Using Automatic Car Wash May Do Your Paint Work More Harm

Automatic car washes can be found dotted around many places and are used quite often by many to get their cars cleaned. Given the busy lifestyles that many of us pursue, using an automatic car wash may seem a very sensible way of keeping our cars in clean condition. Others use these due to cost as what you pay at these places tend to be a fraction of what you will pay engaging the services of a professional valeter or car cleaning company

Whilst many of us may have very good reason for using an automatic car wash, what we don’t realise is the damage some of these could cause to the paintwork of our cars 

The possibility of filthy brushes

There is no doubt that many of these can wash and clean cars well. Many of these auto car washes could be washing tens, if not, hundreds of cars every day. The possibility of the huge brushes picking debris could be very high. Many of these machines do not have pre-rinse facilities and there is the high possibility you could end up having your car washed with dirty brushes.

The type of shampoo used

Many of these use shampoos with high chemical contents. This gives them the ability to perform a good job on the cars. Unfortunately the continuous use of these chemicals on your car could end up fading your paint work in the long run. You could end up with the possibility of needing a paint restoration job on your car to bring it back to acceptable condition

Recycled water

Recycled water is increasingly being used in many of these machines. While on the face, the water may seem clean, we cannot discount the fact that they could still contain harmful bacteria, gems and other pollutants. Recycled microscopic dust particles could still remain in the water, even after recycling and these could all end up on your car

Washing may not be very thorough

There is no denying of the fact that a lot of these machines try to do a good job. Unfortunately, cars have certain areas that are quite difficult to clean. Such areas may include the wheel aches, around mouldings, alloy wheels with many spokes, etc. Such areas are quite difficult to reach or may require the use of small brushes, water jets, etc. to reach. Professional car cleaners will, in many cases, have the right equipment and machinery to reach these areas.

You could end up with scratches on your car

Many of the rollers leave very light scratches on cars  and over time these continuously eat deeper into the paintwork. If you take your car to one of these car washes, we will encourage you to look closely at your paint work, especially with the car sitting outside in a very clear weather. There is the high possibility of seeing lots of circular lines (scratches) on the car. This is usually very prominent on the bonnet and boot. It shows the damage you could be doing to your paint work as a result of using the automatic car wash.

There is no denying the fact that these automatic car washes serve a good purpose. However, we believe they should be used with caution and on very limited basis, if at all. Using the services of a car valet company or a professional valeter could be mean paying a little more. But if you have spent thousands of pounds to acquire a motor vehicle, paying a 2 figure sum to get it washed with the knowledge that the right equipment and the proper chemicals will be used should be a price worth paying for

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Techniques For Building Client Trust

All relationships thrive on trust. Without trust, there is a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of question marks over many things we do, no matter how good our intentions are. Thus cultivating a high level of trust with the clients and businesses we deal with is a must for the survival of any business

Building client trust must be seen as an on-going business 

Building client trust must be seen as an on-going process and should be pursued on a daily basis. Below are a number of methods we can use to enable us to cultivate a high level of trust with both our existing and new businesses we deal with.

Building client trust - some recommended strategies

Do not promise what you can’t deliver:

In order to “keep the client sweet”, you could fall into the trap of agreeing to any request and or promise to deliver without seriously considering whether what the client is asking for can be achieved or delivered within the time frame. It will be better to make it clear to the customer if a particular request will be difficult to achieve than to promise to deliver and fail.

Deliver what you promise

It is always good to make sure you fulfil whatever promise you make.  If you promise to complete a particular task on a particular day and time, make sure it happens. This is very important as your clients may rely on your word to enable them to meet the requirements of their customers. Breaking your promises would end up breaking the trust of your clients and could put your contract into question.

Let the customer know how you do things

While we all like to protect our trade secrets, it is sometimes necessary to make some of our clients understand the way we do and go about things. This is particularly true in cases of outsourcing, for example, to car cleaning contractors, maintenance and IT contractors, web design and Internet marketing firms and even general cleaning contractors. This will give them an insight as to what to expect and the time frames.

Don’t give your clients false hopes

It is necessary to set boundaries, especially when negotiating the contract. There is the tendency to say yes to anything in an attempt to win the contract only to start dragging your feet later. It will be good to let the client know what is chargeable and what is not, right from the word go, rather than springing unexpected invoices on the client

Let your clients understand your plans and strategies

Keep the client informed of how you intend to execute a particular project. If as a a car valet company, you have 100 car valets to complete for an auction on a particular day, keep your client assured by keeping them informed of how you  intend to meet the deadline. This will give the client more confidence and raise the level of trust, especially if you are able to deliver as planned.

