SAFE WINTER WASH! Beginner guide to coin-operated car wash  

Pro tip: if hand washing isn't allowed, just go on non busy days and wash with hand. If there is no one waiting there will be no problem. Doing since years never had problems :)

This video will help a lot of people that live in snow country, much respect Yvan for sharing this, by the way I tried your rinseless wash on my wife’s car interior and was really impressed, thank you Sir 👍😁

Man, this video is amazing. I’ve been sneaking in my bucket w/ grit guard and doing a hand wash at my coin-op car wash. I didn’t think about doing a pre-foam while waiting in line, pressure rinse, and doing a rinse less wash at home. That’s amazing, thank you so much for showing this off.

That's real dedication to detailing in those temperatures Yvan 🥶

This is an awesome video. Real life conditions. Thank you Ivan and Nick!

Really Informative video here. Great work Yvan.

I know you know what you're doing. Makes no sense for me. I see a lot of unnecessary work and torture. As a DIYer, I would ceramic coat on a nice temperature day or in the warmer months and definitely not in these conditions. I wash my car a little differently at that type of facility only in the cold winter months. I enjoy your videos. I'm always getting great information and tips. You are a master detailer and I respect that absolutely. Great products too.

I'm binging all your video on the DIY Detail channel here, and it's great! Another good very informative clip, i live in a cold weather climate, and it's winter here too! My car is also dirty (maybe not so much :) , just waiting for Rinsless Wash to come - and i just can't wait for my first Rinsless Wash (doing it in my garage), thank you Ivan and Nick for your awesome work!

As a detailer (hobby) I am interested in rinseless wash however this video made it complicated...I wash getting comfortable with having watched previous videos you have but this has sent me to the starting position again!!

Well done! Your rinseless washseries has been an eye opener. Would appreciate a listing of "hard products" that you use: stepstool, pressure sprayer can, seat-crawler used for low level work, and chemicals in order.

Awesome Video, Thanks.

Some excellent thoughts and pointers on winter washing here in Canada, so thanks for that! Your comments on your son in law's workplace and the environment his car is exposed to hit close to home. I work in an industrial area of my city, and our shop yard is adjacent to an asphalt production plant. Airborne tar fumes and aggregate dust make my weekly wash a saddening experience as this garbage is all bonded to my paint by the weekend. I'm going to look over some more of your videos to see if I can find more helpful tips. Thanks so much!🙂

Great video, I have a CX5 so it was very timely for me. I am in southern US so I hope to not have quite a mess when I wash mine as a rule 😀. Got a gallon of Rinseless wash so I'm prepared.

Great video!💯💪🏼

Hi folks, this is an eye opener! Im from Singapore and its never winter here so its really cool to see how you guys do this there. Also how rinseless can get a lot done! Wonderful video, i love it!

Finally! One of the most neglected topics gets it shine! Thank you DIY 🔥 I’m surprised you used the soap. Aren’t these too concentrated for coated cars? And was all clean diluted 15:1 in the pump sprayer?

Thanks for the video DIY Detial team. As always full of great information and tips. I do 100% rinseless and have used a marolex pump sprayer to 'pressure rinse' with DIY rinseless. I use this method to rinse strong tire prep chemicals before reapplying a new tire shine and even to activate diy quick beads or gyeon wetcoat without issues/streaking on the wheel. Not the most ideal scenario, but it works for me when there is no access to a water hose or pressure washer and the nearest coin op is 30 mins away. Keep up the great work DIY Detail. Looking forward to those sister company pro coatings to reach Australia

Fantastic video. Thanks.

Thank Yvan. Finally info on how to work your car in Québec winter. I really appreciate your knowledge ❤. The only downside now its I have to find a garage to work in 😂. Continue your good work and im looking forward on a distributeur for your product in Québec. Thanks all for sharing your tips, I will get me a worx washer. Bonne journée et bonne période des fêtes 🎉

I not sure if you were being intentionally oxymoronic and facetious with driving 20 miles to and from a coin-op just to come home and hand wash the car anyway. However, I really like the camera work that went into this video. Thank you!

