As the summer approaches, water restrictions have already begun to take hold in many parts of the country. Just take a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor and you can clearly see the areas affected by a drier than normal winter. So what does this mean for you and me? For one thing, it will have quite an impact on how we go about our daily routine. Part of this may include washing your car.
While some cities may still allow you to wash your, it usually means you must wake up early, somewhere between 4am – 8am. I don’t know about you, but I’m surely not going to sacrifice a weekend morning for the sake of a clean car. Luckily the auto car industry has recently addressed this issue by releasing what are known as waterless car wash productsproducts. I know what you’re thinking… “yeah right, no way I can wash my car without the good ole’ hose and bucket method”. After overcoming some initial skepticism, I quickly found these products to be more effective than I originally thought.
These products have already gained popularity overseas in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and England just to name a few places. So where do you find these products? There are several vendors online who sell their own line of waterless car wash products products domestically. Currently, I use: eco touch waterless car wash. By using a spray bottle and two microfiber towels I can clean my car with less time and more importantly, water, than before. One bottle usually gets me between 6 – 8 high quality washes. I’d suggest first learning more about these waterless car wash products and deciding for yourself if they’re right for you. However, with water restrictions looming ahead, you may not have a choice. Good luck!
Urban Car Washing
You own a car, you live in the city. The next question becomes, how do you keep your vehicle clean? Perhaps like many urban dwellers, you live in a large apartment complex. Washing your car be a tricky situation if you don’t have water hookups. Or, even if you do have hookups, there can be restrictions on their uses. So what is a car owner to do who wants to keep their car clean?
Cleaning Microfiber Towels
Microfiber towels are a handy tool for cleaning just about anything these days. From cars to countertops, these towels cover a wide range of surfaces. An added benefit, is of course the fact that they can be re-used multiple times. This means you can ditch the old rag bin you keep under the kitchen counter.
Greening Your Charity Carwash
The charity carwash is a great way for any school, club, or non-profit to raise money. It’s fun and you’ll usually get a good turnout. One thing that’s often overlooked is the environmental impact of a charity carwash on our water supply. Let’s stop and think about this for a moment. You’ll be washing dozens of cars in a small area over the course of a few hours. All the pollutants you’ve just scrubbed off your patrons cars, including brake dust, oils, exhaust fumes, and heavy detergents, has now entered into the environment completely untreated. Not only is this illegal (see the EPA’s requirements), but it also going to have a serious impact on local waterways.
