0 bucket wash

Oldfordisbetter said:
Mike P doesn't use buckets does he? Im thinking he sometimes foams the car, then just goes around with his wash mitt and agitates the dirt. I guess he still uses a bucket for the wheels. Correct me if im wrong. I think I remember seeing that in one of his one million articles:)


really like to see outside the box thinking though.
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Yep. This was my thought as well.

How to wash a car with a foam gun - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

I'll give this a shot with a foam cannon and see if I get any marring on my car. I was planning on polishing it soon anyway because the coating is about shot on a few areas and I want to see how Essence performs as a "healing" polish. I can't stand lugging out two buckets every time I do a real wash and all the constant dunking drives me crazy too. I usually HP rinse, rinseless with multiple towels, and blow dry. I rarely bust out the two buckets and soap anymore.
 
Oldfordisbetter said:
Mike P doesn't use buckets does he? Im thinking he sometimes foams the car, then just goes around with his wash mitt and agitates the dirt. I guess he still uses a bucket for the wheels. Correct me if im wrong. I think I remember seeing that in one of his one million articles:)


really like to see outside the box thinking though.
Click to expand...

i use this method on light/medium soiled vehicle but i rinse my mitt after a few panels or when i feel it gets too dirty.
 
Thanks for confiming heisenberg. I could see this being a great way to prep a vehicle for polishing. But not so sure about it for maintenance washes. Maybe I should give it a shot.
 
I've been washing cars in an Autopian-nutty manner for a good *40 years* and I'm still tweaking my wash regimen. Washed 'em for decades before YoSteve piqued my interest in foamguns and changed my entire approach. Ya don't know how a wash method will work *FOR YOU* until you try it. Maybe you'll need a few dozen of those tries, or a few hundred, to get it sorted out just right. Maybe after all those tries you'll find something else that works even better for you. Purely a subjective thing and you're the Subject so YMMV. That said...

Note that the car in the video was so clean that it didn't look visibly dirty either before or after the pressure washing. I couldn't see it "getting cleaner" as the pressure washing progressed. Perhaps that makes all the difference since if there's no abrasive dirt on the car you don't have to worry about rubbing that dirt into the paint. I myself could wash a car that's (apparently) that clean without a bucket: pressure wash rinse it and then use the BHB/foamgun combo, allowing the foamgun to flush-rinse the BHB clean. (I've done that to clean off "garage dust" that others simply wipe off with QD. I hardly ever need to actually rinse my BHBs anyhow since the foamgun does that for me. But honestly, I can't imagine myself washing a car that's already that clean in the first place (hey, again...that's just me) and I do question how well that'd work on a car that's still obviously very dirty after the pressure washing.

OK, the topic is "Zero Bucket Wash" huh? Let's see..

I really only use my buckets as Wash Media Repositories and could probably get by without them. I do get by without Grit Guards; don't see any need for them since I never seem to have any dirt in my Rinse Buckets.

One of my primary intentions is to *NOT* get dirt stuck to my wash media lest it then get dragged across the paint under some degree of pressure. I "dislodge and flush" the dirt away instead.

Wash Buckets- OK, soaking a BHB or sheepskin mitt in a bucket of wash solution is an effective and efficient way to soften and saturate the BHB/mitt. Not any big deal with a MF wash mitt but for the BHB and sheepskin it might make the Wash Bucket necessary after all. But once filled with shampoo, I work with the same Wash Buckets (one on each side of wash bay for convenience, same with Rinse Buckets and even foamguns) for many, many washes. The Wash Buckets don't get dirty since no dirty things get put into them.

The wash media do get nicely saturated with shampoo solution from being in the wash buckets (one BHB/mitt might be in a Wash Bucket while I'm using the other), but I can/do often accomplish that via the foamgun's output instead. If a BHB/mitt were in a Rinse Bucket when I reach for it, I'm just as likely to suds it up with the foamgun as to dunk it in the Wash Bucket; same thing gets accomplished either way (though the foamgun's output is stronger than my Wash Solution, perhaps making that a *better* choice).

Rinse Buckets- The foamgun flushes my BHBs *so* clean that I don't really think there's much "rinsing" going on in the functional sense when I toss BHBs into a Rinse Bucket. I don't need to agitate them in the Rinse Bucket to get dirt out of them. I do think that my mitts, being far less free-rinsing than the BHBs, might get some functional rinsing in the Rinse Buckets, but you can't tell because there basically isn't any dirt in the Rinse Buckets at the end of the wash. It appears that the BHB/foamgun step gets things so clean that by the time I switch to the mitt/foamgun there's virtually no dirt left. Also, how you hold and work the mitt/foamgun combo factors in heavily with regard to how well the mitts get flushed clean and thus how much dirt is retained to possibly end up in the Rinse Buckets (much trickier than with the BHBs).

