One of our managing partners has been in the car wash business for 45 years. He has been designing and building car wash systems for nearly 20 years. Our system is the most advanced he has ever conceived. We think it is unsurpassed in the car wash industry. We fabricate most of the system ourselves. Other parts we buy from prominent equipment manufacturers. We assemble our systems at our warehouse in Houston and our own installation team installs them in our stores. Our systems optimize six elements:
1. a combination of specially formulated, bio-degradable cleaning solutions;
2. dwell time;
3. a washing process we call Tip Touch™;
4. three-stage rinse;
5. drip area; and
6. a specially configured, state-of-the-art air dryer array.
Specially Formulated, Bio-Degradable, Non-Hazardous Cleaning Solutions
We buy our specially formulated cleaning solutions from Kaady Chemical Company. They are non-acidic, non-caustic, and phosphate-free. Most car wash chemical manufacturers have no hands-on, day-to-day involvement with the actual washing of cars. Kaady Chemical Company is owned by Mr. C. Kaady, owner of Kaady Car Wash in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Kaady is one of the inventors of express car washing. He's been at it for years. He is arguably one of the most successful car wash operators in America. He has fourteen stores in the Portland metropolitan area. He's in his car washes every day, tweaking, testing, and inventing incremental improvements to his process. One of the focuses of his attention is the optimum effectiveness of the products of Kaady Chemical Company which he uses in all his car washes. BlueWave, and ultimately our customers, benefit from Mr. Kaady's obsessive interest in the quality of wash that his formulations deliver.
More Room for Dwell Time
The more time the soap, which is sprayed on the car at the beginning of the washing process, stays or “dwells” on the car, the more effective it is in loosening the dirt and residue from your car’s finish. BlueWave’s conveyor is 125 feet long. That gives us lots of space for multiple Wet Friction™ applications (see below) during which the soap is allowed to dwell on the car’s surfaces. The shorter the conveyor, the less room there is for the application of whatever the friction medium to the soapy surfaces of the car, and the shorter is the dwell time that results.
Tip Touch™ Washing
Use of a cleaning medium that touches your car is a fundamental part of car washing. It is, that is, unless you put your car through a so-called "touchless" car wash, which most likely subjects it to the application of acid-based cleaning chemicals and high-pressure blasts of water. When you wash your car at home with a soft sponge, you are using a cleaning medium (i.e., the sponge) which touches your car. Chances are, your use of a sponge and a soap bucket in your driveway is worse for your car than any commercial car wash process, even the acid-based ones. The fact is, if your car is fairly dirty, it is virtually impossible to get it really clean without using a cleaning medium that touches the car. There are two keys to the use of touch in the car washing process so that it has no potential to leave a blemish on your car's finish:
1. the nature of the cleaning medium; and
2. the mechanics of the touching.
BlueWave uses a washing process that we call Tip Touch™. Our Tip Touch™ system uses only constantly irrigated, very soft polishing cloth as its washing medium. The car is presoaked and a high-lubricity cleaning foam is sprayed on. Then gently-turning (65 RPMs) cylinders of continuously irrigated polishing cloth ribbons are rotated clock-wise and counter-clockwise at just the right distance from the car so that only the tips of the very wet, very soft cloth touch the car. The counter-rotation is crucial. The distance of the cylinders from the car is crucial (it is automatically adjusted by our system for the particular car). Once through the cylinder array, the car passes through irrigated curtains (called mitters) of the same polishing cloth. The mitters are drawn gently back and forth
across the car’s foamed surfaces. By the time the car has passed through the various applications of Tip Touch™, the cleaning foam has dwelled on the car’s surfaces for over a minute. The dwell time in combination with the Tip Touch™ has washed your car clean. There is nothing in the process that can blemish your car's finish.
