Giving in to automatic washes

cardaddy said:
Congrats on the new baby! :dblthumb2: Man it seems like yesterday we were there for 23 hours of labor, then an emergency C-section. (And it's been 26 years July past.) :D

Normally I'd say:

Q: What's the second most expensive thing you've ever bought in your life?
(With your home being the 1st.)

A: Your vehicle

At which point I'd pontificate about how such an expenditure should be worth protecting. :)

But now BY FAR the most expensive thing you've ever bought (even though you're just starting into the spending part) IS INDEED THAT NEW LITTLE ONE. :props:

Followed by your home, and then of course your vehicle(s).

That aside; Isn't your vehicle(s) worth a couple hours a month, or even a couple hours bi-weekly?

There'll come a time when you'll be GLAD to get to the garage/driveway/carwash just to get away from a house full of kids. :laughing: That surely isn't now, but trust me.... it'll come along sooner than you think. ;)

But as for the answer to your question.... NO any drive through wash that has brushes, hanging matts, wiggling floppy thingy's, and any other type of matter that TOUCHES your vehicle(s) in ANY WAY is to be avoided at all cost.

Drive through "touchless" could possibly be done in a pinch, but even those rub the tires too much for my taste. PLUS..... once it comes out you have a host of minimum wage earners standing in line with wet/dirty/gritty/crappy/altogether WRONG towels of all sorts that they've been using for days if not WEEKS just waiting to wipe your precious investment down with from bottom to top, (perhaps in that order). If you think it's swirled now..... pfffffttttt...... :rolleyes: :eek:
Click to expand...


Brother ain't that the truth!
 
I second everything symawd said. You have a quality coating on your truck and don't have to worry about things like ph of car wash soaps stripping your protection.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Wow this is really great advice guys. Shed a new light on the approach.
you guys made up my mind for me- no swirlomatics.

This is one of the many reasons i love this site
 
20130430_172340.jpg


DO NOT GO INTO THE LIGHT!!!

Seriously, if your car is coated, you should be Ok to go through a touchless carwash once in a while. It will never beat a good hand wash though... I mean NEVER! :autowash::detailer:
 
Congrats on the little one!!! Such a great time! My baby is quickly becoming a toddler (19 months) so I can definitely relate to what you're going through. To make it worse, we decided my wife would stay home with the baby (which I would do again in a heartbeat), so I now work 50-60 hrs a week detailing cars and when I'm done I want to spend some time with the fam, not necessarily detail another car.

I've found that I need to be okay with a slightly less clean car for this time in my life. I keep up on mine when I can and do it bits a time. I rarely have everything clean at the same time, but it works for now. And I just try to find a block of time here or there to keep up with my wife's car. It's definitely a different perspective. I plan on coating them both this winter to try and make upkeep a little easier.

You just have to figure out a new plan of attack and be flexible with it, (preferably one that includes no tunnels). Just remember, you can't get these moments with the baby back, you can always wash the car later; congrats again!
 
First off, congrats on the little one! As far as the question about carwashes, use the touch-free ones and make sure you buy the wash that has the underbody wash, get as much as that crud off as you can. Keep in mind that the touch-free washes don't do such a good job on the rear and always use the provided squeege to do all the windows before you head in, touch free washes NEVER clean the windows right, ever!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2
 
I am different than the rest in the winter I take my stuff through the soft cloth wash all the time. You gotta correct anyways at some point. Hit it with AF tripple or something like that and move on with life

Ram clear is med hard on the new trucks not a big deal to them through a car wash if needed it's not a show truck and you even said you are making swirls so correction is gonna have to be done later anyways.

Like I said I am different.
 
I'll add my 2 cents...

For wheels, get the speedmaster pro brush and keep some diluted APC in a bottle. This brush is very sturdy, and really easy to rinse and shake dry.

Spray wheel and wheel well with APC, scrub everything with the speedmaster pro brush and rinse. repeat 3 more times.

For the paint and glass, buy a gilmour foam gun, and use one rinse bucket with a grit guard.

