As most of you know I try to help out here from time to time, usually with explanations of "why" things work as they do and simple concepts. Sometimes though I see a post and... well, I digress. This time though I just wanted to say thanks!
While My 4Runner is mostly stock I work hard at keeping it clean, as I have done with every vehicle I have owned since I started driving 34 years ago. I have always used the simple bucket, rag, hose and car soap method. Thanks to this board my old method will be the exception instead of the norm. Based on posts from many of you who already used this No Rinse brand of car wash I decided to try it. I have a BLACK 2011 SR5 and as everyone knows black is unforgiving when it comes to being clean and it shows many scratches. With that in mind and with some trepidation I ordered No Rinse from Amazon for around $15.00 back in January. The first wash was a beautiful day in January with the temperature right at 32 degrees. I bought a square bucket with two compartments that hold one gallon each. I filled both up with one gallon of hot water (not too hot as hot water on cold glass sometimes has undesirable results) and put one ounce of No Rinse in one compartment and left the other side clear. My method was to spray the tires first with armor all tire clean foam and I washed the wheels last so I would not get the tire shine on the paint. I followed directions and washed one panel with the no rinse rag, followed it up with the clear water and then dried the panel. It took me 45 minutes the first time. Now it takes about 30 minutes and the results are great! Now every time I wash it takes: One ounce of No Rinse, Two gallons of water, Three Microfiber towels and enough tire shine to do four tires. That is all. No getting out the hose or drying with big towels or water blades or anything and the truck looks incredible. We just got my wife a 2012 Toyota RAV-4 Limited in Blizzard Pearl and it works great on her vehicle too. I have used this product 16 times (we have four vehicles counting the Subaru and Honda) since January and the results are great.
I did not start using this product to conserve water but it certainly does that. I started using it because when it is freezing outside the hose method is a PITA. So, thanks to you guys I am using a good product and will continue to do so!
*UPDATE* 01-04-13
Have been using the Optima No Rinse this cold snowy season too. It still works great on my silver TE, my wife's new CR-V (she hated the RAV4) and my son's black Subaru. If you have never used this product you don't know what you are missing. It is 32 degrees F outside and I just did all three vehicles in an hour and a half. My previous black 4Runner was cleaned with this product about 15 times and it never scratched. Amazing stuff!
