Drive through car wash

I refer to them as swirl factories. Anything that has brushes or material that touches the car is going to get dirty and become abrasive. The touchless ones don’t clean well. There is no substitute for a properly done hand wash. I use the 2 bucket method and dry it with an electric leaf blower.

It is funny how many of them are being built. 2 huge ones just went up in my small town.
 
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There are good ones and bad ones.none replace actually hand washing your own car, but it is a huge time saver and I certainly do it more frequently than I would ever hand wash.
 
There are 3 drive through brush type nearby. One of them is horrible. The other two are pretty good. They do a good job especially if the car isn't too nasty to start with. But, it's hard to beat a good hand job. :rolleyes:
 
only thing they're good for is spraying the undercarriage off after salt has been applied to the roads.
 
I wouldn't use anything with a brush, as it's going to scratch your clear coat. You may not immediately notice the damage, but it's there.

I occasionally use the spray washes to knock off the big stuff before performing a hand wash (top down/two bucket method). I also will use a spray wash to rinse the undercarriage of my vehicle, especially when it encounters mud, salt, or sand.
 
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I only use the touchless ones, and only to knock the dust off a fairly clean car.

Made the mistake of driving a dark metal flake green jetta through a brush one once. Totally trashed my paint. Had to them take it to someone to fix/buff/detail.
 
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rdinatal said:
And that's about as close to this getting moved to the basement as it can go...
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I think you underestimate the CFF braintrust.

And drive-through washes are fine...when you drive a battered old pickup you've been using for construction for 15 - 20 years.

Looks better'n it did!
 
I've used the drive through ones now and then to remove dust and light dirt, and after I've been on a salty road.

Most of the time I use the bays with the high pressure wand. They do a better job cleaning.

Hand washing is the best, of course. I used to hand wash my cars every week like it was my religion, but these days I'll just hose it off at the car wash and do a thorough hand wash 2-3 times a year.
 
I haven't washed my car since before it was put on a trailer and moved down here last summer.
not sure when i washed it before that.
having a beater '07 cheap car takes a lot of stress out of life
 
RedneckFur said:
I've used the drive through ones now and then to remove dust and light dirt, and after I've been on a salty road.

Most of the time I use the bays with the high pressure wand. They do a better job cleaning.

Hand washing is the best, of course. I used to hand wash my cars every week like it was my religion, but these days I'll just hose it off at the car wash and do a thorough hand wash 2-3 times a year.
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I hand wash my car and the wifes car about every 2 weeks. I use a lower power electric pressure washer and the 2 bucket method. I listen to music and it is sort of a Zen thing for me. A simple task that yields immediate positive results. The key to a good hand wash is touching the car as little as possible. When you do you have to make sure the wash mitts and drying towels are clean and free of debris. Drying and washing is where most people introduce swirls in their paint. My process is the following:

-Pressure was the car starting with the wheels and wheel wells. I spray those out and then put a citrus cleaner on them and let it dwell. I then rinse the car from top to bottom.
-I pre-treat any bugs, tar etc.., with the same citrus based cleaner.
-Then I use a foam cannon and foam the entire car. I let that dwell for 10 minutes.
-While the foam dwells I wash the wheels with wheel woolies and and rinse the wheels.
-From there I rinse the foam off and do a 2 bucket wash from top to bottom. I leave the rocker panels and underside of the body panels for last and I use a different wash mitt for those areas.
-I then rinse the car with the pressure washer.
-I used dry the car either with microfiber towels with detail spray but these days have switched to using a $30 Black and Decker electric leaf blower. It is faster and I don't touch the paint.
-Clean the glass with glass cleaner and microfiber towels.
-Finish up with a little detail spray in a few spots and then do a quick tire dressing.

It takes a little over an hour. A bit longer if I am doing the inside too but most of the time that is just a quick wipe down. It keeps the car looking good and swirl free so far!

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Windini said:
I think you underestimate the CFF braintrust.

And drive-through washes are fine...when you drive a battered old pickup you've been using for construction for 15 - 20 years.

Looks better'n it did!
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I will use touchless drive thrus for my truck which is black and is parked outside. Keeping a black truck looking good is a commitment and is almost impossible if you park it outside. It gets a real wash maybe 2-3 times a year. I would not buy a black truck again.

The other part about the drive thru car washes is that they are hard on rims. They should have bumpers and protectors on them which are somewhat effective when new but they are not replaced often enough and mar and scratch today wheels many of which are painted and clear coated.
 
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BatteryOaksBilly said:
Whew..............now I'm tired.....................
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Nap time...

Catfish said:
I've been using them for years. I'll let you know when that happens.
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I can guarantee that your paint has swirls in it from the car wash. Its not the end of the world and most people do not care. I would bet if you walked around the parking lot of your local grocery store 95% of the cars will show swirl marks. The good thing is that they can be corrected. They are just scratches in the clear coat not the actual paint. A good polishing job can remove them. The only thing is each time you polish the car you are removing clear coat. If done too often or too aggressively you will get to bare paint but I totally get that you don't care. Like I said most people don't.

Swirls....

5695786460_f19f672371_o12-1.jpg
 
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If cleanliness is next to godliness, then my car should be called "satan's chariot" aka

Afghan-Air-Force1.jpg


Honestly, a good layer of dirt and grime passivates the surface! :rolleyes: Embrace the muck!
 
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Brian K said:
You gotta find the ones with the softest brushes....


View attachment 230021
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I went looking for her to see if there were any uncovered pics of those glorious funbags. There weren't. She's got a bit of a butterface. I saw that movie when I was a kid and didn't know any better, thought maybe it was just makeup. It's not.
 
Catfish said:
I've been using them for years. I'll let you know when that happens.
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Oh its happening.... most people just don't care as long as the dust is knocked off. Brush type car washes are one of the worst things you can do for a cars paint finish, but to each his own.
 
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I'm lucky that I spend my mental energy on other stuff. I would enjoy it if my cars were cleaner, but they live outside and I ha e a toddler. Plus I don't really care that much. I would rather leave my car dirty than do a halfway job of washing it, which is about all my wife will do.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
 
wvsig said:
I refer to them as swirl factories. Anything that has brushes or material that touches the car is going to get dirty and become abrasive. The touchless ones don’t clean well. There is no substitute for a properly done hand wash. I use the 2 bucket method and dry it with an electric leaf blower.

It is funny how many of them are being built. 2 huge ones just went up in my small town.
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They're building one in Eden, 100 yards down the road from the self service hand wash place that went bust.
 
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