Best way to dry lot cars

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cajunclean05

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Im doing lot washing and need diff ways to make water soft and dry many cars in one day.
 
I did this at one time in Colorado Springs. I powered washed them at 60 per hour and had two men drying with terry towels, and they could do 40 per hour between the two of them. This gave me time to move hoses and the truck for an average of 40 per hour.
We did not have to soften the water, because little water was left on cars after the power washing. We used a wringer to wring out the towels afer rinsing in a 5 gal bucket of clean water. We washed cars 12 months a year, heating the water when it was below 32.
The trick is to dry with both hands and keep the towels folded in quarters, so that you have eight clean surfaces on each towel and have plenty of towels.
 
I have no experience in this, but would investing in a water softener that allows the cars to dry on their own with no spots be a good investment? It would be more overhead in the product, but you owuld be able to do more cars, or have less helpers.
 
so u use towels instead of chamios and what about waffle weave. what kind of towels we are doing about 30 a hr now
 
Flannigan said:
I have no experience in this, but would investing in a water softener that allows the cars to dry on their own with no spots be a good investment?
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That's the ticket, except it needs to be deionized/distilled water as soft water will still leave spots, albeit not hard water spots. Even with DI you need to do a good job with the pressure wash or dirt will dribble out of cracks, etc. Of course for this kind of lot wash they need not be perfect. So an on-board DI system, or a big tank and a good place close by to go refill it.
 
i have big tank and i refil at the lot and do u have site for di tanks
 
Talk to your local water treatment companies. The thing about DI is the tanks have to be exchanged for regeneration...if you're lucky you might have someplace close that can fill your tanks with DI...how big is the tank and how many times a day do you refill?
 
So you use 600 or 900 gallons a day depending on how I interpret filling it 2 times a day. Talk to your local Culligan or other water treatment places...they can lease you DI tanks...they will be about a foot diameter and 5' tall, I guess they weigh a couple hundred pounds with water in them. You will need to change it every day or every two days, so you may need to keep an extra on your truck, and you'll have to arrange to swap them. Check your local pricing but it may be $100 to have the tank regenerated...so this all has to be worked into your system for doing the cars to make it cost effective.
 
thanks ill try it. But u say if i have the tanks i wont have to dry as much
 
cajunclean05 said:
thanks ill try it. But u say if i have the tanks i wont have to dry as much
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Ideally you won't have to dry at all. I think that's what you want, one guy in the truck driving it along and the other guy on the cars with the wand.
 
I don't think you can get cars clean without drying them, regaurdless of how soft the water is. Just look at your towel after drying one or go back and clay a car and see what you get off. If the air is dry and the sun is hot, you will see how bad they look if they were not dried.

The lot cars we did were both new and used and most were not driven at all on the road between washings, and we washed them once or twice a week. The new cars are easier because they have new paint, but the used are in need of detailing and hold the dirt more.

The high presure will take most of the dirt off and leave the car quite dry. With high presure you use very little water. You just have to be carfull that you don't blow the dirt on to a car in the row that you have already washed, by washing the tops of a car first before doing the sides you can prevent this.

If it rained before we finished drying the cars, It was eaiser to go back and wash them again, rather than trying wipe all that water off. I don't think you can get water much softer than rain water. I don't know what the going price is now, but 25 years ago we were only getting 75 cents a car and never heard of microfiber.

It is also faster of you have about 100 feet or more of hose, so you don't have to move your truck as often. and do not use a wand. Just shoot the water right from the gun. A wand just gets in the way, is harder to control, slows you down, and will scratch the cars.

Good Luck.
 
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