SS HP wax

[Keno]

May try adding ceramic to the SS side on our next price increase. Most of our sites we take over are so below market price wise that it usually takes us a couple years to get up to market pricing. We don't like to do more than 1-2 price increases per year and usually at the very least try to have a small upgrade/update around the price increase. Looks like ceramic maybe our next price increase upgrade - especially if it is a differentiator from other SS sites. We actually like being on the high end price wise in the market - but we believe in delivering the value for the higher price also. Always looking for differentiators from our competition.

We have ceramic in our IBAs - not a differentiator anymore, as everybody and their mother has ceramic on the autos now. We are looking to add graphene on the touch-free autos - but have to figure out how to work it in. Our mark 7 machines only have 2 wax/drying agent slots - so we would have to get rid of our drying agent/sealant and give every wash tier getting "wax" a ceramic product (even the lower price washes), so we can use the other slot for graphene. Again driving up the cost of the lower tier washes. On the IBAs, we are already at the top end of pricing in our markets - so no room to raise prices for increased chemical cost.

Sorry for the tangent - but washnshine got me thinking about the IBA side also.

 

[OurTown]

Our mark 7 machines only have 2 wax/drying agent slots - so we would have to get rid of our drying agent/sealant and give every wash tier getting "wax" a ceramic product (even the lower price washes),

Could you add another solenoid valve, hose, foaming bar, injector (or Hydrominder tank), and a program tweak?

 

[Greg Pack]

We have ceramic in our IBAs - not a differentiator anymore, as everybody and their mother has ceramic on the autos now. We are looking to add graphene on the touch-free autos - but have to figure out how to work it in. Our mark 7 machines only have 2 wax/drying agent slots - so we would have to get rid of our drying agent/sealant and give every wash tier getting "wax" a ceramic product (even the lower price washes), so we can use the other slot for graphene. Again driving up the cost of the lower tier washes. On the IBAs, we are already at the top end of pricing in our markets - so no room to raise prices for increased chemical cost.

Sorry for the tangent - but washnshine got me thinking about the IBA side also.

Same problem here on the IBA, older machines that clean well but have limited wax options. Also my wizards have a rain bar which seems to be not the best way to apply the newest generation of waxes.

 

[ShinePro]

May try adding ceramic to the SS side on our next price increase. Most of our sites we take over are so below market price wise that it usually takes us a couple years to get up to market pricing. We don't like to do more than 1-2 price increases per year and usually at the very least try to have a small upgrade/update around the price increase. Looks like ceramic maybe our next price increase upgrade - especially if it is a differentiator from other SS sites. We actually like being on the high end price wise in the market - but we believe in delivering the value for the higher price also. Always looking for differentiators from our competition.

We have ceramic in our IBAs - not a differentiator anymore, as everybody and their mother has ceramic on the autos now. We are looking to add graphene on the touch-free autos - but have to figure out how to work it in. Our mark 7 machines only have 2 wax/drying agent slots - so we would have to get rid of our drying agent/sealant and give every wash tier getting "wax" a ceramic product (even the lower price washes), so we can use the other slot for graphene. Again driving up the cost of the lower tier washes. On the IBAs, we are already at the top end of pricing in our markets - so no room to raise prices for increased chemical cost.

Sorry for the tangent - but washnshine got me thinking about the IBA side also.

I had the same problem with my razor 3’s
Only two injectors for those items.
If you want specific detail as to how I did this - pm me

 

[Keno]

Same problem here on the IBA, older machines that clean well but have limited wax options. Also my wizards have a rain bar which seems to be not the best way to apply the newest generation of waxes.

Yep, they clean really good, we have a foam bar on one of the machines. Thinking about how to use 3x foam in the mix with these. We already use a ceramic 3x foam also, so maybe can work that into the wax mix somehow.

 

[edredtop]

Has anyone figured out their ceramic chemical cost per minute on self-serve?

One way to look at it...
Using $223 for a price point from "My Guy" chem supply and using a common price point of $5 for 6 min start-up:
$0.25 = 18 seconds
$1.00 = 72 seconds (1 min 12 seconds)
$10.00 = 720 seconds (12 min)
$100.00 = 7200 seconds ( 2 hours)
$200.00 = 14,400 seconds (4 hours) ... and so on.

If all one was selling was wax, one would probably want 16 to 20 hours out of a 6 gallon pail.
The cool thing is as operators, we know we get to sell rinse, blower, and vac time as well..
To get an accurate read, you'd probably have to put an hour meter on the wax solenoid (which sounds like something we should be doing, doesn't it? )

 

[Greg Pack]

Yep, they clean really good, we have a foam bar on one of the machines. Thinking about how to use 3x foam in the mix with these. We already use a ceramic 3x foam also, so maybe can work that into the wax mix somehow.

