No water supply in my building! How do I wash my car?! (adventures of a carwash fail)

[thez99]

Trust me, after he's done with it it will look fine as hell. Thereafter just go to the spray-yourself-washes with the pressure wash gun like once a week. The trick I always use with those, specially if you're really relying on them like say in ur situation or during the winter when regular washing is impossible, I wait until a day when it rains, and use the spray washer while its raining. That way you dont risk driving out into the sun and having the hard-water spots dry on your paint. Best case is to do it on a NIGHT when its raining, less spots and the rain rinses your car further. Just go slow with it and keep it close to the paint, like a foot away, if you gotta put like 4 bucks worth of quarters in, do it, itll keep the car from building up such a shitload of dirt n scum and def get rid of the shit on ur windshield.

It will NOT however get the more detailed stuff, ingrained spots, scratches and other little things you can see more up close, and its also no substitution for window cleaning, etc. Best thing is to do the spray wash on a rainy night, then pray for a cloudyish day the next day and drive somewhere shady or under ceiling and break out the window cleaner, tire dressings, detailer sprays, etc. It wont be a perfect job such as doing the whole wash, dry, detailing spray, wax and tires dressed, but its def better than what you got goin now.

[str8shot]

You should scoop up a decent pump-up garden sprayer from Home Depot or Menards. I used to use one to wash my bike when I lived in an apartment.

You could get two, and pre-mix soap in one.

[mdputnam]

Originally Posted by N55_BBM

Hey guys, so I moved to Harrisburg PA (don't move here) not too long ago and bought a bunch of stuff to clean my brand new recently purchased 135i, including buckets, gloves, shampoo, brushes, etc etc etc.please help before i end up driving my car through a car wash!

Here is an example of a ~$300 do-it-yourself self-contained car wash system:

1. Karcher K 2.38 CCK 1600-PSI 1.25-GPM Electric Pressure Washer with Car-Care Kit and 20-Foot Hose


2. Karcher 2.641-848.0 Foam Nozzle


3. 20 gallon pressurized water tank


4. Hand Cart and straps (strap the pressure tank to the cart)


5. A few pipe fittings, a valve, and a garden hose to fill the tank and conntect it to the pressure washer. You'll need a faucet-to-hose adapter so you can fill the tank from the sink inside your apartment. Add in some buckets, a wash mit, and some microfiber towels and your're in business.


Addition: I just noticed that the pressure washer comes with a detergent injector so you may not need the foam nozzle.

[Red Bread]

ONR still seems like an easier, cheaper and less troublesome solution to this issue. Very happy with it, even with a Jet Black car.