So I like to keep my car clean and tidy (my wife wishes I was so thorough with our house!) but the busyness of life has got in the way recently. For the past month I've been wanting to give the car a quick clean and a month before that I'd said I'd give it a wash, clay bar and polish/wax but hadn't got round to it. Anyway, against my gut feeling I took my little lad in the car round to our local 'waitrose/shell' auto wash (other providers were available but it was £6.50 for their top was where as the independant auto wash wanted £20 and the hand car wash I'd used in the past and they'd scratched the paint work). Needless to say my little lad enjoyed his first trip through the machine, however, my car wasn't exactly clean, the wheels were all dirty, the rear bumper hadn't been touched and my lad wasn't too excited about a second trip through.

Second trip through and this time the bumper was half clean, the wheels were still filthy and my lad was holding back his tears watching chuginton (listening through the bluetooth) and hoping we could head home. Lesson learnt - don't use the automatic car wash... DIY from now on!

Couldn't agree more.

I resisted the temptation to put my car (sorry Yeti, not Rapid) through the local car wash today. My son doesn't like them either, so I got him to help clean the Yeti. I used a clay mitt for the first time and was very impressed.

Edited 6 December, 201411 yr by oxonskoda

I used the hand car wash near my work the other day and got a very faint horizontal scratch on the tailgate now :(
Lesson learned also.

Once upon a time I would use the local scratch wash if I couldn't be bothered to wash the car myself. Thankfully that was many years ago and I won't touch them now, same with the supermarket & shopping centre car park washes and definitely the automated car washes (some will damage the car, while all of them that I've used never do a good job).

In nicer weather I will always thoroughly clean the car myself on a regular basis (what with being a detailing junkie) but even I struggle for time and motivation in the height of winter.

My option is to go for a good winter protection detail from a pro at the start of the season (if I don't get round to doing it myself), then I can just leave the car for the winter, knowing the bodywork is safe underneath a good couple of layers of winter wax or sealant. If I really need to get the surface muck off during the winter period, then I'll spray the car liberally with some strong pre-wash like Auto Finesse Citrus Power or Demon Rapid Dirt Shifter, and after some dwell time give the car a good blast with a pressure washer, either at home or at a petrol station. Keeps the dirt and road grime in check and minimises my time out in the cold and/or wet.

My lad uses an auto car wash on the rare occasions he can be bothered for his old Fabia II, doesn't do the paint work much good but unless I get the hosepipe out it never gets a proper clean; youth of today I suppose.

 

 

TP

Surely driving to the car wash and going through twice takes more time than simply filling a bucket with suddsy water and going over the car with a wash mitt?

this weather use the local garage pressure wash station, does a pretty good job,

 

has a separate wheel clean applicator, a soft brush which has water / foam running through so always rinsed and a pretty high pressure lance (be careful not to get to close to parking sensors with it)

 

about £3-£4 does the car ok as you buy time and select what you want,

has a separate wheel clean applicator, a soft brush which has water / foam running through so always rinsed and a pretty high pressure lance (be careful not to get to close to parking sensors with it)

Except that "soft brush" is full of grit, dirt, brake dust and any other rubbish because everyone leaves them on the ground (and they never get cleaned), so you are just grinding that into your rims and bodywork.

Nothing wrong with the PW lance at the petrol station, but I would recommend avoiding the brush like the plague.

Jet washes are great minus the brush as said. I can't use ours at work because it's too powerful and hot as we use it for cleaning engines on our buses.

Agree that auto brush washes are nothing other than useless, and the jet washes ain't much better either, but the worst of all without doubt are the cheap 'couldn't get a job elsewhere or don't qualify for benefits so bought a bucket and sponge and decided to become a self-employed valet' car washes, and the charity washes where some otherwise well meaning but inexperienced child (or disgruntled teenager who would rather be hanging around littering the local McDonalds car park) washes your car with the dirty water and the sponge containing all the #%^* that's just been removed from all the previous cars.

Same reason I'll never let my local dealer wash the cars when they're serviced. I've seen the buggers drop the wash sponges and chamois' on the ground only to pick them up and continue where they left off.

Old saying... 'If you want a job doing properly... do it yourself'... just a pain in the ¥*?# trying to find the time, more so whenever you get the time it's always $<%%*¥~ down with rain!

