How-To: Wash Your Car at a Self-Serve Car Wash
By Chuck Cage
Our friend Joel over at Dethroner posted a cool bit today about how to wash your car properly at those high-pressure self-serve car washes. From the post:
“For [Joel's friend] Mike, washing cars is therapy. Hell, he’d wash yours if it needed it. I asked him to explain his technique, honed as it has been through hundreds of washes. After the jump: his system for a ‘quick wash’ — a sort of pock-me-up for a dirty ride, but something less that a full-blown clay-and-Q-tip makeover.”
First of all, I totally understand where Mike’s coming from. Back when I had more time to myself, I used to spend a good chunk of the day washing my cars. The apartment complex I lived in had a “free” high-pressure wash, and it was almost always abandoned in the middle of the day. So I spent a good bit of time there getting my own therapy.
Anyway, this is a cool post and you should check it out.
Car Wash: The Pinoy Power Shower Hour [Dethroner]
March 20th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Only bit of advice I have about those self-serve car washes is to make sure to check the thermometer before you wash your car.
I went to college in Syracuse, and it may as well have been the arctic circle - because it was cold, snowy, and nasty from October through May if you were lucky. (side note at one of my best friends’ graduation, it was May 12th, Mother’s Day - and it SNOWED!!) In any case, I digress… My point being that cars tended to accumulate filth rather quickly - and I, being rather fastidious, liked to keep it clean. The only option up there for me back then was one of these self-serve car washes. On one particularly frigid day I happened to drive by the car wash and noticed a few open bays. Well, I began as I usually do with a little bit of a rinse, and started on the passenger side and worked my way over to the driver’s side. By the time I came across the front of the car to put some soap on the passenger side - it had already frozen into a solid sheet of ice!
I ended up having to quickly run to the driver’s door and open it before it became glued shut - even then I still had to yank pretty hard. Needless to say, I wasted a few quarters that day.
April 30th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Using some of the new pressure washers actually makes it tolerable. It’s important to clean the interior portions of the wheels to remove brake dust and other gunk once in a while. I’ve noticed that I get the best results with 600 to 1,000 PSI for cleaning a car. No need to go crazy, but staying clean is important. Makes you feel better!