Automatic vs Hand Washing

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bcwang

New member
A study says automatics are better than hand washing. Do you believe it?



Automatic Car Wash vs Hand Wash Article - MBFanatics.org

http://www.harvscarwash.com/carwashstudy.pdf



Over in the carwash industry forums, they seem to believe very strongly that "hand washing" is worse for the paint than automatics. It's really crazy how polarized the view is on detailing forums vs the carwash forums.



What is your take on it, are automatics ever an acceptable form of washing for you, or do you have first hand experience showing they scratch or swirl?
 
I dont use them ever again....I have had several different cars get scratched at several different car washes...





At most I will hit up the spray wash...
 
Didn't watch the video but the study in the mb forum is pretty stupid.



They don't specify what type of automatic wash it is. Are they comparing a touchless wash? It doesn't take a scientist to figure that touchless wash is going to be better than anything that actually touches the paint.



And second, it sounds like they took an average joe who 90% of the time doesn't know what he's doing.



A real comparison would have been a "proper" hand wash compared to a non touchless wash, aka "swirlomatics".
 
There are too many variables to even attempt to make the comparison. A lot depends on who is washing the vehicle and with what, and what type of dirt are they working against?



IMHO it comes down to the question of how much does the automatic wash benefit from using a pre-soak vs having more friction (and possibly dirtier friction materials) down the line. Automatic washes can use strong detergents (as well as combined high/low ph washes) which are not practical for hand washing. Automatic washes also have the benefit of touchless air drying + DI rinse.



On the balance I think doing a touchless wash (e.g skip the foam brush) at self-service car wash is the best way to get a car really clean. Especially if you use the chemicals/process properly (and are going to a wash with good chemicals, look for chemicals that change color/fragrance between different wand settings).



The pre-soak is critically important when doing touchless cleaning. It's really worth spending the time to make sure the car is covered with pre-soak solution, and that you've spotted all the dirty areas of the car (rocker panels, front grille area etc) with extra amounts of pre-soak. Let it sit, and soften up the dirt,



Car Washing Tips - How to wash your car at a self service car wash



Hand washing cars in the drivey tends to be pretty wasteful of water, and has issues with enviromental runoff. Self-serv car wash waste water will be going into a settling pit, and then into the sanitary sewer system.
 
The pre-soak is critically important when doing touchless cleaning.



I agree, I own a Laserwash M5 the presoak is the most crucial step in cleaning a vehicle, a Laserwash touchfree can be the best way to remove pollen and dust from the road, I usually wash my car by hand after a rain fall, Automatic car washes with brushes can leave terrible swirls and scratches, thats why touchfree are safer to use then automatic car wash.
 
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