Local car wash put out this article...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

Further, it would be nice to compare various types (and maybe even ages) of automatic car washes. Just like the various hand wash participants, not all automatic car washes are created equal.

Right down the road from us a brand new car wash opened up. I remember looking at it and seeing the Blue washing things, (whatever they're called) were all very clean.

I should have taken a picture.




Now they are getting blacker and blacker where they mostly touch a car.



Dang.... why didn't I take that picture?


That's why in this article it's pointed out how important it is to capture the "Before" shots because once you start cleaning and polishing the paint you can NEVER go back in time and get the before shots. Same idea applies to this car wash, I should have taken a before shot. Guess I'm kind of surprised at how fast they blue thingys got dirty.

Tips for how to correctly take pictures to document an Extreme Makeover



Oh well... I'll go take a picture and post it anyways...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

It doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility that the highest quality automatic car wash will do less damage, even after repeated washings, than someone who hand washes with very poor technique and tools. We've all seen a neighbor dunking an old bath towel into a bucket of increasingly grimy water and just slopping it all over the car. What that technically qualifies as hand washing, to members of this forum it's nothing short of sacrilege!

It would be nice to see the test repeated and have ONE of the hand washers use the two bucket method with grit guards, a proper wash mitt and microfiber drying towels, and using the same attention to detail that so many of us do as a matter of course. It's not as though proper hand washing is any more difficult to do than improper hand washing, right?

Further, it would be nice to compare various types (and maybe even ages) of automatic car washes. Just like the various hand wash participants, not all automatic car washes are created equal.

[Bert31]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

they are probably comparing average joe hand wash techniques to automatic car wash.....

You are probably correct. A guy paid to wash cars who uses the same bucket, wash, and sponge on every single car over and over again may do more harm than a carwash unlike a detailer who (I hope) is throwing out his wash and rinse water after each wash, rinsing/wiping out the buckets before refilling them, and using a fresh wash mitt/sponge/etc. This kinda gets to Mike Phillips post about what the detailer "thinks".

I think we all need to admit, regardless to how great your product, procedure and mind set is, each time we wash our cars we are doing some swirling to a very small degree. However, the better your product and techniques, the smaller the damage so you can go longer w/o needing to polish things up a little.

[Jossy92]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

I found this, don't remember where.... coulda been here.

"car washes can also be safer for your car's finish than washing your car yourself because do-it-yourselfers sometimes don't use enough water to safely remove dirt; or they wash the car in direct sunlight -- which can burn spots in the paint. Or they use the wrong type of soap -- such as dishwashing detergent, which removes protective wax and leaves a chalky residue on the finish. Or any one of several common mistakes can end up doing more harm than good."

http://autos.aol.com/article/auto-repair/_a/automatic-car-wash-tips/20070529104109990001

A good car wash is better than someone who doesn't "know" or doesn't "care". Whooda thunk?

[kenrimmer]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

Hello all, my brother and I own and run a professional HAND car wash with no machines at all besides pressure washers and ringers for the chamois. Reading this article made me shudder. My brother is also a paint repair specialist with 15+ years of experience under his belt.
I am suspect of this article for several reasons but lets start with the basics..

They compare a professional machine wash, with 4 guys with ZERO knowledge or experience or basic principles. Did they use a tiny bucket to do the whole car? Did they start from the top and work their way down? Did they wash with force or with a gentle touch? Did they actually wash the rims with the same wash mitt they used on the paint?? Way too many variables for this to be a real study.

Yes machine car washes have improved greatly but good luck finding the top of the line machine near you. The average car wash out there does an ok job for a quick clean but look closer(door jams for example) and you will soon see the difference.
After 25 washes any car washed in any manner will need paint mainenance/repair/protection and only a detailer/paint specialist will tell you how the two compare.
We only use paint sealant once a year on our customers cars(no waxing) and I can tell you that if our mitts and chamois were damaging paint as per this article we'd be in a world of hurt and our paint sealant wouldn't last a year!

[PaintPolisher]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

but even then its still better than automatic car wash...... the chamois wall of death and the fiber whip wheel of pain.... enough said.... and dislocated mirrors and twisted antennas

When talking about what I believe the local scratch & swirl does to a cars finish...blah, blah, blah... I will work this phrase into the story the chamois wall of death and the fiber whip wheel of pain as it helps build the visual I was looking for in my story....thanks

al

[benhui86]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

they are probably comparing average joe hand wash techniques to automatic car wash.....

but even then its still better than automatic car wash...... the chamois wall of death and the fiber whip wheel of pain.... enough said.... and dislocated mirrors and twisted antennas

[Jeepster04]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

So this article is saying I should stop pampering my vehicle's finish by using grit guards, clean mitts and cloths, the pat-dry method, and the least aggressive method. Instead, I should drive my car through a machine that doesn't even look at the car and let it beat a bunch of random rags and sponges against my finish filled with who knows what from every car before?

no.. they said to make sure its a touch-less care wash.

[Hemin8r]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

Well I'm still handwashing my cars. Thanks for sharing this article Nick.

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

So this article is saying I should stop pampering my vehicle's finish by using grit guards, clean mitts and cloths, the pat-dry method, and the least aggressive method. Instead, I should drive my car through a machine that doesn't even look at the car and let it beat a bunch of random rags and sponges against my finish filled with who knows what from every car before?

Sounds like a great idea to me.

What Mike said reflects exactly what I thought when I read the beginning of the article - they chose 4 men who don't know how to properly wash a vehicle and pitted them against a machine designed for washing vehicles. Yeah, in this case I believe that the machine may have won.

[CharlesW]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

I noticed they mention evenly moving cloth pads and curtains at automatic car washes. Most of the tunnel washes I see have rotating nylon brushes, not cloth. And evenly moving? That's a loaded phrase.
Plus, if one of the hand washers washed his car in a lake, I shudder to think of the quality of work of the other hand washers.
Not that I'm prejudiced myself toward hand washing.

In our area, some of the tunnel washes use a hanging "curtain" of something. I have no idea as to the material, but I would have guessed it was some type of felt or foam strips that appear to be about 2" wide.
The rotating brushes almost guarantee some marring and I would think the curtains also have a good chance of having some debris in them.

Personal opinion, but I really think more marring is done in the drying process than in the wash process whether it be at a tunnel wash, a touchless wash or a bucket wash in your driveway or lake.

[RacerX88]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

Yeah, quite the impartial article... was the test sponsored by the automatic equipment manufacturer?

Even without a grit guard... I am very comfortable with my two bucket method and the grit in the bottom of the buckets.

Guess I am prejudiced as well.

[Heatgain]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

I noticed they mention evenly moving cloth pads and curtains at automatic car washes. Most of the tunnel washes I see have rotating nylon brushes, not cloth. And evenly moving? That's a loaded phrase.
Plus, if one of the hand washers washed his car in a lake, I shudder to think of the quality of work of the other hand washers.
Not that I'm prejudiced myself toward hand washing.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

Pretty good realistic test. They found 4 guys that had no clue how to wash a car which simulates the majority of the people in the world.. And then they drove a car through a car wash that probably didnt half clean the car.

[tcb 57]

Re: Local car wash put out this article...

If it were me given the task ( on my OWN car ) I would have hit the car with a pressure wash first, ...Then gone over it with my normal Megs. wash and micro towel dry and wax sequence.

Of course, if it was Your toyota, and i had to treat it like my own, ...........er...um.........bugger it !!!