Wash car with warm or cold water?

[UTH]

In the usual YouTube rabbit hole I ended up watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PugdSwF9d9w

All pretty much as I knew/expected, but surprised he filled the bucket straight from the hose......I assume it's better to use warm water if you can, or does it make no difference?

[andburg]

in theory warm should better as the heat should help loosen the dirt by reducing the viscosity of oils in addition to the detergent breaking them down.

[UTH]

andburg said:

in theory warm should better as the heat should help loosen the dirt by reducing the viscosity of oils in addition to the detergent breaking them down.

Cool, as I thought. Just wondered if I was missing a very obvious reason why warm water shouldn't be used.

[andburg]

obviously not to hot as to scald yourself but I guess there is also an argument that would say hot water will also break down waxes too.

[somouk]

He's not washing like a pro really. Single bucket and wheels after paint, I stopped when he changed his washmit for the wheels but not the water and no mention of a brush for the back of the wheels.

[UTH]

somouk said:

He's not washing like a pro really. Single bucket and wheels after paint, I stopped when he changed his washmit for the wheels but not the water and no mention of a brush for the back of the wheels.

Yeah I've got two buckets as that surprised me too.

[vikingaero]

There's nothing better than a kettle full of hot water in a wash bucket.

[Belle427]

Warm water for me and only 1 bucket.
I like to live dangerously.

[Pica-Pica]

Just comfortable on a cold day. So probably somewhere around body temperature (37 deg C), so that would be about 50% hot tap, and 50% cold tap (assuming hot tap is around 55-60 and cold tap 10-15), that would seem best all round. I wash mine when it’s showery. Let the rain loosen the dirt. Wash with two buckets, let the rain rinse it off.

[Halmyre]

Rinse with hose, hot water, one bucket, one mitt, wheels last, hose to rinse off. Let it dry naturally, bugger all that chamois nonsense.

Or just take it to a money laundrycar wash.

How long before this topic descends to cashmere wash mitt/100% carnuba/rinse with Evian depths?

[InitialDave]

I use warm water for my washing solution, cold in my rinsing bucket. I don't see it as necessary, and it means as the rinsing bucket also gets soapy, you can easily tell which is which if you get mixed up!

[UTH]

I must say, steering clear of a sunny day, or at least washing in direct sun, isn't something that really crossed my mind. I was always of the mindset that a lovely hot sunny Sunday is when I'd most likely want to get out and wash the car, but that's not the best time to do it really.

[Summit_Detailing]

Hot water.....during the winter months!

[gotoPzero]

Warm for me, but not too hot as it can remove wax.

Max would be like bath water.