Does your stomach churn whenever you go to the pressure wash?

M

MnRiverman

New member
Today when I was there, and all the other weekends I go, I see people with some pretty expensive cars using the brush to wash them, and scrubbing their wheels and wheel wells with the foaming brush and then going straight to the paint and brushing away.



Last week there was some guy behind me with a brand new Audi A4 1.8T, so since we had the VW love, I went up to him and said "Please don't use the foaming brush, this is way too nice of a car!".



I also saw today some guy pouring Armor All car soap onto a paper towel and rubbing it on the paint to remove the dirt, and to top it off, he was outside the bay waiting his turn, so the car was in the sun, dry, getting wiped down with a paper towel and car soap.



It's coming to the point where I almost can't go there anymore cause it just hurts to see what these people are doing!



Anyways, just had to share!



Oh and while I have you here, what exactly is "pre-soak"? It's not a soap, it's a low pressure chemical that's supposed to clean without scrubbing, so I'm going to assume it's some pretty strong chemical to remove dirt, which probably also strips the wax. Anyone know for sure what this stuff is?



Thanks. :)
 
i hate going there right after i detail mine. I go there to use the vacuums. I hate going though because i have this truck, i spent 3 hours detailing. Putting my own blood and sweat into. And then there are these people who pay 10 bucks and wait 5 minutes for their car to be done. I dont like people looking at my truck and thinking that i just went through the drive through. I stopped going there after some guy in a BMW M5 asked me what package i got since my truck looked so nice. I was like. no package. i spent the last 4 hours detailing it at home. he is like.. really? why? when u have the car wash. im like.. shaking my head... never went back. lol:rolleyes:
 
I hate to use the pressure washers on my finish (I always wash it by hand in the driveway) but it is too cold right now (the hose is frozen). People always look at me funny whenever I crawl all around the car spraying the undercarriage.



The worst people are the one's who are too lazy to even get out of their car and spray so they go through the automatic wash.
 
Ha ha... Yes, that bothers me too. I went one time this winter when it was too cold to use the hose. I sprayed off the undercarriage and lower half of the car. I saw all sorts of crazy things. One guy must have been inspired by the foaming brush because he was washing his car off with the head of a push broom. And people would spray their wheels down with acid-based cleaners while waiting their turn in line. So it would just dry to the wheels before they ever got into the booth. It took me about 30+ minutes to get through there, so I think I'll start going at more off-hours to save time and to save having to see such vehicle negligence. Although, hopefully I won't need to go again. The weather has warmed up a bit (to around freezing instead of 15 below), so I can use the heated hose and QEW in the garage.



Oh, even the drive-through people were getting their cars extra trashed. I guess the drive-through wasn't cutting it on the salt, because they had some guys with buckets of "water" and these big brooms and they'd wet the broom a bit and then wipe around all the salt on the cars while they waited to go through the washer. I just wanted to ask the shop owner if he even cared what happens to peoples' cars as a result. But why bother, the cars' owners don't even care.



Adg, I think you can safely assume that any of that pre-soak or soap crap will strip any wax you had on the car.
 
I might miss the point here, is high-pressure water bad for car wash?

I just found the self-service car wash place with strong high-pressure water. Do they take off all Zs at all? I just like the way cleaning up my car body since I'm lazy and dont wanna feel cold water during this season but if it's harsh for my car, I guess I'll wash at my place...
 
The high pressure wash can technically embed particles into the clear. Just make sure to use a very wide angle (not pointing directly at the paint i.e. 90 degrees) and don't get too close. The soap can be pretty harse as well for Carnuba users.



For a user, it should be fine as far as effecting durability.



The only thing about high pressure wash bays is watching sooo many people just make a mess of you car. Watching people use that tire brush on the paint just make me cringe. One of these day's I'll lose a filling from watching them. Fortunately, I have a house/garage now so I won't paying the local bays too many visits...



Also, pressure washing alone will not get the grime off your car. A bucket/mitt wash is usually required so you need to go on the off hours to do a good job of washing and drying.
 
I have a touchless place down the street from work that just re-opened under new management. At this 'touchless' place, they pre-wash your car with a mop looking thing, then dry off the excess water once you're done with some pretty colored terry towels. I had to wave the mop guy off and didn't bother to stop for the towel guy.



Two more months until I get my garage...
 
I washed my wife's car yesterday at the pressure wash because I couldn't stand the salt on my wife's car anymore.



It was freezing out but I sat inside the car waiting and watched people using the brush constantly. All I could do was shake my head and cringe....:scared
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one! :)



I still don't think I"ll ever top seeing someone pour car soap onto a paper towel and rubbing it into their car, while it's dry, to get it clean. If anyone can do better than that, I'll send you $1 :D



I have never had a problem with the pressure wash place, and it's just too cold to wash it by hand. If it's warm enough out to wash the car by hand, and the car is really salty, I pressure wash it with just water, then come back to my house and finish washing it.



As said, it doesn't remove the grime, but it gets a lot of the dirt off.



My water is still beading and the paint till feels smooth - Go Zymol! :p
 
I still don't think I"ll ever top seeing someone pour car soap onto a paper towel and rubbing it into their car, while it's dry, to get it clean. If anyone can do better than that, I'll send you $1
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theveed told me he saw a boy getting water from a puddle and putting it into a drum which was the reservoir of a power washer... Hey, this is the Philippines... You can send me 55 pesos (US$1) to... a local charity or something.



