Anyone use this, just wondering. Good, bad, ugly?

 

I personally hand wash my vehicles all year round. But my father uses the touchless wash when he doesn't have time to wash his by hand. Its the next best thing, especially during the winter to get all of that road grime and calcium chloride off.

 

I hand wash also. Touchless usually doesn't do a good enough job for my taste.

 

I usually hand wash too. Once in a while when in a hurry I was just wondering which would be better, or easier on the finish. There are 2 kind around here, the ones with the blow drying, and a new one with the laser drying. Haven't talked to anyone who has used the laser one yet. I have used the blow dry one on my truck, but not sure of using it on my car. Just wondering.... thanks guys

 

A friend is an engineer for an automatic carwash company who makes both friction and touch free washes. In a touch free wash, you are relying on strong alkaline and/or acid pH chemicals to "eat" the dirt from the vehicle, then blast the remaining dirt with either a high pressure or high impact spray of water. The alkaline chemicals operate at a pH of about 11.8. The acids operate at a pH of about 4. Alkalines attack the "brown" dirt, while the acids work on the "black" dirt or road grime. Using either or both of these chemicals will strip the wax from the vehicle within a couple of washes. The reason you still see a beading effect is from the wax used to aid in the drying process. If your vehicle is partially oxidized, touch free chemicals will contribute to this process.

In a friction wash, the detergent is used more as a lubricant for the various types of brushes. The foaming materials typically won't leave a mark on the vehicle and some are accepted by new car manufacturers. The only problem with those is they won't get into the tight areas leaving shadows. Personally, I still trust these more than touchfree.

...by the way, I wash mine in the driveway at least 3 times a week

 

Good point I heard someone make about touchless washes:

Don't buy the "wax" feature. It will apply a layer of %*&^ over your nice wax job. I'm sure you can wash it off with the zaino car wash but still....Food for thought.

 

Dan, you are right! The wax from an automatic typically has "oils" in it which will actually cause a "good" wax to smear when you try to buff. I always buy the top wash avaialble without the wax.

 

It really depends on the car wash place. Each car wash is different, one could spray the water hard or softer. If you use touchless car wash, you have to find a place that you are satified with that gets your car clean, and does not damages it too.