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I have always been told that in general the regional associations are member driven while the ICA is more vendor driven. The management team for the ICA is very professional and part of a very large group that manages many organizations. Regional associations usually have smaller management...

Jim, I have already started the ball rolling on getting information on the total number of washes represented by the attendees at the WCA car wash convention. It may take the staff some time to assemble this and we may have to add this to the questionaire next year.

Right now it costs twice as much to heat with propane vs. heating with natural gas based on the high propane prices. Electricity might end up being cheaper than propane.

I think trade shows will remain vialble because of the big ticket nature of items that get purchased. Car dealers thought they could sell cars on the internet and have people buy without seeing the car. This has not turned out very well for them. The internet is great for info but a trade show...

I paid $179 for 55 gallon drums last week. There is a $35 drum deposit also but I get that back at the end of winter when I turn them back in. I get mine from a petroleum distributor. Usually a gas wholesaler has it.

Here are the figures I was given years ago on dilutions. A 10% final mixture is good to 25, a 20% good to 10, a 30% is good to 0 and a 40% is good to -10. I mix my methenol up by taking 5 to 10 gallons of methenol out of the barrel and adding 5 gallons of foamy brush concentrate. I go through a...

That picture is the deluxe version of a towel drying station. I am trying to get all my locations set up with similar stations. Most just use rubber made trunks on a simple cart.

My methenol is labeled as Racing fuel. I get it from the local gas distributor.

I have also had a prescrub prep bucket in front of the automatics since I started the towels. I use a small wheel wizard brush and put it in a 30 gallon bucket that has bug and tire and wheel cleaner. It is very popular also. About 1/2 the people use both the towels and the prescrub bucket...

I think a little community service would not be too much to ask for. By that I mean they should have to sweep your lot with a broom once per bag of garbage. It would be at the times you request of course.

After 15 years of having free towels I have a few thoughts. 1. Buy a cheap towel from Sams or costco. They are $12 for 48 towels. If you buy better towles they get stolen quicker. I dye mine an odd color like pink or purple. That lets everyone know where they came from. The total cost per month...

One thing I can think of to help would be to purchase the DAN system for the hamilton so you could remotely reset it via your cell phone or computer. The hamilton will operate with either signal interupt or a signal pulse system. If your automatic is setup for one or the other and it has the...

I make my own methenol soap using the following method. I buy 1 55 gallon drum of methenol and drain 10 gallons of methenol out of the barrel. I then add between 5 to 10 gallons of foam brush soap concentrate to the 55 gallon drum. I then use this barrel to draw from through a hydrominder. A 10%...

The 75K should include trifoam wax, undercarriage wash, dryers,clearcoat pkg, 2 step presoak, spot free etc. THey are pretty loaded up for this rice.

$130,000 for a touchless automatic sounds pretty high to me. There are several good brands out there that will sell one installed for under 75K. Have you priced several brands of equipment and looked at several distributors? It is also a good idea to shop your general contractors. Most GC will...

I think your over cost projection is pretty close for a experienced car wash operator. On a first time project many things come up that an inexperienced operator may pay too much for. You could start by attending the ICA workshops that are being given at the various regional trade shows in the...

The western carwash association is having seminar on Oct. 6th in Las Vegas for people looking to get into this business. It is being held jointly with the International car wash association and a full day will be spent teaching you the basics of carwashing. After the seminar on Saturday the WCA...