I saw one of the bucket and scratch merchants doing his magic on a black SUV today at Sainsburys. He hadn't used enough water and there was still cr4p down the sides, so his answer was to rub the dirty areas vigerously with a mucky microfibre to get it off. Welcome to swirl city. Made me cringe........

Some posts in this thread have been reported, can we refrain from singling out the nationality of the workers/owners of the "hand car wash" and just call it such.

 

Posts have been edited accordingly.

 

Thanks

I don't really get this... 

 

A car - its an appliance, like a tumble dryer. If the windows and lights are clean it's safe, If the interior is as relatively tidy as my living room, it doesn't annoy me any.

 

Life is too short for trying to keep the car looking like its just been delivered.  I live in an ex - show home, That doesn't look like it did 6 years back either.

 

I'm happy for my buddy Daniel to hand wash it once every 3 weeks - and that's enough.

Edited 7 December, 201411 yr by camelspyyder

I don't really get this... 

 

A car - its an appliance, like a tumble dryer. If the windows and lights are clean it's safe, If the interior is as relatively tidy as my living room, it doesn't annoy me any.

 

Life is too short for trying to keep the car looking like its just been delivered.  I live in an ex - show home, That doesn't look like it did 6 years back either.

 

I'm happy for my buddy Daniel to hand wash it once every 3 weeks - and that's enough.

Hehe. Each to their own.

I found myself cleaning the crevices on our new washing machine the other day. True story.

I love a clean shiny car more than I love a clean shiny washing machine too.

Hehe. Each to their own.

I found myself cleaning the crevices on our new washing machine the other day. True story.

I love a clean shiny car more than I love a clean shiny washing machine too.

 

When my last new car was about 3 years old, I left it on the drive for 3 months whilst working away.

 

On my return it had loads of green spots on (the car was blue) - next door had sprayed fence care on the boundary and the fallout had hit my car - and then been baked on by 8 weeks of sunshine.

 

I didn't row with next door about it - it was too trivial to damage our friendship over.

 

I never polished those green marks out either - car went to the breakers 8 years later still spotty

Arrrrrggghhhh. help me I'm melting! Where is the breakers, I'll nip over and clean it up!

I tried one of those car wash places many years ago, the ones with the big revolving brush type things for want of a better wording. I spent as much time going over the missed bits with a sponge and bucket. Or jet washes I tried a couple of times, you have to race round the car to get it all done in time and getting soaked into the bargain.

No, I stick with the old bucket and lately a wash mit. I good coat of wax on the paintwork and the muck comes off easily, it's not that difficult and takes no time to do.

I find cleaning cars to be good exercise and therapeutic. I do ours every other week.

I find cleaning cars to be good exercise and therapeutic. I do ours every other week.

Completely with you on that - a good car cleaning session is very therapeutic.

I don't really get this...

A car - its an appliance, like a tumble dryer.

Agreed, in the sense both a car and a tumble dryer (or similar) are indeed functional utilitarian products, but it ends there!...

Aside from the fact they're a far more expensive product (Dacia excepted), cars have historically been a product that say a lot about our social standing (for both the right and wrong reasons) and they're a part of our life that's on public display, so the way we present them says a lot about who we are, and whether that's snobbish or not is a subjective argument.

Suffice to say, I've yet to see a magazine on the racks in my local newsagent headed 'What Tumble Dryer', 'Washing Machine Express' or 'Classic Tumble Dryer' or a TV programme in the listings such as 'Top Washing Machine', although the thought of Mike Brewer and Ed China fronting up with a old Zanussi with the intention of repairing and servicing it for an onward sale for profit would be interesting!

Agreed, in the sense both a car and a tumble dryer (or similar) are indeed functional utilitarian products, but it ends there!...

Aside from the fact they're a far more expensive product (Dacia excepted), cars have historically been a product that say a lot about our social standing (for both the right and wrong reasons) and they're a part of our life that's on public display, so the way we present them says a lot about who we are, and whether that's snobbish or not is a subjective argument.

Suffice to say, I've yet to see a magazine on the racks in my local newsagent headed 'What Tumble Dryer', 'Washing Machine Express' or 'Classic Tumble Dryer' or a TV programme in the listings such as 'Top Washing Machine', although the thought of Mike Brewer and Ed China fronting up with a old Zanussi with the intention of repairing and servicing it for an onward sale for profit would be interesting!

