Washing with Hot Water?

B

Bert

Active member
I did a search and could not come up with anything so I figured I would start the thread.



Over the winter I have been washing my car with ONR and using hot water in the rinse and wash bucket just to keep my hands warm. However, I have noticed that the hot water seems to make the ONR wash clean even better than usual and I am considering continuing using hot water even in warm weather. Does anyone on here wash with warm/hot water all year long? Am I correct that hot water will wash better or is it all in my head?
 
Warm water always cleans better. I always fill by buckets up in the house using warm water when washing cars year round.



:)
 
Dunno if it's necessarily better, but I use hot/warm water all the time in the winter. Otherwise, I'm not sure my hands would be able to take the cold.. :)
 
mikebai1990 said:
Dunno if it's necessarily better, but I use hot/warm water all the time in the winter. Otherwise, I'm not sure my hands would be able to take the cold.. :)
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I wear rubber gloves in the winter. Usually the thin disposable ones keep enough of the cold water off to make it bearable. This is in DC though where the winters are generally mild.
 
Macruz19 said:
I always wash in cool water, but is it ok to wash in 90+ degree weather with HOT water???
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Warm/hot water usually does two things. Makes the soap foam better and cleans better.



I always say "warm" because I don;t want someone sticking there hands in scolding hot water. ;)
 
Yep... I washed outside yesterday (around 40 +/-) and used warm water and this is the way i'll go from here on out...
 
Danase said:
Warm water always cleans better. I always fill by buckets up in the house using warm water when washing cars year round.



:)
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Hmmmm. I live on the top unit of my duplex and dragging two full five gallon buckets of water down to the garage has been a pain in the butt this winter. I am half temped to buy one or two of the bucket warmers that cattle/horse ranchers use in the winter. Stick one or both in the bucket(s), wait about ten minutes (maybe vacuum the car or wipe down the dash while waiting) to heat up the water, unplug them and then get to washing.
 
I noticed something interesting. I was recently reading the info about Ultima Paint Guard Wash and it specifically stated to use cool water, I wonder why?
 
BigJimZ28 said:
is it ok?

what do you think is going to happen?
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thats why i'm asking..



1. all the bugs will rinse right off

2. not good for the paint since the surface is already hot.



i'll need to find out and see for myself.....
 
Warm to moderately hot water with ONR works well for me as well.. Keeps my hands (with dish washing gloves) warm and does a great job cleaning the car.
 
Danase said:
Warm water always cleans better.
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And we can thank the increased activation energy for making your lives easier.



Macruz19 said:
2. not good for the paint since the surface is already hot.
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I don't think the warm water/warm panel is the issue or will cause damage. In all likelihood, the temp of the paint in warm climates (during summer months) will be higher than the water most individuals would be comfortable submerging their hand into. What the heat will effect is the rate at which the wash solution dries since you aren't cooling the panel significantly.
 
I've only used hot water with ONR only because it is so cold out I don't want my hands to freeze. However once the weather warms up I plan on using the water right from the hose.
 
Increased activation energy? To be very specific, it's not increasing the activation energy but increasing the available energy so dirt and stuff goes into solution faster.



However I think the word you're looking for is energy of solution, rather than activation energy. We're not trying to react anything on our paint here! Warmer water has more energy which solvates the surface contaminants faster.



Heat doesn't directly hurt the paint as far as I know. At least the amount of heat that we're talking about (working with a rotary of course can produce enough heat to cause damage.) The problem with washing a hot car is that the paint is softened and more susceptible to scratching. Using a warm water solution probably won't heat the paint up enough to make it significantly softer as the whole surface of the car is effectively a heat sink. You would need either VERY hot water or a LOT of hot water to soften the paint but even then, the better washing abilities of the water sort of neglects that. And even then, proper washing techniques should minimize damage.
 
Some have you have danced around this, but what about the thermal shock to the paint of hot water on a cold panel? How about cold water sprayed onto a hot panel in the summer?
 
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