What is best way to clean a car covered with salt... without a hose?

I'd find a hose.

 

Agreed. Call a friend who can loan you his driveway and a hose...soon.

 

yea dude gotta get that salt off the paint ...need a hose dont wash it with soap and wash cloth until its COMPLETELY rinsed first

 

Self serve car wash

 

More important than the outer paint you need to thoroughly hose down the chassis, wheel wells, ect......I mean totally diluge the car with water , then wash the car with soap....then hose down the car thorougly......that is the only way to get the salt off the underneath of the car.
Cleaning only the paint is a waste of time if the salt remains underneath.
Find a friend with a drive and hose or one of those manual car washes. Maybe the condo management will allow you to borrow one of their garage hoses (theres got to be a water tap in the garage for maintenance) to wash your car down?

 

Think of Salt as small rocks that you'll be dragging across your paint

 

That NOMAD unit actually is a great idea...........Sure may take longer but looking at their video, it should work. (Amazon also had it)

http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-MCOR35-Portable-Cleaner-Adjustable/dp/B0035Y6NPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1293853218&sr=8-1

For the salt thought, you really want to get some good foaming soap onto it so it breaks up that salt (or whatever) 1st if possible......

 

In your local area: Do you have one of those car wash services that will come out and wash your car at its location?

 

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+care/car+washing/car+cleaners/spray-on+car+wash+kit.do

 

I always hand wash my cars. In the winter, I take my daily driver to one of the self serve car washes to rinse off most of the dirt/salt and then hand wash in the garage with Optimum no rinse wash. It's only available online (most details shops and even Amazon). You will need 2 large buckets of water and get some high quality microfiber towels and mitts.

http://optimumcarcare.com/onrwns.php?li=2

http://www.amazon.com/32oz-Optimum-Rinse-Wash-Shine/dp/B000E9TS6O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1293896696&sr=1-2

 

Road salt will sometimes contain Calcium Chloride (CaCl2), Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2) Potassium Chloride (KCl) or some combination of any or all of these as well. Not just the Sodium Chloride (NaCl) that we might put put on our tables.
Therefore, the best way to remove it from any surface (both, underneath the car or from the paint above) is soappy water. If you want to be a bit more sophisticated, purchase a gardening spray adapter with a fluid container attached to it (usually used for spraying fertilizer+insecticides) and fill it with a very miuld solution of baking soda (about 1 small spoonfull per quart) and spray it onto the salt-affected surfaces to dissolve salt deposites before using lots of warm soappy water. The reason to using baking soda is that when thosee salts concentrate they cause a drop in acidity, which causes corrosion. To neutralize it, one needs to neutralize it using base, such as baking soda.
I used this approach when I lived in NY.
Cheers.

 

I would take it to a car wash and blast it off good top and bottom. When I got home I'd use a waterless cleaner to remove spots. Chemicals on the undercarriage are bad.

Dave

 

One thing that some people forget that rust or oxidation damage DOES NOT start from the outside painted surface but rather the inside and back side of the panels. The wheel wells and undercariage of the car are not sealed and liquified salt finds it way deep into the undercarriage and does its damage.
Aluminum cars also suffer oxidation from salt exposure so they are not exempt from corrosion. When you put a car through an automated car wash this helps a bit because they have high powered underbody sprayers that wash some of the embedded salt away from the undercarriage but they are not perfect.
I have 2 vehicles for the winter salt and my F car is stored away from the salt as even one season of salt exposure starts the cancer. Further its easy to identify any car that has been exposed to salt , even if for only 1 season and I for one would not even consider purchasing it. But if you must drive your Ferrari in the salt then you should be prepared to fully deluge the chassis in clean water at least once a week to lessen the damage.

 

Ditto that!
On note, an oxidized aluminum surface actually protects from oxidation spreading any deeper.

 

I fully agree with Chris. As a winter job, I always remove all panels especially all the wheelhouses and underfloor panels. You can't imagine how much dirt I can find there. Last summer, on a mountain road, the road was covered with cow **** (we like cows here in Switzerland and farmers like to let their tanks leaking on the roads). Even if my car looked clean after a good wash, when removing all the panels, I could find this cow extriments everywhere. For instance, the carbon filter and vacuum tank was covered of it! So, I can easily imagine how salt can get deep inside and stay there for years, acting slowly but surely...The F430 has so many hidden holes and spaces where salt can get very easily. This is one main reason why the F430 is not conceived for driving on winter roads