Any danger?

 

Very high pressure water pushing grit around your paint...sounds safe to me

 

Well how about those hand spray washer places? They have pressure too. Are they also bad?

 

If you *VERY* carefully control the spray, they can be safe.

Why not just do it at home?

 

DONT EVER USE THE BRUSH !!

 

Well there is a brand new hand spray place just down the street; state of the art stuff. Lots of choices, etc. Very clean.

In the morning no one is there. I had rather do that than clean up after myself at home and I am not so young anymore.

 

Much safer to do at home, IMO.

 

‘Touch less’ carwash:
Never use a car wash, period touch less or not, there are a variety of reasons: You should never, under any circumstances use a car wash that requires you to let another person drive your vehicle onto the ramps or into the wash, notice the disclaimer of ‘No responsibility for damage to customer’s vehicle.

Local by-laws require car washes to re-claim or recycle water. This means they have two choices.
a) They can collect the water in tanks and pay to truck it away to a recycling centre.
b) They can filter and then recycle the water (dependant on how often the filters are cleaned/changed) will effect how much dirt content there is. Recycled meaning re-use the same water, which may include any road dirt/grit that is not filtered out is used to high-pressure (1,000PSI) wash your vehicle (somewhat similar to sandblasting) the final rinse is usually twice-filtered re-cycled water, this is to give the appearance of a clean surface on the vehicle.

•To remove snow/sand/road dirt and grit without agitation (brushes etc) requires the use of very strong chemical cleaners.
•Probably the most important is that this type of automatic car wash use high-pressure water and strong alkaline detergent to clean vehicles that will strip the wax/polish
•You will also need to renew the vehicles sealant / wax to ensure the paint surface protection on a regular basis to counteract the effects of the harsh detergents.
•Also be aware of those that use ‘wheel guides’ as they will cause scratches / etching to the wheel surfaces, as many wash facilities will not accommodate either the tire width or the clearance, thus causing sidewall damage
•Vehicle with lower than ‘standard’ suspension (Corvette C6 and other sports cars) should also be aware the wheel guides could cause body damage
•As an alternative in colder winter months I would suggest using a waterless vehicle cleaning product Protect All’s Quick Easy Wash (QEW)
•If you get a chance, attend a car wash / wax vendors symposiums where they give demonstrations of the different soap products that these type of facilities use. You'll come away a convert to never using them again, on any vehicle.
JonM

FWIW- last time I posted this someone said I was over reacting, it's your vehicle, I'm just pointing out what MIGHT happen. I will not use them on my vehicles under any circumstance

 

As the owner of an '04 Z06 and a touchless automatic/self serve car wash, I've ran my car through it several times when in a hurray and have not experienced any problems. Using harsh chemicals such as tar and bug remover will remove any wax you have on your car. Using quick detailers that promise to remove grime and shining your car at the same time are not a good idea either ( I'm guilty of using them too )
Use the self serve and stand back from your car as to not be spraying a foot from your car. This way the pressure is not so intense. Everyone thinks because you use a hose and soapy water or any other detergent on your car that you won't hurt your shine. Any film build up on your car that you can't see will scratch your car to some extent. You have to apply pressure and rub a cloth or sponge or whatever to remove dirt and grime...it doesn't magicly " lift " off of your car.
Don't sweat it, life is too short and you only go on this ride once, so enjoy it!
Or, you can put your car in a "bubble" and not drive it at all and see how pretty she looks in the garage


just my .02

 

I would agree with that..people always leave it laying on the floor and use it EVERYWHERE on their car

 

Get a mobil detailer that you know and trust! I've had the same guy for 10 years and he's the only one, other than me, that I let touch my car. I also carry a small supply of my wash soap, (I use Zaino), and a few 100% cotton towels in the back storage compartments. My detailer is coming by the office today for a $20 wash and tonight I'll be throwing down a coat of polish and detail spray.

In a very rare out of town emergency I have taken my car to a "touchless" car wash twice... and I walked it through the process watching it very carefully! Dont let the idiots wash/dry the car on top with the same dirty, greasy, grimmy towels they used on the bottom... A $20 tip also goes A LONG WAY!