M3 Car Wash?

[Jason71]

I’ve got one of these for when I’m feeling too idle to get the big power washer out. It’s a cordless power washer, and uses a bucket of water. It’s certainly not as powerful as the big one, but does the job. You can even use it to snow foam.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NAN12FW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_image

Does the battery last long enough for a whole car? And how much water does it get through?

 

[Roy W.]

Does the battery last long enough for a whole car? And how much water does it get through?

The supplied battery is easily enough for doing the whole car. I use between one and two buckets of water on the high setting, depending on whether I’ve used snow foam or not.

 

[MrBadger]

Quick Q - I'm a rented tenant so can't fit an external water source for a hose (I do have a karcher with a foam attachment which is annoying).

You can run a Karcher jet wash from a static water source. I've done it during hose pipe bans using water syphoned from bath into a (clean) wheelie bin, then a flexible pickup from bin via a filter to karcher. I jet washed a whole garage wall, so much larger than a car and was surprised how little water it actually used. Probably more than a couple of buckets, but not significantly more - wheelie bin was still pretty full.

 

[Torokruger]

The supplied battery is easily enough for doing the whole car. I use between one and two buckets of water on the high setting, depending on whether I’ve used snow foam or not.

That seems great especially if you can use a bucket of warm water to clean the crud off your car when the outside hose point and hose are frozen thanks.

Did see it on Fleabay for £90 with good feedback

 

[Jason71]

You can run a Karcher jet wash from a static water source. I've done it during hose pipe bans using water syphoned from bath into a (clean) wheelie bin, then a flexible pickup from bin via a filter to karcher. I jet washed a whole garage wall, so much larger than a car and was surprised how little water it actually used. Probably more than a couple of buckets, but not significantly more - wheelie bin was still pretty full.

Didn't know that. So I guess that means you could use warm water with it. That would be handy.

 

[ACarneiro]

Pretty sure the Instructions Manual says cold water only.
No idea why.

 

[ProfessorK]

I have a handpump and snowfoam coming today... gonna look like a loon pumping it to hell every 5 seconds and swearing.

 

[JCremonini]

I think I might get a manual hand pump. My karcher tends to waste a fair amount of snow foam which ends up on the lawn and the side of the house, A hand pump might allow a better coverage,

 

[KennethS]

I’ve got one of these for when I’m feeling too idle to get the big power washer out. It’s a cordless power washer, and uses a bucket of water. It’s certainly not as powerful as the big one, but does the job. You can even use it to snow foam.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NAN12FW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_image

That looks ideal for when I have the outside water taps off. Just ordered one as an early X-Mas gift to myself. Thanks for the tip!

 

[davidmc]

I have a handpump and snowfoam coming today... gonna look like a loon pumping it to hell every 5 seconds and swearing.

I heard snow foam Hand pumps are great and keep you fit

This guy uses one, and only after 1 month of use! :

 

[spon88]

That looks ideal for when I have the outside water taps off. Just ordered one as an early X-Mas gift to myself. Thanks for the tip!

I use one of these for the weekly mountain bike clean and it's very useful. Might be a bit slower work for a car but I reckon it will get there. Good quality kit. I think Amazon had some on special offer this last few days.

However, with snow foam I'm not convinced to be honest. A good blast with the main hose gets rid of any loose stuff and then the good old two bucket method seems fine and saves a lot of time and hassle. I've also started using a Gyeon product (Wet Coat) for the missus's car which is pretty amazing. 10 minutes during the final rinse and it then beads water for weeks - much faster than traditional polish. I'm going to try it on the Model 3 at some point but need to test a small panel first as it's got PPF and I need to be sure it's compatible.

 

[Tatoo1]

I use one of these for the weekly mountain bike clean and it's very useful. Might be a bit slower work for a car but I reckon it will get there. Good quality kit. I think Amazon had some on special offer this last few days.

However, with snow foam I'm not convinced to be honest. A good blast with the main hose gets rid of any loose stuff and then the good old two bucket method seems fine and saves a lot of time and hassle. I've also started using a Gyeon product (Wet Coat) for the missus's car which is pretty amazing. 10 minutes during the final rinse and it then beads water for weeks - much faster than traditional polish. I'm going to try it on the Model 3 at some point but need to test a small panel first as it's got PPF and I need to be sure it's compatible.

I’ve used WetCoat on my PPF (front half of car) and it has been absolutely fine and beads really well, just make sure you don’t use too much and give it a good blast with the hose.

 

[spon88]

I’ve used WetCoat on my PPF (front half of car) and it has been absolutely fine and beads really well, just make sure you don’t use too much and give it a good blast with the hose.

Thanks that's useful to know. There's a coating (Gtechniq Halo) on top of my PPF which is still beading really nicely so I'll go sparingly. I'm polishing the other car every three months or so to keep a good base layer down and then using the WetCoat in-between after a standard wash; it's good gear and keeps that "just polished" look, especially after rain

 

[Tatoo1]

Thanks that's useful to know. There's a coating (Gtechniq Halo) on top of my PPF which is still beading really nicely so I'll go sparingly. I'm polishing the other car every three months or so to keep a good base layer down and then using the WetCoat in-between after a standard wash; it's good gear and keeps that "just polished" look, especially after rain

It’s great stuff. I also have Halo coated on the the PPF. The other alternative is Gtechniq C2V3 once every month to top up the ceramic coating or Halo on PPF during the winter months. Personally like you I would let the existing coatings do their work and use decent shampoos (I switch between Gtechniq G-Wash and Gyeon Bathe)

 

[spon88]

It’s great stuff. I also have Halo coated on the the PPF. The other alternative is Gtechniq C2V3 once every month to top up the ceramic coating or Halo on PPF during the winter months. Personally like you I would let the existing coatings do their work and use decent shampoos (I switch between Gtechniq G-Wash and Gyeon Bathe)

Ah, good to know about the Halo top up, cheers. The guy who did it said it should last at least 2 years but it's relatively new so he had limited experience. I reckon a top up after a year or so or when the beading drops off (or doesn't!) I'm also using the G-Wash which is good stuff. None of it's cheap but having dropped £55k on a car it's worth a bit of effort! I'll take a look at that C2V3, cheers.