SO with my foamgun-centric "dislodge and flush" approach (perhaps aided by my boosted water pressure) I'm basically able to wash without the buckets really contributing much other than a quick and easy way to prep the BHBs and sheepskin mitts for use, and a convenient place to stash whatever wash medium isn't in my hand at that moment.
 
JustJesus said:
geeeeez, Accumulator. Now THAT is a wash process!
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Four Steps:

1) Pressure Washer rinse
2) BHB/foamgun, repeat until vehicle appears clean
3) mitt/foamgun, repeat until confident that vehicle truly *is* clean
4) approximation of GDWM with IUDJ as the "dry" step

Of course, that's leaving out the wheels/wells/undercarriage/engine compartment/jambs which also get done in multiple steps (at every wash). Heh heh, and people wonder why it takes me so long to do a maintenance wash ;)
 
I was going to respond to this thread a few hours ago but went to the Dentist and forgot. At this point there isn't much I can add. Accumulator expressed my opinion fairly well. In short, can I see a car being washed well using this process? Yes, depending upon how dirty the car was to begin. Do I believe this to be a better manner than a 2 bucket with Grit Guard's, defiitely not in many circumstances. Once again depending on how dirty the car is. The cars that are brought to me most often NEED to be washed and not simply water dusted. I guess the definition of being washed well needs to be defined as clean, not incurring damage during the process.

Accumulator and I have never communicated directly but I like him have been washing cars for 40 years and our washing processes are scary similar. I don't use the Infinite Detail Juice but I use other products in a like manner. If your car is well maintained and the dirt doesn't "show" I don't see how giving this process a shot would hurt.
 
Accumulator said:
Four Steps:

1) Pressure Washer rinse
2) BHB/foamgun, repeat until vehicle appears clean
3) mitt/foamgun, repeat until confident that vehicle truly *is* clean
4) approximation of GDWM with IUDJ as the "dry" step

Of course, that's leaving out the wheels/wells/undercarriage/engine compartment/jambs which also get done in multiple steps (at every wash). Heh heh, and people wonder why it takes me so long to do a maintenance wash ;)
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Listing it like this, it doesn't appear *too* complicated!

Gearhead: Some day, I intend to get a BHB, maybe tomorrow if they have some at the local car wash/detailing store. But honestly, I wouldn't mind trying this "zero bucket wash" - even went onto their website to buy some (doesn't appear they ship to USA). I'm all for trying different methods and products to see what works best *for me* - Heck, I used to do a weekly wash at the self-serve high pressure car wash place down the street from work. It suited my needs just fine, until they changed their soap to a different kind, and it just didn't work for me since then.

I'm also planning on doing one like you and Accumulator. I'll use his post above as a guideline ;)
 
Accumulator said:
Four Steps:

1) Pressure Washer rinse
2) BHB/foamgun, repeat until vehicle appears clean
3) mitt/foamgun, repeat until confident that vehicle truly *is* clean
4) approximation of GDWM with IUDJ as the "dry" step

Of course, that's leaving out the wheels/wells/undercarriage/engine compartment/jambs which also get done in multiple steps (at every wash). Heh heh, and people wonder why it takes me so long to do a maintenance wash ;)
Click to expand...

I feel better about my process ;)

1. Tires and wheels.
2. HP rinse
3. Foam with the CG CW Red + OPC mixture to further loosen the loosely bonded stuff more and to strip any existing LSP - while it is dwelling, I go around all of the seams with a boars hair brush.
4. HP rinse
5. Foam with Carpro IronX Snow Soap for the embedded (also does a nice job of further stripping anything left) - while dwelling, I generally do the exhaust tips with P21S Polishing Soap.
6. My take on the Garry Dean Perfect Wash Method with the CG CWC. Note - I did not rinse off IronX Snow Soap prior.
7. HP rinse.
8. Pull in garage and, while still wet, "clay" and dry.
 
OK. I've been listening to the podcast (via video, actually) in the background while I'm working. Yes, I can listen and work at the same time. It's a process in itself.

So, I think I finally get this zero bucket wash. FROM WHAT I GATHER, he is doing very much what Acculumator does. Quoting him,

"One of my primary intentions is to *NOT* get dirt stuck to my wash media lest it then get dragged across the paint under some degree of pressure. I "dislodge and flush" the dirt away instead."

and, "Rinse Buckets- The foamgun flushes my BHBs *so* clean that I don't really think there's much "rinsing" going on in the functional sense when I toss BHBs into a Rinse Bucket."

Essentially, instead of dunking a dirty mitt into a RINSE bucket, he (Final Inspection guy) takes the HP water to hose off the dirty mitt. He then reapplies the soap solution as needed. Doing this eliminates the grit guard, dunking, and the rinse bucket.

