@the_same_mountainbike Car looks great, ps I make my own dehydrated water for the plastic plants 
I used those diy’er pressurized wand car wash booths in Colorado in the winter to remove road salt from the underside of the vehicle. But in the summers there, and all season here in San Jose I just use a garden-hose to rinse off the car once a week, and once a month I’ll hand wash it with a bucket of warm sudsy water. Along with easy on/easy off wax jobs twice a year, that’s it.
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LOL, good one!
This is an excellent habit to have (regardless of brush/mitt/cloth/etc) – 2 buckets, rinse well in water before going back into suds. Don’t be shy about changing out the water as it becomes dirty.
And also, start with the least dirty part of the car and work towards the dirtiest as last.
Yeah, I too consider that important. Salt-saturated chunks of quasi-frozen slush build up in the wheel wells to the extent sometimes that the tires rub on them. Kicking them off and cleaning the wells occasionally helps.
The best solution is to have 5 or 6 wash mitts, and one bucket of car soap solution. You use each wash mitt once per section of car, and then put it in an empty bucket when the section is done, not rinsing it, and not reusing it again. That way the dirty wash mitts are only put in the carwash bucket once when they are clean, and your wash solution stays pristine, and you don’t have to worry about picking up dirt again with the wash mitt.
Of course when you’re done you run the wash mitts through your washing machine and you’re ready for the next wash. There’s nothing wrong with the two-bucket method, it works well enough, ( I use it) but it’s not the best method out there.
Your approach with wash mitts is a good one, but since I can no longer bend down without pain I have my soft brush on the end of a long handle and clean it constantly with the hose.
One not-yet-recognized variable is the many different conditions under which people have to wash their cars.
- I’m fortunate to have a house with a paved driveway, with a hose and the freedom to use all the water I want.
- When I lived in an apartment, I had to carry buckets to the vehicle, and had to use a completely different approach.
- When I lived in the barracks, I had to use car washes.
- When I lived in the NCO quarters, the parking area was dirt, and it made more sense to use a carwash.
- I have friends with condos in large condo buildings, with no access to an outside faucet.
- In all these instances I was subject to winters… and still are. Washing the car in below freezing temperatures, when the water immediately freezes to the metal, isn’t possible.
- Washing the car in subzero temps… if you try (and I did) your door locks may not thaw until spring. I don’t recommend it.
- My son’s last house was the San Fernando Valley, and washing your car was prohibited due to the permanent water shortage. I don’t know about his new house in San Clemente.
- and then there’re those like myself with physical limitations.
In short, there are a lot of different situations that require different approaches. But I commend all those who try.
I wash my car once every two weeks during summer, and every week during winter.
At where I live, I am fortunate to have the options of touchless and the regular car wash. The regular car wash, which is at the same building of the touchless, is much cheaper in price, and I can get a monthly subscription for unlimited wash for only 27 dollars. That’s what I mistakenly chose when I had my previous Toyota Camry. After using it for one month, I began seeing swirls and nasty scratches all over the car paint, especially on the side mirrors and on the roof. I blamed the scratches on other stuff, such as tree branches, etc. Then after 5 months, I was 100% sure the regular car wash was ruining my car paint, seeing that I made sure my car was not in contact with any objects. The conveyer that pulls in our car inside the car wash also scraped and destroyed my wheels.
Then I got a newer Toyota Camry and never again use regular car washes that use those bristles and cloths to wash the car. I always go touchless, although it is more expensive and there isn’t a monthly subscription for the service. And I have not seen one scratch on my car, except for flying rock chips that we can’t avoid on the road. I highly discouraged regular car wash service. Go touchless when outside is very cold, and do self-wash when outside permits.
I hand wash my cars when the weather permits. In the winter I use the touchless car wash because I still don’t like anything brushing against the car to put small scratches in the finish. Are car washes bad? I don’t consider them good, but they are better than not washing the grime, salt, and slush off.