Touchless Car Washers & Drying

M

Mtnsummit

New member
Hi Everyone,



I am really enjoying absorbing all of the info on this site - everyone seems so helpfull without any "issues".



I just purchased a new 2003 Silver Honda Pilot. I hope to normally wash by hand weekly, but know there will be times when my weekend schedule will not permit that, so I was planning to go to a local car wash (part of our Mobil gas station) and run the car through it. Now this car wash place does not use any brushes (that is why I am attracted to using it), rather it uses hi amounts of water pressure and suds to clean. It has the normal air blower to remove water as you slowly exit the booth.



I have assumed the regular car wash places that use brushes can/will scratch your car's paint?



Here is the main question - The air blower does not manage to get all of the water off of the car, so I was thinking I should bring a drying towel (I like the Absorber) to dry those few areas that water lingers on the car after pulling out of the booth. Should I use something other than the Absorber to do this, like 100% cotton towels? And, If I dry the spots this way, would I possibly scratch the paint, because dirt may linger on the paint, since the dirt was not "scrubbed" off the car. In other words, it seems if the touchless car wash does not blow off all dirt, I will be trying to wipe off stuck dirt, which will scratch?



My car does stay outside 100% of the time, but so far ( I have had car a month) I have been able to wash weekly by hand, but not the case this last weekend.



Any thoughts appreciated.



John:xyxthumbs
 
Just out of curiosity, what amount of water is recycled at the auto washes in your part of the country?
 
I normally take my truck to the self serve car wash. I rely on hi pressure to clean the surface, I dont use the brush they have, who knows where its been......

When I dry, I use nothing but microfiber technology, beit a Big Blue Drying Towel, or just the little 18x18....My trick is to use a Quick detailer or, Eagle Ones Wax as-U-Dry. This helps in lubricating the surface while Im wiping clean, I follow up with a fresh MF to remove any haze from the product Im using, works like a charm.... Now some prefer to wash with Chenille mits or sponges, whatever the case may be, I see little difference between my technique, and conventional washing....Your still wiping the surface with something, and that may cause scratching....My belief is that if you can remove the majority of dirt and crud, without even touching it, you ahead of the game......just my .02...



As for recycling water, Im pretty sure there required to recycle all of it.....I cant recall ever going to a self serve or coin op that didnt have a drain grate with a clarifier....
 
That is a good question on the water recycled, and I do not have a clue, but assume because this is Southern California where we get rain once every 5 years, the water is recycled. Sounds like that could be a problem?



Patrick's suggestion sounds good, although my problem is the time thing, spraying and drying the car off quickly while on the way to work. Maybe a compromise for me if I do have to go this way occasionally would be to use a Quick Detailer sprayed on any area water lingers, so that it would help lube the surface if dirt was there. And I did just get some MF towels, sounds like that is better than the Absorber. Would 100% cotton towels work ok instead of the MF towels as well?



Thanks again,



John
 
This is what I do when I dont have time to wash, in fact, I did it today.



Run it through the machine, then use a product like Poorboys Spray and Wipe before you dry. Doesnt add much more time really.



One thing I just noticed though. Keep the vehicle well sealed, use something tough for this, Zaino or Klasse. Not only does it help the machine blow the dirt off, but it protects from water spotting. I'm in the process of touching up the spot on my rear bumper where I got backed into, and I've been polishing it so its not sealed like the rest of the car. Tonight I was working by halogen light adding another coat of clear (looks like I can langka and polish now, yay! lol) and I noticed, moderate waterspotting on that one section of bumper, and nowhere else. Only thing I can think of is powerful chemicals. The spots come off by hand with Scratch X though. However, where the paint was sealed, no problem.
 
I use manual/spray carwashes and dry by driving fast. I would never dry the car with any kind of cloth after just a water wash.
 
Mtnsummit- Accumulatorette sometimes runs her A8 through such "touchless" carwashes when on long trips. It CAN be done without damaging your vehicle.



*IF* you dry it (as opposed to just risking the spotting like Endus does, which is probably a *LOT* safer, and is what my wife usually does) take Patrick's and GoodnClean's advice and a) don't do it unless you have a good (sacrificial) layer of something on the paint; b) spray on a QD first, it WON'T take but a moment; c) BLOT the car dry, avoid "rubbing" as much as possible (you'll have to do SOME,though).
 
Unless your car has only minimal sirface dust on it the touchless car washes are not going to get it ABSOLUTLY clean. In other words when your drying your rubbing in fine particulate. If you don't believe me find someone with a dirty black swirlfree car and run it through the touchless then dry it with a M/F towel. Then go in the sun and look at it. These swirls don't show up well on light cars but all swirls in the end lessen the gloss and the protective coat you may have on your car.



The other thing to remember is the Touchless Washes use some pretty harsh chemicals in the caustic side to remove what dirt they do lift so any protection you do have on your paint will be short lived. You will also start to see drying of the rubber around your windows etc.
 
Sure, if you dry it without some lubrication, but if you use a lube product like the Spray and Wipe that I use, then its not going to swirl.



And I disagree about the wash not getting all of the dirt. My car has three coats of EX on it, and it had been driven in the rain all week, it wasn't dusty, it needed to be washed. So yesterday I ran it through the wash, and I was very impressed with how clean it came out, aside from the wheels, all the dirt had been blown off the surface, it was quite clean. A quick hit with the S&W and an MF towel, some attention to the wheels, and it looked showroom. Not a swirl anywhere, and if they were there I'd know trust me.



I do reccomend that if you're going to wash like this, do it at least twice a week to make sure there's not too much on the surface.
 
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