Automatic Swirl Machine

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Automatic Swirl Machine
A new forum member joined and included this picture in his introduction thread,



Automatic Swirl Machine

If you get a chance, click over and give him a warm Autogeek Welcome, he's all the way from Sweden...

Hej det är Björn


At my last Detailing Boot Camp Class I rented a car from Enterprise to teach people how to use the Meguiar's and Optimum Microfiber DA Correction systems and the car I rented was completely swirled out from an automatic brush style car wash like you see above...

Here's the pictures...

Pictures & Comments from May 5th & 6th Detailing Boot Camp


2012 Chevy Impala Demo Car

If you look closely you can see straight line scratches running from front to back, there are actually very few circular swirls and mostly straight scratches.

This is a negative of a cropped out section of the paint surrounding the reflection of the overhead florescent light near the windshield.

Outside Sun Shots

Scratches at the front of the hood....

Scratches at rear of hood...

Again, most of the scratches are running in straight lines...

This is a full size, cropped out section taken from just above my finger in the above picture...

Here's a Negative of the same picture...

Same type of brush scratches all over the car...

Close-up cropped out of the above picture at full resolution...

Big Picture - Take Ownership of The Car Wash Process
Point being, if you want to keep your car free from swirls and scratches you cannot take it to one of these types of car washes. They will scratch the heck out of your car's scratch-sensitive clear coat finish.

Removing the scratches mean compounding or polishing to remove some paint to level the surface. The factory clear layer of paint on a new car averages around 2 mils thick.

The average Post-it Note is 3 mils thick. Find a post-it note and hold it between your fingers and then say to yourself,

"The clear layer of paint on my car is thinner than this post-it note"
​

And after you do this it will sink in how thin the paint is on your car, (thank you new car manufacturers), and why "YOU" must take ownership of the car washing process. If you would like to see a simple, but effective way to wash your car, check out this thread...

How to wash your car KISS style!


Here's a picture from my how-to book that also makes this point...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And as a follow-up to the swirled out rental car... the students did undo the damage...



Here's Tyler, age 15 use a Flex 3401...

At our classes everyone gets a chance to use ALL the different types and brands of polishers to see which one they like best...

Besides learning how to wetsand by hand and machine and then how to use rotary buffers and DA Polishers, we also go over the Microfiber Pads and Coatings...


Here's Tyler applying Opti-Coat II

Here's Steve applying CQuartz...

Here's Sean applying CQuartz...

Here's Gus trying out the Opti-Coat II

Dom applying Opti-Coat II

Everyone helping to wipe the CQuartz off after letting it dry for about 20 minutes. Remember you don't wipe the Opti-Coat off, you wipe it and leave a uniform coating on the paint and then walk away.

And here's some Beauty Shots of the Rental Car after the students removed all the car wash scratches and restored a flawless finish.

 

[oldgeek]

Let me see if I got this straight... You go to a car rental company, look around for the ugliest, most scratched and swirled car on the lot, bring it home, make it look pristine,... and take it back and pay the rental company for the pleasure?

 

[JAF06SE]

Let me see if I got this straight... You go to a car rental company, look around for the ugliest, most scratched and swirled car on the lot, bring it home, make it look pristine,... and take it back and pay the rental company for the pleasure?

Sound like a detailed to me lol.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Let me see if I got this straight... You go to a car rental company, look around for the ugliest, most scratched and swirled car on the lot, bring it home, make it look pristine,... and take it back and pay the rental company for the pleasure?

Yes.

Using a rental car affords you the ability to train without risk to a co-worker or friend.

I do use friends cars, check out any of the picture threads from my past classes and you'll see COOL cars not rental cars.

But when using friends cars you take the risk of paying for any mistakes that happens and that isn't any fun.

With a rental car you still be careful but there's a lot less risk.

 

[bsirbu]

I wonder if you got any second looks when you pulled into the rental car park. If I were the manager I'd run the VIN to check of its the same car lol.

 

[oldgeek]

Yea, I'll bet the manager of the rental cars just love to see mike stop by!

