As a vehicle owner, one of your primary concerns is finding the best option for exterior car cleaning. Where should you go? What should you look for? Do the prices fit your budget?
To help you out, we’re giving you some exterior car cleaning options. Different folks, different strokes, so take your pick!
Exterior Car Cleaning: Which is the Best for You?
In-bay Automatics
Call them laser or touchless car washes if you will, because these make use of machines that spray jets of water (guided by lasers) to clean your vehicle. Yes, no brushes involved. The entire exterior car cleaning process can take about 30 minutes to complete. It’s relatively cheap, about $10-$15 dollars per car.
The downside, however, is in its use of harsh chemicals and strong water pressure. These can cause paint swirls and scratches that lead to expensive body repairs later on. Some customers also complain of incomplete removal of grime and mud from their vehicle’s exterior.
Self-serve Car Washes
Exterior car cleaning using this method seems very enticing. It’s cheap, you get to clean your vehicle by yourself, and it has its own water reclamation system, so you won’t have to worry about polluting the environment.
However, you have to be very time conscious when using a self-serve car wash, because you only get to use it for a limited time, say 10-15 minutes. Based on our experience, such a short time is not enough to really clean a car. Not to mention that the rags and microfiber towels used in such a car wash may contain contaminants from previously cleaned vehicles. You wouldn’t really want such materials to touch your prized possession, would you?
Tunnel Washes
The speed, convenience and economy that a tunnel wash offers make it very attractive to a lot of vehicle owners. You just drive your car in a series of gigantic mops and brushes, soapy shower, rinsing water and your vehicle will be cleaned in just a matter of minutes.
But these very characteristics are also the main reasons why some vehicle owners have shifted back to car washes that offer hand wash services. It’s because those stiff brushes and harsh chemicals used in the process were found to cause irreversible paint damages that necessitated expensive paint repairs.
Chemical Car Washes
Ahh, the beauty of technology and man’s constant search to simplify things. As the name implies, these car washes only use chemicals – no water involved.
Are they safe? Yes, but only those that use organic cleaning materials. So be very careful when using this type of exterior car cleaning.
Steam Car Washes
There are basically two types of steam car washes: those that have physical shops and those that are mobile. Do they work? Are they safe? Wouldn’t steam damage vehicle paint? Certainly such intense heat can “burn” paint?
The answer is a vehement no. We say so not because we use steam for exterior car cleaning, but because it has been proven, time and again, that steam, when properly used, cannot damage vehicle paint. Why? Watch this video and find out:
Where to go for exterior car cleaning? The choice is yours. But if you want a vehicle that looks beautiful and shines longer, schedule an appointment with the experts.
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