PSA: Do not use auto car washes

[SubaSteve]

Having a sign up saying they aren't responsible for damage is pure bs. 5 bucks says that wont hold up in court. Bet you the machine wasn't maintained properly and that's why it caused scratches.

[russv]

Originally Posted by David-Fermani.com

Huge difference! 1 uses abrasion and the other doesn't.

There are no reports (to my knowledge) of a jet of water causing damage to a paint whether it's dirty or clean. If you can supply a link, I'd be happy to check it out.

Opti-Coat is impervious to chemicals and environmental contaminants. It's totally unlike any wax or sealant. If your car is coated with it, the chemicals from a touchless wash will not harm it or the finish below it.

I've personally experienced pressure washers taking my paint off. A minor paint chip turned into a dime sized piece of missing paint. Only hand wash for me-ever.

[blackraven1425]

Originally Posted by russv

I've personally experienced pressure washers taking my paint off. A minor paint chip turned into a dime sized piece of missing paint. Only hand wash for me-ever.

Of course it did. If you've ever powerwashed a house (especially with the intention of removing an old coat of paint for a different color), you know that it's tough to crack into the paint with the powerwasher, but once a bit of the paint even cracks a tiny bit, the rest of it just comes flying off. The same thing happens to a car - you have a weakness in the paint caused by the chip. This is actually the fault of whoever was using the power washer for not noticing the chip and going easy around that spot or avoiding it altogether.

[2forme]

My car has an invisible bra on the bumper, fenders, full hood, head lights, and mirrors. The rest is opticoated.

The only time I touch my paint, is when I'm (very) gently washing it with a mitt. To dry, I drive it down the highway LOL. The remaining water droplets can be taken care of with an air compressor. As such, my car has over 6000 miles on it and not even fine clear coat scratches. I'm kinda OCD about it, if you can't tell.

[Brzetto]

Originally Posted by Clembo

When I was in shipbuilding we used water jets to cut high strength steel up to 4 inches thick. So, no automatic carwashes of any kind for me. Although I would consider the 'topless' one provided they did it by hand!

Topless and splat in the same image haha, splat likes topless.

[Cameronghanson]

Originally Posted by Pekingduck

I thought this thread was about prostate specific antigen, lol my mistake

lol... well we are kinda talking about dissolving something... for medical integration.

[Cameronghanson]

Originally Posted by russv

I've personally experienced pressure washers taking my paint off. A minor paint chip turned into a dime sized piece of missing paint. Only hand wash for me-ever.

thats the same basic argument as "ive gotten lots microbes on my skin and its never turned to Necrotizing fasciitis, but one time it got in a small wound it ended up destroying the surrounding tissue". I think david is talking about a continuous surface of sealed paint and its inherent ability to be hydrophobic as opposed to the water pressure being directed underneath that continuous layer separating the paint from the metal which doesnt not take a lot of force and could (and has) been done by hand-washing.

[russv]

Originally Posted by Cameronghanson

thats the same basic argument as "ive gotten lots microbes on my skin and its never turned to Necrotizing fasciitis, but one time it got in a small wound it ended up destroying the surrounding tissue". I think david is talking about a continuous surface of sealed paint and its inherent ability to be hydrophobic as opposed to the water pressure being directed underneath that continuous layer separating the paint from the metal which doesnt not take a lot of force and could (and has) been done by hand-washing.

Try spraying a high pressure water nozzle on your skin. It hurts. Now imagine that kind of pressure on paint. It removes wax and any other protectant and can possibly remove paint if a chip is caught at the wrong angle. It also does a very poor job of removing a lot of dirt that would be removed from hand washing. To further a medical analogy, I'd prefer to use a non-invasive procedure. "The physician (detailer) must ... have two special objects in view with regard to disease (dirt), namely, to do good or to do no harm". I'd rather not take a chance on doing any harm.

[Cameronghanson]

Originally Posted by russv

Try spraying a high pressure water nozzle on your skin. It hurts. Now imagine that kind of pressure on paint. It removes wax and any other protectant and can possibly remove paint if a chip is caught at the wrong angle. It also does a very poor job of removing a lot of dirt that would be removed from hand washing. To further a medical analogy, I'd prefer to use a non-invasive procedure. "The physician (detailer) must ... have two special objects in view with regard to disease (dirt), namely, to do good or to do no harm". I'd rather not take a chance on doing any harm.

Haha mmm you sure you're a REAL physician! Also skin traveling at 70mph on a freeway hurts pretty bad too. So id avoid those as well

[russv]

Originally Posted by Cameronghanson

Haha mmm you sure you're a REAL physician! Also skin traveling at 70mph on a freeway hurts pretty bad too. So id avoid those as well

Never said I was a physician, but worked with way too many-a bit like herding cats. Traveling at 70 mph is not always unavoidable, but not using high pressure washers is avoidable. Don't need to be a rocket surgeon to know that.

[Cameronghanson]

Originally Posted by russv

Never said I was a physician, but worked with way too many-a bit like herding cats. Traveling at 70 mph is not always unavoidable, but not using high pressure washers is avoidable. Don't need to be a rocket surgeon to know that.

True. But being a rocket surgeon might help. Ps just curious on how one herds cats. Post in DIY

[russv]

Originally Posted by Cameronghanson

True. But being a rocket surgeon might help. Ps just curious on how one herds cats. Post in DIY

Herding cats is a myth. I could never do it.

[niceguy21]

Never let no me other than yourself wash your car, trust had bad history with car washes long time ago with my parents cars, now I only pressure wash (rinse, hand scrub, rinse, dry and wax). Also another note, washing with water pressure machines don't destroy or damage paint, unless you shoot directly within micro inches, only times I've seen paint fly off because of shooting directly at a crack or chip in paint. Been washing my Cars like this and has always been cleaner then my neighbors $50 auto car washed vehicle.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

[blu_]

Originally Posted by SloS13

I'm not drinking water, people have drowned in that shit.

Im never taking a shower again.