I use ample amounts cause Hydro lubricates the drying towel while it
does its thing. i rather use more Hydro than putting more swirls in the
paint from toweling.

if it was my MCS or G, i place the drying towel over the paint and just
rub the towel from the back side without moving it across the paint.
but on my commuters i need to physically wipe the paint to wipe on Hydro
so i like to have extra lube between the paint and towel... thus i use
ample amounts.

(plus that new sprayhead rocks! )

 

Do you have to keep Hydro away from black plastic trim?

 

no, unless you plan to dress it with something else. hydro is not going
to make your trims white or anything, it will dress it up even.

 

This is my car at the dragon after a coin operated car wars and Hydro. Not bad for a quick wash and hydro session and the shine is damn nice considering it is a 2002.

 

very nicely done. a superb job for a quick wash. and i bet
most people that drive their cars daily will be very satisified with this
level of finish.

 

So what should I have in my Hydro Kit. No access to water, parked in the street, plan on using from day 1, after picking up from MA. Oh and I'm a newbie to this so no abreviations would be cool

 

no access to water is not good if it's your daily driver. i would suggest
you take her to at least a touchless car wash and get it washed off so
you do not create swirls.

then take a waffle weave towel and wipe down using hydro.

if the touchless did not do a good job cleaning, you may want to get
some slick to first remove the remaining scum while you dry (yes, while
you dry). slick has better lubricity and pickup power than hydro so
it will help minimize swirls. ALWAYS use a clean section of your drying
towel...so you may want to get a couple of those.

then finish off with Hydro using a fresh MF platinum towel.

 

Yeah Hydro and Slick make a great combo. I use Hydro after washes and then Slick for touchups between washes.

Kenchan correct me if I am wrong.

Slick is great to use to touch up the car between washes such as bugs, break dust and other areas that become muked up.

 

you got it right. slick has great lifting power (yah yah, i got
some more the other day despite my luv for griot's SpeedShine.. lol )
so you want to use that to remove any grime before using Hydro.

this is why i recommend using slick while you dry a touchless washed
'not so perfectly clean' car. then finish with hydro as those touchless
washes sometimes leaves a flim of scum especially on the boot and doors.

i know hydro is advertised as 'can also be used as QD' but imho, it works
best on a very clean surface wet or dry from my experience.

 

Thanks all, looking for a touchless car wash, can get a bucket of water a t home but no hose. Could i do the car wash and then finish at home, hopefully a 5-10 min drive

 

If you can get three buckets of water, you probably could do the whole process at home. One for wash solution, one to rinse mitt after washing, and then one with a fresh sponge/mitt to rinse. Might be ungaingly but would not involve any driving.

 

There are lots of people around here who do the touchless washes with the wand and take a bucket with soap, Slick, Hydro, glass cleaner, etc along with them. It's a good solution for people who live in apartments/condos and don't really have access to a hose or an area to wash.

I did this myself yesterday for the first time because I'm out of town and it worked pretty well. It wasn't my ideal setup but the car looks shiny and it's good enough! I just filled my bucket with water from the wash wand, added my own soap, and went to work. I only used the wand to pre-rinse (really good for getting brake dust off the wheels!) and to rinse off at the end. Other than that I used all my own stuff. It can definitely be done and I know there are people here who do it this way as their normal method.

My guess is you could get away with doing just the wash and Hydro and doing the rest of the work at home.

 

Ok here is a wash and hydro picture from today. I also updated my web album with some new shots.

I did what Melissa stated when at the dragon just had my cleaning products with me. As you can see WOW is still working I applied WOW the day after the dragon and my trim still looks awesome.

 

jeff, that's a very nice looking car and a perfect example of 'why wax when you can hydro?'.

 

I will call heather this week and put my order in. Where is a good place for a gritguard/bucket combo

 

ex-pat- if you can, wait for the next gen Griot's washbucket. this is going
to be the schtz for car dorks. it's going to be available in about
2 weeks. i already have their yellow one (original) so im going to
pass, but when my yellow one breaks down or watever, im getting this next.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=67260




forgot to mention... it has 2 levels of built-in grills, and a measuring cup that
you put your carwash in. comes with the lid and casters for only $40!

 

$3 for a 5 gallon bucket at HomeDepot. Grit guard can be found at US Plastics for $7 http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...uct%5Fid=25277 and they have some 5 gallon buckets and bucket rollers if you wish.

 

Sweet I am in need for a new bucket. Too bad this isn't broken into 2 sections or is it?

 

from the picts that i saw, it did not have a partition, but it had
a lower grill(as a grit guard) and an upper grill to rest your mitt.

 

My dream bucket

 

Ahem....

That bucket is in my garage. Blimey loves it.

 

that bucket reminds me of my mom back in the days when she was
making home made miso and other pickled cucumbers and such.

 

Anyone know of any buckets that are split in two?

 

...so, questions from a detailing newbie:

What's the idea behind a grit guard?

And, what benefit would a 2 sided or divided bucket give you?

Thanks in advance!

.

 

Grit guard lets sediment drop through but not your mitt so it separates from your washing tool.

2 sided bucket (or 2 buckets) - one for wash water, the other to rinse out mitt after washing - again to keep the crud from going back on the paint.

At least that's my guess.