Three Separate Rinses
BlueWave uses three, high-volume rinses in sequence. The first rinse is re-claimed water. The second rinse is fresh water that is re-claimed after it is used. The third rinse is fresh water that has been through a reverse-osmosis process that removes the minerals from the water to deliver the car spot-free to the air dryer array. It is also re-claimed after it is used. After all that, no soap residue remains by the time the car reaches the drip space on the conveyor.
More Room For Drip Space
BlueWave promises you a clean and dry car. By the time we get your car through our second rinse arch, it is clean. Now we have to get it dry. Our first secret is what we call “drip space.” Because we have such a long conveyor, we have room – lots of room – between the second rinse arch and the blower array to have nothing working on your car except gravity. It is an area we call the drip pad. Literally, nothing happens as the car passes over the drip pad except the water drips off, pulled off by simple gravity. And gravity is not just a good idea, it’s the law. It goes a long way toward drying your car because by the time your car enters our dryer array, much of the water is already gone.
Air Dryer Array
Our second secret to a really dry car is our air dryer array. We use a large array of powerful, individually aimed fans. Most car washes don't use as many fans as we do. In fact, many so-called "express" lanes in full-service car washes have to use teams of hand-driers on your car after it leaves the dryer array to get it dry because they don't have room for enough fans. And if you watch, in many car washes, the air dryers do not push the water down, and off the car; they push it across the car. If the water drops aren't pushed down and off, a significant number remain on the car when it exits the tunnel. As you drive away, they blow back on your windshield. BlueWave's air dryer array is aimed so as to push the water down and off your car. And it uses enough air dryers to get the job done.
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Without a Water Re-Claim System....
There are some 235,000,000 consumer owned cars in America. The International Car Wash Association estimates that fewer than half of them are ever washed in a commercial car wash. Of those that aren’t, most are washed at home.
Home car washing is a significant source of pollution. Even if bio-degradable soap is used — or no soap at all — rinsing off one’s car in the driveway or on the street flushes engine and brake residue, oil, grease, gasoline, antifreeze, rust, asbestos, asphalt, ferrites, salts, and acids into the gutter. If soap is used, and it’s not biodegradable, that goes into the gutter, too. "So what?" you ask. It doesn't really go anywhere. It just dries. That's probably true. Until it rains. The rain flushes the gutters, eventually washing all those residues into the sewer system, or directly into the watershed, depending upon where you live.
So-called “touchless” car washes do not use friction in their process. They use powerful -- in many cases, acid based -- cleaners followed by high-pressure spray. Without friction, they have to use such cleaners in order to get the car clean. Then they have to use heavy flushing to remove the acid from the car’s surfaces before it pits the paint or corrodes the chassis. Most touchless car washes do not re-claim their water. As a consequence, the flushed acids, along with all the other dirt and residues removed in the washing process, go down the drain. Any car wash that does not re-claim its water has no way to capture all the pollutants that come off the car during the wash process. It's not just "touchless" car washes. It is almost any car wash that you see in a gas station and almost any coin-operated, self-serve car wash.
Water Usage
Then there's the issue of water usage. If a car wash does not reclaim its water, it will use 80 to 100 gallons of water to wash a typical American or foreign sedan. Washing that car in your driveway you can use as much as 120 to 140 gallons of water.
BlueWave reclaims its water through a state-of-the art Pur-Water™ Recovery Systerm. It uses less than 25 gallons of fresh water per wash. And once that is applied, it, too is reclaimed.
In its EPA-compliant reclaim process, BlueWave captures and nonhydrologically disposes of virtually all contaminants that come off the car, as well as the soaps and waxes that it uses (which are biodegradable to start with). Its re-claim process also removes anaerobic bacteria and odors.
There are some 235,000,000 consumer owned cars in America. The International Car Wash Association estimates that fewer than half of them are ever washed in a commercial car wash. Of those that aren’t, most are washed at home.
