Touchless Car Wash Safe for Coatings?

MountainBound

MountainBound

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Hello, I was curious if the touchless style car washes were safe for ceramic coatings? I love to hand wash when I can but I am a user of touchless car washes. Sometimes because it's convenient and other times because I live in Colorado and part of the year is cold and snowy and I'm just trying to knock off some of the road grime.
 
A rinseless wash will not harm the coating, but if it has any gloss enhancing properties it will probably affect the water sheeting/beading behavior of the coating. Also, it might not hurt to use distilled water when mixing up your rinseless wash, just to make sure you get no waterspotting.

Under the mantra of "ounce of caution, pound of cure", you could use ECH2O.

CarPro ECH2O Waterless Wash & Quick Detail Spray


  • 500ml makes up to 2 Gallons of (1:15) Waterless Spray
  • 500ml makes up to 3 1/4 Gallons of Quick Detailer (1:25)
  • 500ml makes up to 5 1/4 Gallons of Clay Lubricant (1:40)
  • 500ml makes up to 26 1/2 Gallons of Rinse-less Wash (1:200)

 
I would suggest that when you do go through a touchless, just use the most basic service. I would not add all the wax & sealant crap. IME, they don’t always rinse great so the fewer chemicals they slather on the better.
 
I believe that the harsh chemicals they use will degrade your coating much faster. However, if you need to utilize one, in winter/etc, you will be fine; just have the understanding that it could degrade it by some measure.
 
Even the basic service is suspect at best. Who knows if even the basic detergent they use rinses away completely without leaving a film. Better off just going to a self serve pay and spray and just blasting off the gunk with water alone.
 
What I found is when continually using a touch less it doesn’t fully clean the paint and in time road film can build up and severely effect the coating. I’ll use them in the winter only when I can’t stand the filth anymore, then I follow up with a rinsleless at home
 
fly07sti said:
I would suggest that when you do go through a touchless, just use the most basic service. I would not add all the wax & sealant crap. IME, they don’t always rinse great so the fewer chemicals they slather on the better.
Click to expand...

SNP209 said:
Even the basic service is suspect at best. Who knows if even the basic detergent they use rinses away completely without leaving a film. Better off just going to a self serve pay and spray and just blasting off the gunk with water alone.
Click to expand...

I typically only use the high pressure soap, high pressure rinse and spot free. I stay away from all the wax or 'gloss enhancer' stuff

vobro said:
What I found is when continually using a touch less it doesn’t fully clean the paint and in time road film can build up and severely effect the coating. I’ll use them in the winter only when I can’t stand the filth anymore, then I follow up with a rinsleless at home
Click to expand...

I agree, you do end up building up a film. I'd love to be hand washing but in the winter its just tough. I wish I had a heated garage with floor drain, that would make it very easy to tackle.
 
I live in Michigan and have the same dilemma and use the touchless just to get rid of the grime. It certainly does a poor job of cleaning, and if I want it to be fussy clean, I'll follow with a rinseless at home.
 
I can attest that it will. Whilst I was recovering from my spinal surgery, I took my coated vehicle through a laser wash, when all said and done, the car was blotchy, cloudy and awful. I realized the harsh chemicals completely destroyed the coating.

As stated before, if you just opt for the rinse and blow, you should be fine.
 
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