I use Quest's Vantagloss Foamy (single color) for my ceramic in both IBA and self serve. I have a LED kit on my wizard so I just apply the white foam through the tri-foam applicators. It's the same product I use on the SS side, but I use a dual hydrominder eductor and add dye to it at that port. Smells Great, but not a readily identifiable scent. They call it fruitopia. This one provides more gloss and slickness and is less durable.

Again with the limitations of application on my wizard it does limit somewhat my options. Many Petits owners I understand are using a low pH as the tricolor product and essentially calling that their low pH presoak. That would certainly help with wash speed (but not so sure about eyebrow removal). I'm using that to apply my ceramic.

For the high and low pressure wax options I'm using Quest Total shield. Low pressure rain bar I'm applying at probably 150:1 on friction auto and 250:1 on touch free. You can vary the dilution on that product and at stronger dilutions it offers durable protection it still works as a standard wax at weaker dilutions. I even use it in the SS bay just to keep my SKUs down. The smell reminds me of suntan oil. This one provides more protection than vantagloss (at stronger dilutions) but not as much slickness.

Both those ceramic products are pricey but I don't think replacing them with cheaper options will really make a meaningful difference in my P&L. I have a pretty busy 4/2 and I might put five gallons of HP wax (total shield) online every three Months in the SS. The SS triple foam goes quick enough for me to notice however-probably five gallons every two months. But again this is a fairly busy four bays, about 150K in wash bay revenue alone last year.

I have a wash customer I see occasionally that actually reps for an company that sells wholesale bulk product to some of the biggest manufacturers in the car wash industry. The last time I talked to him he said most of the raw products for the new generation of waxes was coming from Europe. The next time I see him I need to quiz him a bit.

 

[washnshine]

I heard the same thing when Quest last updated their sealants - the raw materials are sourced in Europe. Also Greg - is the Total Shield only available in the ultra concentrate form now? I was checking their website about a month ago and did not see it offered as a conventional concentrate anymore.

 

[Greg Pack]

I heard the same thing when Quest last updated their sealants - the raw materials are sourced in Europe. Also Greg - is the Total Shield only available in the ultra concentrate form now? I was checking their website about a month ago and did not see it offered as a conventional concentrate anymore.

I don't think they changed the formula of total shield , I believe they just classified it as a ultra concentrate. The did develop an ultra of their H2off. Frankly I don't know what makes the two products different. H2off repels water well and is durable and was my favorite for many years.

I have swapped to the chem-genie variants of these waxes so that I get them in 2.5s instead of 5s. A 2.5 of some of these things would last Months at many locations. Chem Genie 415 is the same as Total shield, just packaged in 2.5s

 

[Keno]

We will probably lean towards an upgrade to LP ceramic on the SS side at our next price increase at the end of this year.

The auto side is a little harder for us to swallow. Both autos are in tertiary markets and have multiple tunnels nearby. We will be increasing our cost without being able to increase our selling price. Our hope is that this will increase volume, but obviously that is not guaranteed. Will have to take the leap and try it out. Main thing is if it doesn't increase volume, we can't go backwards on the chemical and are stuck at our current selling price and higher chemical cost - which would be worst case scenario. Hopefully, as Greg said, it won't effect our bottom line too much if it is the worst case scenario.

 

[Mattwash]

Wax is old school
Go ceramic. My Customers are going ape over the new ceramic in the self serve bays I have used more Ceramic in last two months than I did wax in 6.
I will never have another wax product in the wash!
Had a guy today, lives 24 miles from my wash. Said I drive up here just for that ceramic.

I really like the idea of ceramic via the low pressure side. What all guns you have in the bay? Curious bc right now I have 4 wall booms setup is

-low pressure gun that shoots out my wheel/tire and presoak
-air dryer
-high pressure gun
-foam brush

it looks like you have a separate gun for your ceramic, does anything else come out of that gun?

 

[ShinePro]

That red foam gun that is in the picture is the old tri foam gun. Changed the nozzle to a flat fan and apply the ceramic with it.
That is the only product that is applied with that gun.
I am considering trying to apply it at another site I own with a low pressure pump thru the wand.
I see no problem with making that work as well!

Currently I have the wand, foam brush, and the red Hamel gun plus the blow drier

 

[Keno]

Could you add another solenoid valve, hose, foaming bar, injector (or Hydrominder tank), and a program tweak?

I'll have to look into this, mark 7 likes to keep a lot of stuff proprietary, so they may want to "engineer" the solution.

We are in the process of trying to sell this location, so we're on hold right now for any big changes.

 

[Waxman]

I use a product called liquid glass from Autowash Maintenance as my hi pressure wax in the self service bays. It's the same product I use in my automatic as one of my waxes. It has a great show and an even better smell. When I towel dry my car it has an awesome shine after application.