CHEMISTRY MATH

Managing your chemistry inventory can be challenging and dangerous. Many car washes use as many as 13 different products ranging from cleaning detergents to waxes and polishes to tire dressing. If you had a back-up drum for each product that could be as much as 26 drums of inventory. That’s a lot of chemical inventory.

What You Use

How many different drums of cleaning solutions do you have in your car wash equipment room? It really comes down to knowing how much product you use based upon the number of cars you wash. You use cleaning detergents such as pre-soaks, body soaps, drying agent and wheel and tire cleaners 100 percent of the time. Sealants, foam polish and tire dressings are used between 25 percent to 30 percent of the time. The risks of waste, inappropriate use, dilution errors, storage and inventory mistakes all have an impact on safety and profitability.

The Math

You should check your drum to make sure that your math is correct. There are 7,040 ounces of product in a 55 gallon drum and 3,840 in a 30 gallon drum. If you know your cost per drum and divide it by the number of ounces in the drum it will be easy to figure out your cost-per-car (CPC) based upon the number of cars you washed and ounces used. Another way of measuring is to measure the number of inches in the drum using a yard stick. Twelve inches of depth generally equals 21 gallons of liquid. Drums come in different diameters thus the possibility exists that calculations could be wrong.

Usage

Always make sure that your solution injection system is 100 percent functional. Nothing is clogging your foot valve or in line check and solenoid valves. The nozzles on your arch are putting out the correct amount of product per vehicle. If the nozzle is worn the fan spray pattern will come out in a stream instead of a wide spray.

Systems and Solutions

If you are working with an injection system that requires metering tips that correspond to a dilution ratio make sure the orifice that draws and mixes the product is not worn. You can tell if an orifice is worn by looking at the amount of light that comes through the diameter of the draw portion. Make sure you have extra plastic orifices in inventory, particularly those orifices you use the most often. By labeling each container by color and dilution ratio you will find that you will be able to retrieve the correct orifice quickly when you need it.

You can also control your costs by using more concentrated cleaning solutions and it’s amazing what can be done today using Hydrominder micro tips. Check with your supplier to see if their products can be used at these extended ratios.

Chemical Transport

Some car wash chains are beginning to go so far as to have high usage products delivered to them in fuel type trucks. Like fuel trucks the vehicles have compartments to separate each product. This method significantly reduces cost by eliminating the drum cost that is included in the charge for the product. This is a total waste of money since the operator then becomes responsible for disposal of the drum. However, be aware that drums that are not thoroughly cleaned can contaminate the refilled product and ruin the contents. Also, never refill a drum that contained one type of product with a different product.

Controlling your chemical inventory and managing the cost of each solution application is key to profitability and safe and proper use. You should be keeping accurate records of what you purchase and how much you use.

Only you can take control of your environment. Safe, smart chemical inventory and storage leads to better business results and reduced safety risks. Do not let poor business choices on chemistry harm your business or the environment.