Cape Cod's Premier Auto Wash Facility

     The International Car Wash Association, working through a special Car Wash Research Foundation Grant to the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, has conducted extensive tests this past year to determine the effect on car finishes by comparing various applications under controlled testing procedures ranging from professional car washing to the bucket and sponge technique used by many auto owners.

    

     Hand wash jobs are extremely harmful to automobile finishes. Tests conducted by the University of Texas to compare surface disturbances showed that a single home hand wash on an automobile can produce scratches that penetrate as deep as 1/10 of the total thickness of the automobile's paint. This test at the University of Texas substantiated tests done over ten years ago by the Technical University of Munich, Germany which at that time showed basically that similar damage was done to an automobile when using home detergents, low water volume commonly found in hose nozzles at home, or buckets of water, sponges and towels used in the average home car washing. Specific scientific tests at the University of Texas further showed that this kind of hand car washing can produce so many marks on a car's finish that they cannot even be counted. The tests showed that in all hand washing temperatures, the reflectance readings steadily declined, with some hand washing techniques being considerably worse than others. By contrast, when special test panels were washed by professional car washes, there were virtually no changes in the reflectance or shine readings. The tests showed that the average backyard hose is not able to supply enough water along with detergent action to avoid damaging the car's finish. The most harmful method of washing cars was found to be the special "car wash" brushes that hook on to a garden hose and are purchased from local hardware stores or automotive supply dealers. The use of this type of brush with the low water pressure that comes out of the garden hose is most destructive on the finish of an automobile.

     The tests also showed that the techniques used at professional car washes are virtually harmless to automobile finishes. Reports from the University of Texas indicate that in most cases with adequate use of large amounts of water and specialized chemicals in professional car washes, sophisticated gloss meter readings on new finishes used on automobiles were virtually the same after the equivalent of several months of normal washings in a professional car wash.
The professional car wash is able to provide and use tremendous amounts of water along with appropriate mechanical action from cloth pads or plastic bristled brushes which the backyard hose is not able to supply. This important and interesting study at the University
concluded that today's modern automobile owner is much wiser to wash his car in a professional car wash rather than in his own backyard.