Set boundaries

It is good to let both parties know and understand what is expected of each other. This will avoid stepping on each other’s toes and creating misunderstanding. Make the client aware of what they have to supply or provide to enable you to fulfil your part of the contract. If provided facilities are not adequate to enable you to carry out the contract to the best of your ability, it may be necessary to make the client aware and where possible work with them to put the right facilities in place, or extend the hours required for the completion of a particular task

Keep the client informed of problems

Problems do occur and are sometimes unavoidable. Make sure you inform the customer as soon as they happen, instead of waiting for the customer to stumble upon it. Keeping the client informed will build trust better

Make the client feel valuable

Never make the client feel stupid under any circumstances. Choose your language carefully and control your thoughts. If you start thinking negatively about your client, it is bound to show at some point. It is very important to always cultivate good thoughts about your clients and it will show in your actions, your services and your relationship with your client.

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Car Valet and Car Cleaning Services: How to Keep the Paintwork of your Car in Good conditi...

Car Valet and Car Cleaning Services: How to Keep the Paintwork of your Car in Good conditi...: In the first installment of exploring how to keep the paintwork of your car in Good condition , we looked at how to wash your car effectivel...

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Car Valet and Car Cleaning Services: Interior Car Valeting Tips

Car Valet and Car Cleaning Services: Interior Car Valeting Tips:  Tips for successful Interior car valeting or auto interior valeting tips Have you ever taken a lift from somebody and regretted doing so?...

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Interior Car Valeting Tips

 Tips for successful Interior car valeting or auto interior valeting tips

Have you ever taken a lift from somebody and regretted doing so? Or have you got into somebody’s car and felt like you want to throw up? If not, then probably, you hardly accept lifts from mates and others or, you have never worked in the car industry before. There are many cars driving around with the interior in such a state that you would not want to have a drink when you are sitting in them. Apart from the embarrassment leaving your car in such a state gives, it can also be a serious health hazard.

It is quite important to keep the interior of your car in very good condition all the time, not only when you want to sell it. Leaving your car in a dirty state will open the interior up to gems and other diseases. We would like to give you a few tips on how best to keep the interior of you can in a very clean state

Hoovering or Vacuuming

The first stage of any valeting process is to vacuum the car thoroughly. To make things easier for you, especially if your car is a complete mess, is to get rid of all loose items. This will include any papers, wrappers, drink cans etc. This should be done not only in the main driver/passenger compartments, but also in the boot.

Most cars have floor mats. If yours have one, then it will be necessary to remove all the mats as well, either at the same time or separately. This gives you the opportunity to get to all the hidden or obscure areas of the car, including under the seats, the central console and the pedals. Hoovers or vacuum cleaners come with various attachments, some of which can be used to reach those tight areas. Ensure you hoover the mats and the seats as well. A hard brush can be used to agitate the carpets to make it easier to hoover out any embedded dirt. A car valeter or a professional car valeting company, for example, will use a small detailing brush to clean the air vents, around the radio etc.

Leather car seats need to be treated with car when hoovering as they could easily get damaged by using the wrong hoover attachment or applying too much pressure. It is better to slow down the movement of the vacuum cleaner in such delicate situations

One area of the car that that many people tend to ignore very often is the boot. It needs to be given the same attention. Apart from being used for the weekly shopping, many people tend to turn the boots of their cars into a junk house; dumping a whole lot of rubbish, etc periodically. For a detailed interior valeting, a professional car cleaning company will also remove the spare tyre, if your car has one, to ensure that the area gets the same treatment as the rest of the car interior. Be careful when lifting the spare tyre as they could be heavy.

Once the hoovering is complete, you will then proceed to the next stage which involves the washing and removing of any stains in the car. We will look at this in the next instalment. As we have always advised, some of these jobs can be done a lot better if you have the proper equipment and using a professional car cleaning company could be the answer to any doubts or headaches you may have

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How Keep the Paintwork of your Car in Good condition

In the first installment of exploring how to keep the paintwork of your car in Good condition, we looked at how to wash your car effectively and the sort of chemicals and equipment you may require to make your job very easy. We will look at what other steps you need to take to ensure that the exterior of your car is continuously enhanced

Safety measures:

Unless you are washing your car in very air-tight and controlled environment, there is a high possibility of water, chemicals and other agents, getting into your nostrils, your clothes and your eyes. To avoid any damage to your eyes, in particular, and to avoid inhaling toxic chemicals, it is highly recommended you wear protective gloves and safely goggles.
Protective gloves will ensure that your skin, in particular, your hands, are adequately protected from any harmful agents in the cleaning materials you are using. Some cleaning agents used in the car industry, especially those used in the cleaning of wheels are known to contain various acids which can cause skin irritation, blisters and even burns when they come into direct contact with the skin. Wearing gloves, especially those classified for industrial use, will give you adequate protection from these. Safely goggles will protect your eyes in the same way as gloves protects your hands.

