Thinking of using local carwash this winter

[clk208]

Hi folks,

Looking more and more autumnal out there and I'm finding I have less and less time for car washing duties. We have a hand car wash type place less than half a mile away and having been there with SWMBOs car a few times they seem to do a good job as far as these places go.

I haven't taken the CLS yet as it is black and picks up swirl marks if you even look at it. I have had the car machine polished in the not too distant past and want to keep it as swirl free as possible. If I applied a sealant or wax type product to the paint would that give it some protection to have it washed by one of these places over a few months and make it less susceptible to swirls? Or should I just accept that swirliness is going to happen and have it machine polished again in the spring?

 

[KennyN]

Funny you should bring that topic up.

Yesterday whilst sitting at a set of lights i was watching the local ,labour intensive , car wash guys and saw the chap clean the underside of the sills of the first car with his sponge then move onto the next car , 17 plate black Q7 , and start washing the flanks of the car without even contemplating rinsing his sponge out , once the car dries off then i am sure there must be some noticeable marks on the shiny black paintwork.

Maybe the Audi driver doesnt care as the car may be a company / leased or not even their vehicle but if you value your paintwork , and you clearly do, then i would avoid such places.

Kenny

 

[C43AMG]

Wait till next Spring

 

[Headhurts]

Don’t give in to the hand car wash people, I’m sure you will regret it.

Robin


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[clk320x]

I had this same thought but thought no.. I can't be ****d for all my hard work to be undone in a second

I do have a mobile valeter who is use who is competitively priced and takes care so will more than likely call him out at some point

 

[st13phil]

If your time is short, better that you wash it once every two or three weeks than the local hand car wash do it ever.


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[Deleted member 6183]

The fact that you ask the question suggests that you should avoid.

 

[ringway]

I think that all these East European car wash workers in the UK are spongers.

 

[CarlPea]

I think that all these East European car wash workers in the UK are spongers.

Certainly rinsing it.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Certainly rinsing it.

That's flannel and you know it.

 

[KennyN]

I think that all these East European car wash workers in the UK are spongers.

We have a couple of Spanish lads that run a local drive through car wash , Jose and Hose B.

Kenny

 

[ringway]

I had a valet at the local place and it took them 10 hours to vacuum the interior.





They were Slovaks.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Surely washing the car at home takes less time than driving to the nearest car wash, queuing, waiting while they wash it then driving home....

 

[Headhurts]

I think that all these East European car wash workers in the UK are spongers.

I didn’t get it to start with then the lights came on.

I like subtlety but it’s over my head at times.

Robin


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[Toobad]

I think the video below manages a fairly scientific comparison between car cleaning methods. Three identical cars were given a 2-stage machine polish followed by a protective coat of wax (in this case Zymol Vintage Glaze ) They were then subjected to an automatic car wash, jet wash and commercial hand wash. The damage was then assessed by a professional valeter and the techniques ranked. For me it's my way or no way but I do appreciate not all people have the time or inclination to keep their car immaculate, especially over the winter months. And none of my OCD behaviour will have a serious impact on the resale value, a quick attack with some Autoglym SRP will hide a multitude of car cleaning sins.

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[tanuie]

I wouldn't even think about it.

 

[clk208]

Thanks folks for the replies.

The video was interesting also, some pretty crazy damage going on.

Originally I was thinking any kind of weekly wash would be better than none when it's salty etc but probably less relevant with w219 onwards generation of cars as they seem to resist rust very well.

Maybe I need to look at streamlining my washing process, since getting a pressure washer with snow foam attachment etc it seems to take a long time to wash the car by the time you have retrieved all of the paraphernalia from the garage, set it up and the put it all away at the end

First world problems eh.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I have only ever jet washed my off road bikes and my patio. I can simply not see why you should ever jet wash a car (muddy 4x4 excepted) unless it was totally clarted in mud and sh*t. Some people do it as a matter of course.

The 2 Eastern European places near me can never agree on a price strategy....they are Poles apart.

 

[Toobad]

If I applied a sealant or wax type product to the paint would that give it some protection to have it washed by one of these places over a few months and make it less susceptible to swirls?

A slightly more left field approach may be to apply winter protection and NOT take the car to be washed. What you need is a protectant with extensive "sheeting" properties. This is where the surface is made so hydrophobic water refuses to pool. There are plenty of Youtube videos demonstrating how a car can actually be dried using an open hose! A sheeting surface particularly benefits a black car as it minimises the calcium carbonate deposits left behind when water evaporates. With nothing more than a regular hosing down during the winter months interspersed with occasional hand washes as and when time and conditions allow, the CLS should remain remarkably tidy until Spring. Of course the protectant is also going to need to provide superior longevity if re-application is going to be avoided during the winter months.

Soft 99's Fusso Coat Dark is what I would recommend you apply. It is a sheeting demon and claims 12-months of protection. It is a PTFE-based synthetic wax which does create an incredibly hard non-stick surface although I still wouldn't risk taking the car to the hand wash monkeys. At around £22 for a 200g tin it will last for years. From experience, you should only apply the thinnest of thin coatings as it is a nightmare to buff off the surplus once dried if you slather it on. Think of it as applying little more than wax fumes. In fact, I found the supplied applicator foam to be far too coarse since it applied way more product than was necessary. I bought their £1.50 "Authentic Premium" sponge and it worked a treat.

Fusso Coat Dark

Applicator Sponge

As you've recently had your CLS machine polished there is no need for any pre-treatment corrective work but I would suggest you strip off any previous accumulation of protectants to allow a decent bond to the clearcoat. Something like Autofinesse Triple or Dodo Juice Lime Prime would be perfect for the job. Here's a 30-minute review of Fusso Coat, albeit the Light version. The guy sounds like he's straight off the set of Eastenders and has more "bunny" than Watership Down but he does manage to impart some useful information.

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[Thrash]

I've seen the Fifth Gear video before but I'd never use any sort of brush on the car regardless so I imagine that would skew the results a bit.

What do people reckon on the local eastern European handwash vs the automatic car wash, which is the lesser of two evils?