Update on my sponge and wash mitt post

[HotTunaCartel]

So I posted this about a month ago but didn't want it to get buried as we are moving into the cold frosty winter here in the Poconos and have noticed something different.  

I did my first cold washes since exclusively using ONR this summer.  Yesterday it was 36f and washed my truck, today was 34f and washed my girlfriends car.  I work from home so my truck doesn't see as much crud as her car does.  Also her trip to work takes her through some nasty roads, always has black stuff behind the front wheels and the back of her car is like a suction cup and collects everything on the rear bumper.  

So today I was washing her car, top to bottom and finally got the the front rocker panels, did the typical pre treatment with a pump sprayer to try to knock some of the "stuff" off.  I have no idea what it was, grey in color but after making a swipe with the BGS I realized it was rock dust? mixed with some type of grease or something.   I looked at the BGS and said crap, this is now ruined.  Figuring I would have to heavily clean it I went inside and got the TRC cyclone mitt to finish the car other than the same spot on the other side.  One thing I noticed when the car is very dirty, lots of road salt and grime, was that the BGS pushed around a lot of the dirt when washing even after flipping it where the cyclone mitt tends to mop up the dirty water droplets after flipping.  I finished up the rest of the car and was wondering why the cyclone mitt worked better.  I think the very hard angle between the bottom and side of the BGS, UBS or BRS has trouble with very dirty vehicles where it just moves the dirt around.  I was kind of blown away at how the second pass of the cyclone mitt really mopped up the dirt and deposited in the ONR. 

Just my two cents. But I will be testing some more if I can get the BGS cleaned, I do have  a UBS which I will test next (I think we're supposed to have more snow this Thursday) so I'm sure both our vehicles will be filthy by next Sunday.  

 

[Ron@Optimum]

try soaking/rinsing the sponges (whatever color) in dish detergent/Power Clean.  I thing there's a limit to what ONR can encapsulate - rock salt and the chemicals they put on highways may be pushing the limits.  I would spray/power wash the worst sludge before using ONR.  As to why a mitt works better would be a guess.

[Kiddetailer]

cyclone mitt works better because it does. The material on it is meant to pick stuff up while also allowing good release.  Apexdetail on youtube has gone over various wash medias and his favorites has been the Big Red Sponge and the Cyclone mitt. The BRS was the softest and had the best release properties with rinseless wash. The Cyclone mitt had 2nd in release properties, but from my experience the cyclone has better pick up ability just due to it being a microfiber.

My technique has been to go over the entire car with the ONR and Red Sponge at least once (1st Wash). Then Wash a 2nd time with a Eagle edgeless towel (or Cyclone Mitt) + ONR  to pick up anything the Big Red Sponge did not. The 2nd wash should be even safer because the first wash picked up most of the initial stuff that can be picked up.

Also got to use some sense here, if I see spots of grease/mud on the car, I'm gonna spray it down with a hose, then possibly spray power clean (let dwell), then hose off the Power clean before starting the 1st wash with Red Sponge/ONR.