Two Bucket

I use the two bucket with grit guards, but wondering if the two bucket system is meant for all wash mitts/sponges.

I have been using the microfiber bone sponge. What I'm finding is I'm losing all my suds. They are going into the other bucket. Is this sponge not meant for two buckets, maybe?

 

I wash mostly with a Grout Sponge and still use the 2 bucket system with grit guard.

 

do you get alot/or any suds in the pre-rinse bucket?

 

You mean, the rinse bucket? Yes, a lot of suds go there, along with all the grime, which is a good thing. I use Ultima Paint Guard Wash (shampoo), which gives endless suds, so running out is never a problem for me.

 

Sorry, yes the rinse bucket. I just tired P21S Bodywork Conditioning Shampoo for the first time. It seems good. It had a nice gel feeling to it. But it didn't leave lots of suds on the car while washing.

 

it could be you mitt but more likely is your process? for me, it i dunk my mitt in my rinse bucket then move it right into the suds bucket the mitt is way to 'wet' to absorb any suds. after rinsing your mitt make sure you squeeze out the excess water b4 going for more subs.

 

well I have a grit guard in both buckets so I rub it against that in the rinse bucket, making sure I get all dirt off then dip in the sud bucket. This is wrong to do then?

My sponge gets black and I don't think just dipping it will remove the black from the sponge.

 

I have found the same with that soap. It does leave a good amount of slickness though.

 

P21S Bodywork Conditioning Shampoo is one of my favorite soaps to use.

 

I hate suds. I don't normally use a traditional two-bucket method wash, unless I'm prepping a car for a polish job. But when I do, I put all the water in the bucket, then add the soap, then carefully mix the soap in so as to *not* create suds.

Suds prevent the soap solution from flushing away grime/dirt from the paint. I saturate the wash media with soap solution, then squeeze it out as I pass it over the paint, causing the solution to immediately flush away whatever the media has dislodged off the paint. This prevents it from getting trapped and swirling the paint. I then HP rinse what I just washed, as well as any panels that had the flushed stuff run down/over it.

Then I dunk the media back in the bucket, drag it across the grit guard a few times, and do it again.

Suds tend to stay wherever they are on the car, preventing the solution from doing it's "flush away" thing.

I also don't do traditional washes like this until after I've HP rinsed, then a layer of foam from the cannon, then a very thorough HP rinse. This also helps remove the vast majority of the stuff on the paint that can swirl during the wash.

But suds.... suds are eeeeevil.

 

I'm gonna have to give this a try.

 

Aww SuperB, why you hatin on the suds?

I hear you though. The second the suds on my wash mitt turn to foam I head for the rinse bucket. To me, there's a balance between wash solution and suds. When I first touch the wash solution drenched mitt to the paint it's kinda like wetting the paint or even "spreading the polish over a 2x2" area". Once that's done, I flip the mitt over to the other side and go over that same area. At that point, we're talking maybe 50/50 solution to suds ratio, where the sud bubbles are still large and not foamy.

HAHA, I can't believe I likened the washing to the polishing...I needs da help!

 

That sounds like a very good method, too. My anti-suds method is just one way to wash... I know you guys have very good/safe/effective methods, too, that include suds. I'm sure many of em are better than mine.

 

I'm a fan of suds/foam. Not in excess in the bucket though.

I've seen it act as a carrier for grit. You're washing down your car and you've got a bit of foam on a panel, right? I've seen grit trapped in or on top of that foam which is slowly gliding down to the ground.

If you are working on a hot day or a hot surface this can become a problem however as if it dries up on you it obviously got re-embedded onto the paint.

I'll have to try your way Supe. The ultimate quest to find out if suds are truly evil. hrmm.

 

Hello every1.. in my opinion, SUD or NO SUDS, it;s really important to have a very slick wash solution. High lubricity is important. when i feel the water it should be slimy feeling. I think this is the absolutely, most importantly must have in the car wash soap or solution in your bucket. Helps lubricate the dirt in the finish as not to scratch the paint while dragging down the mits or sponge.. Just my opinion of course.

 

Yeah, there are so many good, effective ways to wash.

Honestly, I can't take credit for *any* of the things I do to detail; everything I do is just a huge comglomeration of other people's methods and techniques.

Some of the stuff I've made up along the way, but it's all based on other people's ideas and experiences.

My "dislodge and flush" method mentioned in my first post in this thread is a variation of Accumulator's "dislodge and flush" method he uses a foam gun for.

I've just been trying to combine a bunch of different techniques to minimize the potential for marring to the minimum.

*Everything* that is on your paint is abrasive during the wash. Doing whatever you can to minimize the amount of travel those particles do across your paint under the pressure of a wash media is gonna help reduce the potential for marring. Using minimal mechanical action to dislodge them, then immediately flushing them away (off of the car completely) works pretty well.

It's kinda like you're making an abrasive car polish when you wash your car. Your soap solution is the lubrication, and the stuff on your car is the abrasive. Putting a wash media fulll of the lubrication on the paint, then rubbing it around, completes the abrasive action. Every car polish has lubrication in it (*much* more so than the slipperiest car soap solution), yet they are still able to scratch the paint (that's how abrasive polishes work, after all). The only real way to prevent it is to remove the abrasive from the equation: use the slightest amount of mechanical action possible to release the particle from the paint, then get rid of the particle before it can be used as an abrasive.

How ONR is able to do it's trick is a miracle to me, although I do get some marring with it. Most people don't, but I do.

 

I think I need to utilize the PW more a la SuperB method, but just invest in a muffler for it, LOL. I think I'm going to go back to adding an ounce of ONR to my rinse bucket. Not sure why I stopped doing that recently.

 

If you do not like suds, consider 1z Pearl Shampoo. It is a low sudser and seems to rinse more like ONR in the way it sheets. It seems a cross between soap and ONR.

 

I will have to give this a try. Which soap do you use for this method? I'm sure some work better then others.

Sounds like onr would work good. Last night I set out to wash my work truck and by mistake I used onr instead of the traditional soap. I'm like where the heck are the suds!! this was the first time I used this product. I found it to work pretty well. I did hose down the truck first and then used the foam master foam gun. Again I'm like where are the suds!!

I never knew suds was evil. You would think using the foam cannon, the way it puts a thick layer of foam you be safe to not have any swirling but i see your point how it would then be like a compound so to speak. What if lub to dirt is greater in ratio?

 

imho the 2 bucket system should be used with any and all wash mediums.