Automatic car washes - are they that bad?

[Shude]

Mines never going through a car wash while I own it nor a jet wash - use the power wash at home if I have to - but bucket and sponges do me nicely oh and long rubber gloves to protect my nails

Sponges ruin paintwork, unless you use a different sponge for each time it touches the car! You drag the grit over the car and damage the paint. So sponges are apparently evil!

I wash the cars at home whenever I can. I have bought a Karcher pressure washer (goes upto 150 pressure which is also good for cleaning the paving etc)

I woudn't get that too close to the paintwork then, stand a good 10 metres away or else you'll take the paint off with the dirt!

Also bought a steam cleaner for the wheels if they get particularly dirty too. Eases up the dirt quite well. I am going to try it on the engine bay once I have the time to do it!

Would you use a steam cleaner on the paintwork of any other part of the car? Nope! Don't use it on the wheels either, apparently steam cleaners can seriously damage the paint on the wheels.

There really is no safe way to wash your car!

 

[sym]

If you are worried about damaging with sponges, or pressure washing, a few watering cans are very good for rinsing - gets the water into all the crevices to remove the soap / detergent, without any physical contact or pressure on the paintwork, and leaves it nice and clean for drying / chamois.

S.

 

[Sp!ke]

Just use lots of soap and water

 

[Satch]

This works well.

Cheapo Homebase pressure washer with wide fan spray attachment to wet car down from a distance. Rinses off worst then blast again with a bit of Autoglym car wash in the detergent bottle. That foams up nicely. leave it for a bit to penetrate dirt then rinse off again from a distance.

Shifts most of the nasty grit & grot so I can then wash the car properly quite quickly & rinse again with pressure washer fan jet.

Then use the leaf blower to get worst of water off. Get some odd looks but that is just what you get in a carwash!

 

[pammy]

waaaaaaaaaaah - gonna get some magnetic ionzer type gizmo to draw the muck off and a big vacuum air bubble on wheels

 

[eurojunky]

well this is my theory to limit damage by washing...

wash often and frequently
(I wash my mercedes when it is only lightly covered in dust.. and besides it's easier and is only really a light rinse)
Use a new sponge each time (sponges are 50p).. wash from top to bottom.

try to avoid leaving the car until it's really covered in gunk, requiring some serious elbow action, grinding the grit into the paintwork

 

[Shude]

try to avoid leaving the car until it's really covered in gunk, requiring some serious elbow action, grinding the grit into the paintwork

My neighbour uses the same principle for his lawn, he mows it every day, takes him about 1 minute and there's no clippings!

 

[RichardM]

try to avoid leaving the car until it's really covered in gunk, requiring some serious elbow action, grinding the grit into the paintwork

That's not easy when you cover hundreds of miles a week and only get a chance to wash it every other weekend at best.

 

[BimMerc]

I dont think sponging is gonna kill a car. Wash frequently, make sure its well rinsed off, and use different sponges for top and lower half of car and diferent for wheels.

I have the cars coating in a nice wax, which can always be re-applied incase of light surface marks, but in dustyand dry conditions when your driving at 70, isnt the dirt still gonna leave its mark?

 

[BimMerc]

ps. Shude - I blasted the lacquer off a Ford with my karcher! Its really something ahem... hehe

 

[Satch]

ps. Shude - I blasted the lacquer off a Ford with my karcher! Its really something ahem... hehe

Used to live next door to a power washer junkie. He had purchased of of the mega wheeled washers and everything tended to get blasted with high pressure water and very often with the vile detergents as well: car, boat, bikes, garden furniture, paintwork, upvc window frames, lawnmower, BBQ, patio decking etc. Would have used it on the dog if it had stood still for long enough.

One day invited next door for a drink and noticed his garden furniture had this odd patchy, pitted matt finish. So did many other things including his car, alloys thereon and, rather worryingly, his tyre sidewalls.