How many car washes are too many washes?

[LSU04_08]

You might be ok with orange paint, but at one time I owned a nice black 5.0 Mustang and the brushes put marks in my paint. I only do brushless auto washes now. Most of the time I hand wash every two to three weeks, followed by detail spray or spray wax. Then wax every 6 months. Seems to work.

It's flame red (probably why it looks orange) but I know what you mean. Auto washers used to have hard bristles, this car wash uses soft foam like strands instead of firm bristles. I'd never take it through just any car wash. I worry more about the blower at the end than I do the brushes.

 

[LSU04_08]

Daily washing means there are nooks & crannies in the frame and sheet metal that are never drying out. Could be a catalyst for rust issues over time.

I don't wash it daily, I wash it once or twice a week, sometimes three times. In my theory, it keeps dirt from building up in the nooks and crannies.

 

[LSU04_08]

Any car wash that has brushes will cause swirl marks on the paint.... I ruined the finish on a 2005 Explorer we had doing the twice a month car wash...!
My wife's 2016 Jeep Cherokee Limited has never seen the inside of a brush carwash. Hand wash by me, or a laser wash. Not a Swirl in the finish! My Ram will get polished up before winter because I can see the lightest swirls in the finish. The previous owner had a wash package sticker in the windshield.

If you don't care about the finish, use the carwash all you want.

I care more about the finish than I do about the interior, but after several washes already, I don't have a single swirl mark.

 

[LSU04_08]

After doing the whole touchless car wash and seeing what it did to my white paint, I went back to my roots and corrected the paint and then ceramic coated it. I use a foam cannon and the two bucket method. It takes about as long as a long line at the car wash and then the same with blowing the water off and touching the paint as minimal as possible. I wont return to another touches car wash. Just my .02. Also once you get set up, its way less per month to do it yourself.

Nice truck! I finally get to see it un-pixelated lol. Even with 5 cars in front of me, I've never sit in line for longer than 3 minutes unless someone is using their credit card and fumbling around with the machine. I hand washed my truck every weekend when I was in high school and college, but I'm 42 now and it's way too hot, plus I'm not as good as I used to be and I'll find spots I missed after I'm done. On top of that, my driveway is dirt and rock so when the water continuously drips and streams off into it, I can't really get the result I'm looking for.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Nice truck! I finally get to see it un-pixelated lol. Even with 5 cars in front of me, I've never sit in line for longer than 3 minutes unless someone is using their credit card and fumbling around with the machine. I hand washed my truck every weekend when I was in high school and college, but I'm 42 now and it's way too hot, plus I'm not as good as I used to be and I'll find spots I missed after I'm done. On top of that, my driveway is dirt and rock so when the water continuously drips and streams off into it, I can't really get the result I'm looking for.

I totally get the age thing. I am not that far behind you. I used to live on a dirt road. It really got annoying trying to keep anything clean. I completely understand getting or keeping a vehicle clean. I am your neighbor to the left. Looks like the heat here in DFW is going to calm down after this week. I have to get my washes done by 9 am as it gets to hot.

 

[JJLR]

Nice ride! If you're using a touch wash I would go the route Treburkulosis went and have it ceramic coated, I personally am not a fan of touch washes but the coating will give you a strong layer of protection, there's a night and day difference between my coated 2020 with no scratch's or swirls at all and my uncoated 2021, definitely worth the investment.

 

[LSU04_08]

I totally get the age thing. I am not that far behind you. I used to live on a dirt road. It really got annoying trying to keep anything clean. I completely understand getting or keeping a vehicle clean. I am your neighbor to the left. Looks like the heat here in DFW is going to calm down after this week. I have to get my washes done by 9 am as it gets to hot.

Tell me about it, brother... From our most extreme winter to an extremely hot Summer. I'm ready for Fall. The heat index has been relentless.

 

[LSU04_08]

Nice ride! If you're using a touch wash I would go the route Treburkulosis went and have it ceramic coated, I personally am not a fan of touch washes but the coating will give you a strong layer of protection, there's a night and day difference between my coated 2020 with no scratch's or swirls at all and my uncoated 2021, definitely worth the investment.

I think that's probably my saving grace. My truck was ceramic coated by CalTex Resistall before I purchased it.

 

[mikeru]

After doing the whole touchless car wash and seeing what it did to my white paint, I went back to my roots and corrected the paint and then ceramic coated it. I use a foam cannon and the two bucket method. It takes about as long as a long line at the car wash and then the same with blowing the water off and touching the paint as minimal as possible. I wont return to another touches car wash. Just my .02. Also once you get set up, its way less per month to do it yourself.

Would you mind elaborating on what a touchless car wash did to your white paint. By definition, a touchless car was has nothing that touches your vehicle. No brushes. Just high and low pressure sprays of water and whatever products they are using. Then a blast of air to blow off the water. I'm just wondering what that could have done to your paint.

 

[KeithP]

I don't wash it daily, I wash it once or twice a week, sometimes three times. In my theory, it keeps dirt from building up in the nooks and crannies.

