maranelloboy05

I unfortunately live in the city with no access to a driveway or a hose additionally the local counties have deemed DIY car washes illegal due to run off to the Potomac. I just bought a GPW for my new daily and I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. I literally can't wash my car for less than $40 a pop for a hand wash at a local place. I asked a detailer friend (and fellow S2k owner) if he had any suggestions.

Enter Optiumum No Rinse or ONR. I honestly couldn't come close to explaining the science, but essentially you can mix up a bucket of this stuff, wipe down a fairly dirty car and wipe it dry. It does stuff like trap the dirt in the solution droplets, soaks into their special sponge and acts as a water softener so any trapped dirt goes to the bottom of the bucket. Again, I don't understand the science, but can tell you it works.

I put together a kit for about $50 that allows me to do a two bucket wash in my underground shared garage spot with minimal water. I add some water from my bathtub, mix up the solution, walk the bucket downstairs and start washing my car. According to ONR you can seal and use the solution until you get down to the Grit Guard in the bucket so I just keep a sealed bucket behind my car and can do at least 4-5 washes without having to mix up more. I've been advised against cleaning too dirty of a car, but I think my plan will be everything Friday afternoon or Saturday morning I'll spend 15 minutes washing the car and call it a day. That should keep it clean enough to use continually with daily driving.

maranelloboy05

Pic of the amount of water following a wash.

steven88

Rinseless washes become addicting. Haha

Have you tried the Optimum No Rinse Wash & Wax? It's green instead of blue. I would say give that a try once you get bored of the standard blue ONR.

JWN6264

Even with a driveway, I use this method if it's cold outside. Warm water from the house is much better than plunging your hand into ice cold hose water...

TofuProductions

Yeah, I have a whole lot of detailing products in my garage, some stuff that costs me hundreds of dollars..

But after being introduced for the ONR, I notice I use my normal "wash" regimen cut down by a lot. The ONR stuff is definitely tried and proven, for those that are looking for a nice wash without all the hoses and stuff laying around.

Not to be confused with an actual detail though.

maranelloboy05

I've lived here for 2 years and never got to wash my car, I had a GTI before this S and I would just run it through a touchless place, but no dice doing that with the S. I'm just really happy to have found a good solution to keeping my car clean other than going way out of my way to wash it once a month.

GSteg

I use ONR in between a full wash. Works great on getting rid of dust and dirt, but not some of the tree sap hence the full wash here and there.

I'm finally close to using up my gallon size ONR that I bought 8 years ago lol.

Lawrenceh

I used ONR quite often last year when it was still warm. It really helped make the car clean and shiny. When it was winter time, even a short trip out could get the car really dirty and I found using ONR for very dirty scenarios barely helped, unless you give it three ONR washes. It's just hard to wipe thick layers of dust off. But these products are good, easy and safe to use!

GSteg

Finally got done using all of my ONR. I was debating whether I should buy another gallon but decided against it. I bought McKee N-914 rinseless wash instead. One annoyance I had with ONR was that the solution isn't very slick even though it provided just enough lubricity. Supposedly N-914 is quite slicker. The biggest selling point was that N-914 leaves nothing behind so no wax fillers and all that stuff. My paint has a slick coating and I feel ONR hinders it a bit by leaving behind a very small amount of polymer.