[Blubaron79]

Umm... It was sponsored by the car wash people... This is the biggest amount of bull shit I have ever read. If you want swirls... go the the mechanical car wash..

[FVM3]

hand wash all the time

[Hulley]

Originally Posted by TheStigsTwin

I should be convinced but i'm not. Plus, I don't think I can say goodbye to the car+ me time. It's important to our relationship.

So very true. I love some tunes, a few cold beers and detailing supplies to keep me busy and take me away from the dailey grind. I call it therapy.

[Pinarello Rider]

Originally Posted by Leaker

Possible bias?



That will still catch and hold dirt from the first car of the day.

The cloth is specifically designed to NOT do this. The Neoglide products are even BETTER - they are constantly rinsed and wrung out (the spinning motion).

Some of the older products (from 30 years ago) may have done this, but anything made in the last 15 years won't.

I'm not trying to convince you to take your car to the car wash - it's not for everyone. But you are propagating myths.

[Hulley]

When they say the recieved a grant, does this mean that the study was paid for with "Tax dollars"? Should tax dollars really be paying for car wash studies? Fail.

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by chowser51

I will never take my car to one of those car washes where at the end they have a bunch of kids with towels. I used to work part-time security at one of those car washes and just watching what those kids did with those towels in between cars was enough to say never.

i will do it myself. i buy my stuff from www.detailedimage.com

Part- time security at a car wash???!!! If you weren't there would people steal cars at the end of the line or something?

I agree with everybody else. The study is flawed.

[cssnms]

Sorry I don't believe it at least as it relates to the findings regarding paint damage from an automatic carwash. Anyone that owns/owned a black car will/has seen the visible signs/damage caused to the clear coat after repeated uses of an automatic carwash. So to suggest that an automatic carwash virtually causes no damage to the clear coat is misleading and simply not true, unless you happen to show up right after the car wash changed out the dirty ass cloth agitators/brushes.

Now if you are comparing the same automatic carwash against Johnny Chucklehead’s method, a person who washes his car with a brillo pad and Dawn detergent, then sure the clear coat damage by comparison will favor the automatic carwash, but it's an illogical comparison. To bad the study didn’t consider all of the damage that occurs to wheels when running through one of those automatic carwashes.

I will stick to hand washing thank you.

[E46toE90]

Originally Posted by Coolieman1220

so should i use a pressure washer?

this is the best cuz you get rid of the heavy dirt so its not like your cleaning with a soapy sponge and rubbing it with dirt

[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by Pinarello Rider

The cloth is specifically designed to NOT do this. The Neoglide products are even BETTER - they are constantly rinsed and wrung out (the spinning motion).

Some of the older products (from 30 years ago) may have done this, but anything made in the last 15 years won't.

I'm not trying to convince you to take your car to the car wash - it's not for everyone. But you are propagating myths.

Still garbage. You have that soccer mom who hasn't washed her Camry in 4 months after winter, and it is COVERED in road salt and grime. That stuff is sticking to the brushes... no doubt. I am not following that person throught the mechanized car wash.

[Joonsup]

i wanted to stop reading after the first paragraph when they ended with bucket and "sponge".

I would hope that you guys don't use this article to justify taking your cars through the machine washes at gas stations, or even hand wash places instead of washing it at home.

I didn't read all the comments above but I recommend you guys checking out the detail section of this forum if you want to know the proper way of washing your car and the proper equipment to use. You definitely wouldn't want to use a sponge to wash your car. I'm sure all of you guys heard of the two bucket method. There's a ton of info in the detail section. I can't believe someone paid to have this research done. If you guys have questions you can pm me or email me and I'll help you out. Im sure the other detailers on this forum will chime in as well to give you good advice.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by Pinarello Rider

The cloth is specifically designed to NOT do this. The Neoglide products are even BETTER - they are constantly rinsed and wrung out (the spinning motion).

Some of the older products (from 30 years ago) may have done this, but anything made in the last 15 years won't.

