So guys, I mostly work out of my garage. I don't care what hits my garage floor, be it ONR, Meg's Super Degreaser, under carriage dressing, etc. When you mobile guys go on site, wat do you do as far as the customer's floor is concerned? Summer's easy, because of all the extra water used in a traditional wash, and you aren't in the garage. This entire detail will be carried out in a heated, insulated garage. I was thinking about pulling the vehicle out, laying down a large tarp over the floor, then pulling the vehicle on top of that. Or do nothing at all, and maybe just use some ONR and my extractor to extract whatever gets on the cement floor. Thoughts, suggestions appreciated. TIA!
The main thing I'm worried about is cleaning the wheel wells/tires, and the cleaners potentially messing up the floor.
I ask permission if it's ok if the garage floor gets a little wet. No problems with anyone yet--after all it IS a garage.. But I guess my solution would be do everything that drips outside, dry the car outside and then bring it in. And make sure when I leave no water is on the ground. Use an old MF or something :shrug:
Well, I think he asking due to the winter. It is currently around 10 degrees here in New York, and Minnesota is typically colder than New York.
Environmental Commitment You should never assume that aqueous solutions can be disposed of untreated via the storm drainage system. Pending regulations are in place (Clean Water Act and Ground Water Pollution) to limit the amount of contaminated water that is allowed to be discharged into storm water systems (i.e. street vehicle washing) Always responsibly dispose of all non-biodegradable materials from your vehicle cleaning in a responsible manner. Waste run-off must be disposed of in accordance with federal, state and local environmental control regulations.
I would be using a water containment system due to the fact of county/city/ state laws about run off and also keeping the customer garage floor clean.
Correct. It's well below zero in the morning (the past few days have been in the -12 to -28 degree fahrenheit range) and on a WARM day, I can expect a high temp of 10-15 degrees F. So pretty much EVERYTHING has to be done inside to prevent stuff freezing on the surface on the surface of the vehicle. I like the cardboard idea. That should work very well.
If I were doing a traditional wet wash, I would look into that. But an ONR wash doesn't really necessitate a reclaim system, since all contamination will be in the wash bucket, not on the floor.
True, but what if the customer doesn't want one to ONR the car in the garage? It's just a idea, the ways things are changing these days. I missed it when one can wash anywhere anytime with anything and no one will say anything about it.
I don't think that's the case at all. There are VERY limited options as to how one's car can be taken care of in freezing climates. This is the tradeoff to not having to drive the vehicle on winter roads (and accumulating salt under the vehicle) between my house and the customers. She asked if I could do it there. I told her yes, but this is the way it will be done. She agreed. Right now I am just trying to make it as accomodating as possible. If she didn't want me to ONR in her garage, and didn't want to have the car out in the winter, then I would have wished her good luck, and moved on.
I don't think ONR would really be a problem. What about a bunch of old towels wrapped around the base of the wheels? A tarp sounds like a good idea.
If I'm careful with ONR, I can do it with no spillage onto the floor. I could wash a vehicle on a showroom floor at a dealership. But dirty wheel wells where I plan on using degreaser, that's a different story. My thoughts on the tarp were that it's going to be so minimal (the amount of chemicals/contamination coming off the vehicle), that a tarp would be perfect (essentially like that reclaim mat, but without the sides.) It should hold whatever falls off the vehicle, and won't leave marks on the floor. That's really what I was most afraid of. The degreaser discoloring the cement floor.
Maybe you could custom fabricate a make-shift reclaim system for just the wheels? My guess would be to purchase a large tarp and cut it into four sections and then just buy some sort of foam for the berms.
onr works wonders in the winter. next winter i might look into making my own wash matt like the one seen above
