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