Arizona Stang

Is the mr clean auto dry system worth it? How many washes does the filter last? I am thinking purified water for .25 cents a gallon would do the same thing...

Martimus

Mine works great though that poor filter just doesn't last long dealing with Arid-zona's hard water. My filter tends to last four or five washes before I think about replacing it. Oh and even with the auto dry feature you'll get water spots if you wash when its 115 degrees out!

Rash

Would adding a whole-house filter do the same as the Mr. Clean filter does?

TexaStang

I'm not sure if there is a filter for the entire house plus the hose outlets. I think most houses use them on separate lines. Not sure, guess it depends on how your house is plumbed.

I'm sure it can be done, however. Cost is another matter entirely.

Arizona Stang

What I was thinking about doing was getting a new (not used) weed sprayer and just filling it up with reversed osmosis water from the grocery store that you can get for 25 cents a gallon. It would work the same as the mr clean auto dry but you wouldnt have to change any filters.

The only thing I am wondering about is if it sprays the soap well? If you have the mr clean auto dry system do you use it to spray the soap as well or do you put the soap on by hand?

TexaStang

What you COULD do is what I've done before for aquarium maint. Buy yourself a decent 3 canister RO unit that hooks up to a hose, then store said water in a covered barrel of some sort. Smallish RO units can range from output of 35-100 gallons per day, and you can get one pretty cheap off of fleabay, for under 100 bucks.

I used to use a large rubbermaid trashcan ( used solely for this purpose obviously ) which would hold PLENTY enough water for a once a week car wash.

So you'll have a ton of RO water at your disposal, but when you figure out how to spray it on the car let me know as I'd be interested in this as well if there is a way.

OKLACOP

Mr. clean auto dry works, but...............................you better rinse fast and get your car in the shade quickly. and as someone stated earlier, the filter is suppose to last fot 10 washes (yeah right)..........it may last for 3-4 washes. Like I said it does work, but don't dare leave your car in the sun to dry and stock up on filters.

1200custom

I used mine last winter, it worked pretty well. I think I was getting about 5 to 6 washes from the filter. It was great for winter, after washing my hands would be so numb the last thing I wanted to do was wipe down a car. I guess you don't have that problem in Arizona though.

PaulF

I have to say, I haven't had this issue with mine at all. I used mine in 104 degrees last week and had no shade to dry it in...no spots at all! As for the filter, I haven't had any issues with that, either. But I'm really stingy with that water.

Usually, I'll spray the whole car down with regular water, soap and wash section by section, then rinse with regular water and repeat until the car is done. Then I run over the whole car with the filtered water. Seems to work for me and I'm still on the same filter after 5 washes.

Rash

Don't the sections you wash first start drying while you're doing other sections, especially if you're in the sun? I also rinse the whole car, and then wash in sections, but I have to keep re-wetting the sections I have already done, otherwise they're almost dry by the time I'm finished. This works, but it wastes a lot of water. I then also use the filtered water on the whole car.

BTW, I only got about 6 washes out of my last filter.

NOLAGT

I thought of doing that same thing. Yould could even rig up a pump and hose from the drum. I have a kent unit im not using yet...maybe ill try that out.

CrackaTrash

It's totally worth it!! Seems like a gimick, but it's by far the best care care product that I have ever used. I did have an issue today while washing my black Mustang in the sun. So wet it down again, ran a spong over it and resprayed with the filtered water. Then put it in the garage to dry. Will have to wash it in the shade next time to keep it cool.

Glenn

a house filter will not soften the water. I would suggest a water softner and running a soft water line out. It will pay for it self and will be a selling point. they are about 400 bucks at sears. You will see the difference with a water softener in your dish washer and shower no more water spots. I have the mr clean and gave up buying filters for it. Wash you car in the shade if at all possible.

TexaStang

The RO units I'm talking about are not the type to use for a house. I was doing 1000 gallons of RO water a week, and treating it for salt water aquariums. You can find many units up to the task for well under 400 dollars.

Glenn

for the whole house??

TexaStang

What are you talking about for the whole house? This was for aquarium usage only. It was a Kent 400 GPD 4 stage filter I got for under 200 bucks. I had several very large bins to store water in and only had to keep the thing going for 2 and a half days out of the week.

You will use no where near 1000 gallons of water washing a car once a week.

And the said Kent unit will indeed soften the water enough. Pretty much any reputable ( ie lots of sales seller ) unit on Ebay will do the same thing, or well enough for car washing. I have 8.9 hardness tap, with a TDS around 900ppm. The 4 stage brought the water down to around a 6.3 pH depending on how old the filters were, which I had to replace every few months, but, I needed to because of the exact parameters I needed my water at plus how hard the water is here. For car washing purposes, you could get much longer filter life.

Glenn

if you have hard water and it bothers you. The fix is to get a water softener that will take care of the whole house. You don't need any storage tanks or to change filters every few months or ever for that matter. I read your post and I knew you were talking about water for your fish tank. I was talking about taking care of the whole house water softener needs not just washing the car. There are many pluses to having a whole house water softner. Read the link I posted altho it seems you know your stuff about the subject. Just trying to kill two birds with one stone.

65205

I tried the Mr. Clean auto dry,and it left a great deal of spots. We have a "whole house" water softener with both hard and soft lines for outdoor use. I used the soft water to both wash and rinse the car with the Mr. Clean. I wash the car early in the morning to beat the sun and heat. I now use Zaino car care products, a Toro leaf blower to dry the car, and towels recommended by Zaino to dry the trunk,door and hood areas.( you know,the cracks and crevices) My car is black and I live in the South, so I have to work in the shade and be quick about it. BTW my hubby uses Mr. Clean on his truck, and the rinse filter lasts about 4 times.( he doesn't care about the spots) Good luck to you!