I'm not trying to convince you to take your car to the car wash - it's not for everyone. But you are propagating myths.

I'm not sure how that is possible but you know more than I on this so I'm sorry. Regardles, the fbric is still "hitting" the car. I think I'm correct on the towel drying thing. Watch next time you go by one. We just had this conversation about a week ago and concluded that for most people these places are great. For those that are picky they are not.

[Edward]

LOL at this article. It's like if Apple sponsored Stanford to do a study that results in findings claiming that not buying a new ipad every generation is extremely harmful to your prostate.

Go to detailersdomain.com, buy microfiber towels and proper shampoo, wheel brushes, etc and your car will look better than ever. Most normal people don't even use microfiber towels and end up swirling their cars like crazy. I agree that these people ruin their cars more than professional hand wash places.

The only major disadvantage that even enthusiasts have when washing their cars is that many of us don't invest in a proper foam gun. Not having enough soap suds will cause your sponge to insufficiently lift dirt off the paint, thus dirt rubs around on the clearcoat and causes very fine swirl marks.

[ADV.1 Matt]

I just cringe thinking about taking my car through a machine wash at a gas station. Yay for getting the dirt from 1000 cars embedded into my finish!

[InsanePineapple]

What about the newer "laser touchless" washes?

[chowser51]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Part- time security at a car wash???!!! If you weren't there would people steal cars at the end of the line or something?

I agree with everybody else. The study is flawed.

Not the cars, I was guarding the guy taking all the cash from the customers for the wash.


Has anyone here ever used one of those silicone blades to dry the car? I forget what they are called, california blades or something.

[Tag]

Originally Posted by morfinx

What about the newer "laser touchless" washes?

Those are fine for a quick rinse but the only caveat to using that is the guide rail to your front driver side wheel. I wouldn't risk marring my wheels on them unless they were winter wheels that I could care less about.

[ghosthi32]

Originally Posted by tag824

Those are fine for a quick rinse but the only caveat to using that is the guide rail to your front driver side wheel. I wouldn't risk marring my wheels on them unless they were winter wheels that I could care less about.

don't scratch your new wheels..

[InsanePineapple]

Originally Posted by tag824

Those are fine for a quick rinse but the only caveat to using that is the guide rail to your front driver side wheel. I wouldn't risk marring my wheels on them unless they were winter wheels that I could care less about.

I thought it's just a stopper so you know where to stop your car?

[Tag]

They typically have metal tube rails that help guide your wheel into the stop. Those rails can damage the finish on your wheels if you hit them.

[NFS13]

Originally Posted by jocamryn

OP, Great News...

Now picture this is your car going AFTER the off roading pick up truck caked with dirt. I am sure those brushes were all rinsed off before they touched my car!

[Thud]

I actually use an automatic car wash. Not a crappy gas station one, though-- I use a dedicated automatic car wash whose sole business is washing cars. No issues/scratches with the finish, even after a wash every month for 2.5 years on my 135i, and convenient as hell for 5 bucks.

However.....

Originally Posted by djpeetur

The International Carwash Association working through a special Carwash Research Foundation Grant to the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, has conducted extensive car washing tests this past year to determine the effect on car finishes by comparing various car washing techniques ranging from professional car washing to the bucket and sponge used by many auto owners.

The International Carwash Association is an association of automatic car wash companies. So they, uh, do a study showing that automatic car washes is better for business? Ooops, I mean better than hand washing?

[bettino]

Originally Posted by JPSlick

Correctly washing your car by hand with the right products (soaps), 2 bucket method, grit guard, correct wash mitt, and high quality waffle weave micro fiber towels is in NO WAY more harsh then an automatic car wash.

Period.

Problem with the study is they are bunch of ignorant people that dont know the first thing about correctly washing cars by hand.

This is simply a marketing tactic to get people to go to car washes cause of all the bad rep.

you are right...
it's a normal business oriented fake research from a not indipendent but sponsored University...

very sad, but very common

I use to wash myself my car , more or less like you, and I'm very proud of the results...