Charity Car Washes

Your plan sounds great! :xyxthumbs

You could save yourself some time, and MAYBE money too if you just buy a cheapo laundry drying rack for the towels, but I don't have a specific one with a price in mind. Don't forget the sunscreen. :)
 
If you're really concerned you can buy some wool mitts from walmart, 100% cotton towels, etc.. You can donate everything you buy and then keep it afterwards since they wont have a need for it.



100% of the people driving through a charity car wash only care about their cars getting cleaned. They don't know anything about swirls or marring.
 
Johnnie27 said:
100% of the people driving through a charity car wash only care about their cars getting cleaned. They don't know anything about swirls or marring.
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This is absolutely true. Most people don't give a crap about their car.



The problem is that my OCD kicks in and I want to do everything to MY standards. (I'm sure most people on this site can relate)



I blame it on Autopia, I wasn't nearly as anal about my cars before I found this place.:D
 
You really shouldn't care so much!!



Sometimes you just need to just go with the flow. 6 year olds washing cars is bad news any way you put it. If you worry about one thing, before you know it you're trying to control everything. Suck it up for a day.
 
You could try to go a bit more "Autopian" on this. IMHO, it would depend on the location. Trying to do a charity car wash with "decent" reslults would be lost around here.



The gas station down the street from me has a charity wash almost every weekend during the summer. I applaud the owner for donating space and water (his kids went to public school here, so he understands fundraising), but on the other hand, when the kids see me about to drive by, they don't hound me. They know that only one person washes my car, and they know that if they don't get in my face, I will likely stop and donate the cost of a wash.



But, really, most people just don't care. Most are like my upstairs neighbor who wanted to borrow some of my stuff to wash her car. I said sure, and made a sheepskin mitt and a MF towel readily available. Instead, she took the stiff nylon brush I scrub very dirty tires with, and washed her whole car with it!
 
...have you considered handing out a flyer advertising your detailing services as they drive off the lot? ;) LOL!



Seriosuly now...why not give each person a specific task? For example, tell the people that will be doing the washing that only one person is to do the wheels and only the wheels? Assign one person to do just the hood and front bumper, another to do the left side, another to do the right, and another to do the back and roof. Not only would that make it a more efficient operation but then you wouldn't have to worry about someone washing the wheels and then the hood with the same rag. However, you'll still be stuck with someone probably washing the bottom of a door then the top of the door but hey, whatcha gonna do? It'll probably be an autopian disaster in the end but hey...you might wash more cars per hour with an "assembly line" and you might cut down on the number of charity-induced swirls to boot.



Tim
 
I say let the little ones have fun and most of the cars they will be doing they won't hurt anymore than the damage the owner already has done!!!
 
tstead said:
...have you considered handing out a flyer advertising your detailing services as they drive off the lot? ;) LOL!

Tim
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haha, i was thinking the same thing! Undo the damage done at the car wash. But I guess you'd be looking at the wrong demographic. Anyone willing to drop a hundred or two on a detail job is never gonna pull into a charity car wash.
 
I just say get some cheapo soap, a couple of good sponges, and a cheap drying towel and go to town. You dont have to let them use Dawn and lay their towels on the ground, but you can let them have fun while doing it better.



Even go so far as to get some cheap No-Touch foam tire spray and hit the tires and wells. I feel that if the donaters saw that their car wash wasent bad looking, they would not hesitate to come back the next time yall do it.
 
I'll say it again.....foamgun. :spot





All the kids will be wanting to use it, I bet even some of the parents will want to get in on the action.



Simply put, it is a fund raiser which equals quantity, not quality. People who do get that done are there more for the donation, with a bonus of having their car *cleaned* and I use that term loosley. I know its hard to do, but let the Autopian take a back seat and have fun with it!



I bet you might even get more cars driving up if they see some of the ones in the prep line covered in suds!





Walter
 
You can't teach kids something like that....they can't even reach the top of the vehilces. Hopefully it will be the parents washing the cars and maybe the kids just doing some spraying or something like that. I know that our car club use to do washes to raise money for our car show which would in turn all be donated to charity. We had about 5 buckets out for the wash (each person with their designated area). 3 for the paint and 2 for the wheels. Water and soap would be changed out every wash. We would even go so far as to completely dry the vehicles with absorbers, clean windows, and put dressing on wheels if the customer wanted it. We never made $1000 a day but we did pretty good. We even had the local police dept bringing their vehicles by. We would get some $50 donations and then there would be some $5...those were killer....
 
Haha! I just ran across this and it reminds me of last weekend. I was out tooling around in Dad's '87 911 Cabriolet. Some soccer team or something had a wash going on. The kid trying to pull people in looks at me and says "Nice car! Can we wash it?"



After spending the whole day on the 4th of July polishing out all the swirls and a few coats of Wolfgang, there was no chance in hell I was even going to let them get the hose near it!
 
These charity car washes are great for having my beater car (98 Ford Escort Wagon) to be cleaned. It's my former company car that I purchased.



Also great for the current company truck (Ford Ranger P/U with cap) to be cleaned.



It's when I drive by with the Porsche at some of these car washes they go nuts. If I have time, I'll drop in not to have the Porsche washed but to donate some cash. The high school wash teams then can view how well a black car can look. A few will ask what's on it, how did I get it to look that way etc. This is where those that have a serious interest and want to know more I'll turn them onto this site as well as other sites.



It's great to have my beater washed since it's gets bird crap on it often. It's also white.



Funny thing, one day taking my 6 year old niece, she asked what the handles are on the door. Those are window cranks..:p She's never seen these.



If you have a beater car, take it to the charity wash, if no beater, stop by and donate some cash. :2thumbs:



Regards,

Deanski
 
Wetwerks said:
I'll say it again.....foamgun. :spot





All the kids will be wanting to use it, I bet even some of the parents will want to get in on the action.



Simply put, it is a fund raiser which equals quantity, not quality. People who do get that done are there more for the donation, with a bonus of having their car *cleaned* and I use that term loosley. I know its hard to do, but let the Autopian take a back seat and have fun with it!



I bet you might even get more cars driving up if they see some of the ones in the prep line covered in suds!





Walter
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These are great!! And adding the colored foaming soaps is great.



I did one for a high school in the evening where I donated the foam guns and florecent foam from a commercial supplier. Pulled cars into a tent that had black lights. Looked really cool for the kids! I tried to also have one of the tunnel wash companies offer the tunnel system at night, I'd have the black lights installed. They passed. Too bad.



Anyway, they had a blast with the guns. And uh, how do I put this? More dayglo foam landed not on the cars often:grinno: Ah what the hell, I had to burn up a 55 gallon drum of it anyway. I'll have to find the pictures and post them.



I'd really love to have the power washer injected foam gun, now THAT'S FOAM!!!



It's a great idea, know of a charity wash? Offer to let them use the foam gun(s). Hell, you may sell a few.:p



Regards,

Deanski
 
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