[t6dpilot]

Unfortunately, I know way more about this subject than I would like - I own a flex-serve car wash. It is a friction wash with wraps that use closed cell foam "fingers" that do not hold dirt and water. Friction is the only way to get your car clean as the touchless leave a film behind. The only way to clean a car in a touchless environment is to use a lot of chemical which dramatically increases cost, so touchless operators use just enough to get the majority of dirt off.

Of course, I run all my cars through the was as does all my family. Being a car guy, I wanted to design a wash that is gentle on cars and gets them spotlessly clean. If the wash is properly adjusted and in good maintenance, it will not damage antennas,ect. But if you have pre-existing damage, all bets are off. My regular customers love my wash and say it is the best in the area. And many of the cars run through the wash are Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, and all the high end SUVs, ect from American manufacturers.

So all you hand washers out there, I am going to give you a few things to think about. Think that is the most gentle way to wash a car? Think again... What reservoir for soapy solution are you using - typically 2 gal right? Every time you dip your mitt into the water (and most city water is very hard = spots), you remove some of the solution and put it on the car. And you deposit the grit from the mitt into the bucket. This process goes on until you have half a gallon of very dirty water that you are continually putting on the car. Not to mention that each time you wipe that mitt across your cars finish, it fills up with dirt that you continue to wipe with. Now what do you do with the soap/ dirt solution? Pour it into the sewer - not environmentally friendly at all. Then you dry it off with a nice scratchy clean dry terry cloth.

Compare this to a well designed friction car wash. We use lots of fresh water for our water soluable chemical. High Ph soap to lift dirt, neutral Ph to give the wraps lubricity, and then a low Ph solution to give the finish that sparkly pop as it comes out of the wash. Full boat washes get wheel cleaner, underbody flush, triple foam polish, clear coat wax, and Rain-X, followed by a spot free rinse which has had all hardness and particulate removed (reverse osmosis system). We then finish drying the cars with clean, damp towels. Being slightly damp gives them the best lubricity and will soak up water better than a dry towel. When the wraps touch the car, they are free of dirt and grit and do not retain water (heavy). That is the design of the closed cell foam. They are very gentle on the finish and still do a great job of cleaning.

Now, here is the cool thing. While we use tons of water, we recycle up to 85% of our water. It is not a simple filtration system that produces sulfur smelling grey water as referenced earlier. It is a mini waste water treatment plant that removes particulate down to less than 5 micron and the resulting water has NO odor and is clean enough to drink. It is a biological system using micro orgainisms that occur naturally in our water supply. Operators who use this system are extremely environmentally friendly and significantly reduce water usage. No chemicals into the sewer!

A comment on scratching paint - anything that touches your car's finish is a scratch risk. Wash mitt, drying cloth, carwash wraps, dry towels, wax applicator and buff microfiber. Even your finger swiping it to see how dusty the car is. All scratch risk. That clean dry terry cloth you use for home drying? Makes me cringe thinking about it. Have I done it - of course. Do I like it? No. The good thing about professional car washes is that they have research and technology behind what they are doing.

Granted, not all washes are as high tech as this one and even mine takes a beating from running lots of cars. And we are certainly not immune to damaging a couple of cars during the year - stuff happens and sometimes through no fault of our own. So ther you have it from the inside view. Get out of your driveways and into the car wash!

This is a passionate subject for many, so flame on...