Here's the situation:

Temp outside: 5 degrees

Original car color: Black sapphire

Winter car color: Pearl white

The car is covered in salt. Here in Chicago, NaCl doesn't seem to be in shortage. What steps are you guys taking to remove this? The Lexus dealer won't even consider washing it since it's way below 32. I usually only use touchless washes, but this stuff is caked on the car.

 

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WASH THE CAR!! Trust me even if you use hot water, by the time it drips to the floor it shouldve been frozen already, the only way is if you have a heated garage you can slowly wipe it off inside.

 

Bring it to a car wash that hand-dry your car when it's a little bit warmer out. Depending on your location, I use the one at the corner of Roselle Road and Algonquin Road and I like it a lot.

 

Hey Wai, is the car wash you go to a hand car wash or machine wash? I'm not to far from there. Oh, and whats the name of it?

 

Is that place in Schaumburg?

I know of a hand wash in Downers Grove....

 

Hi Lupin, it's a machine wash but it's not a typical gas station kind. The car moves thru a 50-60 ft long tunnel on rail and you can watch it from inside the building through the glass. It's pretty awesome.

As the car exits the tunnel, it will be blown dried then hand-dried.

Sorry I forgot the name of the place..... It's at slightly to the west of Roselle on North side of Algonquin.

 

It's close to Schaumburg, but not quite. See my response to Lupin above.

 

I'll take anything at this point, I just want to get some of this off... I'm not asking for a perfect wash, just something. I might powerwash it myself down the street from my house...

 

Don't powerwash it. It will surely freeze over your car.

I've got a great hand car wash I go to in Libertyville. Let me know if you want the details.

It's called Auto Expo and Detailing.

 

Yeah I agree. Your doors might freeze. It happened to me before and it was embarrassing.

Whatever wash you plan on doing, blow dry is a must, then hand dry the remaining water.

 

Well if I am right down the street, drive it home and then let it sit in the garage (heated) and can dry it then.. I dunno, I just hate looking at it like this...

 

If your garage is heated then do that. You need to get rid of the salt or it will eat away at the finish. Wash it, then take it back to your heated garage, and dry it thoroughly.

 

Uuuuuuhhhh.... NO! Do NOT try to wipe it off without soap and water. The guy has black onyx paint. Your suggestion is almost as bad as rubbing the car down with sandpaper.

 

What about a waterless wash or QD product applied in the garage? You said its heated, and there's little to no water involved, so nothing gets wet...

 

You must be very young to think the old fashioned conveyor car wash that used to be the norm 30-50 years ago is 'awesome'. That's the way all automatic car washes used to be, before the gas stations figured out it was a moneymaker to wash cars, and the boutique 'hand wash' stands opened up. Unfortunately almost all of these conveyor systems use the revolving brush method of getting the crud off your car. I would never recommend putting a car through one of these. It is guaranteed to put marks on your car. Stay away. A conveyor belt system is cool for a Krispy Kreme doughnut, but not for a car wash.

If the car is caked in salt you need plenty of fresh, clean water to dissolve it and flush it away. A waterless type wash is just asking to scratch and scrape the surface. Just my opinion.