Home car washing is a significant source of pollution. Even if bio-degradable soap is used — or no soap at all — rinsing off one’s car in the driveway or on the street flushes engine and brake residue, oil, grease, gasoline, antifreeze, rust, asbestos, asphalt, ferrites, salts, and acids into the gutter. If soap is used, and it’s not biodegradable, that goes into the gutter, too. "So what?" you ask. It doesn't really go anywhere. It just dries. That's probably true. Until it rains. The rain flushes the gutters, eventually washing all those residues into the sewer system, or directly into the watershed, depending upon where you live.
So-called “touchless” car washes do not use friction in their process. They use powerful -- in many cases, acid based -- cleaners followed by high-pressure spray. Without friction, they have to use such cleaners in order to get the car clean. Then they have to use heavy flushing to remove the acid from the car’s surfaces before it pits the paint or corrodes the chassis. Most touchless car washes do not re-claim their water. As a consequence, the flushed acids, along with all the other dirt and residues removed in the washing process, go down the drain. Any car wash that does not re-claim its water has no way to capture all the pollutants that come off the car during the wash process. It's not just "touchless" car washes. It is almost any car wash that you see in a gas station and almost any coin-operated, self-serve car wash.
Water Usage
Then there's the issue of water usage. If a car wash does not reclaim its water, it will use 80 to 100 gallons of water to wash a typical American or foreign sedan. Washing that car in your driveway you can use as much as 120 to 140 gallons of water.
BlueWave reclaims its water through a state-of-the art Pur-Water™ Recovery Systerm. It uses less than 25 gallons of fresh water per wash. And once that is applied, it, too is reclaimed.
In its EPA-compliant reclaim process, BlueWave captures and nonhydrologically disposes of virtually all contaminants that come off the car, as well as the soaps and waxes that it uses (which are biodegradable to start with). Its re-claim process also removes anaerobic bacteria and odors.
Why You Should Wash Your Car
Your car is made of metal. For that reason alone -- never mind just feeling
good that comes from driving a clean car -- you should keep your car clean.
The only thing that keeps the metal from corroding is paint. The paint is actually comprised of two layers -- primer and non-gloss color.
What protect the paint is a layer of what is called "clear-coat": a transparent, colorless layer of polyurethane enamel 1/1000 of an inch thick that gives the paint depth and gloss.
What should protect the clear-coat is a layer of wax. That's if you keep your car waxed.
These ever-so thin layers are all that are between a large variety of environmental evils and the metal panels that cover your car. These ever so thin layers are all that keep your car from turning into a rust bucket.
These layers are under constant attack. If you don't keep your car clean, these layers will soon noticeably start succumbing to the elements.
Dirt Is Not the Worst of It...
You don't even see much of what we know constitutes the "dirt" on your car. Some of the most damaging stuff is technically not even dirt.
Ultra-Violet Rays
About the only sun-exposed parts of your car that are not affected by ultraviolet rays are those that are made of glass and anodized aluminum.
Just like your own skin, the painted surfaces of your car definitely are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of sunlight unless they are waxed regularly with a UV-absorbent wax (e.g., BlueWave's Triple Polish). A UV-absorbent wax converts radiation to heat and re-radiates it from the wax surface. The wax, in effect, blocks the UV rays from directly attacking the paint. The UV rays, however, do break down the wax. Unless the wax is replaced regularly, UV rays will get through to the paint, eventually oxidizing it.
Why BlueWave?
There is no better washing process for your car's exterior than washing it in a BlueWave; and there are few washing processes that are as good.
We don't use brushes. We don't use strong acid-based or alkali-based cleaning chemicals. We don't rub the surface of your car with sponges or mitts. We don't use high-powered water jets. We don't rub the surface of your car with towels. In fact, we don't rub your car or at all.
We get your car really clean and really dry without brushing it, blasting it, rubbing it, or putting harsh chemicals on it. We wash you car with biodegradable, high-lubricity foam and low pressure water in a process we call Tip Touch™. We dry your car with gravity and blown air. Lots of blown air.
