Flash Car Wash

[Kev Mc]

I washed my car earlier today, I jetwashed it, shampoo'd it (using triplewax) then jetwashed the shampoo off & was hoping for a nice shine so I could take some pics tomorrow, but I didnt chamois it & as you might expect, it dried with some water lines & that.

I quite like the sound of the autodry thing on the flash car washes where you can just rinse your car then it dries without any marks. Has any1 tried it? Does it work? Are there any other things on the market that do the same thing so you dont have to use a chamois?

[Ryan1985]

Was it Leeky that tried it?

Anyway, don't be so lazy get the chamois out!

[Demonic Angel]

There's already a post about Flash car wash somewhere..... anyway I've said it before and I'll say it again....

Flash do kitchen and bathroom cleaner, not car cleaner!

I dont even use them to clean my bathroom/kitchen - I'm a Mr Muscle gal! He loves the jobs I hate!

[jerry phipps]

Alway best to dry the car of anyway. Gets rid of all the excess water on the door sills and boot sills as well. These are the important places which you have to dry off all the time to stop a car from rusting. Dont believe the hype i bet you have got to chamois the car down afterwards as there will be water marks.

It all depends on where you live to as if you have hard water like me down in luton you will always have water marks. I saw in a jap mag that they sell water filter that fit to you outside tap which is guarantied for 50 washes to filter the water to reduce water marks. I have a water softener fitted to my house and i still get water marks huh!!!

jerry!!

[Matthew_McNally]

I have a water softener fitted to my house and i still get water marks  huh!!!

←

you need a de-ioniser Jerry - not a softener ;)

thats all this flash thing is.

I have not used it - but am very sceptical.

if your paintwork is immaculate - then this may well work OK (but - if you are the sort of person who keeps his paintwork immaculate - you are prepared to put the effort, and are not gonna be interested in this).

how does washing thecar, and hosing it down wirth de-ionised water get rid of swirls etc?

how does it add any gloss, when its only water (its oils and silicones in polish that put gloss back on your paintwork)

[Moffmo]

Matt, it doesnt add gloss or anything its advertised as making the car dry without waterspots e.g. It uses filtered water to wash away the dirty water and it dries up without leaving anything behind as it was filtered. its effectively a chamosis.

My brother uses it and swears by it, i tried it and decided to chammy it anyway lol

[dawesy]

i have used it and it does exactly what it says on the tin!

not a streak or a water mark in sight but you do have to follow the instructions. not saying that it beats a normal wash and chamois but if you aint got much time its bang on.

believe the hype they are supprisingly good

[Karma Supra]

I'm not wntirely conviced....

Having said that my cars are usually waterproof with the amount of wax/polish on them... even if the paint underneath is not that great... To be honest I like chammying it down.. it helps me keep an inventory of car park dents the other half has put in it......

[Caz SR]

I'm normally VERY meticulous when it comes to cleaning and waxing/polishing my car - spending anything up to 3 hours on it at times. However, this weekend it really needed doing after a fair amount of motorway driving and I borrowed Leeky's Flash system.

I'd say it's definitely worth it if you need a quick fix to clean the car. Lets face it, it can't do much more harm than a car wash :) Not very tough on bugs, they needed some going over with the sponge, but for very mild surface dirt /summer dust it was ok. No streaks either.

Over all it's worth it for the occasional quick wash when you're pushed for time. Used any more than that and it's quite expensive (the de-ioniser can only be used 3 times).

[dawesy]

just think that chamoising (spelling?) will, no matter how careful you are create fine scratches on the paint finish so not using one has to be better.

as has been said its ideal if you dont have the time to dry the car

[Moffmo]

i think the people who say it doesnt work hasnt cleaned there car properly

The idea is you brush away the dirty water with the deionised water, if you just sprinkle it on its not going to do anything

[Leeky]

The idea is you brush away the dirty water with the deionised water, if you just sprinkle it on its not going to do anything

←

I dont think thats how it works dude

Instructions say you set the switch to the top notch first which is just water - this dampens the car

then left notch - soap - clean the car

then back to top - wash off soap and dirt

then third notch - de-ionised water - drys car streak free

I think its something to do with the electrical charge (static or something) in the water that causes it to smear your car after washing - maybe something in the soap

The filter de-ionises the tap water from your hose which prevents the streaks.

Dont quote me on this but im 99.999% sure this is the way it works

Anyway its a top system if you can get over how stupid you look holding it

Lot quicker than dragging a bucket of water around

[Moffmo]

what im saying is

You need to spray the car so it only had deionised water on

If you just spend 3 secounds sprinkling the car that wont work as you still have a lot of the soapy/dirty water drying on the car!

[Tegan]

just think that chamoising (spelling?) will, no matter how careful you are create fine scratches on the paint finish so not using one has to be better.

as has been said its ideal if you dont have the time to dry the car

←

Sounds like a good idea if you are short of time

But if you rinse your chamois in warm water after doing a panel on the car, and change the water after one side of the car, before moving onto the next one (will need more time for this obviously) then this will help eliminate a lot tiny dirt particles that you cant see that causes the scratches

Ive always used a chamois never had any problems with dulling paint etc :)

[Blaze]

They are okay if you need to clean it in a hurry, darren borrowed the one from his work and he didnt rate it, he didnt like the fact he couldnt wash it "by himself" so to speak! he spends hours cleaning it <_< so he wasnt impressed with it

[TheNissanMan]

One question that hasn't been answered is the enjoyment you get out of cleaning a car properly, wash, rinse, chamois, wax, touch up :D

Can't see it being as rewarding spraynig with a silly blue thing and leaving it :D