Why go to the car wash if it messes up your paint?
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Registered User
Joined: May 2008
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From: Houston, TX
Why go to the car wash if it messes up your paint?
I just got my car and its time for a clean, but after what i have been hearing about car washes messing up your paint I'm not sure i want to go. I have Ivory Pearl, any body recommend what i should use to clean my car? WITH TECHNOLOGY SO BIG THESE DAYS THE CAR WASHES SHOULD FIND BETTER WAYS TO CLEAN A CAR FOR LAZY PEOPLE LIKE ME!!
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Joined: Oct 2007
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From: t.dot.O
a lot of members are ***** **** and thinks that their paint is softer than chocolate.
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best way to ensure you dont scratch your topcoat is to hand wash with proper techniques. auto car washes do a great job, however they will SLOWLY wear out your top coat. truth of the matter is that the rain's got a higher ph than the water they use in the autowashes. so to protect it 100%, one should leave it garaged.
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best way to ensure you dont scratch your topcoat is to hand wash with proper techniques. auto car washes do a great job, however they will SLOWLY wear out your top coat. truth of the matter is that the rain's got a higher ph than the water they use in the autowashes. so to protect it 100%, one should leave it garaged.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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There's usually two things at play here:
1. Dirty equipment/rags -- If the car wash you go to is not touch-free, then it has dirty/grime from recently washed cars (before yours) all over the things that are going to touch your car. Try rubbing your skin with wet sand, and you'll see why this is a problem for your rather delicate paint.
2. Drying materials -- Unless CLEAN microfiber or 100% cotton is being used, the process of drying the car will scratch it. Most towels have some amount of polyester (or another plastic) in them and that material is harder than your clear coat paint. So, as you rub that towel on the paint, it scratches the paint, leaving swirl marks all over the car.
Even a place that hand washes your car with microfiber is going to scratch your paint w/ the dirt on the towels from the cars before yours. Unless you are the first car they wash that day, and they washed the towels overnight, the towels have grabbed dirt and they will be rubbing your car with that.
Modern car paint is said to be as hard as the back of a CD-R (the side that gets burned by the CD burner, not the side you label with a marker). Get a spare one and try rubbing it with a bath towel and see if scratches -- if so, that same pressure with that towel would also scratch your car.
The soft paint mostly comes from environmental concerns that basically make it unacceptable for automakers to use paint that will be sufficiently hard. This same problem occurs in homes -- in my area, home builders are forbidden by code from using oil-based paints in new houses. That means all my baseboards, doors, and other trim is painted glossy latex white instead of oil-based white. A tiny knock with a vaccum cleaner is enough to marr that finish. My old house w/ oil-based paint, you could take sandpaper to that paint. Unfortunately it is common for oil-based paint left-overs/brushes to be rinsed down the pipes and this is bad for the fish, so we're stuck inappropriate paint in homes.
In my experience on five different recently made cars (four 2005+ Infiniti's and one 2008 BMW), ONE wash w/ the improper materials and/or techniques is enough to swirl up a car. Dealership new car prep normally leaves the car covered in swirls -- all you have to do is wash off all the wax they put on it to cover it up and you'll see the swirls on day one. Or.. just wait 2 weeks for their cheap wax to wash off in the rain and you'll wonder where all these swirls came from. Unless you like spending hours buffing off thick wax full of fillers to hide the swirls, or don't care about how your car looks (why wash it then?), I'd wash it properly at home and don't let the dealership or anyone else ever take a washrag or towel to it.
or maybe I'm a ***** **** or whatever Vince typed and you should ignore everything I say.
1. Dirty equipment/rags -- If the car wash you go to is not touch-free, then it has dirty/grime from recently washed cars (before yours) all over the things that are going to touch your car. Try rubbing your skin with wet sand, and you'll see why this is a problem for your rather delicate paint.
2. Drying materials -- Unless CLEAN microfiber or 100% cotton is being used, the process of drying the car will scratch it. Most towels have some amount of polyester (or another plastic) in them and that material is harder than your clear coat paint. So, as you rub that towel on the paint, it scratches the paint, leaving swirl marks all over the car.
Even a place that hand washes your car with microfiber is going to scratch your paint w/ the dirt on the towels from the cars before yours. Unless you are the first car they wash that day, and they washed the towels overnight, the towels have grabbed dirt and they will be rubbing your car with that.
Modern car paint is said to be as hard as the back of a CD-R (the side that gets burned by the CD burner, not the side you label with a marker). Get a spare one and try rubbing it with a bath towel and see if scratches -- if so, that same pressure with that towel would also scratch your car.
The soft paint mostly comes from environmental concerns that basically make it unacceptable for automakers to use paint that will be sufficiently hard. This same problem occurs in homes -- in my area, home builders are forbidden by code from using oil-based paints in new houses. That means all my baseboards, doors, and other trim is painted glossy latex white instead of oil-based white. A tiny knock with a vaccum cleaner is enough to marr that finish. My old house w/ oil-based paint, you could take sandpaper to that paint. Unfortunately it is common for oil-based paint left-overs/brushes to be rinsed down the pipes and this is bad for the fish, so we're stuck inappropriate paint in homes.
In my experience on five different recently made cars (four 2005+ Infiniti's and one 2008 BMW), ONE wash w/ the improper materials and/or techniques is enough to swirl up a car. Dealership new car prep normally leaves the car covered in swirls -- all you have to do is wash off all the wax they put on it to cover it up and you'll see the swirls on day one. Or.. just wait 2 weeks for their cheap wax to wash off in the rain and you'll wonder where all these swirls came from. Unless you like spending hours buffing off thick wax full of fillers to hide the swirls, or don't care about how your car looks (why wash it then?), I'd wash it properly at home and don't let the dealership or anyone else ever take a washrag or towel to it.
or maybe I'm a ***** **** or whatever Vince typed and you should ignore everything I say.