Pro Tip - At the car wash, start at the roof and work down toward the wheels last. This way you are working with what is mostly the cleanest towards the dirtiest. Plus all the soap and rinse water coming down cleans the areas below it.

Yvan, I also wanted to ask. Are you making a video on safe snow removal from the car? Basically the hood, roof and upper side body or tailgate areas of the car or SUV. Snow Brush vs Snow Foam blade vs Leaf Blower or other ideas?

Very impressed with the rinseless wash. A cost effective product. If you calculate cost to benefit, rinseless wash is winning.

What's really interesting is the car in the beginning of the video had ice and snow buildup on the rear deck, then when he pulled out the sprayer it was pretty clean already, must of prewashed it

Great video! Love all the commentary! Quick tip, lower the volume of your interim music, it's incredibly loud compared to the voice. Constantly lowering and raising the volume. Better normalization will help you with the content! Great work

Great Job Mr. Ivan. Love the red gloves.

I don't ceramic coat my car because l actually enjoy polishing it by hand, with good ol turtle wax.😮 Thanks for the video, From Feilding, New Zealand .

Love the way that sprayer foams the all clean! If my car isn’t ceramic coated yet but I have quick beads and ceramic gloss on it, is it safe to foam it all clean like this for winter salt removal prior to wash/rinse?

My commute from the "pay and spray is only 2 miles. I do a similar regimen as Yvan for winter detailing. I bring wheel cleaner, rinseless wash and spend about $5 to $6 to rinse the car down. I use two buckets for rinseless, one for the initial wash, then go over the panel again using the rinseless wash from the second bucket.

Greetings. This was always a place for the guys so it’s been hard for me to break that mindset.

I liked this video. The one thing I do that no one seems to mention, and so maybe I am wrong, is to use the rinseless sponge to clean the rubber on the wiper blades. Not a good idea?

Insightful video with some ideas that had never crossed my mind. Will be helpful in northern MN. On a ceramic coated vehicle, what is the harm in using a "basic" touchless drive through wash that is just a wash and spot free rinse? (not using the car wash's pre soak or sealant) Would there be a way to incorporate this?

Great work Thanks. I have to be honest after I got the vehicle that clean in the winter I would feels so guilty to drive it until spring. The end of spring.

Hi from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 .. love the show 👍🏼 are you guys selling your products in the UK ?

Thanks Yvan great video

Spraying the vehicle with rinseless wash before driving away from the pay-it wash has to be one of the best advice I learned on one of your videos a few weeks ago. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised the car was still wet when I pulled the car in the garage.

Great video. I would like to see how best to winter wash without the pressurized containers. Not everybody has those in their arsenal.

Yvan, the recommendation I would make is use battery powered pressure washer like the Hydroshot from Worx instead of the Keg to rinse off iron remover residue. It will provide far better flow rate for rinsing (0.6 gpm) and because it draws water from a 5 gal bucket, you can use warm water from the sink. I usually use rinseless in the bucket at a slightly higher dilution ratio (300:1) in order to avoid problems with the pump. I also find 5 gal is more than enough for a complete rinse (including tires) for a small to medium sized vehicle.

WOW! So well explained! Tks Yvan. I like the model of pressurized spray bottle you were using. Where can I get one? I am not verry far (in Quebec) from where you seem to be. Is there a possibility I can assist to your next live video? Standing behind and having the pleasure to see you working on the vehicle, and off line asking some questions? Again thank you.

Excellent video - one question; those red gloves; what kind and make gloves are you wearing? Thank you as my garage is not heated. Just always looking for an edge to keep moving

This is coming for Me soon in Connecticut. In the past, I've gone to the car wash and simply used water to blast off any heavy crud. Now I know a new way to do it. Thank You, Yvan. That Mazda needs some protection. 😬

Great video. Looks like you used the AllClean as like a pre wash. What was your dilution ratio? Thanks

I passed a diy jet wash bay today that had a separate snow foam lance so may give it a try to see how well,it works

Great video...not sure if I missed it but as you're going around with the decontamination towel do you ever rinse it periodically?

