Dos & Don'ts of the Self Serve Car Wash

[eddy]

Oh that’s a brush? I always thought it was sand paper on a stick 🤔

[metrowash]

I'm in the car wash business. Spot Free works if the owner maintains it properly, which often doesn't happen. Spot Free water is usually made through Reverse Osmosis filtration. Hogs hair brushes are OK most of the time- just rinse and inspect it before use. The flowing foam helps flush out contaminants while you wash too (unlike bucket washing). Oh, and don't scrub your car like you're trying to clean tile grout. Presoaks won't harm modern clear coat finishes but may shorten the life of your sealants. Oh and you're right, high pressure soap is mostly show At the dilution it is applied there is very little cleaning power in it. You get a much better final product by applying presoak and rinsing it off.

[disneyfan]

I go to a self service Carwash once a week and spend $3 a week. Works like a charm

[magnifan]

Coming from someone who's family own's a carwash, had the keys since I got my first car and used to wash my cars so often friends would take jabs at me here and there saying things like, "you're gonna wash the paint off your car as much as you wash it." I also have worked their all my life, cleaning the bays, refilling the chemicals, changing hoses and brushes and the claws on the vacuums and on and on.... I can say with a fair amount of certainty that your expertise is only coming from the experience you've had washing your own cars and listening to yourself tell other people what you think.


If it's your first time at a self wash car wash and you have no idea what you're doing... start at step one and go through the steps. A lot of times carwash owners are nice enough to put up a signboard with descriptions and photos. I get that doing everything that's available costs more and takes more time, I'm not saying you need all that at all. What you need and what your goal is decided considering several things, a few examples may be how the weather is where you live, how long has it been since you washed the car, do you just want a quick rinse... not using certain steps and avoiding equipment is hardly something to tell anyone watching your videos, not to do.


Here's a tip for you about about the foam brush: First off its a brush, it doesn't matter how many people have used it unless it's hairs are very short then you have one that's worn down. You want to look for one that has long straight hairs. If they all are a little shorter than what they are new as long as when you're going over a surface with a curve it maintains the cushion from the hairs and doesn't bottom out rubbing the block onto your car surface. Now the last thing people before you used the brush on was the lower panels and the tires and of course dirt gets in the brush. To make sure your brush doesn't have loose dirt in it, you use the sprayer when you are wetting the car with pressurized soapy water, you just spray the brush out. You just spray it out... Just spray out the brush... also, spray the handle and a little of the hose and run your hand down it and make sure there's no dirt stuck or anything scratchy for when the hose touches the car. Personally, if it's possible I like having a friend or my brother or whatever hanging out and chatting while I'm washing my car and when I am using the foam brush I ask they have a hand on the middle of the foam brush hose somewhere and prevent it from swinging into the car or rubbing across the paint a lot. It's amazing how well it works for what it is.


You also mentioned some of the chemicals and I'll just say that the chemicals are there for a reason, and so they are available when a person wants to use them. You don't have to be a genius to know that it does take more time and it does cost a few bucks more bucks but as long as it isn't some shady owner cutting every corner possible the chemicals have their purpose and are beneficial.


Bottom line is when it comes to how clean the car is when you're done washing at a self wash carwash has a lot to do with how well you clean it. If you want to just stand there and spray a hose, then you're gonna get a car that is as clean as if it were spray cleaned basically. Using the other stuff gets it a little better, and for all those special, hard reach and somewhat overall perfection nothing comes as close to perfect as hand washing and knowing what you're doing.

[bigehauben]

Has no idea how to actually wash a car or how soap works

[KD-mmli]

I always bring two 5 gallon buckets already loaded with my soaps towels and mitts from home. Put a watertight lid on it and all the car wash is for is the rinse cycle. Learned this moving from a home to condo in water constricted California

[Dylan-omlm]

As far as i know soap lifts dirt off of the car surface.

[jtichenor]

I work with chemicals at my carwash and you clearly know nothing of chemistry

[karenconyers]

Hold the brush over the car and let the foam soap drop on your car and then wash your car by hand. Love the foam brush but wash it out first before you get your car washed. Love a car wash.

[hayden]

Afraid to put the bug off on his paint...Jesus Christ, why on earth would you make a tutorial video when you don’t know what you’re talking about? Legitimate question.

[robochoa]

You made a huge mistake! Don’t ever dry your car after going on the highway! All that dirt, tar, and bugs are going to be rubbed on your paint if you dry it when you park. It’s better to just let it naturally dry because you can still remove water spots. And by the way, I bring my own soap, and wash mitts to the self service car wash. Been working really well for me.

[diamondknight]

Also, believe it or not, the touch less car wash scratched my paint even when I got most of my dirt off first. The one I pulled into demolished my last car I owned, pretty sure the pressure of the car wash was to high since it scratches it to hell, I just go and spray it myself at the car wash, no more problems. I think it's because it's not high pressure

[DavidStewart-npcj]

Pressure wash with soap to remove big bits and grime, then brush with foam brush and then pressure rinse. Been doing it this way for a while never had any problems...and the brush doesnt scratch even if left on the floor, it has soap running through it, it's a self cleaning device.

[JayeBass]

You need to use the foam cannon and wax for the spot free rinse to make sense. Spot free is supposed to be low pressure so it doesnt remove the the wax. Also you have to high pressure rinse the foam brush before you use it in the vehicle. Dont apply too much pressure with the foam brush or you will scratch regardless

[NKaumans]

Car washes don't use distilled water for rinsing. They use soft water, which contains very little calcium, and minerals which causes water spots. Presoak is a surfactant based detergent, and can be more harsh. The engine and tire cleaner is not that harsh and is overly deluded to save costs

[SuperVarunan]

This guy is every YouTube comment section expert ever.

[zanewalker]

Do you know anything about car washing.

[mjohnson]

I usually put enough money in the machine to give you well over 10 minutes to get a good wash first and find a new brush and spray it off. Lather the car up heavily and run it through 1 more time with newer brush that feels soft to the hand, spot free, go fast freeway home, dab water spots and the cars paint stays in good shape. The pressure washer will knock everything off of that brush that you're talking about being on there from previous users.

[JustJayYoutube]

Directions unclear, now I’m realizing that I wasted a lot of time watching people who don’t know crap about washing a car

[ramynovver]

Just spray the foam brush with the rinse cycle or bring a bucket with soap in and dip the brush in it to clean.