Touchless Car Wash

[MrWaxer]

What are people's thoughts on Soap at Touchless Carwashes...To strong??

[xantonin]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

Doesn't seem to gt the dirt off. My car still had a thin coating of dust/dirt over it at the last one I tried back in Salt Lake City

[MrWaxer]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

That's usually my complaint to..But I really don't wont to go thru one with brushes until I really have to..And I still hate to even then..

[xantonin]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

I can't see it being too much of a problem going through a touchless wash. It shouldn't hurt anything since most of them finish with a spotless rinse.

If you have a lot of dirt it should at least remove it until you can do a proper wash.

Worst case is that you're probably just going to waste $5 lol

[MrWaxer]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

My concern Is the soap weakening the wax..If that's even possible..

[Clutch34]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

Doesn't seem to gt the dirt off. My car still had a thin coating of dust/dirt over it at the last one I tried back in Salt Lake City

+1!! Pain in the @$$ when the car is STILL DIRTY after you pay for it to be CLEAN!

[Murr1525]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

To get dirt off (in theory) without agitation, the soap has to be quite strong. So it certainly wont be as gentle as Gold Class.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

The soap is very strong. I try to avoid them at all costs.

[jfelbab]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

I've used them in the winter for years with no loss of my wax (sealant). I think it is better to get the salt, sand and winter grime off the car than to leave it on, so I actually like them. I typically try to do a QD wipe down after the wash and add a Quik Wax product if I can.

The place I use doesn't recycle their water and doesn't use really harsh detergents. There are a lot of variables here though but IMHO, they are better than the soft touch or hand washes so when the weather doesn't permit me to do my own wash I use the Laser Touchless wash.

[Megafast13]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

I do not recommend using any Drive Thru Car Wash.

They chemicals are WAY too strong and will remove your wax/protectant.

Unless it is your last resort, I wouldn't use one.

Some of the newer places filter the dirty water. I can't trust those filters on my finish. I could only imagine nasty water being blasted onto my car.

Even the "Wax" option for a drive thru car wash, is not what your thinking it is.

[Calais]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

If the reason for the touchless is to avoid swirls you may want to try putting some Super Soap or Shampoo Plus in a foam gun/cannon and presoak for a bit and spray off with a pressure washer. Unless the car is truly filthy or covered in stubborn particulate, it should remove almost all surface filth without even touching your clear coat.

[k3ith]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

I stay away from them if at all possible as I have found the soap to be strong and many spots to be missed. They also sneak in cheap spray-on "wax" if you choose the more costly option. Now you have junk wax on top of dirt and on your glass.

If you follow "the process", there should be little need for them anyway cause you can use Quick Detailer or Ultimate Quick Detailer in between your hand washes.

My biggest temptation used to be when traveling. Now I just toss some Quick Detailer, glass cleaner, and towels in the car and clean it up in the hotel parking lot or whatever. Ok, I must admit, I sometimes put on tire shine in the parking lot too but I am a freak.

[William_F]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

I've used them in the winter for years with no loss of my wax (sealant). I think it is better to get the salt, sand and winter grime off the car than to leave it on, so I actually like them.

I think that's a very fair assessment. My wife lived in Milwaukee for most of her life before we got together and her Honda Civic took a real beating from the road salts up there. By beating I mean big rust holes in the rear fenders.

The worst thing that would happen at a car wash would be micro marring which can be fixed with the right products. Repairing or replacing those fenders is a whole lot more expensive.

So, to me the answer to the question would depend on where I live. Here in TX there is no road salt to worry about, so I can get by with skipping a wash in the winter if the weather is too unpleasant for me to do it by hand.

[xantonin]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

Very well said.

In Salt Lake City, the sides of my car would be LAYERED with dirt and salt. You'd see a film of white powder and brown dirt along the sides.

Indeed it's probably worth going to a touch-less car wash than let it sit there, especially during the winter! Who wants to hand wash their car in the cold, right?

Here in AZ though I have no such problems heh

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Touchless Car Wash

Most, not all, but most truly touchless washes use a very strong detergent wash followed by a neutralizing rinse to remove dirt from the surface. Without agitation they generally don't have much choice. This process will almost always strip the wax from the vehicle.

I've used them in the winter for years with no loss of my wax (sealant). I think it is better to get the salt, sand and winter grime off the car than to leave it on, so I actually like them. I typically try to do a QD wipe down after the wash and add a Quik Wax product if I can.

Jim makes an excellent point here: if you live in an area where salt is used on the roads in winter it is more important to get the salt off the finish than it is to worry about whether or not you have "enough" wax there. Salt is highly corrosive and no wax or sealant is going to stop it dead in its tracks. Get it off the finish, both top and underneath, as soon and as often as you can.

One good thing about these fully touchless washes is that they can't really put any swirls in your paint. A friend's mother had a Nissan pickup that sat outside 24/7 for three years and was never waxed. The only way it ever got washed was in a touchless wash tunnel at a local gas station. Yes, the vinyl exterior trim was very badly faded and the paint looked extremely dull. In fact, the bonded contaminants were just crazy on this thing (it felt like 80 grit sandpaper!) and three of us took 2 hours to get it all off. But once we got all the junk off the surface, the paint was amazingly defect free for what was basically a neglected, 3 year old vehicle. Defect free, but visually dull and bland. Polishing was relatively quick and easy though, and since this was being done just prior to turn in at the end of a 3 year lease, we weren't going for a true show car shine. But the guy at the dealer said the truck was in far better shape than most that come in off lease. That made us feel pretty good about the project.

So, do you want to use a touchless wash on a regular basis? Probably not. But if they salt the roads where you live, and you have no other alternative, then it's not anywhere near as bad as running through the brushes.