Why Going To Your Local Machine Car Wash Is Bad For Your Car?
What is it that you do every couple of weeks and is ruining your car?
You probably wouldn’t have guessed it if you hadn’t read the title. Yes, it is true, washing your car at the average car wash is spoiling your car finish. Car cleaning is vital for ensuring a hygienic cabin and prolonging your vehicle’s lifespan, but it needs to be done carefully, preferably at a hand-wash car wash.
But what exactly about car washing is harmful to your car? There are several factors involved
Abrasive Brushes
Abrasive brushes are the no. 1 culprit for damage to car paintwork. Going to an automatic car wash that uses the old-type, abrasive brushes is like having your car slapped with a dirty mop. This is why we are seeing less and less of those automatic brush car washes these days.
Dirty Clothes Can Also Scratch the Car’s Paint
Pay attention to the type of towels the staff at the car wash is using to dry cars. If it’s terry cloth, don’t wash your car there. This type of fabric gets rough if you wash it a lot of times and will act on your car’s paint the same way as an abrasive brush. Use a microfiber cloth instead and make sure it is clean and not carrying debris from previous washes.
Soft-Cloth Car Washes That Retain Abrasives from Previous Cars
For quite a while, soft-cloth car washes have been marketed as friendlier to your car’s paint compared to traditional automatic car washes using brushes. However, soft cloth can retain debris and dirt from previous vehicles even to a larger extent compared to brushes, causing, even more, scratches in your car’s paint and making it dull.
Not Reaching All Spots
The automatic car wash is not able to reach all the nooks and crannies of your car. As a result, dirt can accumulate and damage the car’s paint, ultimately facilitating corrosion.
Low-Quality Equipment
Normally, a state-of-the-art automatic car wash should use the latest equipment that is gentle on your car’s paint coat. In reality, many car washes use outdated equipment that can cause more harm than good.
Soap That Is Too Acidic
Especially in touchless car washes, harsh and strong chemicals can be used to eliminate dirt. In time, these chemicals can damage the car’s clear coat and cause the paint to look dull. Harsh chemicals increase customer satisfaction among customers because vehicle owners obtain better results with less money and in a shorter time, but in the long-term they damage the paint and cost you more in repairs and paint correction.
Cold Water Can Damage Engine
There is a little controversy regarding whether staying with the engine started while washing your vehicle is safe or not. There are expert opinions stating that leaving the engine running while washing your car is bad for this vital car part. Cold water hitting the hot engine and reaching electrical components while they are active can cause the block, the head, or the radiator to crack or become defective. So, whenever you wash your car, make sure the engine is turned off.
Hard Water Leaving Mineral Deposits
Another aspect you should look at when looking up ‘a full-service car wash near me is water filtering. It turns out that your car likes filtered water too, like many other types of equipment. When hard water evaporates quickly from a surface, it may leave deposits behind and permanent water spots. Some car washes use blowers to dry the vehicle, and incomplete drying can cause water spots on your car.
One way to counteract mineral deposits is washing your car on a cloudy day. No matter how tempting it may be to wash your car in direct sunlight, avoid this. What you need is to keep the evaporation rate low in order to prevent mineral deposits. This is the reason why car washes are often placed in shaded areas.
Mistakes In Hand Washing
So far, it seems like an automatic car wash is bad for your car, and a hand wash is the best. Unfortunately, even with hand washing at a full-service car wash, you can have unpleasant surprises. Whether you wash the car at home or entrust it to someone for a handwash, there are seemingly innocent mistakes that could harm your paintwork.
For instance, using the same sponge to clean the vehicle’s painted surfaces and wheels can introduce abrasives into the cleaning process. This is why the person performing the wash should use different sponges and towels for the car body, respectively tires, and wheels, and clean both types of clothes meticulously.
Feeling worried about your next car wash session? You cannot eliminate wear and tear on your vehicle completely, but you can minimize it in two ways. One, if you use an automatic car wash, avoid getting in immediately after a very dirty vehicle. It takes several washing cycles before all the dirt is eliminated, so it does not scratch your car. Secondly, choose to clean your car at a professional auto detailing shops such as Stuey’s Green Auto Clean, which is very careful about equipment and substances being used and the actual washing of each car part. Car interior cleaning and detailing are included at the customer’s request. Contact us today! We are open 7 days a week.
