How harsh are pressure-wash soaps on your paint?

[Sandalwood]

Do the soaps in these self wash bays tend to strip waxes/sealants or are they pretty gentle? 

I see Adam recommend these for winter washing, but he immediately coats with guard n gloss

[RayS]

12 minutes ago, Sandalwood said:

Do the soaps in these self wash bays tend to strip waxes/sealants or are they pretty gentle? 

I see Adam recommend these for winter washing, but he immediately coats with guard n gloss

The thing is you just never really know what they are using and how harsh it will be.  While most have regular suppliers of their chemicals and you could probably call them and find out, they could change chemicals at any time.

[zw470]

Ceramic Boost as a stand-alone and Guard & Gloss both do a pretty decent job of standing up to them, I imagine the Paint Coating or Ceramic Spray Coating would fare even better.

[falcaineer]

To clarify, unless there's a video I haven't seen, Adam only uses the water spray at them, not the soap. I'd venture an educated guess their soaps are not gentle nor meant to be. The touchless washes are probably going to degrade your waxes, etc, since the soaps are aggressive on purpose... they're no touch for a reason.

 

Remember, they're built for convenience and low cost/high profit, not with detailers in mind.

[TheWolf]

Do not use the soap at the self-wash, it will not be safe on your paint like Car Wash Shampoo or one of the other high quality Adam's shampoos.  Even if it was pH balanced, it is not going to have the polymers and other chemicals that make washing safer on your paint.

 

Only use the Rinse setting since it is typically softened water, and bring your own shampoo, bucket and wash media.