Winter Car Washes
 

What do you guys do to keep your cars clean from winter salt? I just washed my car by hand when it was 42 degrees out...and I don't think that's sustainable :)

I don't think that touchless work very well, but I'm also so anal that I don't want my car scratched up by "soft cloth" washes.

Just wondering what others do to keep their "babies" clean of winter's ick.

Thanks,

touchless

Touchless when in a hurry, but have an indoor hand wash person nearby when I can leave the car for
 

a couple of hours. Touchless is not great, but at least gets the heavy salt off the car and is fast. Would avoid the "soft brush" places.

The car is clear coated
 

and I use Griot's paste wax so I have no fear using an automatic car wash when I want it to look clean. When i'm not lazy, I'll do the "quarter" car wash but take a bucket and mitt to quickly hand wash it after pre soaking and then rinse it.

The car is aluminum and salt & mag chloride should not hurt waxed paint. However, you don't want to delaminate or the aluminum space frame nor let it turn into white dust so it's a good idea to use an automatic car wash to rinse the underbody once a month if you drive in snow & ice prone areas.

never dared try anything besides a handwash...I rather just let the salt stick, even though its
 

probably just as bad as the harsh chemicals used in touchless...Have not washed the car here for over a month, it is absolutely pasty grey and filthy...sucks but when the sun comes out tomorrow and I give it a wash, the guilt just melts away...

I have had no issues

I have had no problems witht touchless. Zaino is durable, but needs reapplication once or twice each
 

winter.

Leaving salt /calcium chloride or road grime on the finish is likely to do more damage than
 

any "harsh chemicals" used in a touchless car wash.

Heck we haven't been able to wash our cars at home for about 3 months now..
 

because of the drought in the Atlanta area. Only professional car washes, that perform some sort of recycling of their water, are still in business, but I think thats most these days.<ul><li><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=3079306">Must be nice to be able to wash your own cars these days..</a></li></ul>

Multiple buckets of clean water and micro-fiber wash mitt done inside the garage...
 

...where the temp is much more moderate vs. outdoors. At a certain point, it really doesn't matter, IMHO, if the wash job looks great, as long as the salt residue is removed---Chances are, the car will just get filthy again after one outing this time of year.