Just curious as to the washing practices of the members here. Let me know what you do. I only hand wash.

Do you think that an automatic car wash with brushes is bad for the paint? How about brushless car washes? I am under the impression that even brushless car washes are hard on paint because many car washes recycle their water and can't get all of the grit out of the water.

I suspect that brushes at car washes also wear down the wax/paint sealant much faster also.

Thanks!

 

Those brushes hold dirt and grit that scratch.

 

I mostly hand wash, but in the winter or out of time I will on occasion do a econo touch less at a local gas station to knock off dirt/droppings until I can give it a good wash.

 

I always hand-washed my wife and my vehicles weekly...that is until arthritis crept up on me. We've been going to a "brushless" car wash for a couple years now, and neither my bright red truck nor her white tri-coat crossover have any scratches or swirl marks in the paint. I try to go over them with a spray detailer once a month or so after they go through the wash and it seems to help the dirt rinse off. When they need it, I do polish them with an orbital buffer, maybe two times a year. Other than minor dings from parking lots, our vehicles both look pretty nice. Ya gotta remember, no matter how fussy you are about keeping your vehicle pristine, when it's time to move on, it will only be worth what someone else wants to pay for it.

 

• spring, summer, fall - hand wash
  .
• winter - automatic, touch-less car wash.

 

Hand wash or brushless. No brushes. Don't let your dealer or others wash it either without knowing what they use as they may have a brushless system only to have some guy prewashing with a regular brush..
I had a faulty leaking front strut replaced at 700 miles and forgot to tell dealer to not wash as I was in a hurry. Sure enough after I left the dealer I could see fine scratches above my running boards when I parked back at work in the sun. Not bad but noticeable. I was like WTF. Thus, I was reminded to wash my truck by hand...period

 

There was a time that I would spend countless hours washing, cleaning, polishing, waxing, etc... Then marriage and family comes along, soccer, motocross, yard work, family time, etc...

And an incredible car wash a mile or so away that does an incredible exterior wash for $5. It's not brushes... It's chamois and a spot free dry. For $28 they wash outside, hand dry, and clean and condition the interior... And do a fantastic job every time... Typically all in about 20 minutes. Hard to beat with a busy lifestyle, water isn't wasted, and I have time to take care of everything else I have going on...

That said, I did have them wash my wife's Wrangler last weekend and then I brought it home and hand waxed it... Over 2 years old and paint is still perfect.

 

You will get better advice in the Care and Detailing forum........

 

I think it depends on your priorities. If the appearance of the paint is important, hand washing seems to be the gold standard.

Personally, I drive so many miles a year that hand washing is a waste of my time. Sure the truck would look great when it is 4 years old, but it will still have over 200k miles and be a tradeoff. I've yet to have a dealer point out that my trade in would be better but I obviously used a brush wash so he is going to ding me.

I run mine through a brush wash in the winter to get the road salt grime off. The brushless ones in Iowa don't seem to be able to get the road grime layer off, especially in the snow months.

 

Hand Wash once a week, Wax once a month..

 

Touch less in winter. Two bucket method hand wash every other time once a week unless it rains.

 

Hand wash if you are going to use the correct technique for washing and drying, otherwise you may be better off using a touchless.

The biggest concern with a touchless is if they use the proper ratio when they mix their chemicals. It doesn't take much for the soap to be too strong and strip all the wax off the paint.

 

touchless in late fall, winter, early spring.....late spring through summer to early fall is hand wash only using the two bucket method.....if during the summer I run into a fair amount of bugs I'll get the powerwasher out and get the bastards off before doing the two bucket method....

 

seems a little off topic, but cheers!




I haven't had the nerve to put my new truck through a car wash yet, but I will take it to the place where you feed in quarters and spray off with a powerwasher... its good for rinsing off the salt in the winter.
Now that its warming up I am planning on giving it a good bath in the driveway.

 

Same here, never ever a full brush or even soft cloth drive through car wash. Mainly because they definately do damage but they also don't clean all the spots I get by hand.