Vahkil Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Just want to get ideas from folks who live in apartments that do not have hose access. This summer I will be leaving the townhouse where I've been living since I've had the LGT and moving to an apartment. I have been spoiled with the luxury of having a hose and the ability to hand wash my car every week or so in the warm months. How do those of you who are obsessive about the cleanliness of your vehicles get by with living in apartments? Offer to pay a friend to use his hose once a week? Go back to the parents house (1hr drive) to wash every week? The car wash places are out of the question as is paying a detailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 When I was apartment living I had no choice but to use the coin-op sprayer wash. I would never use the brush and the car never got fully clean with just the sprayer. So I would just do the best the sprayer could do and then I drove the car back to my covered parking spot at the apartment without drying the car. Once I was home I would use Poorboy's Spray and Wipe to clean up the waterspots and all the stuff the spray missed. Spray and Wipe is a type of waterless wash. It isn't just a quick detailer. It has a lot more cleaning power than that. Anyway, I would use that to finish cleaning up the car and then I'd wax it. Sometimes when I was feeling like not spending the $5 bucks in quarters to wash the car I would actually fill buckets in my bathtub and haul them downstairs to wash my car with. A couple times I had a downstairs neighbor offer to hook a hose up inside his apartment and run it outside for me. I've found that if you are truely obsessive then you will find ways of getting the car done right. More than one way to skin a cat in this business, that's for sure. I wouldn't offer to pay a friend to use his hose. If they were really your friends then they would let you do it for free. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Protect-All Quick and Easy Wash - no hose needed! Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inthedeck Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Hmm...interesting question. What story is the apt? Usually, even apt's have areas where you can attach a hose...maybe get in good with the superintendent of the building, and they will allow you to use their water hose. For me, I live in a coop, and we have a hose in the back of the building that we are allowed to use. There's one in the parking lot, as well...but the one in the back is more convenient. Of, you could get two buckets, add soap to one, and leave the other clean. Or, go to a self-wash carwash...where they have a water spray module, and use your own items to clean it. Good luck, either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iyalla Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 When I was living in an apartment I use to go to a hand wash place. Its a place that has these high pressure hoses that you buy a token for and use yourself. It cost about $3-4. Mine was close by so sometimes I would even soap down my car with a bucket before driving there. It was at a gas station so afterwards I would drive to a corner of the gas station lot and dry, polish and wax down the car. I usaully would see two or three other people doing the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subastew Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I used to just go to my gf's house, but now I have a new gf that lives farther away. I would say if you have a gf or just a friend that will let you use their hose to wash cars, I'd do that first. Now I'm forced to do this... I keep a bucket in my trunk with the following in it: soft washmit, tire scrubber, shammy, wax w/yellow sponges, and buffing towels. When I go to the coin operated sprayer, I rinse high pressure then spray the soap on (no brush) and get my mit wet. I go over it by hand with the mit and do the tires, then high pressure rinse and spot free rinse. I shammy it dry, and if I feel really up to it, I wax and buff it. Trust me, it costs more time than money. God I hate black cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBLU24 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 im way too lazy- i just go to the hand car washes around here about once a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDII Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 When I lived in Virgina the two different apartments I lived in both had wash stations which consisted of a hose coming out of the gound in the corner of a parking lot. check to see if you have one. Need forum help? Private Message legGTLT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mblock66 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Wait for it to rain and wash it in the rain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vahkil Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 There are some good ideas here. I haven't chosen an apartment yet, so I don't know what the situation will be. In the past, I have not had hose access at apartments. Mblock66: I've never considered washing in the rain before and it sounds like a pretty good idea if you are not going to drive anywhere until the weather clears up. I guess the only problem is water spots. I may end up doing the wash at a gas station deal until I can land a house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mblock66 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Honestly I have washed mine in the rain. You get wet but oh well. It cleans the car pretty well. You can avoid spots if you dry it when the rain stops with micro fiber towels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rony Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I live in a townhouse without an external faucet. So, what I did was made an adaptor that allows me to connect a hose to my bathroom sink. Then I run a hose down the stairs and out infront of my Townhouse. Bonus, the water is softened... My Car vBGarage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebadguy Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I go to the coin power washer ones, fill up my bucket with soap and water. Spray down the car and then use my own rag and wash it real well. Then add more coins and spray the suds off. AFter that, move the car out and park to dry with chamois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Protect-All Quick and Easy Wash - no hose needed! Yup, QEW and you can do it without moving your car from it's parking space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robust Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 does that QEW work? i'd be skeptical since it seems to necessitate you drying the car with the grit and crap still on the car. work=cleans without scratching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vahkil Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 does that QEW work? i'd be skeptical since it seems to necessitate you drying the car with the grit and crap still on the car. work=cleans without scratching Yeah, just the thought of QEW scares me. So did the thought of a spherical earth at one time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Yeah, just the thought of QEW scares me. So did the thought of a spherical earth at one time... It works great. I have been using it exclusively for a long time now and I have hot and cold water in the garage. http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10068&highlight=qew Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
941LE Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 QEW and MF towels and a little Quick Detailer afterwards make for some great/quick results. Been using this technique on my black Z28 for summers now after one really good detail each spring and have had nothing but great, deep looking black all summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axis008 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I drive 40 minutes to my buddy's house to wash my car the other week, hahaha. Thing that sucked is, the morning I woke up at his place, someone had shot a BB into my rear windshield. Whole thing was cracked.. UGH Had to drive alllll the way back to school, then had to spend a few hundred getting it fixed. Whooptee doo! Anyways, I gotta try that stuff w/o a hose. Good thing it's raining right now. No cleaning for mee. -ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappy Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Find a touchless car wash. I go once a week. It doesnt get the car spotless but it gets all the heavy stuff off. If I feel like it I can then finish the job with a quick detailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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