Just spraying off car with fresh water!

[Chris B.]

Today I tried something just to see what would happen. My Tahoe was covered with salt resadue from the road. I just used fresh water from the garden hose to rince the whole under carrage and all paint.I used no soap and after it dried off there was no sign of any salt deposits at all! All the salt was gone!
Now you could still see a light coat of dirt because I did not wipe it off with a mit and soap and the paint was not shiny as it should be but the the evil salt was gone!
I did this just to see if a quick rince with fresh water was enough to rid the car/truck of salt and it seems it was. So if you are short on time but need to get off the nasty salt just give the car/truch a quick rince!

 

[charbaby]

I agree and have been doing this for years in between washes.

 

[AcuraTech]

Not a bad idea to do this beforehand if you take it someplace to get washed. That way you are not grinding all the abrasive salt into the paint.

 

[MN Driver]

What place doesn't rinse your car before it's washed? Are you talking about commercial brush washes. Those are long gone in my area.

 

[JBM]

It is way better for your paint to just power wash it all winter than it is to wash it half assed, swirling the crap out of it.

 

[MN Driver]

I feel like what you are doing when you rinse it is just making the salt run down and making the bottom panels of your car (doors, fenders, etc) rust out.

 

[2003TRD]

yes, if you are not getting all the salt off, you are only activating the salt with the water. I am looking for a sprinkler that has a resevoir to mix soap in, that way I can put the soap in, slip it under the truck/car and wash it when it gets over 40 degrees. Anyone know of such a sprinkler?

 

[Chris B.]

I make sure I rince the inside edges of doors and fenders ect. I leave no salt on. My 1997 Tahoe is rust free so far.

 

[oilyriser]

I want to build a thing that sprays upward that I can shove under my car, to blast off all the accumulated salty mud. An elbow with a nozzle, at the end of a pipe should work, and I could pivot it as I pull it back and forth.

 

[Patman]

As I mentioned in the other thread, I get my car washed every Saturday (in the wintertime) at a local detail shop.

But I also like to go to those $2 coin washes midway through the week in order to get the salt off the paint so it isn't sitting on there too long. It doesn't get the black paint super clean again (it won't be shiny) but it does lessen the damage the salt can do. And the car will look clean from a distance in the dark.

 

[t-squared]

Oily, what about a length of pvc with a series of holes drilled into it? Cap the far end of it and use the appropriate fittings to be able to hook up a hose to the near end. It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional!

 

[sxg6]

funny, ive tried this many times in the past and it has done nothing. car looks just as it did before.

 

[Chris B.]

It does not make it shiny and clean looking but the salt "dust" is removed and that is the important thing. Next time you have a layer of salt on your car try it and you will see the salt is gone but not the dirt.

 

[PandaBear]

Why not just buy a used saturn beater with plastic panel? Or they still rust but in different places?

 

[shortyb]

I have been using this stuff www.salt-away.com for 10 years. I "rinse" every vehicle after a good road salting and haven't seen any effects of corrosion so far. In fact, my old Tacoma (now my Nephew's truck) has no signs of corrosion underneath (or anywhere for that matter) in all usual places like nuts/bolts or exposed metal surfaces. It has seen 10 winters and was flushed regularly with the Salt-Away. Great stuff.

 

[Kestas]

So what is Salt-Away made of? Do you have the MSDS? They won't post it on their web site, you have to request it from them.

I don't see what Salt-Away can do that water can't. Salt is water-soluble and neutral, so it can't be chemically neutralized.

 

[shortyb]

Heck if I know

. Smells rather soapy. Sorry, don't have the MSDS either.

One time, I did just a water rinse to test the effectiveness of the Salt-Away. Then ran my finger over the residue and tasted it (I know, I know

) Tasted "salty". Re-rinsed with S-A and repeated the taste test. Not salty. Totally unscientific for certain, but convinced me enough to keep using it.

 

[ShortBuSX]

Id almost rather have a dirty car than water spotted...Id be afraid of etching the paint. We dont have salt like yall here in Florida, but fall out is pretty bad, reclaimed water isnt any help either.

 

[Kestas]

I asked for the MSDS and got it. The MSDS tells me practically nothing.... won't tell me what chemicals are in there.

What it did tell me was that it is a non-hazardous chemical, 212°F boiling point, specific gravity = 1.06, pH = 6, and colored blue.

I think this product is essentially extremely dilute acid in water, or tap water that sat around for a bit (forming carboxylic acid from the air and lowering the pH), probably a bit of surfactant, and colored blue.

Shorty, next time run the test the same way using clean water that sat around instead of the Salt-Away to see if you get the same, or different, result.