A BlueWave Wash is the safest, fastest, most effective exterior car wash you can buy. See How We Do It for the details.
We Use Special Protectants
We use Clearcoat Shine™ in all three of our washes. It is a UV-absorbent protectant. We use Triple Foam in our Bright Blue and Brilliant Blue washes. Triple Foam is applied with a protectant formula that seals the microscopic
irregularities in the car's finish. We use Clearcoat Shield™ in our Brilliant Blue wash. Clearcoat Shield™ creates a polymer barrier that helps protect your car's clearcoat polyurethane layer; it is also UV-absorbent. These are products of Kaady Chemical Company that have been long tested in the daily operations of Kaady Car Wash of Portland, Oregon (see www.kaady.com). See Prices for a menu of included applications in each of our three washes.
Acid Rain
The rain, snow, ice, and mist in storms that blow through any industrialized region -- especially those with fossil fuel-burning power plants – contain sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Naturally occurring precipitation that contains these pollutants is called "acid rain". The effect of acid rain on horizontal automotive surfaces appears as irregularly shaped, permanently etched areas. The damage can best be detected under fluorescent lamps, and is most noticeable on dark colored vehicles and appears to occur after evaporation. Usually, the damage is permanent, and the only solution is to re-paint the car. According to the EPA,
"...frequent washing and drying and covering of the vehicle appear to be the best methods for consumers who wish to minimize acid rain damage."
...But the "Dirt" Is Bad Enough
Even without UV rays and acid rain, your car's finish suffers every day from the likes of bird droppings and insect splatters, tree sap, road oils, and gas stains.
Bird Droppings, Insect Splatters
After 30 to 45 minutes in sunlight, acids in bird droppings become increasingly concentrated and begin to eat through the wax and soon begin to stain, and even etch your car's clear coat finish. With insect splatters, it takes a little longer: a day or so. But the effect is the same.
Tree Sap and Honeydew
The sticky substance that often appears on your car after leaving it parked under a large tree may be tree sap. Or it may be honeydew, the excrement of aphids or scale insects that infect the tree's branches and leaves. Honeydew is composed of sugars and other waste products that pass through the insects bodies undigested. They become harder to remove the longer they are left on the car. Tree sap is one of the most common stains that appear on a car's finish. It is sticky and turns black over time. It dries very hard and attaches itself to your car with a tar-like bond.
Highway Residue
Small specks of asphalt, tire rubber, grease, and oil are in constant circulation on busy roads and highways, put in motion by the wheels and slipstreams of the cars and trucks ahead of you, and passing you. Your car cannot avoid them. They are not only visible distractions on your car's finish, many of them eat away at your car's clearcoat layer. Road tar often is thrown up by your front wheels as they pass over sunheated asphalt or stretches of highway that are being re-surfaced. It usually adheres to rocker panels, wheel wells, and the bottoms of doors. The longer it remains on the car, the harder it becomes and the more difficult it is to remove.
Brake Dust
Your car creates brake dust every time you apply the brakes. It is a fine powder residue created by the brake rotor wearing away the brake lining. It is very sticky and collects in every microscopic nick and crevice of the wheel. It is highly corrosive. As if the brake dust from your own wheels weren't enough of a problem, when cars ahead of you on the road brake, they generate brake dust, too. Some of it becomes airborne. Some of it inevitably attaches to our car as it passes.
Salts
Road and highway departments started using salt to de-ice roads in the 1930's. To this day, they continue to use salt as their road de-icer of choice. Salt corrosion in new cars from road salts is now actually negligible according to NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) because of the increased use of galvanized steel panels and wheel houses, anodic electrode position primer, stainless steel exhaust systems, etc.
The older your car is, however, the more vulnerable it is to salt corrosion. The older it is, the less anti-corrosive technology it incorporates. In addition to road salt, there are other salts to be wary of. If you are at the beach, ocean spray and standing sea water that collects in swales in some places during high tides both coat with sea salt surfaces they come in contact with.
