Car wash times

AutoApollo

AutoApollo

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Hey guys, just curious for a simple wash, spray wax and wash the wheels too, how long does it take you guys on average to complete? It's takes me about 45mins including getting the hose out and rinsing the buckets afterwards.

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A good carwash consist of cleaning the wheels and wells.presoak all rockers with apc then fully rinse first.Then start washing from top to bottom leaving bottoms last.I usually suds up the left side of the car then rinse and move on cutting the car in sections then rinsing.Dry then use a spraywax booster and dress tires and wheel wells.4 door car in black one hour and fifteen minutes or so.It can be done a whole lot quicker,but my washes look like details after.Not one speck or smear or water residual left behind.
 
GSKR said:
A good carwash consist of cleaning the wheels and wells.presoak all rockers with apc then fully rinse first.Then start washing from top to bottom leaving bottoms last.I usually suds up the left side of the car then rinse and move on cutting the car in sections then rinsing.Dry then use a spraywax booster and dress tires and wheel wells.4 door car in black one hour and fifteen minutes or so.It can be done a whole lot quicker,but my washes look like details after.Not one speck or smear or water residual left behind.
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Good to hear I'm not taking too long or not doing a good enough job.

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AutoApollo said:
Hey guys, just curious for a simple wash, spray wax and wash the wheels too, how long does it take you guys on average to complete? It's takes me about 45mins including getting the hose out and rinsing the buckets afterwards.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Autogeekonline mobile app
Click to expand...

For my personal car, to do the above, thats about what it takes me.
 
on my wifes Ford Edge i clean wheel wells , scrub tires, wheels (speed master wheel brush and various brushes for lug nuts and the faces), plastic trim around car with apc and medium scrub brush, wash car in sections , blow dry most water then come back with spray wax to get everything else left behind including door jambs, and finally dress wheel wells and tires and take about 2 to 2.5 hours. My method is pretty much an exterior detail like GSKR said but it looks better than anyones car in the neighborhood lol. They all said they are goin to start a petition (joking) for me making their cars look bad i simply told them they can have me take care of their cars for them if they wanna pay me. I am not the fastest but to me quality comes first if it takes 30 minutes longer so be it.
 
On my Ram, pre-soaking the wheels/wheelwells, washing w/2 bucket method, blow drying then finishing with drying towel, final polishing of chrome wheels, cleaning all glass, then treating the trim & tires takes me roughly 2 1/2-3 hours. (Depending on how many beer breaks I take) :)
 
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Bob
 
I prefer rinseless, and like to take my time.

3hrs on average. Bumper to bumper, including interior wipedown.
 
Gotta say it's a relief to see I'm not way off for time! I know it's more of a race to a final product than to a time on the clock, but I was worried I was going to be waay off.

Last 2 bucket/2 mitt wash on my avant and wife's Q5 was just over two hours- full wash including jams, wheels presoaked and boars hair brushed, and dried with Opti-seal. That was going about as fast as I possibly could, taking advantage of the fact that it was ~ 60 degrees out so I didn't have to keep reflooding panels so I wouldn't have to worry about hard water spots from the rinse water.
Setup and tear down not included.
 
For the exterior I normally take for 2h to 2:30h. The job basically consists in:

- Cleaning wheel in detail with a brush, including the barrel and tire walls (this takes a lot of time due to the intricate design of my wheel)
- Cleaning paint job section by section and rinsing each section
- Drying with MF

Always two bucket wash method, and normally I have to change the water of the 2nd bucket 2 or 3 times each wash. My car is normally very dirty at each wash I do, so depending on the section I have to wash it twice to ensure it's really clean (may be useless, but at least brings me peace of mind).
 
Using this car as the longest time it can possibly take me to wash a vehicle:

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I start with the inside. 1st I remove the carseat from the backseat, thoroughly vacuum the interior to level 10. After that clean the interior side of the windshield, and then clean & condition the whole interior [leather & vinyl] with Megs D180. The coarse texture of MB Tex makes this more of a chore than usual because it requires a more thorough rub in order to fully condition that surface.

Once I'm done with the interior I start on the wheels & tires. Then wash the car, drying aid with whatever works in the hot sun because I'm Always washing this black car in the hot sun.