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There is nothing wrong with touch-less car washes. They won't do that great of a job, but it will take off pollen and dust. If you want it really clean then like everyone else says "Wash it yourself"!!!
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Joined: Mar 2008
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From: OC, and SFV
I just make sure to go to hand car washes, and just have it professionally detailed from time to time. Avoid the automated brush carwashes even if they take you car for you. Hand wash or touch free, when you have it washed.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada
I wouldn't go there either if you are looking to avoid swirl marks. Some guy getting paid minimum wage doesn't care at all about your car probably doesn't have the first clue about proper washing techniques.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 0
From: t.dot.O
There's usually two things at play here:
1. Dirty equipment/rags -- If the car wash you go to is not touch-free, then it has dirty/grime from recently washed cars (before yours) all over the things that are going to touch your car. Try rubbing your skin with wet sand, and you'll see why this is a problem for your rather delicate paint.
2. Drying materials -- Unless CLEAN microfiber or 100% cotton is being used, the process of drying the car will scratch it. Most towels have some amount of polyester (or another plastic) in them and that material is harder than your clear coat paint. So, as you rub that towel on the paint, it scratches the paint, leaving swirl marks all over the car.
Even a place that hand washes your car with microfiber is going to scratch your paint w/ the dirt on the towels from the cars before yours. Unless you are the first car they wash that day, and they washed the towels overnight, the towels have grabbed dirt and they will be rubbing your car with that.
Modern car paint is said to be as hard as the back of a CD-R (the side that gets burned by the CD burner, not the side you label with a marker). Get a spare one and try rubbing it with a bath towel and see if scratches -- if so, that same pressure with that towel would also scratch your car.
The soft paint mostly comes from environmental concerns that basically make it unacceptable for automakers to use paint that will be sufficiently hard. This same problem occurs in homes -- in my area, home builders are forbidden by code from using oil-based paints in new houses. That means all my baseboards, doors, and other trim is painted glossy latex white instead of oil-based white. A tiny knock with a vaccum cleaner is enough to marr that finish. My old house w/ oil-based paint, you could take sandpaper to that paint. Unfortunately it is common for oil-based paint left-overs/brushes to be rinsed down the pipes and this is bad for the fish, so we're stuck inappropriate paint in homes.
In my experience on five different recently made cars (four 2005+ Infiniti's and one 2008 BMW), ONE wash w/ the improper materials and/or techniques is enough to swirl up a car. Dealership new car prep normally leaves the car covered in swirls -- all you have to do is wash off all the wax they put on it to cover it up and you'll see the swirls on day one. Or.. just wait 2 weeks for their cheap wax to wash off in the rain and you'll wonder where all these swirls came from. Unless you like spending hours buffing off thick wax full of fillers to hide the swirls, or don't care about how your car looks (why wash it then?), I'd wash it properly at home and don't let the dealership or anyone else ever take a washrag or towel to it.
or maybe I'm a ***** **** or whatever Vince typed and you should ignore everything I say.
1. Dirty equipment/rags -- If the car wash you go to is not touch-free, then it has dirty/grime from recently washed cars (before yours) all over the things that are going to touch your car. Try rubbing your skin with wet sand, and you'll see why this is a problem for your rather delicate paint.
2. Drying materials -- Unless CLEAN microfiber or 100% cotton is being used, the process of drying the car will scratch it. Most towels have some amount of polyester (or another plastic) in them and that material is harder than your clear coat paint. So, as you rub that towel on the paint, it scratches the paint, leaving swirl marks all over the car.
Even a place that hand washes your car with microfiber is going to scratch your paint w/ the dirt on the towels from the cars before yours. Unless you are the first car they wash that day, and they washed the towels overnight, the towels have grabbed dirt and they will be rubbing your car with that.
Modern car paint is said to be as hard as the back of a CD-R (the side that gets burned by the CD burner, not the side you label with a marker). Get a spare one and try rubbing it with a bath towel and see if scratches -- if so, that same pressure with that towel would also scratch your car.
The soft paint mostly comes from environmental concerns that basically make it unacceptable for automakers to use paint that will be sufficiently hard. This same problem occurs in homes -- in my area, home builders are forbidden by code from using oil-based paints in new houses. That means all my baseboards, doors, and other trim is painted glossy latex white instead of oil-based white. A tiny knock with a vaccum cleaner is enough to marr that finish. My old house w/ oil-based paint, you could take sandpaper to that paint. Unfortunately it is common for oil-based paint left-overs/brushes to be rinsed down the pipes and this is bad for the fish, so we're stuck inappropriate paint in homes.
In my experience on five different recently made cars (four 2005+ Infiniti's and one 2008 BMW), ONE wash w/ the improper materials and/or techniques is enough to swirl up a car. Dealership new car prep normally leaves the car covered in swirls -- all you have to do is wash off all the wax they put on it to cover it up and you'll see the swirls on day one. Or.. just wait 2 weeks for their cheap wax to wash off in the rain and you'll wonder where all these swirls came from. Unless you like spending hours buffing off thick wax full of fillers to hide the swirls, or don't care about how your car looks (why wash it then?), I'd wash it properly at home and don't let the dealership or anyone else ever take a washrag or towel to it.
or maybe I'm a ***** **** or whatever Vince typed and you should ignore everything I say.
.
thanks for the cheap jab ! lol
. its true, a lot of fellow forum members here feel that their paint is softer than chocolate.
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