The harder the water in your community's water supply system, the more likely it will be to leave mineral deposits on your car if it comes in contact with your car's finish right out of a hose, or sprinkler and then is allowed to dry on the car, particularly if the car is in the sun.
And Finally, the Obvious....
Dirt, sand, and mud. There is little else that is more abrasive that will ever stick to your car than these three forms of the earth itself.
Your car is made of metal. For that reason alone -- never mind just feeling
good that comes from driving a clean car -- you should keep your car clean.
The only thing that keeps the metal from corroding is paint. The paint is actually comprised of two layers -- primer and non-gloss color.
What protect the paint is a layer of what is called "clear-coat": a transparent, colorless layer of polyurethane enamel 1/1000 of an inch thick that gives the paint depth and gloss.
What should protect the clear-coat is a layer of wax. That's if you keep your car waxed.
These ever-so thin layers are all that are between a large variety of environmental evils and the metal panels that cover your car. These ever so thin layers are all that keep your car from turning into a rust bucket.
These layers are under constant attack. If you don't keep your car clean, these layers will soon noticeably start succumbing to the elements.
Dirt Is Not the Worst of It...
You don't even see much of what we know constitutes the "dirt" on your car. Some of the most damaging stuff is technically not even dirt.
Ultra-Violet Rays
About the only sun-exposed parts of your car that are not affected by ultraviolet rays are those that are made of glass and anodized aluminum.
Just like your own skin, the painted surfaces of your car definitely are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of sunlight unless they are waxed regularly with a UV-absorbent wax (e.g., BlueWave's Triple Polish). A UV-absorbent wax converts radiation to heat and re-radiates it from the wax surface. The wax, in effect, blocks the UV rays from directly attacking the paint. The UV rays, however, do break down the wax. Unless the wax is replaced regularly, UV rays will get through to the paint, eventually oxidizing it.
Why BlueWave?
There is no better washing process for your car's exterior than washing it in a BlueWave; and there are few washing processes that are as good.
We don't use brushes. We don't use strong acid-based or alkali-based cleaning chemicals. We don't rub the surface of your car with sponges or mitts. We don't use high-powered water jets. We don't rub the surface of your car with towels. In fact, we don't rub your car or at all.
We get your car really clean and really dry without brushing it, blasting it, rubbing it, or putting harsh chemicals on it. We wash you car with biodegradable, high-lubricity foam and low pressure water in a process we call Tip Touch™. We dry your car with gravity and blown air. Lots of blown air.
A BlueWave Wash is the safest, fastest, most effective exterior car wash you can buy. See How We Do It for the details.
We Use Special Protectants
We use Clearcoat Shine™ in all three of our washes. It is a UV-absorbent protectant. We use Triple Foam in our Bright Blue and Brilliant Blue washes. Triple Foam is applied with a protectant formula that seals the microscopic
irregularities in the car's finish. We use Clearcoat Shield™ in our Brilliant Blue wash. Clearcoat Shield™ creates a polymer barrier that helps protect your car's clearcoat polyurethane layer; it is also UV-absorbent. These are products of Kaady Chemical Company that have been long tested in the daily operations of Kaady Car Wash of Portland, Oregon (see www.kaady.com). See Prices for a menu of included applications in each of our three washes.
Acid Rain
The rain, snow, ice, and mist in storms that blow through any industrialized region -- especially those with fossil fuel-burning power plants – contain sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Naturally occurring precipitation that contains these pollutants is called "acid rain". The effect of acid rain on horizontal automotive surfaces appears as irregularly shaped, permanently etched areas. The damage can best be detected under fluorescent lamps, and is most noticeable on dark colored vehicles and appears to occur after evaporation. Usually, the damage is permanent, and the only solution is to re-paint the car. According to the EPA,
"...frequent washing and drying and covering of the vehicle appear to be the best methods for consumers who wish to minimize acid rain damage."
