Requested QEW writeup, using MFs instead of mitts

[White95Max]

I’ve received several requests for me to document my QEW process, using MF towels instead of sheepskin mitts. Other QEW writeups can be found here:

QEW tutorial (NOT 56k friendly) PART 1
http://www.tauruscarclub.com/wiki/in...k_Easy_Wash%29



Quick and Easy Wash (a.k.a. QEW) is a soap that is designed to clean vehicles without any rinsing before OR after washing. It's the only reason I'm able to wash my car frequently and thoroughly, living in an apartment building. QEW is also the preferred way to wash for many mobile detailers, myself included. That way there is no need to reclaim the water used. Some QEW users prefer to use sheepskin mitts to wash the vehicle with, but I prefer to use MF towels.

http://www.protectall.com/qe.aspx

To use QEW, you need these items:

5gal bucket
1gal bucket
Grit Guard
QEW
QD
Microfiber towels
Spray bottle if the car is excessively dirty



During the winter, I use 3gal of water in my 5gal bucket, with the Grit Guard at the bottom, and 1/2oz of QEW in the bucket as well.
In the wash bucket (1gal) I have 2oz of QEW, 2 oz of QD (Poorboy's Spray and Gloss), and the rest filled with warm water.
The spray bottle has 32oz of warm water, with 2oz of QEW and 2oz of QD. This serves as a pretreatment step. If the car is really dirty, it is a good idea to spray the car down with the QEW/QD/water solution to loosen the dirt and salt. Often, it loosens it so much that you can actually see the dirt and other crap "melting" right off. It just drains off the paint, leaving an almost clean surface already. This is very important, because the more dirt and other contaminants are present on the paint, the more likely you are to scratch the paint in the process of removing it. The QEW/QD solution also lubricates the dirt before you ever touch it.
In the summertime, I usually use 1oz of QEW and 1oz of QD, with no sprayer pretreatment. Everything else is the same.

It starts with a dirty car:





Have your towels and wash/rinse buckets ready, and begin soaking the area with the spray bottle solution.
I use three MFs for washing with QEW: one for washing, one for an initial drying pass, and a 2nd MF for picking up any streaks left behind by the initial drying pass.









Notice that much of the dirt/salt has “melted” right off after spraying the QEW/QD/water solution.

Now GENTLY wipe the area with your wash towel. The only pressure applied should be the weight of the towel itself. How big of an area you wash depends on the how dirty the car is. In this case, I washed about 1 square foot at a time between rinses. After each wipe, you’ll notice dirt and salt on the towel. You want to flip the towel over to use a clean side for the next pass. Each pass you should use a clean side of the towel, to avoid wiping dirt back onto the paint. Once the area is clean, rinse the towel vigorously in the rinse bucket, and then dip it back into the wash bucket.
Grab your initial drying MF, and gently go over the area, picking up the majority of the water. Then put that one back down in a clean spot and go over the area again with the 2nd drying MF. Then put the 2nd drying MF back down, and return to the wash MF. Squeeze the towel just a little, so that the MF is nearly saturated, but not dripping all over. Then continue with washing a new area.

[White95Max]

Continue washing, TOP TO BOTTOM, until the car is completely clean. The only reason I washed the lower part first was for this demonstration! I pulled it in the garage after doing that section, because it was warmer in there and no wind. Wash the wheels and tires with separate towels. During winter, I just use some cotton towels from the garage, because I’m not too concerned about my plastic wheel covers anyway, since they’re all curbed terribly. When I wash my summer wheels, I use a normal car wash solution, a soft mitt, and a tire brush. After washing the wheels/tires, I rinse by dumping a ½ gallon of water over each wheel, and then drying with a mini-WW towel from ExcelDetail. This is done in the driveway, not in the garage.

After washing, the wash bucket should be near empty, but the solution should still look clean. The rinse bucket should look dirty, because that's where all the contaminants now reside.



