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This may sound like a dumb question, but here goes. I'm getting my MCSa tomorrow, and I live in a condo with no access to a hose. With my current car, I take it to automatic car washes...but there's no way I'm putting my MINI through that. So, what's the best way to wash a MINI without using a hose? I'd rather do it at home and take my time washing, drying and waxing....
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06 MCSa -SB/S, Silver Bonnet Stripes, MFSW (gone)
09 MCSa - Laser Blue/Black, Black Bridge Spokes, Black Bonnet Stripes
Probably use a california duster. I use one, and it does wonders. Then, you can use some touchup spray wax or something like that. If there is a lot of dirt or something, you really need a hose...or a sprinker. lol
I have a 1 gallon pump up sprayer for my clean water and a bucket for my suds ! Works great! I get my water from the nozzle on the water heater and let it sit for 10 min and the temp is just right. I have been thinking of getting a power washer and hooking it up that way. My brother got one that is only 1 gallon a minute and wouldnt take much to wash the MINI
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PW/B #11 2006 PW/B MC Premium, Cold Weather, Sport, Anth., arm rest, bra, toughguard, clearbra, and window tint, Union Jack Mirror Covers
I have a 1 gallon pump up sprayer for my clean water and a bucket for my suds ! Works great! I get my water from the nozzle on the water heater and let it sit for 10 min and the temp is just right. I have been thinking of getting a power washer and hooking it up that way. My brother got one that is only 1 gallon a minute and wouldnt take much to wash the MINI
can you wet the car down (before soap) and rinse with only 1 gallon?
I think the best is to buy some QEW (Quick Easy Wash) from Protect ALL. You fill a bucket with 2 L of water (deionized is best) and one cap of QEW, swish it around, apply with a microfiber towel, and use another towel to dry as you go along. No rinsing needed.
I would highly recommend a Grit Guard inside the bucket, but by doing so, you will need to fill up atleast 4 L of water to clear the grit guard insert, thus doubling the amount of solution you need.
Because you dry as you wash, you eliminate the risk for water spots.
I then use a 1/2 Gallon Bug Sprayer filled with water to wash wheels and rinse the engine bay. 1 Gallon is all you need to do both.
Option #2
If you've got access to electricity, a Pressure washer can be handy. I've got a Karcher 1400 psi model. It uses around 1.3Gal per minute. I've tried feeding it from a siphon tube without pressure and it doesn't work consistently. You need to prime it first by filling the tube with water before turning it on.
I then went and bought the biggest bug sprayer I could afford. I drilled a hole and installed a spigot. I then filled this with water, pressurized it, and used it as my water source for the pressure washer. That worked awesome! But its barely enough to do a fast rinse of the MINI before needing to refill and it's barely enough to rinse and clean the wheels.
Well it works, kinda. When there isn't any water pressure, the air pump in the Karcher stays on. So if you plug in an empty airhose, you hear lots of hissing and not much going on.
So I had to fill the hose up with water. Once that water reached the Karcher, the air pump shut off.
The water pressure was really lacking. Although the Karcher struggled to keep water flowing, the output was severely affected. My next test was to use a 2 gallon bug sprayer to create a pressurized system, and add a garden spigot.
I drilled a hole, then used a Dremel to shave the hole so a standard garden spigot would fit snugly. I used silicone to seal it. It's still drying, so I won't know how it fully works, but my early tests without the sealant--only had a minor leak, and it worked great!
I got high pressure volume, because the Karcher operates at 1.3GPM, I don't have to worry about the flow rate since it's fixed. My next step will be to cut the hose shorter and add on a male hose connector, then I can use it on the new water system.
This bug sprayer cost me $19 from Home Depot. There was a 3 gallon sprayer for twice as much. I really didn't need the fancy accessories they use to justify the price. [/QUOTE]
For soap, you can pull it directly from the car wash soap
There is a company that markets the bigger bug sprayers for washing cars and bodies!
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I wondered about those, but are the owners patient enough to let you take up a bay for an hour or more?
I survived several years doing that. Go late at night. I once spent 2.5 hours at one doing a full Zaino detail around midnight. Bring a bucket so you don't go through millions of quarters.
since Chimera's not looking at my original post about the portable water
sprayer anyway (which i thought is a great idea), im going to post something
bold.
Or like a few folks did in my driveway a few weeks ago, find someone w/ a house and use their driveway...
The Dallas area has car washing restrictions (due to predicted water shortage) everywhere but in Dallas city propper! I knew that paying those higher property taxes to be in the city would be worth something one day!
Probably use a california duster. I use one, and it does wonders. Then, you can use some touchup spray wax or something like that. If there is a lot of dirt or something, you really need a hose...or a sprinker. lol
Was skeptical at first (5 yrs ago) but I have been using the same California Duster for the 5 years on various autos inclucing an old 81 Porsche that had a showroom finish on it! I now use the same one on my MCS. Believe it or not as the ad says...."dirtier it gets, the better it works" and does not scratch the paint! I only use it for light dusting since I have a house with lots of water softened water!
Thought about getting a new one...but it still keeps cleaning!!!
since Chimera's not looking at my original post about the portable water
sprayer anyway (which i thought is a great idea), im going to post something
bold.
get a house!
Sorry, I did see your original post and the sprayer is a great idea Getting a house is next on the agenda....
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06 MCSa -SB/S, Silver Bonnet Stripes, MFSW (gone)
09 MCSa - Laser Blue/Black, Black Bridge Spokes, Black Bonnet Stripes
Just hook the hose directly up to the faucet......You can get either replace the faucet with one you can hook right up to or check around at waterbed places for an adapter....my dad used to have a universal one that was a 4" long heavy rubber sleeve that fit over the faucet that had hose thread on the end.....worked great for filling up water beds so that you can use warm water from the tap!
Another tip that I used at my last apartement was that the washing machine hookup is the same as your hose. I would hook it up to that, run it across the apartment, out the window, down two stories, and into the driveway!