Your truck your choice. My brother once owned a service station with a car wash. He washed his brand new pickup daily, wiped it down, greased up the tires and parked it out front as a display. Rust started to show through the paint in less than two years. It started to show up wherever there were small pockets where water was captured and unable to drain. Washing it daily kept those pockets of water from evaporating dry. I like a clean truck too but, I’ll deal with some dirt to give it time to thoroughly dry between washings.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Would you mind elaborating on what a touchless car wash did to your white paint. By definition, a touchless car was has nothing that touches your vehicle. No brushes. Just high and low pressure sprays of water and whatever products they are using. Then a blast of air to blow off the water. I'm just wondering what that could have done to your paint.

By touchless I meant drive through car wash. Me not physically touching and to elaborate more scratches and hazing. It looked like it had gotten into a fight with steel wool.

 

[mikeru]

By touchless I meant drive through car wash. Me not physically touching and to elaborate more scratches and hazing. It looked like it had gotten into a fight with steel wool.

Haha...thanks for clarifying. So what you meant is any car wash that uses mechanical means to clean the car, that doesn't involve you doing the work. It sounds like you haven't ever used a true touchless car wash.

 

[JoeCo]

My usual response to the auto car wash threads....

Would love to hand wash but who has the time? I have a summer car that is garaged year round and I can rarely wash that 3-4 times in a summer (haven't even washed it one time this summer!), so the truck is definitely out for hand washing. Add in the fact that my truck is not garaged all year (or at all), it is my daily driver, and has to go through northeast winters, it's auto car wash for the ram. All of my rams (4) have had auto car wash passes that I used regularly (and not even the touch free ), and I got top dollar for each one at trade in time, so apparently it's not doing that much damage on any of my vehicles.

That being said I only keep my trucks for 2-3 years (but until my current one, also bought slightly used trucks with around 20k miles) and I don't obsess or study my paint for defects. I know the truck is going to get some minimal wear and tear, but if you can keep it minimal in this part of the country, you're doing quite well.

Oh and also, we have a fair amount of birds around here dropping bombs from above. Without auto car washes my truck would look gross and drive me crazy, it's nice to take a 5-10 minute detour to the car wash rather than wash the thing by hand for however long that takes, especially if you had just washed it within the last few days. Damn birds.

All that being said I wish I could hand wash it, but reality doesn't allow that. Wish I could auto car wash my old car too, but that also is unrealistic.

 

[LSU04_08]

Your truck your choice. My brother once owned a service station with a car wash. He washed his brand new pickup daily, wiped it down, greased up the tires and parked it out front as a display. Rust started to show through the paint in less than two years. It started to show up wherever there were small pockets where water was captured and unable to drain. Washing it daily kept those pockets of water from evaporating dry. I like a clean truck too but, I’ll deal with some dirt to give it time to thoroughly dry between washings.

It's been extremely hot, I can't imagine water not evaporating over a period of 12 hours or so. But what about the rainy seasons when there's rain all the time and/or no sun?

 

[LSU04_08]

My usual response to the auto car wash threads....

Would love to hand wash but who has the time? I have a summer car that is garaged year round and I can rarely wash that 3-4 times in a summer (haven't even washed it one time this summer!), so the truck is definitely out for hand washing. Add in the fact that my truck is not garaged all year (or at all), it is my daily driver, and has to go through northeast winters, it's auto car wash for the ram. All of my rams (4) have had auto car wash passes that I used regularly (and not even the touch free ), and I got top dollar for each one at trade in time, so apparently it's not doing that much damage on any of my vehicles.

That being said I only keep my trucks for 2-3 years (but until my current one, also bought slightly used trucks with around 20k miles) and I don't obsess or study my paint for defects. I know the truck is going to get some minimal wear and tear, but if you can keep it minimal in this part of the country, you're doing quite well.

Oh and also, we have a fair amount of birds around here dropping bombs from above. Without auto car washes my truck would look gross and drive me crazy, it's nice to take a 5-10 minute detour to the car wash rather than wash the thing by hand for however long that takes, especially if you had just washed it within the last few days. Damn birds.

All that being said I wish I could hand wash it, but reality doesn't allow that. Wish I could auto car wash my old car too, but that also is unrealistic.

That's pretty close to how I feel. I'm making tracks in the mud before I'm halfway finished with my truck, then I can't get in it without getting mud everywhere so it makes it extremely convenient to auto wash it. My biggest problem isn't bird doo-doo though, it's bug guts. I'd rather wash those off in a quick wash than pull my hose, soap bucket, and cleaning tools out.

 

[KeithP]

I said daily washing “MAY” be a catalyst for rust and related a personal experience why. I’m not advocating against daily washing, although, I won’t be buying any unlimited wash deals myself.

 

[Graygoose]

Touchless, 2 times a week at least, Usually just needs a good touch up when not raining.

 

[TestPilot57]

I worry more about the blower at the end than I do the brushes.

Can you hook me up with your dealer?

 

[TestPilot57]

Tell me about it, brother... From our most extreme winter to an extremely hot Summer. I'm ready for Fall. The heat index has been relentless.

Ah, yes - those NORTH west Louisiana winters can be a real bear! I hope you ordered the Arctic Package.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Haha...thanks for clarifying. So what you meant is any car wash that uses mechanical means to clean the car, that doesn't involve you doing the work. It sounds like you haven't ever used a true touchless car wash.

Yes a car wash that you pump quarters into. You select what you want the sprayer to do. It’s how I grew up. The brush is dirty from off roaders. I’m not some young person. Sorry for the miscommunication or confusion. I didn’t want to fight with my iPad last night with spelling. I left as is.