Since the soil around here is very sandy, my GritGuard comes in handy to trap all the dirt/sand that I wash off. The rinse bucket is no good if your wash towel comes out with dirt/sand in it anyway. Here you can see how much sand is trapped in the rinse bucket after a badly-needed wash.



After you're done, the car should be clean and free of residue. Traditional soaps would leave a filmy residue on the surface, because they are meant to be rinsed afterward.



When washing a dirty car in the garage, you’ll have some water on the garage floor, but often when the car is relatively clean, the floor can remain dry with the exception of a few drips.
In this case, I had a substantial amount of water around the perimeter of the car.



A couple tips:

Wash from the top down, and after doing the hood/trunk, move right to the bumpers, and wash them VERY carefully. The bumpers are often the most complicated pieces on the vehicle, and therefore hardest to polish if you happen to introduce swirls into the paint.

Walk slowly around the car when washing. Your shoes will pick up water and dirt from the ground, and spray it forward with each step if you walk fast. You don’t want this dirty water to end up on your vehicle OR on the drying towels. I have my drying towels raised well above the floor to make sure they stay clean:



Keep the car waxed, because the QEW solution will then sheet off very easily. Obviously it’s much easier to dry a panel when it looks like this, rather than a pool of water.



If I left anything out, please let me know.

[Sludge]

Paul,

Nice write up. I just got a bottle of Optimum No Rinse and appreciate your tips. Its a nippy 64 F here today.

Gordon

[White95Max]

Oh rub it in! It's 27*F, but I'm on my way out to wash the car now.

[chml17l]

Great write up and pictorial. Thanks Maxy

[Spilchy]

Excellent write up and pictures Paul! That's a great system you have.

Have you ever thought of using a sheepskin - something with a little more pile to further protect against marring?

Thanks for sharing.

[White95Max]

The main reason I use MFs is because I have 18 of them that are designated as QEW/QD MFs. That way if one of the MFs get dirty and won't release all of the dirt, I can just grab a new one. Sometimes when I wash the car when it's really filthy, I'll end up using 5 or 6 MFs during the wash, just as some extra peace-of-mind. I used 5 MFs last week, when the car looked like this:

[gmblack3a]

Great write-up!!!

I use Sams MFs when I QEW. When I do the top surfaces and the sides, I fold my MFs in half and use the entire width for the initital wipedown. I get 4 passes before I rinse the MF. You can cover alot of area very quickly with this method. I do fold the MF into quarters when I do the lower sides for better control. I use WW MFs for the drying. I use the WWs the same way when drying so that I have a wide swipe when I dry.

Is it possible to use QEW in a spray bottle like you would use PB SnW? What would be a good ratio for that mixture?

[White95Max]

I haven't tried using QEW as a S&W-type mixture.
Since my QEW/QD/water mixture is great at loosening up dirt and carrying it away, I'm sure it would work as a spray&wipe type product. Just make sure to use as little pressure as possible, and frequently turn the MF to expose a clean surface. You may want to have several MFs on hand though, since you wouldn't be rinsing them.

[Reflections]

Originally Posted by White95Max

Oh rub it in! It's 27*F, but I'm on my way out to wash the car now.

Oh rub it in! It's -4*F here tonight and I will be washing my work truck in the garage so that I can take some photos of it tomorrow under the rising sun in a field of snow. It'll make my website look more "Canadian!"

Thanks for the great write-up Paul. This combined with Sean's review of Optimum No Rinse means no one in the world has an excuse to ever drive a dirty car anymore!

[Pats300zx]

Awesome write up. I vote for this to be put in the Hall of Fame since there are so many questions as to the proper use of OEW.

[twitch]

Awesome write up Paul, I really appreciate it.

Being that it doesn't get that cold down here I never paid attention to waterless washes and often wondered exactly how it worked. You shed the light on it for me.

Thanks!!

How long does did this whole process take you?

My thoughts are to learn the proper way and if I get a car that is not terribly filthy I can save the costs of wasting all of the water at my house.