 

[Larry A]

Yea, I'll bet the manager of the rental cars just love to see mike stop by!

Rental car managers dont care. Were I work they rent cars ., cars will come back and I think that they are dirty , and Ill ask the rental agent if he wants its washed , and he says "if I want too"not, its dirty wash it. They just dont care.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's another thread where I captured the type of damage the brushes used in Tunnel Washes inflict into your car's paint...

This was posted just about 2 years ago and at the end of my post I said the same thing, take ownership of the car washing process...

Tunnel Car Wash Brush Scratches


We used a rental car yesterday for some product testing and while the car was here and before we did any testing I took a few pictures of the horrendous scratches throughout the entire finish caused by a brush type automatic car wash.


Look around the reflected overhead light in the center of the car hood, you can see fine line scratches running in the direction of front to back, these are the type of scratches you'll commonly see in the paint of rental cars that are repeatedly run through brush style tunnel car washes.

Here's some close up shots... keep in mind even the sides of the car had these same scratches evenly inflicted throughout all the panels.

Here's a cropped out section from the above picture in full size...

And here's a "negative" of the above to show the pattern of the scratches from a different point of view...

Here's a cropped out section from the above picture in full size...

And here's a "negative" of the above to show the pattern of the scratches from a different point of view...

The best way to wash your car is to take ownership of the car wash process and that way you control the the process from start to beginning.

 

[ZimRandy]

This reminds me of one of my favorite ads....

Randy

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

This reminds me of one of my favorite ads....


Randy

I've never seen that ad before, thank you for digging it up and adding it to this thread...



:xyxthumbs:

 

[darkangelism]

I really like using the negative shots to see the scratches, gotta try that one out.

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

I really like using the negative shots to see the scratches, gotta try that one out.

+1

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I really like using the negative shots to see the scratches, gotta try that one out.

I use this little piece of free software to do this called Lview Pro. I actually use Lview Pro every day, just like Easy Thumbnails.


Handiest little picture viewer tool I've been using for years now...


Sometimes old school software is hard to beat...

 

[ZimRandy]

I've never seen that ad before, thank you for digging it up and adding it to this thread...



:xyxthumbs:

It also ruffled quite a few feathers. Here is one example, but there are several more online if you do a little searching.

Mothers, a manufacturer of aftermarket, do-it-yourself car care products, has angered high-ranking officials in the carwash industry with a print advertisement that implies automatic carwashes are made by the devil. The ad asks whether drive-through carwashes are a “modern convenience” or a “gateway to hell” and includes a picture of outdated equipment.

The ad copy also takes shots at carwash use of reclaimed water and chemicals, which it describes as a “gloppy coat of God knows what.” “Be warned, friends,” the copy says. “Inside, evil in its purest form awaits.”

“We are calling on Mothers to issue an apology to the professional car care industry and a correction to this ad through the same publications where it was placed,” said Eric Wulf, executive director of the International Carwash Association. “This ad is insulting and, more importantly, without merit.”

Calling the ad a “cheap shot,” Wulf said the company “should apologize to their customers and our industry — and correctly explain in new ads the benefits and safety of professional car care.”

Mothers makes car polishes, waxes and cleaners, including an at-home carwash solution. The company released a statement via e-mail explaining that the ad was meant to be humorous.

“We regret that some members of the professional car washing community have taken offense to our advertisement. It was created as a part of a humorous, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek ad campaign,” Mothers officials said. “We promote products for people who prefer to manage their car care at home and did not intend to upset those in the professional car wash industry. We apologize to those who misinterpreted our intent.”

In its online detailing guide, the company also criticizes automatic carwash equipment and the use of reclaimed water. “While filters can catch small particulates, they can’t filter out the dissolved salt from winter use, or all those hoards of other nasty chemicals,” reads a portion of copy in a section of Frequently Asked Questions.

“The current Mother’s advertisement running in several consumer automotive publications contains some of the most defaming and fallacious information about the carwash industry that I have seen published in my 40 years in the industry,” asserted R.L. “Bud” Abraham, executive director of the International Detailing Association.

