Car Washing

Washing a car is not super complicated but there are somethings to keep in mind. Like when washing dishes, you need to make sure it’s dishwasher safe and whether it goes on the top rack. When you don’t follow instructions, your tupperware will melt and your pans will discolour. Same with a car except we’re talking about scratching the paint on your car.

Washing At Home

If you have a driveway and hose, you can wash your car at home. Local laws might prevent you from using certain products as the sewer drains might empty out directly into rivers or whatnot.

2 Bucket Method

When at home, you employ the “2 bucket” method.

The first bucket is filled with water and soap. Throw a sponge or sponge in there.

The second bucket is filled with just water. Install a grit guard in this bucket. A grit guard will gives a grated surface to rub a wash mitt against and knock off dirt. The grit guard also prevents sediments at the bottom of bucket from being kicked up and picked back into the wash mitt.

1. Rinse the car to knock off loose dirt.
2. Use wash mitt to trap dirt and grease.
3. Rinse off in second bucket.
4. Reapply soap water to wash mitt.
5. Final rinse for the car.

By rinsing off the dirty wash mitt in a separate bucket, we limit the introduction of dirt into the soap water bucket. Dirt on a wash mitt can scratch the paint surface.

Rinseless Car Wash

In some circumstances, there are restrictions on water use. This can either due to constrained water supplies in drought regions. Or it can be due to the apartment building living, where access to a hose and drainage is not really an option. What is one to do?

Rinseless car washing is an old but not well known way to wash a car. It’s called rinseless because it doesn’t involve a final rinse at the end. But this is a poor descriptor as it doesn’t involve an initial rinse either. A better way to describe it is that it doesn’t require a hose and lots of water to get the job done. Where a traditional wash is like a shower and loofah, this is akin to washing with a squirt bottle and towel.

Rinseless products are formulated to dissolve and trap dirt and oils. Contaminants bead in water droplets and are removed with a towel. To limit scratching, the product will have lubrication properties.

Touchless Car Wash

Touchless car washes are those found attached to gas stations. The car is hooked on and pulled through the wash bay, where each stage has automation that will performs a step of the wash cycle.

The reason it’s called touchless is because it doesn’t involve a human. It still involves contact, specifically with the mops that apply agitation to loosen debris. As a result, it still has the potential to mar the paint.

These are popular because they are quick and convenient, quickly washing down a car in minutes. It only cleans the exterior surfaces. These can be used to extend the cleanliness of the car before the need to do a more thorough wash.

Self-Service Bays

There are coin-operated self-service car wash bays. It allows you to choose how to wash your car.

The machine and tools work on a timer and are fed tokens or coins. Often there’s an initial higher cost to start and extending the time is smaller. The reason for this is that owners do not make money while the machine is idling. Users might want to take a break between washing to hand-wash or let some cleaner presoak.

Often it’s frowned upon to hand wash within these car bays. This uses up the spot without using the equipment. If it’s not busy, the car wash owner might not mind. Why hand wash? The soap brush is very likely to be dirty, as it wash used on muddy cars or dropped on the ground. Even if you rinse it out, there will be trapped containments that need a bucket to shake out. This foam brush is basically a no-go when at the car wash.