Here in Central Florida, we are currently under a "Level 4" watering ban which bans people from home car washing. A fine can be imposed, as a backyard car wash job can easily use from 3-5 gallons of water. We cleaned our 2006 Honda Accord using approx. 3/4 of a gallon of water, two old soft bath towels, and maybe 45 minutes of our time.
First, we cleaned out the 2 1/2 gallon garden sprayer. Then poured in 1 pint white vinegar. Next, we added 1 gallon clean tap water. Mixed everything and we were ready to go! The trick is spray a small area at a time, and after one of us wiped in circular motions, the other followed with the other towel to absorb all the moisture remaining.
We cleaned from top to bottom, well actually, as I am 5 feet tall, my husband did the entire roof! But, we cleaned windows and the whole car body. I contemplated adding a squirt of dish washing liquid to make the solution "wetter" but chose not too as I didn't know if it would require more rinsing. The plain white vinegar and water solution worked beautifully.
We did not do the wheels and tires but perhaps we will include them next time. We did not use all the solution we had made. We did not "hose off" the car with either water before using our thrifty solution nor over wet each small area as we worked. By the way, our car had a hefty accumulation of road stuff on it as it had been about a month since it had been to the car wash in town. Happy thrifty car washing!
Here's an idea. When you are taking a shower set a bucket in with you and collect some of the water from there. then save the water in containers until time to wash the car or water the lawn or house plants and use that water that you collected taking a shower. the water is basically clean and should do just fine. You will be surprised by how much water you will have to use for your various needs. Peace!
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Tip: Saving Water When Washing Your Car (05/28/2009)
Instead of washing the car with the hose, buckets, or car wash and wasting so much water; fill 1/4 of a bucket with water, use a micro fibre cloth, wring out so it's nearly dry.
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Tip: Saving Water When Washing Your Car
Archived on 05/28/2009
Instead of washing the car with the hose, buckets, or car wash and wasting so much water; fill 1/4 of a bucket with water, use a micro fibre cloth, wring out so its nearly dry. Start on the roof and work your way down. When the cloth dries out too much, dip it into the bucket and wring out well so it's nearly dry. Repeat, until you finish. If you have the cloth too wet, it makes the car muddy looking. That's why you have to have it nearly dry. I have a commodore station wagon, it works great on this car. Hopefully it works on others.
By jas69 from South Australia
Feedback:
RE: Water Saving Home Car Wash
While I commend your desire to save water, I question this method of car washing. The grit contained in the cloth will leave fine scratches in the top coat of your auto's paint. Over time this will dull your finish and make for an unattractive car. If you want to save water, rinse only a small portion of your car at a time and wash and rinse before you move on to the next section. Or better yet, take your car to a carwash that recycles its water. (01/06/2009)
Summer before last, when we were having a drought and people were advised to conserve water and not wash their vehicles, I used two small buckets of water to wash our car. One was for washing and the other was for rinsing. I didn't even have to move the car off the carport. It worked quite well and was much less messy than washing the car with a hose. I called it giving my car a sponge bath. (01/06/2009)
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RE: Saving Water When Washing Your Car
I do it an easy way, I use a regular string mop and a sponge mop to wash our van with 2 buckets almost full of water,o ne with soap and one to rinse, don't take long to do this. Good luck. (02/05/2009)
