Doing any Harm?

[effbee584]

I regularly have my car washed and dried at a local place run by East Europeans. The car always comes out dry and shiny, all hand wash and dried. BUT, in between jet washes they spray on a something from pressure bottles all over bodywork and then pressure wash again. They do not use jet washes in the engine bay, at least not on my car! All for £7 seems a bargain to me, since I can't do it myself for some months yet due to a broken hip.

I have asked them what is the spray they use, but the language barrier is too difficult.

Does anyone think this spray stuff is doing any harm? I do have a full valet and polish every six months as well.

Any comments welcome.

 

[Howard]

The stuff in the pump bottles will be TFR ( traffic film remover ) which is fine for cleaning lorries , but i wouldn't want it on my car.

Strips wax off a treat though.

 

[Mike Walker]

Omg!

 

[effbee584]

Omg? Can't be that bad can it, if it is TFR, surely the next polish application will put the paint protection back.

 

[Howard]

But you only polish it every 6 months no ?

So the week after when you have it washed , it's all going to be gone again.

When you are next there , ask if you can touch the nozzle that the stuff comes out of .... rub your fingers together , if it feels really slippery , it will be TFR ( which is fiercely alkaline ) .... we use it for cleaning the really nasty stuff off hulls of boats.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I don't think it will be doing harm per se, more that it's removing the good of the full valet & polish.

It comes down to how obsessive you are with regards keeping your car mint. A few of my friends use these car wash places maybe once or twice a month and have been doing for years with different cars that they've owned.

I would be more inclined to miss a few of these hand washes out and use what you save for a full valet.

 

[effbee584]

OK Sweetpea and Howard, I have reached the same conclusion, less of the east European car care! Which in any case has only been a temporary situation while I regain mobility, a few more months and I'll be washing the car at least weekly which I have always done and enjoy.

 

[Howard]

Just to put it in perspective , when we first started using it , the first day , we put it in a small aluminium pump spray , did what we had to do and put it on the shelf in the boat shed.

Came back to it a few days later and it had eaten the bottom of the can away and leaked everywhere. Takes your skin off nicely if you don't wear gloves when using it.

 

[effbee584]

just as Mike Walker commented succinctly - OMG!

 

[effbee584]

Thanks everyone, I'm convinced! No more info / comments needed!

 

[Dieselman]

If they are indeed using TFR, it's just a slightly caustic hard surface surfactant cleaner, as used by many cleaning companies an din many household products.

 

[eGuru]

At the local hand car wash the TFR is sprayed before the water is sprayed on, normally while the cars are in the queue to be cleaned. What they spray after the shampoo is liquid wax that helps dispel the water.
If I use this car wash I insist on shampoo and wash and absolutely no sprays.

 

[Shilts]

Tfr is good stuff but I would only use if if followed by a polish!

 

[Satch]

Possibly more than you ever wished to know about TFR's

Which is the Best TFR Traffic Film Remover? Professional Vehicle Cleaning Products | Traffic Film Remover | Car Wash Products | TFR | Truck Wash | Marquee Cleaner | Caravan Motorhome Bike & Boat Cleaning | Pressure Washers

 

[npuk]

They normally spray TFR at the beginning. Then if they spray something before / during the final rinse it is a liquid wax.

 

[developer]

I regularly have my car washed and dried at a local place run by East Europeans.

Careful, you may have unwittingly strayed into the world of the PC nutters or worse still .

 

[effbee584]

I am aware of PC Nutters in many fields, just to show you are not one of them, can you expand on the thread I started since you comment makes no useful contribution.

 

[rascalmaster]

"I am aware of PC Nutters in many fields, just to show you are not one of them, can you expand on the thread I started since you comment makes no useful contribution."

On the back of-

"run by East Europeans"

followed by

"... less of the east European car care! "

I can see why he might have broached the subject, though I'm sure nothing untoward was meant by your goodself!