Touchless Car Washes

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Smtwnwygrl

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In the manual it says "Commercially operated automatic car washes, jet washes, and power-operated mops are not recommended."

But in the winter the car gets dirty really quickly, would be insane to be spending $50 for manual handwashes every week. Anyone here uses touchless car washes, and does it really ruin the car's paint/coatings as some may have claimed?
 
Smtwnwygrl said:
In the manual it says "Commercially operated automatic car washes, jet washes, and power-operated mops are not recommended."

But in the winter the car gets dirty really quickly, would be insane to be spending $50 for manual handwashes every week. Anyone here uses touchless car washes, and does it really ruin the car's paint/coatings as some may have claimed?
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I use a drive thru touch less service during Winter for $30/month. It’s worth it for all the de-icing chemical/salt they put on the road and the grime. I’ve been doing it 2 winters straight and my wife does hers year round. No issues I can tell. I also like to wax mine, and taking it through the wash first saves time. I also like that I can drive thru wash it as many times as I want, which makes me more likely to go off-road whenever I want!
 
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I used to work in the chemical business - we sold the products they use and first I would say this-

If you live where there is salt don’t worry about it nothing is worse than the salt and hitting the touchless car wash is very beneficial

Now if you are a maniac about paint and ceramic coatings and a pristine finish the downside of a touchless car wash is it using stronger chemicals to do the work along with a little higher pressure-

At the same time I can’t think of much better for areas of the country that have a lot of salt as long as they’re not recycling the water

I was in Charleston South Carolina and I noticed they had a booming car wash business because of ocean salt
 
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Andy-WhiteTJ said:
Most car washes in our area re-use the water so that salt is just going back on in some sort of way. I usually park mine in the garage once the salt hits the road.
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are they re using it with a filter system? The local regular automatic car wash joint does so much business they have a massive water filter/recycling system on site. When i had my GTI it went there monthly and never came out with water spots or any scratches. If the car wash ownere isnt a scumbag and actually loves cars, they usually go for the good stuff and will gladly tell you about what they are doing. The few local guys around here are like that.
 
Unless the are putting the used water thru a Reverse Osmosis system, there is NO filter that will remove salt.
If there was, every cruising sailor would use it rather than installing an RO on their boat.
 
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If I rinsed my Jeep back in TX with well water it had lime deposits on it. I would think if my car was being rinsed with salt water that there would be evidence.

I read about the wash I go to, they have a reclaim and reuse system. It involves three settling tanks to remove heavy sediments, balance pH and breakdown bacteria. The water that is not reused is returned to the city. They use four different types of water in the wash process. RO for high visible places like windows. RO reject. Recycled. Freshwater.

At any rate, it's better than driving around with salt spray all over your Jeep and frame.

Screen Shot 2022-11-25 at 3.31.45 PM.png
 
My TJ is a DD and I haven't committed to retiring it for winter just yet. Having too much fun. Once the snow comes (or threatens to do so) I hit the drive through self-serve hand wash booths once a week.. for about $10-$15 per visit.

I do the best I can with what I have available.. getting under carriage as far as I can reach with the spray wands. No idea what is actually done with treating the water that is used but, like I said, it's the best I can do.
 
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AndyG said:
I used to work in the chemical business - we sold the products they use and first I would say this-

If you live where there is salt don’t worry about it nothing is worse than the salt and hitting the touchless car wash is very beneficial

Now if you are a maniac about paint and ceramic coatings and a pristine finish the downside of a touchless car wash is it using stronger chemicals to do the work along with a little higher pressure-

At the same time I can’t think of much better for areas of the country that have a lot of salt as long as they’re not recycling the water

I was in Charleston South Carolina and I noticed they had a booming car wash business because of ocean salt and car detailing bethesda md
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thank you so much for your suggestion
 
I've never heard of car washes reusing water but I guess it depends on how severe drought conditions are in your area. The fresh water is also ph adjusted so you shouldn't have to worry about acids from the wash.

Personally I never use automatic wash for my jeeps even if they have a hardtop. Automatic washes are really only for people with low undercarriages or they just want to quickly get the salt off their car and it's "too cold" to stand outside and wash it. They never will get any serious dirt build up off effectively.

TheBoogieman said:
Always get a thorough hand wash. Multiple sponges work best. 🥳
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You just gave me flashbacks from High School. Yea we can watch Cool Hand Luke and Romeo and Juliet, you know the one where they show the tits and people getting stabbed. But if any student makes any sexual or violent references even in a joking manner that will be one weeks suspension. Funny how the system works. :rolleyes:
 
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