Blow dry the crevasses, wipe down the doorjambs, clean all the glass, spot check for any water spots or streaks.. Hyper Dress the tires and also the windshield cowl. Spray Megs D4510 on the lower half of the honeycomb grill and the rear valance.. Wipe down the trunk jamb. And finally vacuum the childs car seat real quik.

And at the very longest this car takes 2hrs. Having to work in the dead sun and it being black adds to the chore, But like GSKR said, it's damn near fully detailed when I'm done with it. Level 10 status

My own car? 1hr. give or take a few minutes...


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My Basic Wash package below I will do in an hour to hour and a half. Not listed is the drying air / wax I use (D156). Seems to be a good time allotment.

WASH & DRY
Thorough wash with an high quality auto shampoo and dry with combination of microfiber drying towels and forced air.

WHEELS CLEANED
Wheel surfaces are cleaned to remove tough baked on brake dust and road grime that can lead to damage to polished areas.

TIRE DRESSING
Tires & Wheelwells are cleaned and dressed to a deep black luster with silicone and solvent free dressings that are approved by all tire brands.

THOROUGH VACUUMING
Complete interior is vacuumed with a variety of nozzles to maximize dirt and debris removal.

INTERIOR UV PROTECT AND DRESSING
Dash, front door panels and center console are cleaned and a UV protectant dressing is applied. It leaves your interior looking like new with a non greasy look and feel.

GLASS CLEANED INSIDE AND OUT
All glass is thoroughly cleaned inside and out, including mirrors.
 
I had to let one of my customers go 2 weeks ago.I really don't do washes I had 4 vehicles a month.1 Tahoe 1 Mercury mountaineer and a cla merc and a huge Lexus suv.The client with the big Lexus suv was just to time consuming along with his daughters cla.He bought it 2 months ago and I did it twice and ask myself what am I doing even though I was getting 60.00 to wash spray wax vac the whole bit,it just took to long to do and it's big and black.so now I got the Tahoe which is tan the Mercury which is spotless for its age and a gtr near my house.Got a call from a lady with a new vw bug and a new Lexus suv funny,I turned them down I'm just way to busy messing around with car washes.The the 2 suv's that I have take 3 hrs and 30 min and get 120.00.Along with that they don't call and pester me about when I'm coming.
 
GSKR said:
I had to let one of my customers go 2 weeks ago.I really don't do washes I had 4 vehicles a month.1 Tahoe 1 Mercury mountaineer and a cla merc and a huge Lexus suv.The client with the big Lexus suv was just to time consuming along with his daughters cla.He bought it 2 months ago and I did it twice and ask myself what am I doing even though I was getting 60.00 to wash spray wax vac the whole bit,it just took to long to do and it's big and black.so now I got the Tahoe which is tan the Mercury which is spotless for its age and a gtr near my house.Got a call from a lady with a new vw bug and a new Lexus suv funny,I turned them down I'm just way to busy messing around with car washes.The the 2 suv's that I have take 3 hrs and 30 min and get 120.00.Along with that they don't call and pester me about when I'm coming.
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You have to do what you have to do when time is money.

Sounds like a smart decision to me.
 
I just hooked up that same black car I posted about earlier.. except this time all the customer wanted was the exterior cleaned real quik.

I did a waterless wash with Megs D115 and was completely done in 25min.
Quik wipedown of the wheels with D114 and a microfiber
Hyper Dressing on tires
D114 to clean the windows

5522b67a90bba374fcedc37138088cd3.jpg


Only used one 24"x36" towel + another small 16"x16" dry microfiber for the final wipe.

[It's dirty on both sides]

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A rinseless or waterless washer is a lot faster. If I'm using 2BM and a hose, it'll take me an hour or so to fully wash the car, clean the door jams, chemically decon the entire exterior and dress the tires, no interior involved. if I go with rinseless method, it'll take me an hour to wash the car, wipe down the interior and the jams, as well as dress the tires.
 
it takes me from the time i start until the sun goes down, there's always more i want to do
 
Are ya'll pre-foaming ....

I don't use the foamer for regular hose, which accounts for 70% of the time on how I wash
I'll use the PW every now and then...and then I'll use the foamer for that

However, aside from adding alot of foam, which sorta aids in keeping the lubricity as I go per panel, it's only when the cars are f1lty enough to warrant it.
 
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