Any cons of a Touchless Wash in the winter?

E

Egoolps

New member
The only knock I've heard on these is that they remove the wax quicker due to the high pressure. If this is true, how much quicker?



Aside from that, it seems like this is the perfect option in the winter. I go to Chicagoland Wash near Dempster and Milwaukee in the NW burbs (for Chicagoans).



I go because:



1) I don't have a garage

2) I'm not going to wash my car when it's less than 30 degrees out, and certainly not when it's below "0"



I understand that it's not going hit every nook and cranny like I can with a handwash, but I find this to be the best option in the winter.
 
Those touchless washes do use strong detergents. But it is better to get the salt off as soon as possible. Are you talking about the coin washes? There are touchless washes that use a conveyor system, and dry your car after. So you can wash it when it is below freezing.
 
I'm guessing any cleaners designed to remove dirt without any agitation are proabably pretty harsh on your LSP, rubber seals and trim. I'm not saying not to use them, but you asked for any possible "cons" :nixweiss
 
Use them as little as possible IMHO only when your car is so sickly dirty you want to throw up. They use strong detergents that are harsh on a cars finish. Most people are not like us sickos they see a clean car but do not know the damage that it could cause to the finish
 
You're definitely much better off finding a detail shop in your area who will hand wash the car. BUT.... It's also not good to let your car get really really dirty before washing. I would recommend washing your car frequently in a no touch car wash before I recommend letting your car get weeks of dirt and grime built up.



John
 
smprince1 said:
I'm guessing any cleaners designed to remove dirt without any agitation are proabably pretty harsh on your LSP, rubber seals and trim.
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I wonder if all the chemicals in road salt are any better? I'd say it's a toss up when comparing constant cleaning of unprotected paint to a protected one where road salt is allowed to sit for long periods?
 
David Fermani said:
I wonder if all the chemicals in road salt are any better? I'd say it's a toss up when comparing constant cleaning of unprotected paint to a protected one where road salt is allowed to sit for long periods?
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Agree ... but I wasn't proposing not doing any washing at all for the entire winter. I get by with QEW for the winter. Many also bring a bucket/mitt/shampoo to the self-serve bays and just use the water available there to clean off the salt but bring their own cleaners and mitts.



The question was just whether there are any cons to a touchless, not whether it was better/worse than doing nothing all winter. :think: :)
 
If you are able to layer your wax before the winter hits, and only use the touchless as you NEED to, you should be OK. I know Rich at Polished Bliss likes to put about 12 layers of Jeffs on his car before the winter and then just uses his foam cannon through the winter. I know where I live, the Esso touchless carwashes work very well - the dilutions are right and it hasn't discoloured any trim on my wifes Minivan. Just my two cents.
 
smprince1 said:
Agree ... but I wasn't proposing not doing any washing at all for the entire winter.



The question was just whether there are any cons to a touchless, not whether it was better/worse than doing nothing all winter. :think: :)
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I know. I was just going off on a tangent. I'd like to know how bad road salt is when left on for 2-3 days? It's pretty corrosive stuff.
 
Although they use very strong detergents, I use them on occasion when I can't do an ONR wash. If there's a lot of salt on the car, I'm with David...better to clean the car with harsh detergents than to let corrosive salt sit on it.



Then when I DO get the chance to perform an ONR wash, I'll top it with a quick spray wax (OCW) to put back on a layer that the touchless wash may have stripped off. That's of course, after I've sealed it with OOS before the winter hit!
 
David Fermani said:
I know. I was just going off on a tangent. I'd like to know how bad road salt is when left on for 2-3 days? It's pretty corrosive stuff.
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OK...I'll go off on that tangent with you too :laugh:



I gotta agree road salt is very corrosive and causes lots of damage to vehicles. Especially in the undercarriage and wheel wells and places that typically don't get cleaned. Just compare the condition of vehicles from climates where road salt is used against warmer climates away from any coastal area and it's plain to see that road salt will cause cancer on vehicles. Better to get that salt off if possible. :scared:
 
On my daily driver I use a Laser Touchless car wash quite frequently in the winter when the temps are below freezing. The detergents may be harsh so typically, I will QD the washed car and then apply a Quik Wax to renew the protection. Car looks good all winter and there has been no damage to the rubber or vinyl trim.