Thanks for the valuable information. I have a few questions: 1. Do I need to wash my car with two sponges: one for the upper part of the body, the second for the lower dirty part of the body and wheels? 2. After removing metal particles, we apply shampoo to the body, and do not wash it off with a sponge, right?

Das ist so ein tolles und wertvolles Video. 👍🏼😀 Ich stelle es mir sehr schwer vor, den Flugrostentferner ohne Hochdruckreiniger komplett vom Auto zu bekommen. Da benötigt man ja sehr viel Wasser in einem sehr sehr großen Sprüher.

I have been taking mine to the spray bays in the winter for years. I knock the salt and stuff off from winter and then back to garage for rinse less wash

I use the brush but first I spray it down with the pressure washer to get the dirt and grit out of it. It is the only way to clean the film from or you might as well go through the automated one

Great video. I live in Upstate NY and just started taking care of a Black ceramic coated truck. I have access to a car wash that retracts all brushes while I go thru. Would the above procedure still be viable. Pre-foaming before entering is a great idea. What was the outside temp the day you filmed this? I'm assuming the best way to dry it off below freezing is to get a blower on it as soon as possible? Thanks for your advice.

I just don't think I could deal with that type of winter. It gets semi cold here in South Carolina but the snow is what would really drive me nuts. We get days drop into the 40's sometimes and the very rare freezing at night. Today was 66 but rained unfortunately! That's a lot of work over there.

Great video! Can we use that decontamination method on ceramic coated car? Is this safe for ceramic coating?

Cool 😎 !

Ugh, this reminds me how much I hate winter! All that dirty ice build up in the wheel wells, can't wait! 😭

To me the entire point of winter cleaning is to remove layers of heavy salt and grime that can make corrosion etc happen or sensors go afoul, or otherwise make future cleanings more difficult. I go to a wash with pre-soak option on the dial. After that I either go straight to HP soap or HP rinse. Then if surface agitation is still needed I have a wash mitt saturated in pre-soak hanging from the mat clip. I then use the foam brush just to lightly apply tons of soap (having pressure cleaned the brush first) until the machine times out. I then agitate the entire vehicle lightly with the mitt, HP rinse clean, and then spot free rinse for the last few seconds. If you’ve got any extra time I recommend blasting your entire suspension and frame undercarriage! I also don’t apply protective coatings in the winter as it’s generally too dirty and too cold to get the entire paint surface dirt-free. That being said, early spring (before insects) is the best window to apply such coatings IMO.

Great idea to pre-spray foam using the hand pump sprayer. Does it have a particular orifice size in the nozzle to achieve the foam? Will a similar pump sprayer from Home Depot/Harbor Freight* work the same? Edit: or Princess Auto in Canada 🇨🇦

Awesome 👍 From Nova Scotia

Nice to see Yvan’s taking it easy in his retirement 😂

My car is less than a month old. I invested in a PPF for my hood. Truth to tell, it’s an ok job. He told me I can’t hold the spay too close and I bought some wash mittens. Also a foam sprayer for a car was that doesn’t work. I’d like to try your product suggestions for its next wash, likely next month. We get mixed weather conditions in Albuquerque, NM

Yvan, great video. I don't have a garage in Boston and have to wash car out in the open. Do you think I could add some rubbing alcohol to rinseless to keep it from freezing while i hand wash? Thank you again sir!

This guy loves his rinseless wash! 😂

I found a microfibre cover on Amazon that goes over the coin wash brushes, so you don't scratch your vehicle. So far so good, but now I have Rinseless Wash. Would love to see a video on that creeper you were using to wash the lower levels of the vehicle. If you are doing all this work for your Son in Law's vehicle, I really hope he treats your daughter well!

Regarding the pre-rinse and later with the rinseless wash. What us the maximum -C temperature you would do this in? I live in Manitoba where we do get -30C

Got a recommendation on gloves for the cold and water? I see you got some on.

Too bad fellow Montrealer Pan didn't make a cameo appearance. ❤

“And now it’s my turn to go into the wash” as two people cut him off lol

Wow....in the winter I just occasionally go through the car wash and just use once with soap and then rinse....I don't care about water spots etc since the car will be dirty 5 minutes after driving again anyway. Much less work

While I NEVER use the brush, I will have a friend hold the foaming brush over the car and drop the foam all over the car. Then I will hand wash going behind my friend. Since I am actually paying and using the machine, I have never had anyone confront me about hand washing.

