Dos & Don'ts of the Self Serve Car Wash 

Oh that’s a brush? I always thought it was sand paper on a stick 🤔

I'm in the car wash business. Spot Free works if the owner maintains it properly, which often doesn't happen. Spot Free water is usually made through Reverse Osmosis filtration. Hogs hair brushes are OK most of the time- just rinse and inspect it before use. The flowing foam helps flush out contaminants while you wash too (unlike bucket washing). Oh, and don't scrub your car like you're trying to clean tile grout. Presoaks won't harm modern clear coat finishes but may shorten the life of your sealants. Oh and you're right, high pressure soap is mostly show At the dilution it is applied there is very little cleaning power in it. You get a much better final product by applying presoak and rinsing it off.

I go to a self service Carwash once a week and spend $3 a week. Works like a charm

Coming from someone who's family own's a carwash, had the keys since I got my first car and used to wash my cars so often friends would take jabs at me here and there saying things like, "you're gonna wash the paint off your car as much as you wash it." I also have worked their all my life, cleaning the bays, refilling the chemicals, changing hoses and brushes and the claws on the vacuums and on and on.... I can say with a fair amount of certainty that your expertise is only coming from the experience you've had washing your own cars and listening to yourself tell other people what you think. If it's your first time at a self wash car wash and you have no idea what you're doing... start at step one and go through the steps. A lot of times carwash owners are nice enough to put up a signboard with descriptions and photos. I get that doing everything that's available costs more and takes more time, I'm not saying you need all that at all. What you need and what your goal is decided considering several things, a few examples may be how the weather is where you live, how long has it been since you washed the car, do you just want a quick rinse... not using certain steps and avoiding equipment is hardly something to tell anyone watching your videos, not to do. Here's a tip for you about about the foam brush: First off its a brush, it doesn't matter how many people have used it unless it's hairs are very short then you have one that's worn down. You want to look for one that has long straight hairs. If they all are a little shorter than what they are new as long as when you're going over a surface with a curve it maintains the cushion from the hairs and doesn't bottom out rubbing the block onto your car surface. Now the last thing people before you used the brush on was the lower panels and the tires and of course dirt gets in the brush. To make sure your brush doesn't have loose dirt in it, you use the sprayer when you are wetting the car with pressurized soapy water, you just spray the brush out. You just spray it out... Just spray out the brush... also, spray the handle and a little of the hose and run your hand down it and make sure there's no dirt stuck or anything scratchy for when the hose touches the car. Personally, if it's possible I like having a friend or my brother or whatever hanging out and chatting while I'm washing my car and when I am using the foam brush I ask they have a hand on the middle of the foam brush hose somewhere and prevent it from swinging into the car or rubbing across the paint a lot. It's amazing how well it works for what it is. You also mentioned some of the chemicals and I'll just say that the chemicals are there for a reason, and so they are available when a person wants to use them. You don't have to be a genius to know that it does take more time and it does cost a few bucks more bucks but as long as it isn't some shady owner cutting every corner possible the chemicals have their purpose and are beneficial. Bottom line is when it comes to how clean the car is when you're done washing at a self wash carwash has a lot to do with how well you clean it. If you want to just stand there and spray a hose, then you're gonna get a car that is as clean as if it were spray cleaned basically. Using the other stuff gets it a little better, and for all those special, hard reach and somewhat overall perfection nothing comes as close to perfect as hand washing and knowing what you're doing.

I always bring two 5 gallon buckets already loaded with my soaps towels and mitts from home. Put a watertight lid on it and all the car wash is for is the rinse cycle. Learned this moving from a home to condo in water constricted California

Has no idea how to actually wash a car or how soap works

Pressure wash with soap to remove big bits and grime, then brush with foam brush and then pressure rinse. Been doing it this way for a while never had any problems...and the brush doesnt scratch even if left on the floor, it has soap running through it, it's a self cleaning device.

Also, believe it or not, the touch less car wash scratched my paint even when I got most of my dirt off first. The one I pulled into demolished my last car I owned, pretty sure the pressure of the car wash was to high since it scratches it to hell, I just go and spray it myself at the car wash, no more problems. I think it's because it's not high pressure

You made a huge mistake! Don’t ever dry your car after going on the highway! All that dirt, tar, and bugs are going to be rubbed on your paint if you dry it when you park. It’s better to just let it naturally dry because you can still remove water spots. And by the way, I bring my own soap, and wash mitts to the self service car wash. Been working really well for me.

I work with chemicals at my carwash and you clearly know nothing of chemistry

Hold the brush over the car and let the foam soap drop on your car and then wash your car by hand. Love the foam brush but wash it out first before you get your car washed. Love a car wash.