 

Well Nookie, for me it's a functional article - If I still lived where you do I might think it an extravagance - I could cycle from St Aubins to St Helier quicker than drive most afternoons.

A couple of months ago I went Poole to Gijon in Spain on the open weather deck of a ferry. All the non-white cars around me were like iced buns on arrival.  Some  owners were writing with their fingers in the salt crust which the firm said they would wash off on arrival and then refused.  My car is white. So I could not see it except the windows.

I insisted even though it was quite late that it would be washed off pronto.  I found a filling station with two wash bays and numerous rent by the minute booths.   One wash bay had a queue and the other did not so in I went.   I then noticed a few odd looks and started to have doubts.  I had not noticed the equipment dwarfed my car.  It would not take a double decker but it might take a truck.

Too late.  Then it burst into life.   With jet wash nozzles on every side but the bottom --except by blow-by.

 

I thought it would rip the paint and number plates and door handles off..Then more soap suds than I've ever seen and on and on.

I swear the blowers tried to dent my roof.  The other bay did two cars while mine got drowned.

 

In view of the salt  it was perfect.   But far too fierce to do it again.  If I ever see such a piece of kit again that is..

Well Nookie, for me it's a functional article - If I still lived where you do I might think it an extravagance - I could cycle from St Aubins to St Helier quicker than drive most afternoons.

Ha... nothing's changed there... in fact you could probably dispense with the bike and walk quicker now at certain times of the day!

Conveyer automatic wash (usually IMO-ARC on top programme) for my cars for the last 9 years, no damage from the wash whatsoever. Provided the person prepping the car does a reasonable job, the wash cleans well, and also waxes the underbody which is hard to do yourself. Paintwork and headlamps do show some damage from sand and debris on the road in the meantime (130k miles, over 50% at autobahn speeds, so expected).

 

So if you actually use your car as opposed to mostly look at it, conveyer automatic wash makes more sense. Note that I steer clear of the stationary automatic washes though (such as present on many petrol stations and at services), as they usually have far more limited set of brushes and heavy re-use of them, not to mention the need to follow instructions, e.g. in Swedish, if you dare to use them abroad. Conveyers are manned and a lot less fuss to use IMHO. 

Conveyer automatic wash (usually IMO-ARC on top programme) for my cars for the last 9 years, no damage from the wash whatsoever. Provided the person prepping the car does a reasonable job, the wash cleans well, and also waxes the underbody which is hard to do yourself. Paintwork and headlamps do show some damage from sand and debris on the road in the meantime (130k miles, over 50% at autobahn speeds, so expected).

 

So if you actually use your car as opposed to mostly look at it, conveyer automatic wash makes more sense. Note that I steer clear of the stationary automatic washes though (such as present on many petrol stations and at services), as they usually have far more limited set of brushes and heavy re-use of them, not to mention the need to follow instructions, e.g. in Swedish, if you dare to use them abroad. Conveyers are manned and a lot less fuss to use IMHO. 

 

At the end of the day, the main thing is that you are happy with your choice and with the cleanliness of your car. Everyone has their own opinion on this - and certainly not everyone is the automotive clean-freak that I am. I use my car - a lot - and mostly on motorways so it gets very grotty very quickly. that's not something I'm comfortable with. To me there's nothing worse than getting grime transfer from the car onto your hands, clothes, female companion, or anything else you press or brush against the car. Same view goes for things like swirl marks (mine currently has some, especially on the black gloss B pillars - this will be addressed as soon as the weather conditions are suitable to attack the car with a DA). Most people couldn't care less about swirls, which is fair enough.

 

You are content with the wash you get from a conveyor auto wash - but I suspect if I saw your car up close, I would collapse into a sobbing and wailing wreck at the sight of the swirl marks in your paint inflicted by those brushes - picture the scene at the end of the original Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston is standing next to the head from the Statue of Liberty, only replace that with a Superb or a Roomster. 

 

However, I will say that conveyor auto washes are not that common in the overall UK market, with conventional (and sadly quite grotty and badly maintained) static auto washes being far more prevalent in the marketplace, which really doesn't help their reputation or the results they produce. I've only every used one conveyor wash (at Sainsbury's London Colney - J22 of the M25) about 4 cars ago. Was deeply underwhelmed by the results and not happy by the machine's attempts to break off the mounting point for my car aerial (I had removed the aerial as per instructions before driving in).