the GSM at 1100. I like these so much they have converted me from a 2 bucket wash guy to a 1 bucket. More on that in another article maybe...
• GDI Polyspray 2 Pump Sprayer: I used to just grab the cheap pump sprayers from home improvement stores but you find quickly that those things are junk and spring leaks within a few uses. I have a few of these sprayers from GDI for rinse-less wash, pre wash degreaser and a few other chemicals. They are great and I have yet to have one fail on me. Really nice quality units.

For more detail on the rinse-less process check out the video below for a more in depth guide: 

2. The BAYS!

I mean come on, winter car care and the BAYS are a match made in heaven! Every single thing you could possibly need in a clean, heated, bay with floor drains. Made by detailers for detailers, if you live near a Bays location (Romeoville and Wheeling, IL), consider yourself spoiled. I am envious! If that is the case, you also have no excuses, if you don't have the space you need to full winter wash at home, you can rent it at The Bays. Keep a look out across the country, new franchises are starting to pop up.

More info here: www.baysatcsw.com

3. Get a Professional Detail

It might not feel like the time to be thinking about paying for a professional detail but I would say a few maintenance details over the winter months is recommended if you aren't going to do it yourself with one of the options above. Yes, your car will be getting dirtier quicker after the detail due to the inclement weather but you will also be getting all the winter build up off the car more regularly which will pay big dividends come spring time. Any added protection from the detail will also help keep the vehicle cleaner between washes. The downfall of most ceramic coatings is not the failure of the coating or it wearing away, it is the build up of bonded contamination on the surface which breaks the surface tension that gives us the great beading and 'self-clean' effect we know and love. Keeping your paint protection as clean as possible will help it last as long as possible.

I know, I know, you wont be able to show off the fresh detail at the car show the next weekend because it doesn't exist, but you will be thanking me when the first car show does come around and your ride cleans right up in the spring. Your local detailer also likely has more availability this time of year. They may be more flexible than usual so you can try to catch a snow free week or two to keep the midwinter shine as long as possible!

If you are looking for help finding a detailer near you to inquire about some winter services check out the Find a Detailer page at Car Supplies Warehouse.

Well, what are you waiting for? You know what to do. Get out there and make that puppy shine!