Problem; You couldn't help yourself, you have had a great weekend and now the 'old girl' is filthy. You need to give her a good bath without raising the ire of your neighbours.

Prevention ; Don't use the car (Pffffftttt to that!!!).

Solution; That all depends on where you live; given that you could cop a very hefty fine, please call your local council regarding their water Do's and Don'ts. I have listed below some of the areas where high concentrations of cars are known to reside.

NSW (Sydney, Blue Mountains and Illawarra region):

Check out www.sydneywater.com.au

Victoria (Greater Melbourne):

Check out www.melbournewater.com.au

South Australia (Greater Adelaide)

Check out www.sawater.com.au

Western Australia (Greater Perth)

Check out www.watercorporation.com.au

Tasmania

Check out www.hobartwater.com.au

Northern Territory No Restrictions. Good old NT.

Canberra I read that Canberran's can utilise greywater (water collected from the shower or laundry) "...if they are confident that the greywater will not cause any damage to the bodywork." I pulled that little ditty straight off the Canberra Council website. Please don't do this! Check out www.actew.com.au

Queensland

Check out www.brisbanecitycouncil.gov.au

Gold Coasters

Check out www.goldcoastcitywater.com.au

Firstly, before the suds start flying, I would like to point out three issues, that if addressed correctly, will make this a simple task, or a frustrating, where-did-those-scratch-marks-come-from? way to spend your Sunday afternoon.

1. Accept that you are in a compromised position and give your car every chance it deserves. Go and buy the right type of micro fibre wash mitt, some Auto Body Gel and an ultra-microfibre chamois. These three tools will greatly reduce the chance of damaging your surface with contaminated water.
   
2. Prepare your water source. Please have a spare bucket or watering can full and ready to pour. If you can't chamois dry the surface in time, make sure it stays wet to reduce the chance of streaking and water spots.
   
3. Give yourself a game plan and stick to it. Mentally divide your car into easily defined sections (quarters or panels work for me.). Those assigned areas are to be rinsed, washed and dried individually one at a time. Remember; Try to find a happy medium; the larger the sections you decide upon, the more rushed you have to be to dry them. The smaller the sections you choose, the more time and water you will consume.

The old sponge and rag is for the real dirty and greasy spots only!!

To start correctly, grab at least three buckets, a wash mitt or sponge, a good chamois and two old rags. Fill one of the buckets with purpose specific, car wash ( NOT dish washing detergent!) and water, the other two with just plain water.

As per your game plan, pick your section to start on and douse it with plain water. It is not imperative that the car be soaked, but it is important that the area have some water down for two reasons;

1. to act as a further lubricant for your mitt.
2. and to loosen up any baked on debris.

Starting on the highest point, washing the car using gentle even strokes, regularly rinsing your mitt by submersing in the wash solution bucket and shaking it. If the bottom section of your muscle car is particularly dirty, reduce the chance of scratching your paint by rubbing debris-laden water on it, by leaving the heavily soiled sections until last (but, before the wheels).

After sudsing the entire section, rinse off with your remaining bucket, starting with a steady controllable stream at the highest point of your section and working your way down (For rinsing down the roof, try sending the water across from the opposite side of the vehicle).

If you don't have a spare full bucket handy, try and leave a dash of water in the bottom, for that inevitable bit you just missed. Chamois the freshly rinsed section dry, then go and refill your empty rinse buckets with water. Repeat the process with each section, making sure you chamois up water that has run off onto the cleaned and dried sections, don't worry about the dirty sections; you'll get to that!

After you have washed, rinsed and dried all of your sections, you can either tackle your lower, dirtier areas if you decided earlier that they needed special attention, or get stuck into the wheels.

Using an old sponge, mitt or rag that you solemnly vow, will never touch a painted surface again, use the last of the wash solution bucket to wash each rim. If you have enough solution in the bucket to really suds up the wheels, I don't believe there is a need for the pre-rinse that might just be the straw that breaks your neighbours.ummm. I mean, camel's back, in regards to water conservation.

Rinse off after each wheel has been lovingly scrubbed clean. If you like to dry your wheels that's fine, just make sure it is either an old chamois, or clean rag, not your good chamois you use on your panels.

Inspect the vehicle with your chamois and an old rag, open up all of the moveable parts and dry anywhere that water is pooling. Use the chamois for clean areas and the rag for soiled. With the exception of pending rain, never put the car away after this cursory inspection. I insist upon taking the car for a quick blast along some very clean roads, ensuring that through either heat-soak, or high speed cornering, rust-forming water is completely removed. I'm sure your local constabulary will understand!

Upon your return, gently chamois dry any water droplets and start planning your next dirty weekend!!

"Sun", then run your car, NEVER put it away wet.

All of these methods and tips have been pooled together by 3 generations of car freaks. As every motoring enthusiast has different needs for their different cars and locations around our large continent, none of this should be taken as pure gospel. If any of what has been written goes against your regular methods, then think about it, weigh up your options and go with the one that is best for your car.

Happy Motoring, Chris & Dan Bowden.

 

©Bowden's Own