...But the "Dirt" Is Bad Enough
Even without UV rays and acid rain, your car's finish suffers every day from the likes of bird droppings and insect splatters, tree sap, road oils, and gas stains.
Bird Droppings, Insect Splatters
After 30 to 45 minutes in sunlight, acids in bird droppings become increasingly concentrated and begin to eat through the wax and soon begin to stain, and even etch your car's clear coat finish. With insect splatters, it takes a little longer: a day or so. But the effect is the same.
Tree Sap and Honeydew
The sticky substance that often appears on your car after leaving it parked under a large tree may be tree sap. Or it may be honeydew, the excrement of aphids or scale insects that infect the tree's branches and leaves. Honeydew is composed of sugars and other waste products that pass through the insects bodies undigested. They become harder to remove the longer they are left on the car. Tree sap is one of the most common stains that appear on a car's finish. It is sticky and turns black over time. It dries very hard and attaches itself to your car with a tar-like bond.
Highway Residue
Small specks of asphalt, tire rubber, grease, and oil are in constant circulation on busy roads and highways, put in motion by the wheels and slipstreams of the cars and trucks ahead of you, and passing you. Your car cannot avoid them. They are not only visible distractions on your car's finish, many of them eat away at your car's clearcoat layer. Road tar often is thrown up by your front wheels as they pass over sunheated asphalt or stretches of highway that are being re-surfaced. It usually adheres to rocker panels, wheel wells, and the bottoms of doors. The longer it remains on the car, the harder it becomes and the more difficult it is to remove.
Brake Dust
Your car creates brake dust every time you apply the brakes. It is a fine powder residue created by the brake rotor wearing away the brake lining. It is very sticky and collects in every microscopic nick and crevice of the wheel. It is highly corrosive. As if the brake dust from your own wheels weren't enough of a problem, when cars ahead of you on the road brake, they generate brake dust, too. Some of it becomes airborne. Some of it inevitably attaches to our car as it passes.
Salts
Road and highway departments started using salt to de-ice roads in the 1930's. To this day, they continue to use salt as their road de-icer of choice. Salt corrosion in new cars from road salts is now actually negligible according to NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) because of the increased use of galvanized steel panels and wheel houses, anodic electrode position primer, stainless steel exhaust systems, etc.
The older your car is, however, the more vulnerable it is to salt corrosion. The older it is, the less anti-corrosive technology it incorporates. In addition to road salt, there are other salts to be wary of. If you are at the beach, ocean spray and standing sea water that collects in swales in some places during high tides both coat with sea salt surfaces they come in contact with.
The harder the water in your community's water supply system, the more likely it will be to leave mineral deposits on your car if it comes in contact with your car's finish right out of a hose, or sprinkler and then is allowed to dry on the car, particularly if the car is in the sun.
And Finally, the Obvious....
Dirt, sand, and mud. There is little else that is more abrasive that will ever stick to your car than these three forms of the earth itself.
You Don't Know About Home Washing
Almost every one who washes his or her car at home thinks it is the gentlest, safest way to clean the car's finish.
In fact, most people who wash their cars at home do so in part because they mistrust the processes used by commercial car washes. In lots of cases they should. The first thing many car washes still do is scrub your car with hand brushes before it goes onto the conveyor. So-called "touchless" car washes use acid-based cleaning chemicals and blast the car with high-pressure water jets.
Ironically, however, the friction used by home car washers — i.e., the sponge “rinsed” in the soap bucket — is probably worse for you car than any commercial car wash process, even ones that uses brushes and acid-based cleaning chemicals.
The Wrong Stuff
Dishwashing liquid will strip the wax right off your car's finish. Powdered car soaps can scratch the clear coat. Using the wrong towels to dry your car can create scratches and swirls.
