Is it bad to wash my car at zero degree temperatures???

[BigBarry172]

Hi,

any quick answers please - I have a black Clio & as I work 9 to 5 every day (well Mon to Fri!) I have no time to wash it until darkness falls & the land is cold. I am desperate to get the $hitty salt & winter road crap off of my baby, but will the paintwork be damaged if I wash it when it is freezing outside???
Please advise...

 

[Chris n nic]

Wash it on Sat or Sunday?

Chris

 

[White16valver]

I've washed mine before when it was so cold that you'd rinse the roof, move on to wash the sides, and the roof would be ice by the time you'd got to rinsing the doors off... LoL

Have you got a hydra-flexy-blade thingy, like what Autoglym do? Might be an idea so you can get the water off before it freezes and puts strain on the paint.

 

[Gus]

It wont damage your cars paint or anything, it will be harder to dry the car afterwards especially at night.

Dont let the water run off freeze on any pavements though, incase you injur yourself in the mornign while scraping your car.

 

[V1NNY]

If you are going to do it i wouldnt use warm water

 

[_Kenny_]

I washed mine a couple of weeks ago and by the time I came to chamois the roof it had nearly frozen. Just had to get warmer water (not hot tho) and chamois it off quickly

 

[BigBarry172]

haha! Am wiv my girlfriend at weekends so not much time to spend preening car (much to my dismay!). What would you give preference to?!

 

[martynh]

Washing the car won't take too long. Let her wait for a while...

 

[BigBarry172]

Cool, so the main thing is to get the standing water off straight after rinsing it down. And why not warm water? Should I use cold then, or v.hot??? HELP!

 

[KDF]

Warm water freezes quicker than cold... strange but true

 

[White16valver]

Warm water freezes quicker than cold... strange but true

Yeah, but cold hands freeze quicker that warm lol

 

[unofficialPete]

hmmmm I much prefer my method to this problem, I don't wash it lol

 

[BigBarry172]

If it doesn't get washed at all won't the salty road discharge eat into the paint like battery acid on the face?!!?!!!!

 

[V1NNY]

only if left for weeks maybe, a couple of days shouldnt do any harm

 

[badinvincible]

I washed mine at night once, f**king doors wouldn't open in the morning as they were frozen shut.

 

[White16valver]

If it doesn't get washed at all won't the salty road discharge eat into the paint like battery acid on the face?!!?!!!!

Something on the mind? lol

 

[V1NNY]

lol yeah thats bound to happen as you cant see in the dark and it can get in between the door seals

 

[ianlowry]

Washed mine recently and wheels/brakes had frozen solid next morning, had to pour warm water over them to get going after I'd almost wrecked the car revving + not going anywhere!

 

[Bluebeard]

just take it to a jetwash in a garage, then while your driving home, the water will get blasted off, and the doors won't freeze, and you can clean the underside at the same time!!! (goddam i'm good!)

 

[V1NNY]

yeah but the roads are still wet and there re gritting as we speak

 

[Woodentop]

the handbook says not to wash your car in freezing weather or very hot weather but i washed mine the other day and the roof was frosting up by the time i had finished.

 

[172 Dave]

NEVER wash salt off with warm water it agitates the corrosion process only ever use cool or cold esp if its ur own

 

[Leeshez]

I would give it a quick wash and hose off with cold water then dry it off best you can.

 

[tameracingdriver]

Just do what I do, take it to a good hand washing place, pay the man a fiver and then watch the slaves do it in about 10 minutes

 

[Turkish]

Then marvel at the swirls/scratches they've left behind for the bargain price of £5, no thanks.

 

[tameracingdriver]

I've used them for ages and I've never seen any swirls or scratches.

Its too cold and I generally dont have time to wash my car myself at the moment. So I'd be better off leaving all the crap on the car and never washing it? Don't think so

Besides which, I'm not exactly planning to keep it the rest of my life anyway...

 

[Lunner]

hmmmm I much prefer my method to this problem, I don't wash it lol

Ditto, lol

Just clean teh winodws as and when you can't see outa them

 

[Mattie h]

i washed mine wen it was FREEZIN the once....used HOT water though lol.....several hrs l8r wen i cum 2 get in2 my car the doors had frozen shut lol

 

[casiodan]

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone...........get the GF to clean it at the weekend!

 

[The Bear]

It's too feckin cold to hand wash it!

This time of the year I tend to go to a Garage and use the jetwash and a brush type cleaner from Halfords. Though if you use the brush at the garage make sure you jetwash it off first. Then chamois it when I get home (if I can be bothered as it never stays clean for long).

 

[Dave]

I will only ever jetwash this time of year. Hand wash wheels MAYBE.

 

[ukaskew]

Might be a bit late for this, but I re-waxed my car (Meguiars NXT) just before the cold snap a few weeks back, now the dirt and stuff just hoses straight off as its still pretty glass like. Get a time machine and you're sorted!

As water beads on the surface though after a good waxing you do get some cool patterns when it freezes, I had little blobs of smooth as you like ice all over my car last night.

 

[Ibanezman]

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone...........get the GF to clean it at the weekend!

Now that is what it's all about lol


I reckon a trip to the local (not scratched my car yet) £6 car hand wash place, then do the alloys properly when I get home.

 

[Tom_16v]

Surely you can find half an hour to give it a quick clean on the weekend....