Can it be said, then, that it's a variation of the 2BW that really just eliminates buckets? Why not!

My variation of the 2BW removes the grit guard and rinse bucket as well. I use one bucket with the soap, and use *multiple* wash mitts. Once a mitt is used for a panel, I stick it in the "dirty pile" bag, or whatever. Get a clean mitt out from a sealed bag, and do another panel. And repeat.
 
The GDPWM takes that one step further by using multiple wash media and, once dirty, replaced with a clean one. No rinse bucket and the dirty media is not allowed to contaminate the clean.

FWIW - I use 660 GSM towels as wash media.
 
mjlinane said:
The GDPWM takes that one step further by using multiple wash media and, once dirty, replaced with a clean one. No rinse bucket and the dirty media is not allowed to contaminate the clean.

FWIW - I use 660 GSM towels as wash media.
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Yeah, that's like what I said :)

660?!?!? Yikes. I haven't tried any MFs that thick
 
mjlinane said:
I feel better about my process ;)

1. Tires and wheels.
2. HP rinse
3. Foam with the CG CW Red + OPC mixture to further loosen the loosely bonded stuff more and to strip any existing LSP - while it is dwelling, I go around all of the seams with a boars hair brush.
4. HP rinse
5. Foam with Carpro IronX Snow Soap for the embedded (also does a nice job of further stripping anything left) - while dwelling, I generally do the exhaust tips with P21S Polishing Soap.
6. My take on the Garry Dean Perfect Wash Method with the CG CWC. Note - I did not rinse off IronX Snow Soap prior.
7. HP rinse.
8. Pull in garage and, while still wet, "clay" and dry.
Click to expand...

Mike, if you don't mind, what do you change when you're just doing a maintenance wash and don't want to strip the LSP?
 
DetailZeus said:
Mike, if you don't mind, what do you change when you're just doing a maintenance wash and don't want to strip the LSP?
Click to expand...

Depending on what the client is paying for, the Capro IronX Snow Foam is the first to drop. Generally replaced with a second round of the first foam. Hey, I like snow foam. ;) (Only half joking with that - I have yet to have a client who was there at that point NOT take pictures of the snow foamed car. Hell, my neighbors have run across the street to find out how I do that.) Don't need it but it doesn't add much time and it certainly feels safer on the paint.

Obviously "claying" is another step that is optional.

Let's say I was just maintenance washing one of MY cars after a week of rain like we are having now. My process would/will be:

1. Tires and wheels.
2. HP rinse
3. Foam with some good shampoo mixed with a little rinseless or waterless. I find that really boosts to the cleaning ability.
4. HP rinse
5. Foam again
6. My take on the Garry Dean Perfect Wash Method with the CG CWC. Note - no rinse prior.
7. HP rinse.
8. Pull in garage and dry using Dodo Juice Future Armor as drying aid. (Really good stuff.) Optional would be using my MetroVac to dry it.

Same number of steps but much faster (no second dwell - maybe 35 min). If it was just lightly dirty, then steps 4 & 5 get dropped. If it is just dusty, then I rinseless them and am done in 20 min.

Was thinking of making a video on this when I wash my DD. (I can already hear the collective groan.) Or not.
 
mjlinane said:
Depending on what the client is paying for, the Capro IronX Snow Foam is the first to drop. Generally replaced with a second round of the first foam. Hey, I like snow foam. ;) (Only half joking with that - I have yet to have a client who was there at that point NOT take pictures of the snow foamed car. Hell, my neighbors have run across the street to find out how I do that.) Don't need it but it doesn't add much time and it certainly feels safer on the paint.

Obviously "claying" is another step that is optional.

Let's say I was just maintenance washing one of MY cars after a week of rain like we are having now. My process would/will be:

1. Tires and wheels.
2. HP rinse
3. Foam with some good shampoo mixed with a little rinseless or waterless. I find that really boosts to the cleaning ability.
4. HP rinse
5. Foam again
6. My take on the Garry Dean Perfect Wash Method with the CG CWC. Note - no rinse prior.
7. HP rinse.
8. Pull in garage and dry using Dodo Juice Future Armor as drying aid. (Really good stuff.) Optional would be using my MetroVac to dry it.

Same number of steps but much faster (no second dwell - maybe 35 min). If it was just lightly dirty, then steps 4 & 5 get dropped. If it is just dusty, then I rinseless them and am done in 20 min.

Was thinking of making a video on this when I wash my DD. (I can already hear the collective groan.) Or not.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Your rinseless video from 3 years ago was solid so I'm sure watching you foam a million times would be just as good B).

Don't mean to derail the thread. IMO I don't see much difference between this zero bucket technique vs just blasting off your mitt with a hose and dunking it back into a soap bucket.
 
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