California Car Wash Regulations

[RogueSpirit]

Hi everyone! I'm a full time college student working part time at an ice cream shop and struggling to pay bills. I've been looking into starting a mobile car wash in the north bay area. Not so much detailing, but preventative maintenance. I'm an Ohio native and was wondering if you could fill me in on the major hoops that I need to jump through with California's drought and green movement regulations being pretty harsh on car washes.

Where can I get products that are legal to rinse away and do not need to be recollected?

Does just my car wash soap need to be green, or do all my products, including wheel n tire cleaners?

What is a car washing license and how do I get one? How much do they cost?

What about insurance? I don't use a buffer or DA polisher at this point, and don't know if and how soon I will. My only powered equipment would be my wet/dry vac.

Is rinseless washing a reasonable way to go? If so, what product do you recommend? What are your feelings on ONR?

Thanks to everyone in advance for their help! I tired of my J-ust.O-ver.B-roke.

[H.E.D]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

You should visit your local city hall they should give you most of this info. BTW ONR is a great product and should be in your arsenal IMO.

[RogueSpirit]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

I found this in relation to a car washing certificate. This is a separate thing completely from a city business license. I'm rather amazed that I had not heard about this requirement sooner.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToObtainCarWashRegistration.htm

[visaliaipa]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

The Great State of California......they gotta get theirs too.....250.00 per year......ouch. I'm surprised they don't make you get a specialty contractors license on top of that.

[PaintPolisher]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

Here is my take on what is or will be happening to us detailers across the country.

This type of legislation is percolating at neighborhood, city, regional, state and at the national level to conserve resources, be green and take personal responsibility. During our 4 year drought the media engine picked up steam and here we all paid attention to what we can and should do to conserve. Everybody was very aware.

Currently I am working with local officials to present an opposing outdoor car washing ban from the homeowner’s viewpoint to counter a lobbyist bill to ban all outdoor car washing across the state. Fortunately this document did not make the docket last year and we presume they will try to introduce this bill again this fall session because this is what lobbyists do. Sooner or later some form of legislation will happen here most likely covering water usage, run-off and licensing.

As a businessman my business plan was changed 5 years ago as the swell of public opinion was starting. We are positioned as a company to continue in business and right now the California rules can be a good outline for what eventually in some form will happen here.

For me paying more to obtain a license is just part of me doing business legally that should increase my business flow as the fly by nighters will be out of business. Now I actually see this type of action [licensing] improving the image some in the general public have of car detailers and car washes.

This can only work if there is enforcement and penalties associated to being illegal.

I see the California rules have the report a violation phone number prominently positioned. Can the public service media blitz announcements be far behind promoting the call in a violator phone number? For our MOL California members has this blitz started yet?

During our drought the police did show up where I was cleaning a car to give me a ticket when a motorist passed by, saw me and used their cell phone to report me washing a car.

Did the police really want to be here with me – NO they were in the neighborhood so dispatch sent them over. Were they nice – YES. Would they have given me a ticket to show up in court – OH YES. I was using a rinse-less car wash using distilled water with the empty distilled water jugs right over there. Whew, saved me $250.00 [1st time fine] and a nasty lecture from the judge. As a side note - One judge around here threw a homeowner into jail overnight for his third [$1,500.00 fine] for watering his lawn. Needless to say this made all the local media headlines.

[Mike Pennington]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

Good info so far to help the OP, but let's all not allow this to turn into a political thread / discussion

[janessa]

Re: California Car Wash Regulations

First, rinse off with a soft spray, don't start with a hard stream.
Fill a bucket up with water and a car cleaner liquid. Then us a soft sponge or 100% cotton cloth to wipe the car down starting with the roof. Make sure to rinse the sponge as you go and rinse of each area as you finish. Don't let the soap or water dry. After you've completed the last spot do the tires. (Some people do the tires first)
Make sure to dry the car off. Again, don't let water dry on the car.
Clean the windows and lights with a glass cleaner.