Gelcoat and waterless car wash?

[Murd]

Unfortunately driving season ended and winter arrived quicker than I thought this year and didn’t get to wash bugs and dirt off before putting the car away. I’m still in gelcoat, are there substances in waterless car wash that I don’t want getting into the body before bodywork and paint?
I bought one and when I got home noticed it was wash and wax. Said it had carnuba wax in it. I figured better not to be putting that into crevices in the seams.
Did some research and the interweb says some have silicone which I know not to go near.

What’s safe to use to wash in my garage? Thankfully heated.

[steno]

I guess dishwashing soap would be ok. It’ll break down and oils and such on the Gelcoat.

[toadster]

I posted this a while back but I figure it's a good primer for washing your car and not having to use a hose (some of you winter states will appreciate this) :)

Here's the ingredient list:

Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine - 32 oz. (http://amzn.to/1dhaTRa) $17
The Grit Guard Insert (Red) - Fits 12 inch Diameter Bucket (http://amzn.to/1aaUG0S) $9
Encore 30448 3.5-Gallon White Industrial Bucket (http://amzn.to/1ksZbZP) (or get a 5-gallon orange one from Home Depot) :) $6
Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt (http://amzn.to/186Eb5f) $5
Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Cloths (Pack of 3) (http://amzn.to/11zh3r5) $8

Your investment of $45 gives you 32 car washes @ ~ $1.40/ea and your car will shine like crazy!

Essentially you're using only a few gallons of water, you can wash your car in a garage if you have snow outside :)
Here's a good autogeek writeup on how to use it http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html

We use it exclusively on all 5 of our cars now, just awesome stuff and you only have to use a few gallons of water - no hose! :thumbs:
and here are some winter washing tips! http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/winter-washing-with-optimum-no-rinse-onr/

hopefully this helps - post your own winter regimen - I'd love to learn a few tricks as well!

[frankeeski]

For years I cleaned my gelcoat FFR with a synthetic chamois. I would wet it first and after cleaning a panel or two would re-wet and wring it out, then continuing to the next set of panels. Your body and paint guy is going to prep the body and wash it down to remove any grease and wax before body working so I don't know if it really matters.

[NAZ]

When I flew search & rescue we got a lot of bugs smashed on the aircraft flying low in the summer. We used Pledge to clean bugs off the aircraft and to leave a protective layer to help prevent them from sticking. Yep, the furniture polish (not sure why they call it polish -- it's more like a wax). It never hurt the paint or plastic and dissolved the bugs.

Like frankeeski said, you have to clean all the dirt, oils, and wax from the body before you paint (before you sand) so not sure you need to be super careful about waxes getting on the gelcoat.

[Olli]

Use a glass cleaner such as Windex.

Olli

[rich grsc]

Use a glass cleaner such as Windex.

Olli
Yep, windex works good for getting rid of bug splats

[Murd]

Thanks all. I got’r cleaned up.
To any of the bodywork pros, would you suggest/not suggest using any of the waterless car wash products on a bare gelcoat body?
Jeffs?

[Jeff Kleiner]

I don't know what they are made of. Stick with something simple and benign; a couple drops of dish soap in a 5 gallon bucket of hot water, Simple Green, Windex, cheap Vodka.

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

Just remember that anything you apply to the fiberglass body must be removed when you get ready for body work and paint.

[Murd]

Thanks guys. I’ll keep it simple.

[Murd]

BTW Jeff,
Resident of Ontario, Canada. No such thing as cheap vodka, or cheap anything really....

[steno]

Just don’t use Tito’s! Can ya say it? Tito’s Tito’s Tito’s !!!