Anyone use a product called "salt-away"

[Ratpick]

I heard through a friend who goes out with land speed racers at Bonneville and El Mirage that almost everyone uses Salt-Away. I checked out their website just now and they sure make it sound great. It's a spray that both cleans off salt and leaves a protective barrier so it doesn't stick and get a chance for corrosion.
But what about Black Rock City's dry lake bed? Anyone use this stuff out there? I'm bringing my regular car this time and want to minimize destruction of it. I know dust gets everywhere, but if I can help it not rust out before I get home then I want to.

[captain mcguiver]

Estimated Ph of BRC is like 8. Does it work on that? Sounds interesting.

[jkisha]

It's a dry lake, not a dry ocean or salt flat.

[captain mcguiver]

The rainwater falls from the Mountains, and drains onto the playa delivering minerals from the rocks onto the playa (i.e.) salts.

At least that's what the Playaintists tell me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htKnGcpdBrQ

[theCryptofishist]

Bonneville is NaCl, not whatever "salts" we have on the playa.
Sorta like physicists call slowing down "acceleration". It doesn't make much sense to us. It's often worth the trouble of differentiating between technical and common vocabularies.

[trilobyte]

As others have pointed out, the playa dust isn't salty.

[Ratpick]

Ok. But maybe I didn't make my ultimate goal clear- to spray something on car that will leave some kind of barrier or film so the playa dust sticks to it, not metal, and can then be more easily washed off. I thought of even something like armourall, wd-40, tire shine or something like that. Have you seen under the hood of a car after used car lot details it? They spray everything down with an oily armourall type stuff so it looks all shiny and new. It's also greasy to the touch, leaving quite a film behind. Am I chasing a white rabbit?

[Bob]

More like The Brown Bunny.

Armor All on the interior plastic helps, and a regular undercoat, but you don't want to goop up the undercarriage.

[CrispyDave]

Vaseline works great to keep the dust off of the paint....

[portaplaya]

Your spray is MORE likely to collect playa dust and lead to corrosion than bare metal would. Just driving back home is going to blow the playa dust off of bare metal, but not if you have an "oily residue" coating your surfaces.

So clean your engine and under-carriage before you go so you do not have road grime trapping playa dust.

Since playa dust is inert unless it gets wet and stays in prolonged contact, merely getting a pressure wash on the way home is sufficient for protecting your vehicle. Products like "salt-away" are for environments where you cannot escape exposure (highways and roads in winter in the NE) and it is problematic to pressure wash your vehicle after each exposure (such as winter in the NE). That really doesn't apply here.

[Foxfur]

I live in the Pacific Northwest (WET WET WET!) and have had no problems due to playa dust + water.
I recently did extensive work on the undercarriage of my truck. No rust. Even on the areas that have lost their undercoating.
Note that even though we live underwater 8 months out of 12, there's still plenty of dust under there.

[Bob]

Deejay-Begone might be more desirable.

[Elliot]

I know nothing of chemistry, but I am familiar with Bonneville, having spent all Speed Week there in 1997. The salt is sticky. It sticks to itself, which means it creates no dust. Even the rooster tails off tires create no dust. The salt just falls back to the ground. But it also sticks to everything else. It is not uncommon to find a buildup of as much as 1/2 inch on any surface behind the tires. After each run, the team I was with used a garden sprayer to remove some of the salt immediately. Their pickup-truck is riddled with rust holes that you could throw cats thru.

My bus has been to BRC four times. I've made absolutely no effort to clean it, except the interior. I see no rust.

But some things will rust badly if the Playa dust gets wet, without washing the dust off. Bicycle chains seem particularly vulnerable.

If you want to wash the dust off the underside of your car, you might try what I did with my (rental) car in 1997. I put a lawn sprinkler under the car all day, moving it every hour. I could find no trace of salt after that.

And I second the motion to invent DJ-BeGone!

[Dr. Brap]

How about waxing your vehicle? It leaves a hard barrier behind.