[Dr. G]

So I'm away from home for school and don't have any of my car care products with me (thought I'd purchase here).

My car got pretty dirty on the drive down and I was wondering if I just went through a touchless car wash and then self dried it with a waffle weave towel from detailed image if that would be okay?

Also, my wheels have an insane amount of brake dust on them, what should be done about them?

I'm not here for too long and I was hoping to not have to spend money on buying too many products over, was hoping for some quick/temporary fixes. I have waffle weave towels from detailed image with me though.

[Brian_TII]

Don't do it. The touchless won't remove all the dirt, then you'll just grind what dirt is left into the paint and swirl it up. I'd probably go to one of the self car wash places where you put the coins in, wet the car, wash it with a $5 mitt and some generic car wash soap and dry with an absorber or whatever you feel comfortable with, not sure how the waffle weave towels would work, never tried that for drying. You don't need crazy nice stuff / supplies, just something decent. Those items + going to the coin wash should keep you in pretty good shape for quite a while.

[jopa489]

Absolutely not. You'll do far more harm than good. Touchless washes are usually fine in a pinch but they really don't clean your paint enough to go over it with a drying towel afterward.

You have a few options. Easiest would be to go to any autoparts store and grab some wheel cleaner. Spray it on before entering the touchless wash and your wheels should look better (though not perfect). Then go for a drive at speed to finish drying the car. You could also order some ONR and wash the car yourself at school. This would require a couple of buckets (and your drying towels) so I'm not sure how feasible it is for you.

[Sal@DTMrack.com]

Definitely dont do the touchless wash followed by a towel dry. I second the Optimum No Rinse, thats probably your best bet to hold you over.

[pander5]

I'll third the ONR suggestion. You can also use it on your wheels but with a different wash mitt. Don't do the touchless wash and then dry!

[Jed]

I agree-don't use the touchless and then dry it yourself. Touchless will not remove everything and you'd be rubbing in the dirt.

HOWEVER, if the car is pretty filthy, I would use the touchless and then followup with an ONR wash afterwards. This way a majority of the dirt is off.

[jopa489]

Originally Posted by Jed

HOWEVER, if the car is pretty filthy, I would use the touchless and then followup with an ONR wash afterwards. This way a majority of the dirt is off.

Yup, I agree with this. That's what I do in the winter when we get a stretch of decent weather (cold enough where the snow isn't melting yet no accumulating snow to mess up the roads - doesn't happen often).