Washing cars with recycled water or leave it dirty

[cookiemonster]

Inspired by the other thread about washing cars in the cold ... many of you stated that you would hand wash until it got too cool, and then you'd take it into the stalls ... but don't most of them have recycled water?

So, which is better ... washing in freezing weather with recycled water, or leaving the car dirty?

My opinion would be to leave the car dirty if it's below freezing (salt, etc. doesn't start the corrosion process until it gets warmer than freezing?) ... and when it goes above freezing for a couple of hours, to hand wash and spray out the undercarriage as best as possible ...

 

[spavel6]

In a perfect world I would agree with you.. But for me, I travel on the weekends, and park the car for most of the week.

I try to stop by the carwash and blast the underside/wheel well even if it's cold. Then when it does warm up and I'm at work, the salt is already gone

 

[Eddie]

I think that the rinse is NOT recycled water.

 

[MNgopher]

Salt depresses the freezing point, so even at temperatures well below freezing in the presence of moisture corrosion is happening.

Best bet is clean and flush off the bulk of the salt, recycled water or not. Most washes I am familiar with use new water for the final rinse, same goes for hand wash facilities. Granted that isn't a high pressure blast, but it flushes just the same.

 

[PandaBear]

The concentration of salt in the recycled water has to be much less than the concentration of the dirt splashed on to your car.

 

[OneEyeJack]

What's wrong with re-cycled water. Talk to the owner of one of those car washes and look at the process. I think you'll find out that washing your car is the way to go. Figuring this out for yourself is better than the advice of someone that knows everything.

 

[nolesfan]

At the very least, I'd wash the undercarriage out. For washing the body, I use Optimum No Rinse. Once you get used to it (rinseless washing) and develop technique, it'll go faster and you'll get better results. I've only done traditional wash on my GLI once since the spring, every wash since has been with this product.