I washed, polished, waxed my car and wanted to know what effect going through an automatic carwash will have (if any) on the finish? Will it remove wax ..... what kind of soap are they using at these car washes???
Carwash
- Thread starter BigRed76
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REAL TEXAS TAHOE
Full Access Member
I would never take my vehicles through a automatic car wash that touches the paint. If you have a light color like you Texas Tahoe, it may be ok, but they are really ******* the paint and leave scratches. Remember, someone could have taken their muddy truck through right in front of you and the brushes are now going to rub that grit into your paint. Trust me, I know from experience. It took me an entire day to get the scratches out of my dark blue Silverado! 
I would never take my vehicles through a automatic car wash that touches the paint. If you have a light color like you Texas Tahoe, it may be ok, but they are really ******* the paint and leave scratches. Remember, someone could have taken their muddy truck through right in front of you and the brushes are now going to rub that grit into your paint. Trust me, I know from experience. It took me an entire day to get the scratches out of my dark blue Silverado!
wait... so you are saying that the mud from the previous truck is going to stay in the car WASH, wouldn't that mean the dirt stays on your car if your theory is correct?
is there not a constant flow of water in any car wash that would kick all the dirt off the brushes?
I say you use a car wash if you have a light color car like you said, or if you have a dark colored car, just know how to take care of the paint afterwards; swirl remover, scratch remover, polish, wax, etc.
misspooh
Member
i would also never take any of my vehicles through a car wash. why not just wash it yourself instead of taking the chance. i would not trust that every little piece of dirt has been washed away off of the car wash brushes. it doesn't take much to scratch paint.
AquinoSteven
Key and Spacer Guru
The answer to the question is......... YES. The carwash uses some powerfull shit. It will strip everything off. I only use it of i dont have time and want to start with a clean slate for a full paint correction
Sasquatch
Full Access Member
I never trust them either. I just imagine someone going through the wash with a rusty car or truck and a chunk of rusty metal coming off and getting lodged in the pads and then getting dragged over my paint.
And i wouldn`t take a chance with the towels they use to dry your truck either. who knows if they dropped one on the ground, or if they have rings or watches on or belt buckles or keys to scratch your truck as they lean on the fender to dry the hood.
Can you tell i dont trust anyone around my truck?
if i ever go to a car wash i go to the DIY booths and bring my wash mitt and some soap. but that`s only if it`s too cold out to do it at home.
And i wouldn`t take a chance with the towels they use to dry your truck either. who knows if they dropped one on the ground, or if they have rings or watches on or belt buckles or keys to scratch your truck as they lean on the fender to dry the hood.
Can you tell i dont trust anyone around my truck?
if i ever go to a car wash i go to the DIY booths and bring my wash mitt and some soap. but that`s only if it`s too cold out to do it at home.
NJ04HOE
Full Access Member
I'd rather drive a dirty vehicle than go through an automatic car wash! It's not worth it to me.
Fauxnali
Gold Member
+1
It'll end up scratched and only clean on the spots that stick out farthest.
If you need a quick clean and you have on a set of nice clothes at least stick to the touchless carwashes.
road1will
pretty pretty good
It totally depends on the car wash. At my car wash, the soap is not strong enough to strip wax. The car is also pre soaked and the hit with high pressure water to remove all dirt and grime before it even gets to the cloths (we do not have any brushes, only cloths).
bon jenson
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
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weird. at my car wash. it is just spraying. nothing touches your car. it shoots soap and wax and everything on and it sprays it off.
2K6TBSS
Member
The only car wash that I would ever consider taking my vehicles to would be a touchless wash. No brushes, or cloths to scratch the paint, but the super high pressure isn't really good for the paint either.
I only wash my vehicles in the driveway, I will drive around with a dirty rig before taking the car through a wash.
I only wash my vehicles in the driveway, I will drive around with a dirty rig before taking the car through a wash.
I go through a spray wash weekly, and when I'm lazy I hit the brush-auto wash. BUT I baby my paint, I probably clay it 1/yr and clean/polish/wax it 3x per year. All year long in-between those washes I use Maguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer to keep the paint protected. People ask me constantly if I just had my truck painted.
SO if you go through the auto-brush wash, expect some fine scratches. If you do that for a few years, check your vehicle paint under some good artificial lights. Those fine scratches eventually look like your truck was caressed with a Scotch Brite scrub pad..
B
SO if you go through the auto-brush wash, expect some fine scratches. If you do that for a few years, check your vehicle paint under some good artificial lights. Those fine scratches eventually look like your truck was caressed with a Scotch Brite scrub pad..
