Touchless Car Washes?

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Since I sometimes use either the DIY wand wash or a touchless drive-thru to knock off heavy accumulations of crud during the cold winter months, I had a question.

One of the arguments against using them is the harsh soap used.
If that soap is strong enough to remove wax/sealant, why doesn't it remove the dirt?
Or is it possible that since it doesn't remove the dirt, the soap isn't strong enough to hurt the wax/sealant either.
Seems like it would be one or the other.
What am I missing here? :confused:
 
I think that its more about water pressure with those that the soaps strength...for me in the winter I use these for blowing off the big stuff and then use S&W to clean up the rest
 
Beemerboy said:
I think that its more about water pressure with those that the soaps strength...for me in the winter I use these for blowing off the big stuff and then use S&W to clean up the rest
Click to expand...
Are you saying that you feel the water pressure is high enough to do damage to the vehicle paint?
What I have always heard is how they "strip" your wax with the harsh chemicals/detergents used. None of the ones I have used in the past 20 years even strip the dirt so how could they strip the wax.
I do the same as you, knock off the big stuff and finish with S&W or a rinseless wash. The finish is certainly not clean enough after the wash to just dry with a MF towel.
 
CharlesW said:
Are you saying that you feel the water pressure is high enough to do damage to the vehicle paint?
What I have always heard is how they "strip" your wax with the harsh chemicals/detergents used. None of the ones I have used in the past 20 years even strip the dirt so how could they strip the wax.
I do the same as you, knock off the big stuff and finish with S&W or a rinseless wash. The finish is certainly not clean enough after the wash to just dry with a MF towel.
Click to expand...

The pressure in those places are not that strong I bet no better than 800 psi..if that...to much liability IMO...as for will the soap that they use will it strip wax...I don't think so...but when I use those places (only in winter) I really don't care that much...but then I don't have the weather that you guys do. So i can at some point get another coat on
 
My Santa Fe looks like absolute hell right now. One full week of slushy snow kicked down the sides. She's not silver metallic anymore; she's dull brown.

I have been thinking about running her through the touchless tonight just to get the majority of the crap off.
 
CharlesW said:
Since I sometimes use either the DIY wand wash or a touchless drive-thru to knock off heavy accumulations of crud during the cold winter months, I had a question.

One of the arguments against using them is the harsh soap used.
If that soap is strong enough to remove wax/sealant, why doesn't it remove the dirt?
Or is it possible that since it doesn't remove the dirt, the soap isn't strong enough to hurt the wax/sealant either.
Seems like it would be one or the other.
What am I missing here? :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm just as confused as you Charles. The few times that I have had to use a touch less, it has definitely shortened the durability of my LSP. Although they clean most of the dirt off, they don't get all of it. :confused:
 
Re: Touch-less Car Washes?

A touch-less wash works poor on a small vehicle because it is designed for ALL vehicles and if a crew cab dually is using it the track must be large enough to clear it.
If you have a small car the spray heads are too far away.
While the pressure is high close to the spray head 3 feet away the spray is just a mist not capable of removing much.
 
Re: Touch-less Car Washes?

black bart said:
A touch-less wash works poor on a small vehicle because it is designed for ALL vehicles and if a crew cab dually is using it the track must be large enough to clear it.
If you have a small car the spray heads are too far away.
While the pressure is high close to the spray head 3 feet away the spray is just a mist not capable of removing much.
Click to expand...
Quite true with many wash facilities.
The DIY wand washes don't seem to do much better at removing all the dirt and road film, though.

One type of wash that is becoming more common in this area is one called "Laser Wash". The cleaning spray nozzles adjust to the size of the vehicle in the wash bay throigh the use of laser sensors. I haven't used them enough to know whether that helps or not.
 
Re: Touch-less Car Washes?

CharlesW said:
Quite true with many wash facilities.
The DIY wand washes don't seem to do much better at removing all the dirt and road film, though.

One type of wash that is becoming more common in this area is one called "Laser Wash". The cleaning spray nozzles adjust to the size of the vehicle in the wash bay through the use of laser sensors. I haven't used them enough to know whether that helps or not.
Click to expand...
I have not seen that type but it should be better.
Hold the wand just a few inches away and then hold it three feet and see how much difference it makes.
If held close everything louse will be washed off but it will leave a scum that must be washed with a mitt but all the sand should come off.
Here we have some places that have really high pressure and others are not so good.
 
Re: Touch-less Car Washes?

groebuck said:
I don't think it strips wax or sealant since I can go through it and still have a film on my windows.
Click to expand...
My thoughts as well.

black bart said:
I have not seen that type but it should be better.
Hold the wand just a few inches away and then hold it three feet and see how much difference it makes.
If held close everything louse will be washed off but it will leave a scum that must be washed with a mitt but all the sand should come off.
Here we have some places that have really high pressure and others are not so good.
Click to expand...

That "scum" is the point of my thread.
If the soap/detergent isn't strong enough to remove road film, how is it going to remove wax/sealant?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top