this oughta be interesting.
I could not agree more with you ,Mad ,this will be one of those threads that will die fast ,or will go on and on. The x factor is the chemicals ,but the y,and z factors are the ones that will help you achive the cleaning you are after
1. Be prepared to change with the cleaning conditions. We at times put the low ph on first ,sometimes we go high ph first. sometimes we put more chemical on sometimes less will do. Sometimes we only use high ph . I think you get the picture.
2. Be diligent. titrate, or check your ph levels ,of your chemicals,daily. PH can change ,but will "look" ok going on the car. I have added ball valves to all our
soap lines ,at the pump station ,and all bays are titrated daily.
3. Water quility. good,steady supply of soft water throughout the day.
4. Water PH. Alot of people overlook this one. If your water ph is too high ,or low, you may need to adjust your chemicals to compensate, or worst case ,you may need to treat the water yourself. I think I could write a book on this issue.
5. Be willing to change chemical suppliers if you do not like your results. Good reps will visit your locations regularly and listen to your concerns. Bad reps will visit your location ,act like they care about your concerns,sell you chemical ,and blame the fact your not cleaning on your equipment, or your water , or anything else they can think of.
6. Touchless autos are not perfect ,you will have times when cleaning is just plain hard, you may need to "help" cars clean during these times by offering a towel dry ,or a towel dry station,and be willing to rewash if you need to.
7. use a good quility drying agent ,on the pass before spot free to help the dryer. ( this subject could be it's own thread).
I am sure there alot of things i have over looked. I will only admit this once ,Brushes do a better job on road film, but in our market people like the fact that we are not BEATING their cars clean( ok brush people weigh in here)