Touchless Car Washes - The Good & The Bad (Videos)

[Junkman2008]

Hey boys & girls! Another "brutha' in his garage production" coming your way!

 

This time I talk about the pros and cons of touch-less car washes. A lot of people think that touch-less is always the answer but as I make clear in these videos, it is not always the best route to go. There is nothing wrong with the touchless car wash process itself, it is what is done after the wash that will make or break your paint job.

 

Let me make sure that everyone understands that in this video, my car was driven in a light downpour. For someone who drives in a normal or heavy downpour, your car will have a much tougher film of dirt on it, especially if you allow it to dry in the sun. This film is what will create those nasty swirls over time if you continually address them wrong.

 

With that said, let's get to the videos!

 

 

 

 

Video 1 - Touch-less Car Wash

 

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Video 2 - The Conclusion

 

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The Junkman

 

[Junkman2008]

I know. There is so much misinformation out there with products today.

[STex]

I use a wand car wash on my 09 Sierra CC. I like having the soft water rinse on this large truck. If I miss a spot (easy to do as even at 6’4” I cannot see the top of the truck or reach all of it with out a stepstool) the soft water helps me out. And I like to rinse the underside as well and even hate water spots there! The soft water also saves you from water spots in the wheel wells.

I use the two bucket wash but just pressure rinse the truck prior to the 2BW without the wash place soap to save my wax. Note the truck is usually just dusty with no rain/mud build up. Then the two bucket wash top down method gets soap on the lower part by the time I get to it. If it is muddy from the pasture, dove hunting, rain etc, I do use their soap on lower part prior to the 2 BW.

I am going to get a battery leaf blower to carry with me to knock down the water when done. Of course I now use Adams drying towels and other products!

[Chewy]

There was no wax on the car. As a matter of fact, I haven't waxed my car in probably 5 months. I wasn't driving it during the winter and I haven't taken the time to do it yet this year. But check this out.

 

I was working on the car with FMP trying to get to a point where I could add some wax. Something came up and I had to stop what I was doing. By the time I got back on the car, I had to wash it again. Looking at the picture below, can you figure out where I stopped working with the FMP?

 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm not saying that FMP will work like wax but it is doing something...

 

I'm sure you, Dylan and I know Adam could tell us if there's a bit of lubricant left behind from FMP. Kind of like DS... Perhaps not but it was a thought. Kind of along the lines of my PM to you this AM.