Quote:
Originally Posted by MuttGrunt
There is so much bad or misleading information in this thread I don't know where to begin. I'm not even sure what to comment on.
Every time you touch your clear coat, you're putting it at risk to be damaged with marring, swirls, and scratches. It doesn't matter what products or tools you use: higher quality products help to reduce risk, but there's no such thing as completely eliminating all risk.
Touchless washes strip your protection, which allows for etching damage and water spots to happen much more easily. Their harsh chemicals also aren't good for plastic and rubber trim.
Even air can cause damage much like touching your car can: it's not the air/microfiber/car duster/water blade/jelly blade/etc itself - it's what happens if there's any single grain of dirt. A single grain of dirt causes pitting type damage to your clear coat when it meets your vehicle at any velocity. Don't believe me? Drive 150 miles and hour and have a bucket of sand throw at your vehicle. At 70 miles an hour the damage is greatly reduced...but not completely eliminated.
The answer to car care is what is "better" not what is "best" as there isn't a best. There isn't perfect. There is only what level of damage and how many imperfections are acceptable to you. The only perfect is in a sterile air-free environment of protection in which your vehicle isn't moved after being perfectly polished.
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Brilliant response. Also, I think people need to take the environment into account. Personally I use a touchless wash here in Massachusetts quite often. It leaves the car cleaner than I can do myself (not a detailer at all) and more importantly there is no chance of anything being scratched. If you are worried about the clearcoat, that's what sealant and waxes are for. Here in MA I'd take my chances with it "ruining my clearcoat" (something that is yet to happen on any car I've taken there) rather than letting salt and sand build up under the car. I'd rather have my clearcoat at 95% original strength or whatever slight reduction you MAY get from using supposed harsh chemicals, than letting sand and salt eat away the bottom of my car, something that has been proven WILL happen if left there to cake in.