waterless washing

[Bend]

In preparation for Monterey this year, I was thinking that maybe I'm just an fuddy-duddy unknowingly passing up an opportunity to prep my car without water using modern chemicals, in case we can't find an available facility to wash our cars.
Is anyone confident enough to use and recommend any of the new waterless washing products? I know they are supposed to work without marring the finish, but I can't help buy shiver thinking about what could happen.

[glord]

In preparation for Monterey this year, I was thinking that maybe I'm just an fuddy-duddy unknowingly passing up an opportunity to prep my car without water using modern chemicals, in case we can't find an available facility to wash our cars.
Is anyone confident enough to use and recommend any of the new waterless washing products? I know they are supposed to work without marring the finish, but I can't help buy shiver thinking about what could happen.

This is the process I've used for years as recommended by a restoration shop:

• Air compressor to blow off loose dirt and dust
• Wash one panel at a time using new microfiber and tap water in a spray bottle
• Dry with new microfiber
• McGuiar's Quick Detail spray for any stubborn stains
• Prepsol Degreaser for any super-stubborn stians (rinsed thoroughly)

My son and I just cleaned the Z8 last Sunday in preparation for Quail. Took us about an hour and a half.

Hope this helps . . .

[Satch]

Oh, come on; the only difference between a spray-on "waterless" cleaner and just spraying on water is whatever detergents are in the cleaner. I agree with blowing the dust and grit off the car, but I promise that if you use the old bucket-o'-suds approach, you're doing the same thing to (or for) your paint as spritzing it: loosening dirt with water and solvents, and lifting it off with a microfiber cloth.

I generally use a concentrated product (I forget what it's called) that uses a capful of product to a quart of water... so you know that it's mostly water. I have used Griot's "waterless" solution, too, but then decided to skip the middleman by just using Griot's Spray 'n' Shine, the last-minute touch-it-up-on-the-grass solution (Mother's and Meguiar's have similar sprays, as does Sonax and probably everybody else). Since we moved to Mondo Condo nine years ago, I have not been allowed to use the hose-and-bucket method.

As for using Prepsol to get rid of stubborn stains: Um, Prepsol is a pre-painting solvent we use to get rid of wax and silicones before painting, lest we develop the Dread Fish-Eye. It will clean your paint, all right—taking off all the carnauba you spent hours applying! Krud-Cutter, which I use to remove tar and other road smears, is probably just as hard on the protective layers, so I always re-wax any areas that have been thus anointed.