A guide to proper chemical usage

by Stuart Levy

It’s so easy to misunderstand exactly which chemical cleaning products should be used, why they should be used in a particular application and how they should be applied. Application can also be based upon the type of car wash; tunnel, in-bay (frictionless or touch) and self service.  You must then determine the best method of application. Should you be using some form of hydro-minder that pre-mixes and dilutes your product concentrate, a direct feed system or the new type of chemical transportation systems that are now available?  As if this wasn’t confusing enough, your area’s weather conditions during any time of year may become a factor as well.

Pre-soak

For example, we have often discussed the importance and differences of high and low pH pre-soak applications. In the south or western regions of the country it may be more beneficial to use either milder types of high pH detergents so as not to cause any blushing or marring on the hot surface of the vehicle. Or, in many cases it has been determined that using a low pH detergent as your first application may be the better way to go. In any event the objective is to turn out the cleanest vehicle possible.

Equipment Room

Over in the equipment room, product is injected through either a hydrominder or some form of direct feed system that allows you to set the ratio you feel is best for your conditions. The problem with each of these systems is that if there is any kind of variance in the water pressure coming into the building your dilution ratio will be thrown off. If this happens you will be unable to deliver the proper amount of product to the vehicles surface, thus negating your ability to properly clean. In addition what do you do if during the course of the day one of your pumps goes down? Of course you will have a spare pump on hand and can change it over. The problem is the time it takes to do it. If changing out a pump takes a half-hour of time that means you have lost cleaning quality to the vehicle for the period of time the pump was down. If it’s a busy day that can mean a significant number of cars that did not get the cleaning they paid for. Customer dissatisfaction is now increased, not to mention the expensive time an employee had to take away from his regular duties inside the wash.  Fortunately, there are now new ways to eliminate these problems.

Body Soap

For many operator’s an interesting decision could be to use regular body soap in the wraps and mitter curtains or use a good low pH cleaning detergent. There are different advantages depending upon how your wash is set up. Good standard cleaning detergents will provide you with solid cleaning and lubricity for your mitter curtain and wraps. Low pH products will help brighten the vehicle and aid in the drying process. The decision may depend on whether you are using soft cloth or neo-glide material for cleaning. Cloth will hold detergents better than neo-glide, but they also wear faster and if not changed regularly will look raggedy from where the cloth strips have been torn or frayed after being caught on license plates or loose chrome. Neo-glide material will move easily over loose chrome, license plate holders and other protruding objects on the vehicle easier than cloth will as long as it is properly lubricated. The decision may be further complicated by the type of wash you operate. In-bay automatics or express exteriors that do not offer wipe down services may want to consider using the low pH products because of their ability to aid drying while washes that offer wipe down may be better off with using straight body detergents. Again, back in the equipment room, the injection system may vary depending on your preference.

Conditioner

As you move down line another decision that needs to be made involves your polish or conditioner application. Depending on whether you have a high pressure rinse system or have  a simple low pressure rinse system may determine if you should apply three colors or just two. This is all related to how well the product rinses. You should be using free rinsing low pH products. There is nothing more unsightly than colored product running down the body side moldings or product accumulation on the ledges of trucks or SUVs. When dripping product dries, it leaves streaks on the vehicle that is highly visible.

Many operators use their drying agents as a sealant application, offering one or the other depending upon which package the customer purchased. This is done to reduce application cost. Why apply two products if one will do the job? The answer is “because the customer paid for it.” This is a pet peeve of mine. The cost of a drying agent application is minimal; most applications use between 1/4ounce and 1/2ounce of actual product. Depending upon your system it may even be less than this amount especially with today’s modern metering systems. That being said your actual cost per car is negligible.  Therefore, if it’s known that a dryer vehicle can be achieved by adding or applying a double application of drying agent or sealant why wouldn’t you want to do it? For the most part today’s air dryers do not employ enough horsepower to efficiently dry the vehicle. Most cone type air dryers seem to leave a single strip of water running down the driver’s side of any vehicle. It doesn’t seem to make any difference which manufacturer’s air dryer is being used. In my opinion, and based upon what I have seen, they all have the same problem. When the correct amount of product is used or when a super sealant type product is used the problem is almost eliminated.

Spot Free

Lastly, all car washes should now be using a spot free rinse system to aid in water shedding. Watch your customers as they leave the exit area of your wash and head over to the free vacuums (if you have them). Do they have to get out the towel that is in their trunk to wipe down the vehicle because it is still wet or can they just go about their business and begin vacuuming their vehicle? If they have to wipe it down either you are not applying enough water shedding product or your air dryer is inefficient. Either way you have a problem that needs to be addressed.

It really doesn’t matter what type of car wash you operate. All have equipment rooms with various metering systems. All have similar types of cleaning products. All have the same goal, a clean vehicle that will make the customer happy and keep them coming back. How all of these products are applied and dispensed is what makes the difference.

Take some time to evaluate your end result. Create some kind of evaluation system and grade yourself. If you can’t give yourself an A+ grade, what is your customer going to give you. If they give you a failing grade what is the likelihood of their coming back? That’s a stupid question. You already know the answer.

Stuart Levy is the president of Clean Car Consulting. The company represents a variety of OEM car wash manufacturer’s products as well as providing car wash consulting services. For more information visit the CCC Web site at www.cleancarconsulting.com.