Car Wash Tunnel vs. Hand Washing

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The Critic

The Critic

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The newer "tunnel" car washes (not gas station in-bay automatics) use the closed cell foam brushes that do not capture any dirt from the previous vehicles.

Local car wash establishments are either the newer tunnel washes (as described above) or hand washes. By hand washes, they work on a "line" system where a worker cleans each car with a lambswool mitt, but the mitt is used on many cars throughout the day. It is also likely that the car wash solution is not replaced frequently.

So, which one is safer for your paint? I think a newer car wash tunnel may be safer as the machine's brushes may stay cleaner.

Thoughts?
 
I suppose it depends on the person doing the hand wash. The guys over at Autopia seem to have hand washing down to a science of preventing grit from marring the paint surface.

I've tried their methods a few times and it is truly anal-retentive. I just use plenty of shampoo and water with either a grout sponge or microfiber wash mitt and polish regularly.

If I'm not near home, I'll use the touchless laser wash tunnels, although they don't actually clean any dirt off the paint surface since nothing actually touches the paint but water+soap.
 
Some of the touchless automatic car washes do work well; those have the pressure jacked up pretty high. Unfortunately, car washes like this are very rare in Northern California. They were common where I used to live.

I am interested to hear others' responses to The Critic's question. For the four years I have been out here, I have been avoiding car washes entirely because I don't trust them not to mar my paint.
 
Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
Some of the touchless automatic car washes do work well; those have the pressure jacked up pretty high.


This is a bit off-topic, but speaking of water pressure, I have this video stuck on the back of my mind:
 
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I just do not see how a machine can properly touch the paint properly given that it must accommodate everything from an SUV to a Mini-Cooper. Automatic type operations really depends on maintenance to work consistently so it depends on the operator's diligence.

The hand wash method has the potential of doing minimal harm and will clean better if done correctly. The drive through seems very limited and flawed even in best scenario (less clean car, likely hood of swirls). I mean "foam" (?) when many purists gripe about using a grout sponge.
 
It all depends on your standards of clean. I don't think that car washes do a bad job for the everyday person that just wants a clean vehicle. I want a little more which is why I hand wash. In the winter time, I run em through when the temp permit. I don't like the LAZER WASH. They blast high pressure water so hard that it has removed decales/striping and actually filled a head light with water. It too high pressure for me!
 
Nothing beats washing your own car by hand. Sometimes I take mine to the full service wash just because I need the inside cleaned. I've always enjoyed washing the exterior but I don't care for doing the inside.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
Some of the touchless automatic car washes do work well; those have the pressure jacked up pretty high.


This is a bit off-topic, but speaking of water pressure, I have this video stuck on the back of my mind:

It's stuff like that that I won't use a pressure washer. I was never taught properly how to use one, plus I don't have the need for one where we live.
 
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I'll admit to using a car wash to clean my rides, especially during the winter. They throw salt around here like it's a government cheese give-away, so it's essential to keep the car washed, preferrably weekly.

I never use a gas station car wash. I normally use Mike's Express and it does a decent job. However, there is no "wipe-down" at the end of the wash, so I have the obligatory towels to dry the door jambs and trunk area. The interior cleaning is on you, as well.

I like Mike's as they use generous amounts of water and soap, and I can use one of their washing bays to hose out the wheel wells and lower body panels on the Accord and Highlander. There are a couple of "nooks" in the rear wells for salt to get trapped.

Knowing I will be using Mike's causes me to detail my cars twice per year: late October/early November, then again in early May.
The quality and depth of shine seems to be maintained, in spite of the winter washes.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic

This is a bit off-topic, but speaking of water pressure, I have this video stuck on the back of my mind:



Why do people make these you-tube videos? Who has the time to do this sort of stuff is beyond me.
 
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My routine is very similar to dkryan, I do a complete detail in the spring and fall and hand wash in between. In the winter I also go to Mikes Express, which is a soft cloth car wash, about once a week.
 
Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
Some of the touchless automatic car washes do work well; those have the pressure jacked up pretty high. Unfortunately, car washes like this are very rare in Northern California. They were common where I used to live.

I am interested to hear others' responses to The Critic's question. For the four years I have been out here, I have been avoiding car washes entirely because I don't trust them not to mar my paint.


They are common in my part of Northern California, there are at least two in the town I live in near Sacramento.
 
Originally Posted By: Old Mustang Guy
Nothing beats washing your own car by hand. Sometimes I take mine to the full service wash just because I need the inside cleaned. I've always enjoyed washing the exterior but I don't care for doing the inside.


Indeed! I love to go outside and clean the cars. I find it soothing.
 
I usually hand wash, or use a car wash to get rid of the muck from the undercarriage, roof and body. Then follow with a body wash and full 3 Step Meguire's Wax.
 
They actually have hand car wash places?

Never seen one.

But if they open a bikini one in my area.........
 
I've never seen an automatic car wash that does a better job than manual washing. My vehicles always get hand washed.
Quote:
Indeed! I love to go outside and clean the cars. I find it soothing.

Me too. The wife says the reason they manufacture car soap with fragrance in it, is that it helps make washing your car therapeutic. Might be some truth to that.
 
Originally Posted By: Aquaticentipede
I've never seen an automatic car wash that does a better job than manual washing. My vehicles always get hand washed.


Yep, in a perfect world, so would my cars. But in the middle of January with three feet of snow on the ground, a daytime high temp of 17 and wind chill of zero degrees, one has to make adjustments.

Hence, you find the "best" automatic car wash you can find and live with it until the "hand wash weather" arrives.
 
Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: Stu_Rock
Some of the touchless automatic car washes do work well; those have the pressure jacked up pretty high. Unfortunately, car washes like this are very rare in Northern California.

They are common in my part of Northern California, there are at least two in the town I live in near Sacramento.

I actually used to work for a guy who started a car wash business of this type in Roseville, so I know they do exist out here. Maybe I should restate--I've never seen one in the Bay Area, though there is probably one somewhere.
 
I live no more than thirty miles north of you.
I wash my own cars year 'round.
A pair of boots, a pair of waterproof lined gloves, a dry hose (so it isn't frozen solid when you start), and you're good to go.
Any car wash that I've ever seen damages the paint, and since we keep our cars, I prefer to either let them remain dirty, or to wash them myself in the cold.
 
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