Could you make a speed up version of this with your product I don’t want to make a whole day event

Can you please tell me what creeper your using to get around, I have arthritis in one of my knees and I think it could help….regards!

What's the name of that portable foamer you used to pretreat the car? And where can one purchase it? Thanks

I love this as a person without a driveway. However, what about people who don’t have a garage either? We only have shared parking spaces in front of our homes. And if i’d do it this way outside all cars around would get wet lol

Do you use a drying aid like quick beads after a rinse less wash or just wipe the rinse less dry? I am new to rinse less but just bought some for winter.

I actually do this sometimes with my car at the car wash 🧼 It’s a cheap inexpensive way to decontaminate your car when it’s too cold to wash it! Great job 👏

Is it a good idea to use the iron remover and clay towel on a car that already has a Ceramic Coat? If so how many times a yr in a Climate Just like that. I'm in Manitoba cold and snow winters

What's the brand of wand you have on your keg sprayer? Looking to repurpose one of my homebrew kegs into a rinseless wash sprayer!

Very cool. Question: Does a clay towel remove stubborn road film from bottom of doors that are clogged on a ceramic coated car? One thought you missed.......I HATE WINTER!!

Is it ok to apply ceramic gloss after every wash? So every 2-3 weeks? Or will that create a build up of sort as the previous layer is still intact?

real question if I did all these steps until decontamination but instead of rinseing iron remover off couldn't I just re rinseless wash the car with the sponge? yeah it might smell but would that be an effective method?

Wow..where do you live? Friday afternoons is the worst time to go where i live. Everyone wants it clean for the weekend lol

Is there a reasonable quality, inexpensive collapsible berm you can recommend for use in my garage so water doesn't go everywhere? Trees everywhere outside, frequently breezy/windy, and small yards in my subdivision so outside wash isn't ideal most of the year. I was thinking i could have 3 sides upright with the side facing the driveway open/flat to drain freely.

Items missed: I spray soap and rinse bottom of door panel with the door open, also spray the bottom with the wand handle on the floor spray inside wheel wells better.

OMG that kneeling crawler!

Would leaving rinseless on the car leads to water spots as it dries on the panel on the drive back? Asking this because when I prespray my whole car and took too long to reach a panel during my rinseless wash, I see dried grey water spots (though easily removable with a wet rinseless sponge)

We need a car wash vid for us apartment dwellers tht live in da city

How often do you rinse out the perforated decontamination towel?

What's that cylinder which was already pumped up for prewash and how to get it?

Would you ever dry using a leaf blower and if so what make ?

This method would be great if you have the large capacity equipment.

Are quick beads and/or ceramic gloss safe for matte ppf?

Do that in Wisconsin and the pre wash would freeze instantly😊

did you dilute the all clean, and if so, whats the ratio? thank you

I'm lucky my garage is attached to my house, and my furnace is next to my garage 😅

I looked thru the store and i have failed to find the item "ALL CLEAN". i assume I'm missing something obvious. Also what is that first sprayer you used outside of the car wash?

I tried searching through the comments but i can't find anything about what sprayers you used. I've seen them on some other channels but no one has replied to me. Would you kindly please tell me what it is?

Can I use the ready to use all clean spray bottles before I go into the car wash? Do I have to use the foam method?

Does water temperature affect cleaning? Is warm better?

My first comment in French on your site. Super vidéo Yvan…et Sylvie. Belle démonstration que l’on peut bien entretenir nos véhicules en hiver au Québec sans aller dans un lave-auto automatique et risquer d’endommager les protections que l’on a déjà installées.

Also can I pre soak with all clean and rinseless? Or do the products not work together?

If you have 3m protection film can you use iron remover and the decontamination towel on it? I know when polishing not to let the polisher on the film nor use wax on the film. Also how would you clean the film before putting on a ceramic coating?

Hand washing not allowed but using a foam broom is? I say get your own broom and attach your mitts/cloth (if you dont do rinseless washes for some reason)