Drying your car after washing

We do not intend to take you through step-by-step processes of how to wash your car to get the best results. This is because we assume many adults can do this with a fair amount of results. We will concern ourselves however at what happens after washing your car.

One mistake that many people make after washing a car is to leave it to dry on its own. The effect of this is to leave deposits of car shampoo and other cleaning agents, dried watermarks and streaks of dry water and washing agent on the car. Apart from the unsightly nature these leave on the car, negating the car cleaning objective, the deposits of car shampoo and other cleaning agents can penetrate into the paintwork. This can damage the paintwork, create oxidation, cause the paintwork to lose its shine and quality and eventually help to speed up the deterioration of the paintwork

It is therefore recommended that you dry your car thoroughly after washing. To do this, you will need a bucket of clean water and chamois leather or microfiber car drying cloth. This will help you thoroughly dry your car off and help you remove any left-over deposits of car washing agents. Such cloth, rinsed continuously with clean water, will ensure you do a very good job and also help you protect your paint work from any scratches, that is assuming you did a very good job during the washing process

It is very easy to pick up all the above listed items in most diy shops or those selling car cleaning materials. Where in doubt, always seek professional advice or better still, use the services of a professional car cleaning company for the purpose. A professional car valeting company have both the expert knowledge and highly trained professional car valeters to sort out all your guesswork.  They could also save you lots of headaches

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Tips to Help Keep the Paintwork of Your Car in Good Condition

Buying a motor vehicle could be one of the most expensive investment many of would make. Given such a high investment, the many purposes a car would serve, and the benefits having car or motor vehicle could bring into our life, there is no wonder many of us love our cars. Thus, there is no surprise many of us take all the necessary steps to ensure that our beloved cars remain as attractive and reliable as when it was bought.

Maintaining the Quality of Your Cars Paintwork

Our desire to ensure that our cars remain the centre of attraction without spending a fortune could be one of the reasons many of us have at various occasions made an attempt to wash, vacuum, polish or even valet our car or motor vehicle instead of engaging the services of a professional car valeter or car valeting company. No harm in doing that so long as we know what we are doing and are also using the right materials

Washing the Car

As much as possible, it is always advisable to wash the car in a shaded area, especially during the sunny summers when the temperature is very hot. Ideally it is always good to ensure the vehicles’ body is very wet. Thus, hosing the car down to get rid of any particles and contaminants should always be a necessary step before sponging the car down. This step will ensure you don’t end up leaving scratches on your car. It is therefore worth noting that having access to lots of water, hose, or even a pressure hose will make your job a lot easier and also give you a better finish within a short space of time

If you have ever used or tempted to use any household detergent or washing-up liquid to wash your car, then, please cease immediately. Using any household detergent or washing-up liquid to wash your motor vehicle will do it more harm than good. Household cleaners like dish washing detergent contain chemicals that are capable of dissolving grease. This implies using such chemicals to wash your motor car will breakdown any wax and protective elements on your the cars’ paintwork. With time, your vehicle will lose its shine and other elements that protect the car from UV rays and the harsh weather. Again, many of the household detergents are known to contain micro-fine abrasives which are capable of leaving scratches on the paintwork of motor cars.

To wash your car therefore, you will need a properly formulated car shampoo for the purpose. These liquid car shampoo are capable of dissolving the dirt and grime on the motor vehicles without breaking down or removing wax finish.  Most of these may also contain a waxing element that would leave your car with a very shiny andattr active finish. Using a soft car washing mitt or foam sponge will also be a step in the right direction. These can be bought from various shops. Whenever in doubt, engaging the services of a reputable car cleaning company or car valeting company will remove any of the headaches or doubts you may have.

I hope this article will give you an idea on how best to attempt washing your beloved motor vehicle. We will provide you with more tips in our next installment in the coming weeks

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