I have a heated normal size 2 car garage but poor quality ground water (too much bicarbonate). I can get a plastic water tank and fill it in town with good water. I want to be able to wash my truck and the wife's new car in the garage during the winter. So far I think that if I only park one vehicle in the middle I should have enough room to wash it. Anybody have any good suggestions for what I can use with the water tank? Is a small pressure washer going to work fine or I have seen a low pressure washer at Detail King. This thing is expensive but would it help to keep the water spray contained?


Eco Friendly Low Pressure Washer Systems For Mobile Detailing


Any other suggestions?

 

Also, would this soap cannon be a good addition to a pressure washer?


Foam Cannon For Pressure Washer

 

I am wondering about inline filters for you that will reduce/neutralize the bicarb....you could also buy a swimming pool ph tester kit (about $20), and add sodium carbonate (the opposite of bicarb) to the water until the ph is neutral (7).

Soap...I recommend: No7 Car Wash Concentrate
Available at Amazon, any True Value Hardware; Mfg by RainDance/ArmorAll Corp. It has been around for 40+ years, is a powder, very inexpensive and us about 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. It also has anti-water spotting agents which until you try it the first time, you would not believe the advantage of drying a black car. (Note- BAF has a liquid car soap that many swear by as well including anti-water spotting agents- but I have not used this personally)

 

wouldnt mold start growing in the sheetrock walls of garage from all that humidity?

 

Thanks for the soap advice...I've already researched cleaning up the well water and it will require about a $5K reverse osmosis system. I am supplied with drinking water that we also use for cooking, and maybe next year we might add the filtration system.


As far as the mold, that is why I am looking for something that won't make so much over spray. I think that parking one vehicle in the center and using a low pressure washing system would keep the walls dry.


When I say the garage is heated...it is about 75 or 80 degF in there, I live and work on the natural gas pipeline and have a free unlimited supply of gas for heating. That should help it dry up, and I'll just have to keep watching the bottom of the drywall. And the vehicles will probably only get washed a few times each winter, I'm not going to do it daily.

 

i know if that shower green drywall was used to make garage it would be better.

 

I may try hanging up some plastic sheets...or just wash them outside on the nice days and bring them inside to warm up and get waxed. Today was a killer nice day for Dec in WYO...T-shirt weather for awhile.


Thanks for bringing up the topic about the possibility of causing mold to grow.

 

I know it won't work for the under side. But there's companies that make waterless washes.
Chemical guys has one. It's a soap and wax all in one. Might be an option.
And for the foam cannons, you still need a high pressure water source.

 

One of the things I use to rinse my vehicles is a flower bed wand.......there is really no spashing, very controlled and it rinses very well.

 

I looked at one of those "spray it on and wipe it off" almost waterless systems but they are only for lightly soiled vehicles. That's not what mine looks like after driving through the snow all week. We don't use any salt and very little mag chloride here in WYO, so I don't have to worry about that stuff.

 

Good idea...do they have a restriction in them to cause the slow flow? That would be plenty of water to slowly wash a vehicle indoors.

 

do you have a floor drain?

i would just leave the garage door open afterwards with the heat on for a while since you dont pay for gas afterwards.

 

No, but the way they are designed....it flows in a very smooth way and IMHO, I use less water to rinse with it than I did with a more conventional "spray" method....

 

i think you can adjust the flow rate with the faucet handle.

 

I pulled in last night with lots of ice filling the wheel wells and up under the bumpers. Once it melted it didn't want to drain out of the garage like I thought it would. It just made a lake in the garage, so that would probably start causing problems with the drywall. I got it out with a broom but I think I'll have to wash it outside then bring it inside to dry. I think that means I'll also need a small hot water heater.


Not many days get above freezing during Jan and Feb. So I may not have a way to do the clean up that I want.