B
2drhoeon4s
Full Access Member
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I am a professional auto detailer and I would never recommend going to an auto car wash, whether it be touchless or not. as stated before, there is no telling what is lodged in those brushes, and with a touchless, they use a really harsh detergent to make up for the no touching. This detergent removes wax. I agree though it would be ok to go to a touchless if you are having a paint correction done right after, because you want to have the paint surface clean and free of all protectants.
As far as waxing your vehicle 3 times a year might not be enough. depending on the color of the vehicle and where you live you might need more. remember everytime you wash your truck it removes some wax. that is just how it is. so you might think that 2 months in you are still protected. but you might be wrong.
Also I dont like the idea of Quick detailer. I only use it as clay lube. you are basically doing the same thing as a car wash is. you are wiping the dirt on your car around.
The only real way to safely wash your car is to begin with a foam cannon. this covers the entire car in a foamy car wash. you let this sit on the paint for 5 or so minutes. this picks up the majority of the dirt particles on your paint. then you rinse the foam off. this washes the dirt away with the foam without the pressure that is applied when wiping. once the car is rinsed you have a much cleaner, more dirt free surface to begin washing your vehicle.as long as you use a good wash mitt and a two bucket method with grit guards you will be fine. the grit guard goes in the bottom of the bucket and creates a barrier so your wash mitt cannot touch the bottom of the bucket and pick up dirt that is resting there.
the 2 bucket method works like this.
you have one bucket of soap and one bucket of rinse water....you dip the mitt in the soap bucket, wash 1 panel of the vehicle top to bottom, then you dip the mitt in the rinse water... this rinses off the majority of the dirt from your car so you dont put it into your soap bucket.
once rinsed you dip your mitt back into the soap bucket and repeat on another panel.
the reason you wash top to bottom is so you dont grab dirt from the lower part of the vehicle and bring it to the top and swirl it around. this happens because the lower part of your vehicle is usually dirtier due to spray from rain and just the fact that it is closer to the ground.
hope that helps a bit.
As far as waxing your vehicle 3 times a year might not be enough. depending on the color of the vehicle and where you live you might need more. remember everytime you wash your truck it removes some wax. that is just how it is. so you might think that 2 months in you are still protected. but you might be wrong.
Also I dont like the idea of Quick detailer. I only use it as clay lube. you are basically doing the same thing as a car wash is. you are wiping the dirt on your car around.
The only real way to safely wash your car is to begin with a foam cannon. this covers the entire car in a foamy car wash. you let this sit on the paint for 5 or so minutes. this picks up the majority of the dirt particles on your paint. then you rinse the foam off. this washes the dirt away with the foam without the pressure that is applied when wiping. once the car is rinsed you have a much cleaner, more dirt free surface to begin washing your vehicle.as long as you use a good wash mitt and a two bucket method with grit guards you will be fine. the grit guard goes in the bottom of the bucket and creates a barrier so your wash mitt cannot touch the bottom of the bucket and pick up dirt that is resting there.
the 2 bucket method works like this.
you have one bucket of soap and one bucket of rinse water....you dip the mitt in the soap bucket, wash 1 panel of the vehicle top to bottom, then you dip the mitt in the rinse water... this rinses off the majority of the dirt from your car so you dont put it into your soap bucket.
once rinsed you dip your mitt back into the soap bucket and repeat on another panel.
the reason you wash top to bottom is so you dont grab dirt from the lower part of the vehicle and bring it to the top and swirl it around. this happens because the lower part of your vehicle is usually dirtier due to spray from rain and just the fact that it is closer to the ground.
hope that helps a bit.
El Capitan
Senior Texas Member
Gas Station car wash i would never goto unless it was touchless
Full service car wash depending on what ive heard ill go.
Ive worked at 2 seperate car washes and both use very harsh chemicals one of them being alkaline powder.
and for s**t still being on the brushes from the previous car yes if they are cloth and not so much on foam but most carwashes have a constant spray on their brushes to clean them.
Full service car wash depending on what ive heard ill go.
Ive worked at 2 seperate car washes and both use very harsh chemicals one of them being alkaline powder.
and for s**t still being on the brushes from the previous car yes if they are cloth and not so much on foam but most carwashes have a constant spray on their brushes to clean them.
Auto Car Wash's suck. Beside you can most of the time do it cheaper with the wand. And most of the time do a better job.
At a car wash, the owner said not to use the "pre-soak" in the wand bay's......Use the soap-water rinse-spot free method.
At a car wash, the owner said not to use the "pre-soak" in the wand bay's......Use the soap-water rinse-spot free method.
