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bob012345
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Due to the extreme drought, what is the minimum amount of water required to wash a small car such as a Corolla and how would you do it?
I could recycle the water by washing the car on my lawn...berkeman said:If you go to a car wash place (either the gas station automated things or self-service car washes), they generally recycle the water. It's more of a hassle than doing it at home, but "greener" during the drought.
Sort of, but your lawn may not like all of the soap (have you tasted it?)bob012345 said:I could recycle the water by washing the car on my lawn...
Is there a biodegradable soap that won't hurt the grass in small amounts?berkeman said:Sort of, but your lawn may not like all of the soap (have you tasted it?)
LOL you think correctly. Did you clean everything you brought into the house? I did and that was a lot of work! Shopping was such a pain! But it made sense.bob012345 said:Overkill I think
berkeman said:If you go to a car wash place (either the gas station automated things or self-service car washes), they generally recycle the water. It's more of a hassle than doing it at home, but "greener" during the drought.
Nah. At first I wiped the grocery packages down but after a while they said that wasn't necessary so I stopped.Ivan Seeking said:LOL you think correctly. Did you clean everything you brought into the house? I did and that was a lot of work! Shopping was such a pain! But it made sense.
bob012345 said:Nah. At first I wiped the grocery packages down but after a while they said that wasn't necessary so I stopped.
Soapy water instead of diluted hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)? Did you read to do that somewhere? I've never heard that before...bob012345 said:As for tasting soap, yes actually. At the beginning of the pandemic I would come home and wash hands, face and even rinse out my mouth with soapy water then peroxide.
No, I didn't read that anywhere it was just my own paranoid cleansing ritual. Probably because I had heard experts say soapy water destroys the virus outer shell and renders it non-functional. I used a small amount of soapy water, then rinse and then followed with a swig of peroxide which is commonly used as an oral agent. I could have and should have just swigged with diluted peroxide.berkeman said:Soapy water instead of diluted hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)? Did you read to do that somewhere? I've never heard that before...
I heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta discuss his views on CNN. Sure, it wasn't a study but it was enough for me.Ivan Seeking said:When did they say it wasn't necessary? From what I read, that wasn't determined until fairly late in the game. I don't think I stopped until late last year when it was announced that most transmission was airborne.
Wastewater recycling is part of the future.JT Smith said:Couldn't you just pee on it a little every day?
Did the last gallon of clean water drip off clean or sudsy? I don't thin it is impossible to wash and rinse a car with two gallons of water and an extreme effort, but it would be very difficult.bob012345 said:I did the experiment. I washed my car with less than one gallon of water! It required a lot of elbow grease in place of a lot of water. I then went overboard and gave it a final rinse, which it did not really need, with a whole gallon of clean water since I had already set it aside.
And you most likely scratched up / de-shined your car's finish pretty seriously. Have a nice day.bob012345 said:I washed my car with less than one gallon of water! It required a lot of elbow grease in place of a lot of water.
Clean. I used very little soap, a few drops really.russ_watters said:Did the last gallon of clean water drip off clean or sudsy? I don't thin it is impossible to wash and rinse a car with two gallons of water and an extreme effort, but it would be very difficult.
Google tells me a car wash uses between 8 and 85 gallons per car depending on the water conservation features. From working on industrial washers of other things, I would expect that a modern car wash re-uses the rinse water as fresh/makeup for the wash water, and siphons an equal amount of wash water off to drain.
Depends upon how dirty the car was to begin with.bob012345 said:Clean. I used very little soap, a few drops really.
I used a smaller sponge so as to control how much water was soaked up so there was less runoff. Basically just like painting with a narrow brush instead of a wide brush. It takes more work.ProfuselyQuarky said:My mate used a damp washcloth to clean his car every morning for about half a year when he bought his "dream car". Extremely inefficient and constantly subject to ridicule but the car was clean
Elbow grease in the sense of hard work not hard physical rubbing. For me at my age and shape, going over the whole car with a smaller sponge to control water waste was a lot more work than if I used a big soapy sponge and a water hose.berkeman said:And you most likely scratched up / de-shined your car's finish pretty seriously. Have a nice day.
I rarely wash my car as it is. I was just interested in the question of saving water because of the drought. What is this hydrophobic material?russ_watters said:Well if we're going outside the box, I got a ceramic coating applied to my car which is hard and hydrophobic. One of the benefits is less need for washes/staying cleaner.
https://royalcustomauto.com/ceramic/bob012345 said:I rarely wash my car as it is. I was just interested in the question of saving water because of the drought. What is this hydrophobic material?
Is only cosmetic? In the summer heat a dirty car will reflect less heat away and get hotter thus using more fuel to cool.JT Smith said:While it's kind of sideways to the specific question I think the best approach to minimizing car washing water is simply to not wash the car very often. It's almost entirely a cosmetic thing.
bob012345 said:Is only cosmetic? In the summer heat a dirty car will reflect less heat away and get hotter thus using more fuel to cool.
While I somewhat agree, I'd like to see a study attempting to correlate car cleanliness with bathroom cleanliness. I suspect they'd find one. Also, if one isn't washing the outside, does that mean they aren't washing the inside either? I've seen some gross interiors...JT Smith said:I think car washing is about 90% vanity and 10% utility.
You till have to clean somewhat - leaves, bird poop, tree sap, and hornets or wasps taking up residence.JT Smith said:While it's kind of sideways to the specific question I think the best approach to minimizing car washing water is simply to not wash the car very often. It's almost entirely a cosmetic thing.
When I moved from west to central N.America I definitely noticed a more dusty car.russ_watters said:While I somewhat agree, I'd like to see a study attempting to correlate car cleanliness with bathroom cleanliness. I suspect they'd find one. Also, if one isn't washing the outside, does that mean they aren't washing the inside either? I've seen some gross interiors...
From a practical standpoint, I also hate it when I happen to brush past my car and end up with a cleaner car and dirtier pants/shirt.
You are correct in that I should not have said only. Sorry.JT Smith said:I said "mostly" not "only".
Show me the fuel use data on your dirty hot car theory.
I think car washing is about 90% vanity and 10% utility. The utility part includes looking good for people you feel you must impress, like your boss or girlfriend, as well as the possibility that dirt damages the paint or maybe costs you a tiny bit more in fuel. With occasional exceptions I usually just wait for it to rain. A violent hailstorm (stones not too big) is even better as the graupel leaves a buff shine when it's done.
But whatever. If you have to spend significant extra money on gasoline or electricity to cool your hot, dirty car maybe it's worth it if the goal is to save water. Maybe you can wash your car in gasoline.