Yikes! It’s that time of year where the sun is shinning but it’s still cold outside. Too cold to wash your car comfortably without turning into an ice cold popsicle.
Some people have it better than other, I may say. Some people live in areas where regular cold temperature is around 4F to 10F. At that point, you can ware as much protective and warm clothing as you can, your toes are still going to be ice cold and your body will still shiver.
Other areas will get around the 33F to 55F. Which compared to 3F, is probably a walk in the park.
Nevertheless, it does present an obstacle when it comes time to wash your car. You want to keep your car clean but you also don’t want to go through pain and agony to clean your car.
In this article, I’ll go over a few key items to minimize the water usage so you don’t freeze while washing your car.
Take Your Car To A Coin Op
If you don’t have access to water or a pressure washer, you can always take your car to a coin operated car wash and use the water system they have there.
A pressure washer will knock off more dirt and grime than what a regular water hose will, which means you’ll have less of a mess to clean off your car.
You can even take a bucket filled with warm water so you can keep your hands semi-not frozen during the wash process.
Waterless Wash or Rinseless Wash
If you haven’t herd about it yet, there’s two other different types of methods to wash your car. The most well-known and obvious method is the bucket and wash mitt system.
This is usually a bucket, a water hose, a sponge and soapy water.
The waterless if much different in terms that it doesn’t need water (aka the name waterless wash). You dilute waterless wash and mist it on the paint then wipe it off with microfiber towels.
Then you have the rinseless wash where you still have a bucket of water and soap, except this time you don’t have to rinse the car (aka the name rinseless wash). The main difference is the soap. Typical soaps create a lot more suds or bubbles when it’s in the bucket of water.
A rinseless wash creates no bubbles or suds, which means you don’t have to rinse the car again to rinse off the soap. You can go right into drying the car.
Always Use Warm Water and Proper Gear
No matter what method you plan to wash your car, always try and use warm water and gloves. This really helps out your hands since they’re going to be in the water the most.
Make sure you don’t add water that’s boiling hot that’s going to burn your skin when stick your hand in there. But enough to keep your hands warm when you’re dunking the wash mitt.
Also, make sure you’re wearing the right gear. Proper shoes, pants, socks, gloves, beanies, sweaters, etc… Just because you’re only going to use your hands doesn’t mean you don’t need to protect your whole body from the cold.