--Alf
 
Actually, you guys should take my attitude.....



I just don't care anymore, WHY???



Because, everytime I go to the pressure wash to AT THE VERY LEAST wash the salt off, there are 4 people in line for every bay, and I see all the people scrubbing their car with the brush....I can't even get in to wash the salt off.....so my whole attitude now is, I don't care what people do to their cars, just get the heck out of my way so I can do the right thing.....it sucks eggs too because right now if the temp gets at all above 30, all the dumb a$$es come out in full force to the coin op.....



I CANNOT wait to get my own garage......I would probably build a house with a garage just so I could wash my car at home and have a garage to protect it in.......then I can stop getting pi$$#$ off at all the DA's at the spray place.....:down
 
I find it entertaining.



Two weeks ago I watched a guy with a newish black Explorer work his way around the truck drying the car off. He would get to each door, open it up, then wipe out all the jambs, etc..., close the door, and continue bock on the outside.



Then when I thought he was done, he proceeded to work on the wheels / tires, and then the inner edges of the wheel lips.



I was thinking that,"ok, he at least did the fender lips last, BUT THEN HE OPENED THE TOWEL UP AND DRAGGED IT ALL OVER THE TRUCK AGAIN.



The amount of sand / grit that towel must have been amazing. I can't even imagine the damage he did.



Worst part is he goes home thinking he did a good thing.:scared
 
Now. Now. Everyone cannot be like us. As much as we might want them to follow in our foot steps, it's possible that they cannot comprehend the amount of damage they are doing to their vehicles. That or they're just plum LAZY!! :D



I, too, cringe when I go to the coin-op here on base. I just can't understand how people can use the foam brushes on their cars. I was there the other night vaccuuming my truck out and there was a guy in a blacked out stall using the brush over his '99 Mustang. I was cringing like someone had raked their fingernails down a chalkboard.



If my Marines go to the coin-op, I tell them to stay away from the brushes!!
 
What I can't understand...especially with people who own black cars, is how they can't SEE the damage they are causing. I mean, with a black car you will see every little scratch/swirl on it. Run your finger across with some pressure, you get marring. Are people just blind? If you scratch up the paint in someone's house, they'll notice...how can you not notice on your car?!?!?



Note: I get pretty steamed about this LOL:D
 
adg44 said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one! :)



I still don't think I"ll ever top seeing someone pour car soap onto a paper towel and rubbing it into their car, while it's dry, to get it clean. If anyone can do better than that, I'll send you $1 :D



I have never had a problem with the pressure wash place, and it's just too cold to wash it by hand. If it's warm enough out to wash the car by hand, and the car is really salty, I pressure wash it with just water, then come back to my house and finish washing it.



As said, it doesn't remove the grime, but it gets a lot of the dirt off.



My water is still beading and the paint till feels smooth - Go Zymol! :p
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This will make you cringe >



- Person using thick steel wool (the curly stuff) to remove bird droppings and bug guts off the front off the car and a bird dropping on the boot and bonnet.



And then going on to not hose the car down and wash with a soapless sponge (there werent any suds) then clean his (used to be nice) alloy wheels with the steel wool (they certainly got the brake dust off) and then drove off.



This is a reason I dont want to buy a used car. I dont trust how it was taken care of.
 
My stomach turns when people thing they can wash their car at the gas station using the window squeege while their car is fueling up. First the do all the windows...then they'll start doing the front of the car, lights etc. Then they stand back and have that look on their face like ... Hmm not bad.



Doh!



TJ
 
TJ98Cobra said:
My stomach turns when people thing they can wash their car at the gas station using the window squeege while their car is fueling up. First the do all the windows...then they'll start doing the front of the car, lights etc. Then they stand back and have that look on their face like ... Hmm not bad.



Doh!



TJ
Click to expand...



LOL! I've seen that a couple times too! :D
 
being in so cal...going to the coin op once a week..i keep the bmw covered at work and home...and QD as much as possible to keep the dust at bay...on the new bmw's the wheels are the weak point..brake dust is a monster..so the coin op does a good job .. after some simplegreen..even then..it takes a wipe down with "wheel towles"



the things i have seen folks do to their cars/trucks is unreal..but the most common is watching a "new" car with sticker attached being "brushed" down...



i want to say something..but then i realize..its way to late..



this past weekend at a local auto supply...a guy comes in and asked for "compound" ...the salesguy give him a tin of rubbing compound...then they guy asked.."should i glaze it first..?" i had to ask the guy what he wanted to do with the compound..."oh..take the mess off the hood..some kid threw an egg at my car.." (MY2000 Jag)..i guided the guy slowly and carefully to a mild cleaner wax..then suggested if that didnt work..try a mild polish..but please put that rubbing compound down..
 
quote:

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Originally posted by TJ98Cobra

My stomach turns when people thing they can wash their car at the gas station using the window squeege while their car is fueling up. First the do all the windows...then they'll start doing the front of the car, lights etc. Then they stand back and have that look on their face like ... Hmm not bad.



Doh!



TJ



Watched this tonight when I gassed up the truck. Guy was doing it when I pulled up and was still at it when I left.
 
Me too. I fueled up tonight and saw a person do it. They started by doing the head/tail lights (b/c we just got a bunch of snow). Then starting doing the trunk. I thought about handing a b-card but I decided I didn't want to spend 6 hours getting her car back to normal, then see them a few weeks later with the squeege thing again.

TJ
 
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