Car washing with no driveway

[Matt..]

Does anyone have any good advice for washing a car without a driveway? I am new to actually caring about keeping my car clean and need to find a relatively good way to wash it without a driveway. Garage jet washes (eg. Tesco) seem a good option, and perhaps going very late so I can hand wash with a bucket.

[edit] just noticed my thread title fail. I don’t think I can fix it.

Edited by Matt.. on Monday 18th December 17:47

[Alex C2]

Optimum no rinse, used with a hand held pre-spray and then a soaked and rinsed grout sponge and a few microfibres for drying. One panel at a time working top down does the best job with the least ill effects of waterless / eco products in my view.

[Red9zero]

Before I had a drive I would go to a nearby jet wash and give it a quick clean over, then park outside the flat we were in at the time (2nd floor too) and finish it off.

[swisstoni]

Alex C2 said:

Optimum no rinse, used with a hand held pre-spray and then a soaked and rinsed grout sponge and a few microfibres for drying. One panel at a time working top down does the best job with the least ill effects of waterless / eco products in my view.

Yep. Brilliant stuff. It doesn’t make sense that you could wash a car without all the paraphernalia that we expect to be needed, but there we are.

[Pica-Pica]

I have always washed my cars on the street.
Wait for rain to soak the car.
Wait for a break in the rain to wash the car (Autoglym shampoo and conditioner)
Allow next rain to rinse off, or maybe rinse off with water.

[aka_kerrly]

My method is to use a 2L snow foam dispenser to pre soak the car (current favourite is Bilt Hammer touch-less) , a pair of wash mits (one for body one for wheels), a 5l water bottle and a battery powered pressure washer.

After the rinse stage I let the car drip dry a bit whilst i take all the wash gear back home and swap to drying towels/finishing products.

[Matt..]

Alex C2 said:

Optimum no rinse, used with a hand held pre-spray and then a soaked and rinsed grout sponge and a few microfibres for drying. One panel at a time working top down does the best job with the least ill effects of waterless / eco products in my view.

This is an interesting option. I'm not really interesting in spending a long time washing the car, I just want it to be acceptably ok. It gets fairly muddy though as it's used to go hiking and therefore goes down some very muddy roads. Perhaps I should jet wash at Tesco to get the majority of the mud off and then finish at home? Or perhaps jet wash at Tesco and take a bucket and mitt to get it slightly cleaner (maybe I'd need to go near closing to get away with that though?).

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

I think if you got it detailed and then ceramic coated it would wash off nicely using a tesco jet wash. I have no personal experiance with ceramic coating though.

[CloudStuff]

I just found that for me "perfect is the enemy of good". I had all the kit at home, but washing my car always got deferred. Auto car wash for me.

For a sub £30k car, where I DGAF about fine scratches or swirls, it's fine.

[vikingaero]

Worx Hydroshot and a 25 litre water container.

[QJumper]

What car is it and how old.

If it's nothing fancy then just run it through a car wash, or one of those hand wash places in supermarket car parks.

[sjg]

+1 for Optimum No Rinse. I have a driveway but it's just a lot easier for a quick wash or when the hosepipe bans are on.

The Worx Hydroshot, Ryobi equivalent or even various Chinese ones that take whatever power tool batteries you have will let you spray water away from a tap. Plenty of other products aimed at mountain bikers, dog/horse types, etc too - Karcher make one, Mobi, Nomad, etc.

[Calza]

Kind of depends on where the car is parked.

I've ran a hose and power cable to the street from a house.

In flats I've been lucky enough to find a tap (often in a binstore) and used that for a quick wash. Never had an issue with either really.

[Matt..]

QJumper said:

What car is it and how old.

If it's nothing fancy then just run it through a car wash, or one of those hand wash places in supermarket car parks.

128ti, 23.
I’ll only really care about it for a year or two. But I’d like to at least try and keep it somewhat clean. It will spend its weekends going down narrow lanes with mud and potholes everywhere.

[Belle427]

Just take it to your local car wash when you can be bothered, they are not all bad so just try to find one that takes some sort of care.
You may even get a free air freshener.

[Panamax]

Pica-Pica said:

Wait for rain to soak the car.
Wait for a break in the rain to wash the car (Autoglym shampoo and conditioner)
Allow next rain to rinse off, or maybe rinse off with water.

^^^ Definitely this. Works a treat.
One bucket of water to do the whole car (not too much shampoo in it)
Use a vigorous sweeping action with the damp sponge to throw off as much crud from the car as possible
When finished, chamois leather round the windows
Job done.

If you rinse, use a watering can fitted with a rose - one can should do the whole car. Or use a bucket of fresh water and just splash it on/sweep it off with a sponge.

[paddy1970]

Worx hydroshot with the bottle attachment.

[gweaver]

sjg said:

+1 for Optimum No Rinse. I have a driveway but it's just a lot easier for a quick wash or when the hosepipe bans are on.

Absolute Rinseless got pumped hard on Youtube this year. Supposedly good, in case ONR is unavailable.

sjg said:

The Worx Hydroshot, Ryobi equivalent or even various Chinese ones

So Chinese, Chinese or even various Chinese then?