Washing Toto and TinMan

This will get your tail waggin’. I washed Toto and TinMan on Saturday, using a new AUTOSPA SUDSnWASH <TM> Wash & Rinse Cleaning Set from Costco. You will want to run out and get one of these right away if you have something to wash. Exception: these are not good for washing dogs. But they work great on trailers and pickup trucks.

Here’s a general idea of what went on around here on Saturday. Just look how clean Toto is!

See that aluminum-looking pole with the blue handle on one end and the brush on the other? That’s most of the SUDSnWASH. There’s a shut-off valve where the pole attaches to the hose, so you don’t waste water, which is expensive in our town. Water, I mean. It costs a lot.

At the other end, the brush head features a smallish reservoir into which you can pour liquid car-washing soap of some kind.

See, here’s the reservoir. You fill it up with soap.

Years ago, when my parents thought I had the energy for such things, they gave me a Car Washing Kit. I used it for a while, but I can’t find it now. I did have this left over, though:

I have no idea how long this has been in the garage (and the other garage in the house before this one. Or the one before that).

At first I thought Tyler was going to be helpful.

Or at least watchful.

But no.

I think he likes the feeling of warm concrete on his chest.

So, here’s the thing about he Suds n Go. You start out with the blue control dial set to Rinse, and you get all the big dirt chunks off. The brush is really soft, and you can hold it off the surface and get a pretty strong stream of water without otherwise touching the vehicle, so there’s no worry about scratching the gel coat or clear coat.

While you’re doing this, you notice that you have not been spending time with weights like the doctor suggested. Your arms are going to be sore later. Heck, they’re sore now. Why is this? The Suds n Go isn’t heavy — but the water is, and our garden hose is pretty heavy-duty and therefore heavy, too. So it feels like you’re moving a bowling ball around as you work, and this gets a little tiring. I may try a lighter-weight hose next time.

After the rinsing there is cleaning. Twist the dial on the brush head and presto, soapy water instead of clear. This is good for about 10 minutes. The Suds n Go may not be a precision-engineered device, because somehow, gradually, the soap in the reservoir gets diluted with water, and after a while there’s just water in there.

It’s not a problem. The soap seems to last a reasonable amount of time. The reservoir doesn’t hold much and I only had to fill it four times, total, for washing all of Toto. And while you might think Toto isn’t a very large trailer, he sure seems large when you’re washing the whole thing.

After soapy brushing, more rinsing. Toto gets really clean. And the Suds n Go kit from Costco even includes a nice, easy-to-grip squeegee. If you use a light touch, the squeegee works fine and gets most of the water off, so no need to get all the garage towels wet.

It gleams.

I give the Suds n Go 8 stars out of 10. It doesn’t seem durable. The dial, which doubles as the cap for the soap-filling hole, is a little fussy, and I had to loosen a screw under the cap to make it work right. But I’d have to say the gadget did help me get the job done more quickly and with a little less effort.

I was tired, though. I stopped for lunch, then gave TinMan the same treatment.

Note: there were a few stubborn bug carcasses on the front of Toto and TinMan after the wash job. I used to have something called Bug and Tar Remover — in fact I still did have it on the day in question, but it had Gone Bad. So I used Goof Off II and a soft cloth to take the bugs off.

Also note: see how sunny it was? That has been happening a lot around here, in western Washington, and we’re not used to it. When I started the job — cleaning Toto’s astoundingly white roof — I didn’t have sunglasses on, and I needed something from inside, but when I got to the kitchen I noticed everything had turned dark red. Snow blindness! Yikes. When I went back out I took sunglasses and saved myself from a life of listening to audio books.

If I ever have energy again I’ll clean the awning. But first… more camping, please.