Afraid to put the bug off on his paint...Jesus Christ, why on earth would you make a tutorial video when you don’t know what you’re talking about? Legitimate question.

This guy is every RU-vid comment section expert ever.

As far as i know soap lifts dirt off of the car surface.

You need to use the foam cannon and wax for the spot free rinse to make sense. Spot free is supposed to be low pressure so it doesnt remove the the wax. Also you have to high pressure rinse the foam brush before you use it in the vehicle. Dont apply too much pressure with the foam brush or you will scratch regardless

Car washes don't use distilled water for rinsing. They use soft water, which contains very little calcium, and minerals which causes water spots. Presoak is a surfactant based detergent, and can be more harsh. The engine and tire cleaner is not that harsh and is overly deluded to save costs

What if you get the foam brush and power wash the loose dirt off of the bristles, I do that every time. Still get a clean car.

Omg 5 minutes of my life I can't get back!!! The presoak setting is great (apply it from the bottom up) it breaks up the dirt and makes it easier to remove with the high pressure soap. Think of it like presoaking your laundry that is really dirty and stained. The spot free rinse is an additive in the water but it only works if they keep it filled up at the car wash facility. Do a little research, maybe even go to the car wash and talk to an employee.

I see so many people saying don’t use the brush cos it’s dirty, just use the pressure water to cleanse it before using it

You can use the foam brush, just rinse it off before you use it.

I’ve used the foam brush before but I heavily use the power rinse at like point blank range on the brush before putting it on my car

If you have a garage you can still wash your car in the winter here’s how. Now if you have heated garage that be best you still can’t use the garden house cause the hook up still outside and the horse will freeze. So you have to use buckets of water this takes longer but can be done. Most people don’t have heated garages so what I doo is fill up one bucket with water that’s just slightly warmer then the temperature outside. Grab a spray bottle and spray your car any snow or ice should melt away could also take the bucket and slow pour the water on the car melt all the snow and ice. Once cars wet fill the bucket back up with warm water not hot warm and pour your soap in grab your microfibre towel start washing. Once that’s done grab a new bucket warm water and wipe all the soap off. Can use the bucket to pour water on to wash away the soap and then dry the water and your done. It’s way more steps but can be done in the winter the trick is to not pour boiling hot water on the car in really cold weather cause you run the risk of cracking windows.

First Don't: Use a carwash... LOL. j/k. Solid advice for sure.

Do you know anything about car washing.

How bout spray the brush off with the “high pressure soap” BEFORE & AFTER (just so you’re not a dink for the next customer)....that works 👍🏻👊🏻

I usually put enough money in the machine to give you well over 10 minutes to get a good wash first and find a new brush and spray it off. Lather the car up heavily and run it through 1 more time with newer brush that feels soft to the hand, spot free, go fast freeway home, dab water spots and the cars paint stays in good shape. The pressure washer will knock everything off of that brush that you're talking about being on there from previous users.

Directions unclear, now I’m realizing that I wasted a lot of time watching people who don’t know crap about washing a car

Yeah the soap doesn't do anything and those thick soap suds from the foam gun definitely don't do shit besides make you look cool. Where do you get your logic from the soap and foam is to loosen up the dirt and grime so you can rinse it off easily. Don't give detailing advice if you don't know anything about detailing.

Best to pressure soap the brush, then the car, the use foam brush, then rinse. Thats the way I do it, works every time.

Can I use one of these to clean out an old oil barrel?

I do a quick pass with the water first and hit the brush to clear it of dirt or debris, then I make a pass with the foam brush, then finish with water rinse.

Look, honestly. I think you underestimate the durability of the clear coat. The foam, soup and bug off is normally designed for cars and car paint but, it will only work harmlessly if your car as long as your car has a clear coat over the paint (which normally, all cars do), if the soup and bug off did damage your paint, there would be law suits or a super bad reputation to that car wash, not to mention that can you can rinse the soup off with the rinse setting. But look, I can’t give creative criticism without a solution, right? So here’s mine. This is what I do. I take my car in, I rinse the car, then I soup the car and let the soup sit for a bit and then soup it again (do not use the brush! Do not!) , then i rinse the car thoroughly, after all the soup is fully removed, I use turtle wax spray to wax the car and buff it dry with microfiber towels, this does two things, 1: it ensures that you don’t get any water marks after the car wash. 2: it ensures that you’re car has better protection than what the car washes wax would provide. After I’m done waxing my car, I add RainX water repellent as a bonus over the waxed windshield and windows. now, if you do this, in a nutshell. This is what you need, 1:plenty of microfiber towels 2:turtle wax spray wax 3:(if you want) RainX water repellent 4: a car wash with like 3 self serve stalls, so that people or the car wash won’t get mad that your using your own stuff and that your taking your time with it. My final advice, make sure you buff out the windows really well after you put the RainX on it. That’s all I got for ya, you’re welcome!