The Abrasive Sponge
Every pass of your soapy sponge or towel over your car’s surfaces captures a new swath of particulates: the dirt and mud, sand, salts, rust, asphalt, ferrites, and acids that come off a car during the wash process. The longer the scrubbing motion before rinsing, the more particulates accumulate in the sponge, making it abrasive. Capturing all those particulates is the intended purpose of the soapy sponge. Once, captured in the cleaning medium, the longer they are left there, the more they change the nature of the cleaning medium to just the opposite of what is intended.
Rinsing compounds the problem Every squeeze of the dirty sponge in the soap bucket flushes those particulates into the water in the bucket. Every release of every squeeze draws particulates back into the sponge from ever dirtier water. Every time you put the rinsed sponge back on an unwashed area of your car, you start your scrub cycle with a sponge that is already partially abrasive. By the end of the scrub cycle, the there are actually more particulates in the sponge that were on the car to begin with.
From the very first pass of your sponge over your dirty car, it attains -- and retains -- an abrasive quality. Its use puts very tiny scratches -- called micro-scratches -- in the polymer coating on the finish, and often in the finish itself.
Low Water Pressure
Making matters worse for home washers, after using the “abrasive sponge”, is rinsing the car with a garden hose. Residential water systems usually cannot generate sufficient water volume and pressure to completely flush the car’s painted surfaces. Detergent residue remains that creates a cumulative
burning of the car’s finish. This eventually diminishes the paint’s ability to hold a shine.
We're Not Making This Up
These observations have been dramatically confirmed in rigorous tests by auto manufacturers working in conjunction with several universities.
Copyright 2007
Almost every one who washes his or her car at home thinks it is the gentlest, safest way to clean the car's finish.
In fact, most people who wash their cars at home do so in part because they mistrust the processes used by commercial car washes. In lots of cases they should. The first thing many car washes still do is scrub your car with hand brushes before it goes onto the conveyor. So-called "touchless" car washes use acid-based cleaning chemicals and blast the car with high-pressure water jets.
Ironically, however, the friction used by home car washers — i.e., the sponge “rinsed” in the soap bucket — is probably worse for you car than any commercial car wash process, even ones that uses brushes and acid-based cleaning chemicals.
The Wrong Stuff
Dishwashing liquid will strip the wax right off your car's finish. Powdered car soaps can scratch the clear coat. Using the wrong towels to dry your car can create scratches and swirls.
The Abrasive Sponge
Every pass of your soapy sponge or towel over your car’s surfaces captures a new swath of particulates: the dirt and mud, sand, salts, rust, asphalt, ferrites, and acids that come off a car during the wash process. The longer the scrubbing motion before rinsing, the more particulates accumulate in the sponge, making it abrasive. Capturing all those particulates is the intended purpose of the soapy sponge. Once, captured in the cleaning medium, the longer they are left there, the more they change the nature of the cleaning medium to just the opposite of what is intended.
Rinsing compounds the problem Every squeeze of the dirty sponge in the soap bucket flushes those particulates into the water in the bucket. Every release of every squeeze draws particulates back into the sponge from ever dirtier water. Every time you put the rinsed sponge back on an unwashed area of your car, you start your scrub cycle with a sponge that is already partially abrasive. By the end of the scrub cycle, the there are actually more particulates in the sponge that were on the car to begin with.
From the very first pass of your sponge over your dirty car, it attains -- and retains -- an abrasive quality. Its use puts very tiny scratches -- called micro-scratches -- in the polymer coating on the finish, and often in the finish itself.
Low Water Pressure
Making matters worse for home washers, after using the “abrasive sponge”, is rinsing the car with a garden hose. Residential water systems usually cannot generate sufficient water volume and pressure to completely flush the car’s painted surfaces. Detergent residue remains that creates a cumulative
burning of the car’s finish. This eventually diminishes the paint’s ability to hold a shine.
We're Not Making This Up
These observations have been dramatically confirmed in rigorous tests by auto manufacturers working in conjunction with several universities.
Copyright 2007
