I remember when we were at the Melb. detailing workshop the guy saying that the car washes really promote the rinsing of your car after soaping to get rid of the salt water. Maybe if you have a salt water swimming pool you could wash it in there! Can anybody tell me where the local swimming pools are filled from at the start of each season after being drained during winter?
Also, will be interesting to see if Bracksie is being driven in a dirty limo in the next few weeks.
Glad we have all our water tanks full and ready to over flow.
Cheers
yeh i think at the supermarket 8lt of water can cost about $8, i dont think its illegal to use bottled water but yeh not sure how to make bottled water work with a pressure sprayer
There is a mains powered type that Supercheap auto sell. Basically you fill the supplied bucket, connect the pressure washer to it and away you go. I think they are around $80.00. I will now be looking into it further as i can't see why you couldn't use that. Would have to use less water than car lovers etc....
The Stage 3 restrictions state something like "no car washing at home'. There are exceptions coming out like washing windows, lights & mirrors and also I have heard the use of "grey" water is allowed too. So get those buckets into the showers guys (I have been doing this for a few years and using the water to clean the wheels).
All in all it is a crappy situation for us enthusiasts.
__________________ John
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Hi all, re the use of salt water in car washes, I don't think so (but could be wrong, anyone with a CCW want to comment?)
Most (all) commercial car washes recylcle at least part of he water, to do this they will use some filtration & water softening processes. If they use a simple, single stage de-alkalyser as the softening process (takes chalky 'hardness' out of the water, reduces soap consumption, improves foaming & stops spotting if the the water dries on the car!) they will regenerate the softening resin with salt. The salt water gives up is sodium in exchange for the calcium in the resin (which has originally come out of the water), thereby regenerating it so it can take out more calcium.
The salt water doesn't come anywhere near the car.
If the CCW uses a reverse osmosis system for softening water they could be using sulphuric acid for the RO membrane cleaning, but again this doesn't come into contact with the car.
Trust this helps
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Just my 2 cents here, I get my car hand washed at a local car wash, these guys do everything by hand and then they use a high pressure wash to clean everything off, shine up my tyres and give the wheels a clean also.
All this for $12 aint to bad I think, not to sure what they will be doing to wash of all the soap after 1st of Jan 2007.
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Hi all, re the use of salt water in car washes, I don't think so (but could be wrong, anyone with a CCW want to comment?)
Most (all) commercial car washes recylcle at least part of he water, to do this they will use some filtration & water softening processes. If they use a simple, single stage de-alkalyser as the softening process (takes chalky 'hardness' out of the water, reduces soap consumption, improves foaming & stops spotting if the the water dries on the car!) they will regenerate the softening resin with salt. The salt water gives up is sodium in exchange for the calcium in the resin (which has originally come out of the water), thereby regenerating it so it can take out more calcium.
The salt water doesn't come anywhere near the car.
If the CCW uses a reverse osmosis system for softening water they could be using sulphuric acid for the RO membrane cleaning, but again this doesn't come into contact with the car.
Trust this helps
You sound like a man who knows his stuff.
Those of us who have commented on the use of salt here are quoting the guy who presented to us at the detailing workshop earlier this year. He is a guy who has years of experience in the detailing industry and as the distributor of Meguiars products still deals with the car wash joints and detailers.
I wish I had paid more attention to exactly what he was saying and I could provide comments in more detail here. At that time I was of the opinion that I would NEVER take my ride to one of these establishments but prevaling climate circumstances has changed that
__________________ John
SRT8 Mods:
E&G Heavy Mesh Grille
Tint
Ultimate Racing Pedals
22Elite Console Lid Leather Cover & 22Elite Arm Rests
C-TEKs
Shaved side moldings
Mopar CAI
"Fatt" Exhaust Tips
At present we can but as of Jan 1 we are only allowed to wash lights, mirrors and windows with a bucket and water. Absolutely no hosing allowed which is understandable considering the lack of rain and low water storage here. Although i thought Sydney's water levels were lower than Melbs. Ours is at 40% at present....whats Sydney at.
It is 36.7% in Sydney as of today.
We are now in Level 3 mandatory water restrictions, but we are still allow to wash car by bucket.
Having used a couple of the local car washes when pushed for time I can see two problems with them beside the issue of whether they use salt or not.
Firstly the harsh detergents that are used which you can get around by taking your own bucket and detergent - if you go early or late then no one is going to be hassling you about the time it takes. Secondly the water softening agents used (typically sodium hexametaphosphate) aren't overly kind on rubbers over a period of prolonged use.
MY solution has been to install one of those simple plastic rain water tanks (1180 litre capacity) which thanks to the slope of the block here has sufficient fall to provide excellent pressure to drive a Karcher. Washing the car this way uses about 80 litres of water and works very well. Under $1,000 including stand and fittings and the inline filter keeps the water clean.
I reckon that I probably use more water rinsing with a watering can than a good quality hose nozzle would.
Pretty crazy system we have but at least we are still able to wash at home.
Sorry to hear of the effects in Vic.
Totally agree. I have a pretty good system at home with buckets but I use at least 50% more water with buckets than I would with a hose. I guess Sydney Water's theory is that not many people can be bothered to use buckets and therefore less water will be used!!!!!
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but at least we are still able to wash at home. 
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