# Rinseless Wash - Do I need to manage my expectations?



## Mekerz (7 mo ago)

I guess I'll start with a bit of background in regards to my attitude to car cleaning and my setup. I like to have a clean car, but living in a flat with no access to an outdoor tap means I don't particularly enjoy the process as I have to drape an extendable hose outside my window and I have to cart everything down two flights or stairs (including a Greenworks GDC40 battery pressure washer).

With the current hose pipe ban and a general curiosity to rinseless washing to see if it could indeed save me time, I did some research and picked up some McKee's 37 N-914 and their big gold sponge. Now my research led me to believe that rinseless washing is time effective, technically the safest wash method (based on encapsulation of dirt according to Yvan Lacroix) of washing and better environmentally.

Just washed the car using a two bucket method with 1:256 ratio of N-914 in both, and pre-sprayed with the same diluted solution using a battery powered sprayer.

In general I found the car to look clean from 2ft away, but the rinseless method just wouldn't shift the blobs of what look to be the typical organic matter you get on horizontal panels or red bug guts on the bumper. I was also really nervous cleaning the lower/sil sections of the car as one wipe had me checking the sponge and there was a lot of surface contamination on the face of the sponge.

So I guess I'm asking is my experience that of others with rinseless wash?

Pictured of the contamination left provided


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## Kenan (Sep 7, 2015)

I'm new to Rinseless washing (only done it twice so far) but I have a bottle of it mixed up for use when I spot marks etc. Now yesterday I found similar spots on my car and also some greasy finger marks where the kids had got in the car which I sprayed and then wiped clean with a microfibre cloth which removed both. 

Maybe the sponges are more gentle then a microfibre? Or the deposits on my car were newer but might be worth a spot clean with a microfibre?


Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk


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## Mekerz (7 mo ago)

In a traditional wash, I find those contaminates left behind in my picture would be removed during the pre-wash stage as I typically use Bilt Hamber Touch-less, and that weakening the contamination with the combination of the pressure from the washer would remove these things.


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## Kenan (Sep 7, 2015)

Mekerz said:


> In a traditional wash, I find those contaminates left behind in my picture would be removed during the pre-wash stage as I typically use Bilt Hamber Touch-less, and that weakening the contamination with the combination of the pressure from the washer would remove these things.


I agree, but you are using on of the best pre-washes and high pressure water. For me Rinseless is great alternative, but will never replace a full wash. 

Last time I did the car I used Touch-Less at 4% in a pump sprayer, then rinsed down with a garden hose/sprayer. Then followed with the Rinseless wash and came up really well. For me the condition of the car will dictate what tyre of wash steps are required. 

Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

Try a spray bottle with a strong solution 1:20 spray it on the stains and let it soak. Or just spray a bit of apc on them then rinse it off with the ONR.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Don't manage your expectations - manage your TECHNIQUE!

If you have organic stuff like bug splats etc or maybe some pollen spots, then pre-treat with a little spray of bug remover for a couple of mins. If you have some stubborn dirt, often around lower panel edges, then pre-spray a fine mist of pre-wash like a 1:20/1:10 mist of Surfex. I also use a really good quality pump spray to pre-soak panels with a wash strength (1:256) mix of ONR if the car is quite dirty or I'm nervous about marring eg our MX-5 literally has THE softest paint ever and marks just by looking at it, so I always pre-mist panels even hen not very grubby. You may also need to do the dirtiest panels more than once to get them completely clean - I often find the lower doors on my higher mileage car needs this when its been out in the weather and done some miles. I just take my time and repeat where needed.

If you get lots of surface crud on the sponge then just stop wiping and rinse out the sponge. I use a greout sponge but slice both sides with a very sharp knife about 10mm deep, into a lattice of small squares on both sides. This helps trap crud inside the sponge rather than keep it on the surface, and it just rinses out when I rub the sponge on the grit guard. If you are really worried or the car is really filthy then use a 2nd rinse bucket for this, but I rarely need a 2nd buckt with ONR these days - it has polymers in it that encapsulate the grime and sink it to the bottom of the bucket under the grit guard very quickly.