IMO getting the salt off is vitally important. Especially on the undercarrage.
 
the finishes and materials used on late model cars are 100 times better than those of 10-20 years ago. yes, salt and road grime are bad but the use of salt has also been limited in many areas. i don't think that the effects are quite as bad if the car is outside or in an unheated space. the warm and cold is not that great for it if you can't keep it clean often. like my wise as- friends would tell me why do you wash so frequently "your finish only gets dirty once, then the dirt gets dirty":laugh:. just don't let it get too bad and any kid of rinsing/wash is better than nothing at all. find a hand wash if you can and/or do coin-op rinses during the bad times.
 
A word of caution on the touchless washes.....



Many of them use reclaimed water. Check with the owner of the wash to verify. If you are spraying reused water with salt in it, are you really helping or hurting the car? :scared:



I'm not a fan of blasting high pressure salt water all over my car, especially the underside.



Many cities are requiring the washes to collect, filter and reuse the water due to environmental reasons. I just don't think that they can filter out the dissolved salt in the water.



Randy
 
David Fermani said:
I know. I was just going off on a tangent. I'd like to know how bad road salt is when left on for 2-3 days? It's pretty corrosive stuff.
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The stuff the highway department uses is harsh. Multiple chemicals to work below freezing. Not your average diveway salt. A underbody wash would be the most important.
 
smprince1 said:
...The question was just whether there are any cons to a touchless, not whether it was better/worse than doing nothing all winter. ..
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IMO going through a truly touchless wash is a lot better than doing nothing. Leaving aside the corrosion issue, once a vehicle gets "caked-and-crusty-dirty" anything contacting the paint will usually cause marring. A trip through the touchless should at least get the big chunks of stuff off.



Yeah, some filter/treat their water better/worse than others, and yeah the potency (and proper mixing of) the chemicals can be a concern. But not doing *anything* is, IMO a lot worse.



The undercarriage sprays at such places should at least get some of the salt off, and while it's not the same as crawling underneath and giving it a proper cleaning, it's better than nothing.



I'd be sure to use a wash that has touchless/air blower drying; *DO NOT* let anybody wipe down the car after one of these washes as pressure against the residual dirt will cause some pretty awful marring.



I've taken some of our vehicles thorugh the local touchless and while it didn't get them all *that* clean, it did get the worst off. It didn't strip the Collite or KSG on those vehicles or cause any other problems.



My wife takes her A8 through a touchless in TN when she travels, and it makes cleanup much easier for me when she finally gets the car home. Again, it does't strip the #16 on that car or do anything detrimental.



The places we've used must do a pretty good job of treating their water (assuming it's recycled) as the water (what's left that the blowers didn't get off) basically dries spot-free. It's certainly not like they're spraying salt water on there; there's less spotting than I get at home with my filtered/conditoned water, it's about the same as I get with my CRSpotless.
 
I have no problem running the car through the coin op wash. the one with blower's is the best, if you can find one.
 
In my opinion, it really depends on the weather in your area. Personally, i'd only do it very very rarely over the winter for the following reason.



1st (and foremost), water will "activate" the corrosiveness of salt. If the weather stays below -5C, it's probably better to leave it alone.



2nd Touchless drive through washes or high pressure hand wash bays will push salt and sand deep into crevices that probably won't be washed by hand until the late spring when you can detail your car really carefully.



3rd The detergents in most are very very harsh. Citric acid isn't uncommon. So by washing at one of those locations, you're pretty stripping the protection from your vehicle and then pushing salt solution deep into your car joints etc. Outside of the flat panels of paint, your pushing into the hinges, undercarriage etc.



Repeated use of those can really do far more harm then good over the winter. Last year I handed back an Acura EL (4-years) and it didn't have an specle of rust and i typically only washed 1x per month in Dec, Jan, Feb and March. The car was 99% swirl free and ultra smooth. The dealer was "shocked" how well it looked. They typically don't have cars in the showroom or delivered that was soo well cared for. I only polished it 1x in 4 years with a mild polish.



My mother's Mazda3 NEVER gets washed during the winter and i do a full detail in May and it's 5 years old now and in perfect condition. 95% free of swirls/holograms and not a dot of rust.



However, if you have a indoor garage and want to hand wash, then that would be fine.



Paco
 
Thanks for the responses so far.



Let me throw one more thing out there.



If you HAD to choose between:



1) Using a touchless wash

2) Getting a hand car wah (not by you of course)



What would you choose?



I'm not saying the touchless wash is the best option, but when I see the guys at the hand car wash wash the bottom of the car, then use the same mitt for the top of the car, it makes me think #1 is a better option. Am I off base?
 
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