Abraham also called the ad “a personal insult to the many professional operators who have worked hard to build a positive image for the carwash industry.”

Professional detailers do not necessarily agree with Mothers’ depiction of professional carwashes, Abraham said.

“While few detail operations in the USA utilize automatic carwashes in their businesses, the detail industry has always attempted to cooperate and work with the carwash industry to educate the consumer on proper car care, as many of our customers utilize professional automatic carwashes after having their vehicles professionally detailed,” he explained.

“This advertisement is an affront to both industries, and we for one will contact Mothers to discontinue publication of this advertisement and issue a retraction advertisement as soon as possible,” Abraham continued.

The ad also angered the Western Carwash Association, which has prepared letters for Mothers CEO Dennis Holloway and the editors of the magazines that have run the advertisement. The ad is currently running in the June issues of Car & Driver and Motor Trend.

In his letter to Holloway, WCA President Jerry Nix asks for an apology, a withdrawal of the ad from further publication and a published retraction of what he characterizes as “discreditable language” that “inaccurately stereotypes the car wash industry.”

“We find no ‘humor’ in this ad and the end result of your ‘tongue-in-cheek’ language is misleading and offensive,” Nix wrote.

Inquiries to Mothers for additional information regarding the ad campaign have not been returned.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

It also ruffled quite a few feathers. Here is one example, but there are several more online if you do a little searching.

All I know is what I see and what I see when cars are repeatedly run through brush style car washes are the types of scratches I documented in the pictures above.

The only way to remove scratches is to abrade the surface of the paint and level it. This removes paint. The factory finish on new cars is already too thin and having to remove a little to remove the scratches inflected by a brush style automatic car wash is something a person can avoid by simply washing their car themselves or taking their car to a touchless wash.


I have friends in the car wash industry and don't want to imply that they all sell systems that scratch the paint on cars but someone's doing it.


:dunno:

 

[ArkayoDeetayo]

do you have to ask the rental place to polish their car?

does that mean I don't have to goto the junk yard to find a piece to practice a rotary on? just rent a car and goto work? lol

 

[oldmodman]

Well, I don't practice on rental cars.

But I have been known to not only wash one, but hit it with some glaze. So at least I don't have to look at the horrible finish while I am driving it.

One woman was watching me "detail" my rental car and asked me how long I had owned it. She just about fell over when I told her it was a rental and just couldn't stand driving a swirled up car. The she said that she can't get her husband to even WASH their cars.
I wrote down Autogeeks web site on a sheet of paper and told her to come on by and get educated for free. Maybe she would want to try doing it herself.

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

It also ruffled quite a few feathers. Here is one example, but there are several more online if you do a little searching.

Thanks for digging that up. That was a very interesting commentary from some big players on both sides of the industry.

Professional detailers do not necessarily agree with Mothers’ depiction of professional carwashes, Abraham said.

FALSE. I 100% agree with everything stated in that particular Mother's advertisement. Automatic car washes of any variety are not good for your vehicle's finish. PERIOD.

“While few detail operations in the USA utilize automatic carwashes in their businesses, the detail industry has always attempted to cooperate and work with the carwash industry to educate the consumer on proper car care, as many of our customers utilize professional automatic carwashes after having their vehicles professionally detailed,” he explained.

FALSE. Who is this guy??? And how is he representing the detailing industry with this type of rhetoric? The number one thing I tell ALL of my customers is to stay away from automatic car washes. I have even considered stocking Grit Guards to sell to all of my customers who receive paint correction services.

 

[Madness87]

Hah, those people in the "carwash industry" are only upset because people have finally realized just how damaging most automated cleaning stations are to modern clearcoats and paints.

Who wants to risk their new car by running it through a brush/scrubber automated carwash? You're almost guaranteed to get swirls and scratches. Sure the car is "clean" but is the convenience worth it?

It's also why so many of them have been forced to overhaul their locations and add touchless systems. Me personally, I loved the car wash as a kid. Who didn't? Now, I only use a coin-op place near my house when I want to just quickly use a spot-free rinse to get some dust or dirt off etc.