Another way to do it is with plush MF cloths folded in half twice. That gives you 8 clean sides of cloth to use - use each side for 1 pass on a small panel or half a door etc and then simply re-fold it so the dirty surface is folded away. A couple of MFs will probably do a typical car. 

Just remember that you aim is a clean car and not simply to repeat the same process you use with the 2BM and foams and hoses etc. Keep reading as many thousands of people have spent many years perfecting rinseless washing techniques and products. Just experiment and within a few washes you'll work out how to handle different situations. I now much prefer rinseless washes during winter, exactly when most people would freak, simply because I can get 2 cars done properly in less time than it takes to get all the kit out to do a traditional wash.


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## Podie (Mar 5, 2019)

Bigpikle said:


> Another way to do it is with plush MF cloths folded in half twice. That gives you 8 clean sides of cloth to use - use each side for 1 pass on a small panel or half a door etc and then simply re-fold it so the dirty surface is folded away. A couple of MFs will probably do a typical car.


Yeah, first time i think I used ever cloth I had  

I found rolling the MF cloth into itself as you move along works well.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Kenan said:


> I agree, but you are using on of the best pre-washes and high pressure water. For me Rinseless is great alternative, but will never replace a full wash.
> 
> Last time I did the car I used Touch-Less at 4% in a pump sprayer, then rinsed down with a garden hose/sprayer. Then followed with the Rinseless wash and came up really well. For me the condition of the car will dictate what tyre of wash steps are required.
> 
> Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk


I have also done the same but with AF when It was a bit grubby, knocked off a fair amount of dirt prior to going in with the ONR. Thankfully my mums car was relatively clean, Farmers are ploughing the fields and even though were 15 miles from the coast brought a load of seagulls over, peppered the bonnet and roof. So was out with the ONR, some shady weather allowed me to presoak several panels at once. Washing machine has been none stop last day as got my own car prepped for winter, then as I was about to bring in my cloth's a bird had done its business down one of them too which when it hangs vertically is some feat.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

If you have a container or a bucket with the gamma seal lids, could always consider having a pre-spray of AF or Touchless etc, etc in a pressure sprayer and nip to a self serve car wash and use that and rinse down before moving it aside in case anyone else wants to use it, then get a second pressure sprayer with your rinseless and use the bucket or container to add water and rinseless to the bucket and wash like you would at home.


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

I found this to be less of an issue with Feynlab Pure Rinseless (but that'll go through a wax with ease); with the less aggressive Rinseless washes I used I found that I pre-treated stuff with a citrus (Först) and it came off easy with no effort.


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

Does absolute strip wax ? I’m assuming the M&K one (ocean) doesn’t


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

I've been using this: Bug Remover for bugs and organic stains works well and is super to rinse off it doesn't foam up, also it doesn't effect lsp's.


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## Jinky777 (7 mo ago)

Suppose living in a flat creates issues perhaps you need to meet in the middle somewhere.Perhaps use a garage forecourt hot water lance, maybe spraying the bottom half with bh Surfex at the garage to take off the heavy dirt probably cost about a £1 then come back to the flat and do a rinseless wash with less dirt on


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Jinky777 said:


> Suppose living in a flat creates issues perhaps you need to meet in the middle somewhere.Perhaps use a garage forecourt hot water lance, maybe spraying the bottom half with bh Surfex at the garage to take off the heavy dirt probably cost about a £1 then come back to the flat and do a rinseless wash with less dirt on


I'd honestly say you'd be best using Feynlab Rinseless to start with, it's so much more potent than any of the others. That, at the garage forecourt, would be a winner.


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## Geiri (Mar 3, 2020)

Just add a little bit of surfex to your rinseless solution bottle and let it dwell a little before wiping. Or pretreat the panels with a 2-4% surfex.


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