Hand car wash

Iceweasel

neilmcl wrote: »

How would you know if you don't get down and dirty with car's bodywork yourself. Washing the car by hand yourself is the only real way to check the day-to-day condition of your car's paintwork imho.

Some folks don't even see/recognise the swirls and scratches so think everything is fine.

If it's clean that's all that matters.

EssexExile

Yup, if there are no obvious problems I don't care. It's just a car.

photome

straighttalker wrote: »

There are a plethora out there. Given that they are all independently owned, there is no set standard. Some are good, some are bad.

you wouldn't know which is good and which is bad though, and while one visit to a good one maybe ok, the next visit may be bad.

neilmcl

EssexExile wrote: »

Yup, if there are no obvious problems I don't care. It's just a car.

Each to their own.

Moto2

My car bodywork gets washed at every service whether it needs it or not & sometimes when the boss is paying me a visit.
Depending on how close the two events are to each other

iolanthe07

A group of Lithuanian lads near where I live do a fantastic job for £15 - it is like a full valet, much better than I could do myslef, even if I could be r$sed

EdGasket

Ollie345 wrote: »

Does anyone here regularly use the hand car wash places , they usually start from £5 for the outside and £10 to hoover inside.
Are they worth using?
What about a proper clean if you want the seats cleaned properly with shampoo or whatever?

Do it yourself; only takes a bucket and sponge and a few minutes. For interior you can use upholstery cleaner but it only really needs doing once in a blue moon unless you have dogs and kids.

almillar

I won't touch them with a bargepole having seen some of the chemicals they use to make the job quicker. Not on my paintwork cheers.

Can you be more specific about these chemicals and what they do?

force_ten

almillar wrote: »

Can you be more specific about these chemicals and what they do?

Traffic film remover is a good one to start with

Traffic Film Remover is designed as a deep cleaning product

TFR is designed to remove grease,oil,road film an other contaminants so when they go around with the garden sprayer covering your car with TFR the any wax or paint protection will be gone or as good as gone in the first application of TFR

have a look at some of the TFR and they have a high caustic content

they give the roadside car wash a quick clean that looks good but leaves your paint work totally unprotected

for some people a roadside hand wash is great as it is the only wash the car ever gets and some people like to look after their investment and keep it looking nice and well protected

Iceweasel

EdGasket wrote: »

Do it yourself; only takes a bucket and sponge and a few minutes. For interior you can use upholstery cleaner but it only really needs doing once in a blue moon unless you have dogs and kids.

You need two buckets and no sponge.

A sponge is the last thing you need to wash a car.

Sponges trap grit.