Foam panel,
wipe with wet dreadlock chenille mitt,
rinse mitt in bucket,
move to next panel and repeat.

Sheet rinse on a lower pressure hose setting, if it's splashing, you're creating more work for later.

Blow dry with leaf blower. It should be mostly body seams and window moldings at this point that need it.

Use a QD or rinseless wash as a drying aid for stops that inevitably happen on a black vehicle.

This has saved me literally half the time. I can bust out my car in 35-40 mins if I'm not lolly-gagging. add 10-15 if I need to dress wheels/wheel wells, and deep clean glass.

Only one bucket to fill and rinse out, mitt is way less saturated with soap as it gets into the rinse bucket at the end. Soap stays contained in the foam gun and the quick disconnect handle lets me rinse a panel without delay if it's warmer and I can't make it all the way around my black vehicle before stuff starts drying. I connect everything to my hose with dedicated quick disconnects as well, so pulling the gun off and sheeting is really fast too.
 
Can't believe this hasn't already been mentioned.. But have you considered adoption? I think that's the only real solution for your situation.



:D
 
Don't worry. In my avatar pic my daughter had ~2 years, so in a few months you'll have a washing partner!

While waiting for that time to arrive, you should follow our friends advices in order to use touchless, followed by rinseless / waterless... My 0.02$, for sure!

After pressure rinsing all the car, spray it all like a 'crazy guy!' with your favorite Waterless product and then using many clean towels go on wiping it. At the end, get another clean towel for the final buff. Honestly, it's very fast when you plan it properly.

Don't go through the tunnel not even once, otherwise you'll need not only 2 hours to wash the car properly, but maybe 20 hours correcting and polishing the paint, summed with a huge regretting feeling!

Once in a while, leave it with some known detailer in your area for a thorough interior, take advantage of the moment and ask for a proper wash.

Good luck,

Kind Regards.
 
Hahaha thanks again guys. Your right i cant get this time back w/ my baby girl but need to man up and keep washing as i do. That car wash pic does give me chills. I told my wife the thought crossed my mind and i think she almost fell off the chair. Seriously what was i thinking or wasnt thinking...
 
I've owned one of those washes, and currently work at one. Try as you might to power wash all the mud and dirt off a vehicle, you always have it dripping out of the seams, and onto the wash media. The cloth ranges from soft felt like material, but some operators favor the harder varieties for increased durability and longevity. Some still use the old hard plastic bristles too.... The newer foams are ok, but one has to consider how fast those brushes are rotating, and the immense pressure they put on the panels of your vehicle. It would probably surprise the casual observer.

When workers dig the trench, a lot of times they're dragging the mud filled wheelbarrow under the curtains, contaminating them. Same happens when someone goes through with an open truck bed, and there's a bunch of muddy, oily tools and equipment in it. I've seen over zealous co workers begin brooming the car before it was power washed, smearing the mud all through the finish. Just last week I had to polish a scratch one of the curtains put on the hood of his new Sierra... At the towel drying end, my boss uses powdered detergent for his microfiber towels, dirt is left in the wash compartment of our unimac machine... we use boars hair prep brushes, and my Co workers have noticed INTENSE scratching and marring from them. I even saw a guy using a push broom for your driveway on a car!
 
dpk20x said:
Can't believe this hasn't already been mentioned.. But have you considered adoption? I think that's the only real solution for your situation.

:D
Click to expand...

:iagree: WITH :whs:


That's a GREAT idea. Just need to pre-screen a parent.





I'll be a PERFECT parent for that RAM Truck!




So when can I come pick it up?
I'll even bring a new pack of Pampers for the lil' girl. :D
 
Let us pray!

Congrats on the new to you truck. Treat it with care.
 
Bunky said:
Let us pray!

Congrats on the new to you truck. Treat it with care.
Click to expand...

Then that makes it official! :D

Should have plenty of time to ahem... "pamper" that black RAM. :rolleyes:

Besides.... *MY* "baby girl" is 26 & her baby brother just turned 21. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top