Chemicals to improve car wash results

[Yann Xiong]

hello, I have recently been researching how to upgrade the chemicals to improve the car wash effect and price. How should I choose the brand and type of chemicals? Which brand of chemicals do you think is the most professional?

 

[OurTown]

What type of car wash do you have? Are you in the USA?

 

[washnshine]

Impact price in what way?

1. Make it less expensive for the operator to purchase the chemicals?

OR

2. Get a better wash result so you can command a higher ticket price from your customers?

This is a choice, and in all likelihood, you will not achieve both.

 

[Waxman]

I buy my automatic wash chemicals from Autowash Maintenance. They sold me my equipment. Their chemicals work great in my Razor and I am able to charge a premium price.

For my self wash bays, I mostly use Simoniz and I buy from Kleen Rite. It took me alot of trial and error and seeking advice from the good people here on the forum.

Good chemicals will produce the ^ show^ that customers expect. Don't skimp on dilution ratios; make everything come out strong. Thats what the customer wants. They dont seem to care about branding; they want results.

 

[Roz]

Chemical strength or dilution is the key to cleaning and providing a good show. None of the chemicals we tested in the last decade ever work well at the dilution rates mentioned on the manufacturer’s label. Always need to be much stronger to get the desired outcomes. The dilution rates on the label are just for marketing so owners do not wig out about the expense for chemicals. At the end of the day if you produce a clean vehicle the rest falls into place.

 

[Yann Xiong]

What type of car wash do you have? Are you in the USA?

I have 2 rollovers sites and 1 tunnel site. tunnel in the USA.

 

[Yann Xiong]

Impact price in what way?

1. Make it less expensive for the operator to purchase the chemicals?

OR

2. Get a better wash result so you can command a higher ticket price from your customers?

This is a choice, and in all likelihood, you will not achieve both.

I want to upgrade the dry result to decrease the operator cost. but one more question, why can't choose both ways at the same time?

 

[Yann Xiong]

I buy my automatic wash chemicals from Autowash Maintenance. They sold me my equipment. Their chemicals work great in my Razor and I am able to charge a premium price.

For my self wash bays, I mostly use Simoniz and I buy from Kleen Rite. It took me alot of trial and error and seeking advice from the good people here on the forum.

Good chemicals will produce the ^ show^ that customers expect. Don't skimp on dilution ratios; make everything come out strong. Thats what the customer wants. They dont seem to care about branding; they want results.

yep，I need to give the customer best experience

 

[Yann Xiong]

Chemical strength or dilution is the key to cleaning and providing a good show. None of the chemicals we tested in the last decade ever work well at the dilution rates mentioned on the manufacturer’s label. Always need to be much stronger to get the desired outcomes. The dilution rates on the label are just for marketing so owners do not wig out about the expense for chemicals. At the end of the day if you produce a clean vehicle the rest falls into place.

Im testing the dilution rates now. it is really a slow work. and if i changed the chemical, everything needs to start again

 

[washnshine]

I want to upgrade the dry result to decrease the operator cost. but one more question, why can't choose both ways at the same time?

As Roz stated, you generally will end up using more chemical than is recommended by the manufacturer. So in order to get the high quality result that drives repeat customers and higher ticket prices, you will be using more, which will cost more. I know operators who spend as little as they can on chemicals and it does not go well for them.

 

[Car Wash Man]

If you buy premium chemicals, you most likely will have a higher success rate of providing a good wash for the public. I would rather spend the extra $ and have a busy wash, Then skimp on chemical quality or quantity and have my wash sitting unused. When I first started I thought the premium chemicals were all marketing, but there really is a big difference in quality between budget and premium.

 

[packerscw]

Turtle wax chemicals have been good to us in our conveyor automatic and magic finish in our self serve bays

 

[Yeti55]

Turtle wax chemicals have been good to us in our conveyor automatic and magic finish in our self serve bays

have you tried turtle wax in your self serve ?

 

[Greg Pack]

There is a lot of choices in quality chemical providers. You can pay a premium for the big brands with a large distributor network. If you just start buying various chemicals from various providers you will spend months or years in trial and error trying to figure out things. In the meantime other operators have their systems dialed in and they have happy customers. if you're relatively new to the business you're better off finding a good local rep and letting them set you up.

Some of the providers worth checking out include: Quest, Chemquest, Qual-Chem, Blendco, Warsaw, McClean Solutions, JBS, Diamond Shine, Lustra

Do not obsess about cost per container, only cost per car. A good rep can get you dialed in and keep cost in line.

Once you've seen what they can do you can start experimenting if you like, but you need to have a critical eye and recognzie a step backwards in quality when you see it. You'll probably find you can save some money.

 

[Roz]

If a touch free wash then cleaning outcome varies based on chemicals used, dilution strength, speed of application as that affects dwell time and strength, dwell/soak time, and how close your rinse arm gets to the vehicle. That's why two people can operate the same carwash with very different results....

 

[Car Wash Man]

One thing that we started doing to maximize cleaning power that is showing great results has been to put the triple foam right on top of the presoak. By doing this it maximizes dwell time that the presoak is on the vehicle. I know some other operators have been doing this as well and have found success by doing it. Shortens wash time by only having one cycle of HP rinse and cleaning power has been better with the extra time presoak is on vehicles. Our top ceramics and hot waxes come after the HP rinse.

 

[washnshine]

One thing that we started doing to maximize cleaning power that is showing great results has been to put the triple foam right on top of the presoak. By doing this it maximizes dwell time that the presoak is on the vehicle. I know some other operators have been doing this as well and have found success by doing it. Shortens wash time by only having one cycle of HP rinse and cleaning power has been better with the extra time presoak is on vehicles. Our top ceramics and hot waxes come after the HP rinse.

What is the ph of your triple foam?

 

[Car Wash Man]

7.5-8. We Didnt go with a low ph triple foam since we didnt want high ph presoak to be as neutralized when triple foam goes on top of it. We do low ph, dwell, High PH, dwell, triple Foam, then HP Rinse. Show actually looks super good going on top of the presoak since it looks extra bubbly.

 

[Yann Xiong]

have you tried turtle wax in your self serve ?

Not yet. I using sonny's carwash chemistry. and i will buy turtle wax to try.

 

[wash man 2000]

I was asking about using the same company's chemicals as the equipment I am installing (asking if I would be locked in to theirs alone), and the guy I am working with for my equipment mentioned that I could try different chemical brands to see what we liked best, and as an aside he mumbled, and you'll get a year of free chemistry.
It seems like they are willing to give stuff away if you sign a contract to use their chemistry.

How do these contracts work, and what should I be looking for?