Just spray the foam brush with the rinse cycle or bring a bucket with soap in and dip the brush in it to clean.

All you have to do is rinse the brush out with the high Pressure Nozzell and it,s fine to use then, I never use it without rinsing out the brush very good , I have a black 4x4 and never have seen any signs of using a brush at a car wash unless the dam brush is just not worth looking at and very old and wore out then i wont use it

this is an old video but, you understand contactless car washes uses soap but don’t touch the car. The type of soaps they uses are made to sud up, surrounding the then when you rinse it’s gets it off. then you’d use tri foam since thats the stuff that does most of the shine

Using enough soap and water can get dust/dirt off without having to physically touch the paint.

OK you really don't understand how these self serve car washes work. they are primarily meant for daily driver vehicles, where you are probably going to have a scratch or 12 on your car anyway from road grime. Obviously you wouldn't take a high end vehicle here. Tire and wheel cleaner yes I would probably avoid as it does have the potential to spray onto the paint, and yes its not good, so you are correct there. The presoak is probably the most important step as letting your car soak in the soap will help break down the dirt on the surface of your car, so it is very important and you want to make sure you coat the car liberally with the presoak, and you want to wait a few moments before going on to the next step. the soap setting is usually high pressure and now its going to blast the dirt that has been breaking down in the presoak off your car. the soap is not to tell you where you've blasted the car already as you should be smart enough to know where you started and work in a single direction, usually from top to bottom. The foaming brush is not recommended, yes, but if your car is really dirty you can still use it, but what you must do before using it is use the soap setting and use the pressure to blast the dirt off the brush before using it on your car. Again if you do use this, which you don't have to, you want to make sure you move the brush in one direction from forward to back, the direction the wind blows over your car so if you do scratch your car it will be easier to buff out. you never ever want to move the brush in a swirling motion on the car. A high pressure rinse usually follows that, but if you want to use the other features like rain-x the foam cannon for the protectant you can. I would read the instructions on the placard to make sure of the steps, but again these things are optional. After you have rinsed the car of the soap / chemicals, the spot free rinse should be applied to the car in the same manner as you applied the presoak, liberally. take at least a minute or two to make sure that the water is entirely changed out from the normal rinse step.

That’s a fancy car wash! What’s with the rolling doors?

Spot free at my car wash absolutely does something

Rinse is the only option. Bring your own buckets and wash. Also bring your own distilled water in water sprayer

Love watching people use the brush in the self service 😬😬😬😬

Noob tip: if the hose is long enough, use the brush to scrub the undercarriage. (The walls won't be much bother, just stick thru front and rear)

I always power wash the foam brush then use it

The "meta" used to be rinse and pressure soap, rinse and then other stuff if you have time. I went to one yesterday and pressure soap was weak. Better to use the foam brush lightly instead.

False info on the different selections, spot free works. Guess your not a expert on washing cars.

So use the water gun to spray the foam brush before you start the foam option.....?

I have used this car wash and car always comes out clean-stop whining and being a hater

Bro spray off the brush with high pressuer soap. If you dont brush the dirt stays. Do you not use a rag or something similar in the shower or do you just rinse off and pour soap on yurself. People...high pressure soad the brush off to clean it off before using. Period.

I actually use the brush but I rinse the shit out of it. However, I only use it on glass, tires and other non-painted surfaces. I have used it on rims but only when I havent hand washed them in a long time.

What about the wax setting? I noticed it works a little, a little is better than none lol

Don't rinse it right away ,pre-soak it first to break down all the stubborn dirt

I use the presoak feature can I use a brush to clean it with dinner rinse it off and then I use spot free. Now spot free around here where I’m at has a hydrophobic something in it and it keeps the water from beating up in causing spots that way and it is not distilled water.

This is terrible advice

Where is this car wash at?? Can’t find any like this in the IE SoCal area SMH

I find it hard to believe that going through rollers that are turning at a relatively high speed, controlled by a robot that has no sense of TLC is good for your paint ; plus, there are so many areas that it does not reach, a manual self service as did Pawin' must be better.

So it’s fine if I use it for my car to get the dirt off. To make it look better. Or is it going to miss my car up.

The brush is great as long as you wash it first with water and properly rinse your car (soap+water or soap and pre rinse followed by water). Spot free rinse does work at most places I have gone and is great for washing out cracks and windows.

My brain cells just died watching this

Just wondering, what is the name and location of the car wash you used in this video?

Some coin washs have air dry hose as well, so you can leave the bay spot-free.

I just bring my own bucket,cup, sponge, and soap and only do the minimum time. Rinse car, fill bucket with water, soap the sponge. Soap the car as much as possible and clean too. As you go, use the water in a cup to rinse the area so the soap doesn't really dry. It takes some getting used to. Then the last time to use the machine by rinsing. I only spend about $3.50 each time. Hit the interstate to speed up drying and cuts down water sitting. But if you maintain your cars exterior, you shouldn't have to put a lot of effort each time. Made the mistake of not doing this with my 09 Cobalt SS and the paint began to fade and lost patches after 10 years. My newer car (sadly not a sport model anymore, lol) definitely doesn't have this issue.

“Do you know how many people have used that brush...” DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DIRTY CARS AND MUDDY TRUCKS SLIDE INTO THAT AUTO WASH?!

These car washes have had enough law suits to know they must use light and easy chemicals... It's mostly perfume and coloring guys✌️🙌💯

Is there anyway to use your own foam gun with the car wash wand so you can use your own soap specifically for ceramic paint? I don't have a garage or outside water access where I rent but I got car wash chemicals, microfiber towels, and ceramic detailer. I just need a place and water.

Use the high pressure soap setting to pressure wash the brush first...? Then hit the brush with the wax for just a brief second.... then that brush is not near as abrasive as your rag....

Nothing replaces a 2 bucket wash.

I usualy spray the brush with water for a bit to rince it

I just power wash the brush to get the dirt off before I use it.

are the waxes at the self serve car washes, safe for exterior trim? (the ones with the pressure guns)

Someone didn’t take a chemistry course i guess

I work at a self serve wash out brushes are always cleaned and ur supossed to spray then prior to using anyways never scratched my paint ever

U showed us nothing

@IgnitionTube 👍ok for you to use our shampoo?

Do’s and don’ts of a self serve car wash: 1. DON’T use a self serve car wash. 2. DO buy proper car washing equipment if you really care about your paint

This is so clearly the Mass Ave Car Wash in Lexington... :-)

Would you recommend drying your car with a microfiber towel after a wash or doing a air dry?

I use rinse 1st, foam brush, rinse again, soap, then raise one more time

protect your paint by not washing it and not touching your car your welcome

In the first coin wash, how is the water drained? I did not see that "grill" thing where the water goes through

Why don’t you use the water gun to wash the brush before use it though

do you ever think those pressure washers are too harsh on the paint? ( like too much pressure)

You can power rinse the dirt off the brush

Of course it’s Massachusetts 🤣😂 every small car RU-vidr lives in my state

Im 4 years late but the brush is used for your grill. Tires. And windshield. Not the paint lol.

I'm not ashamed I've searched this

Spray the brush thoroughly with the sprayer before using the brush.

If you care about your car, wash it at home with a good quality soap like Mothers or Meguiar’s.

How good is wax? I've never used it at a car wash.

So lately I noticed all four tires with mild dry rot on the side walls including the corners. I suspect it's the leftover soap residue from not rinsing well enough.

But if everyone takes the advice, the brush will be clean when I go to use it🤔

Spot free is filtered water without hard minerals to leave spots

Nothing funnier then when you see probably using the brush on their brand new car 😂

i can not find any self service car washes in georgia

Waste of time. It's very simple..... If your car is going to LITERALLY be sitting in a high end car museum and only driven once a year.....then you HAND wash your car or taken it to a professional detailer. If you are going to sell your car every 3 years.....or keep it forever and drive it on weekends but it's not going to be in "car shows".........THEN it's ok to use a brush and have some swirls on your clear coat. If you are LITERALLY not going to be in a car show then it is retarded to just throw soap on the surface and rinse off with water. Do you just throw toothpaste on your teeth and immediately rinse? No. Do you just throw soap on the ground and immediately rinse with water? No I freaking repeat..... ....unless your car is LITERALLY going to be sitting in a car museum for 30 years.....it is STUPID to not use a brush. In everyday life....NO ONE cares about swirls on your car other than you. TRUST ME Ok bye

All the soaps are safe and auto approved. Don’t use the brush and you are good there are no other hints to give.

When i do self serve car wash i only used soap n rinse tats it...i never used tha brush cuz i know peeps probably used on their rims n it will have dirt on it tats my opinion

Came here to hear about the wax option, the one option he didn’t mention

This dude did no research and dissed on the car wash without even contacting the owner or service for information or clarification. And since when would soap be detrimental, jeez.

You say don’t use the brush because it’s dirty. You have a pressure washer! Clean the brush before you use it dude!

just take your car to a hand wash only car wash, they don’t use machines or anything, just soap and towels! i took my black car and damn she looks just as good when i first got her!