Prewash options

[tw1012]

I am still fighting with my prewash operations.

We were using dawn when I took over the wash and everyone on the forum tells me its not good to use.

I have been trying different options that my chemical rep has been providing and have not found a good alternative.

The best product we have used so far is a powder based chemical called a drum pack. We have been putting it in the spray guns and wetting down the vehicle as well as putting a handful in the brush buckets when we change the water.

I have two problems with this product.

One is that unless the vehicle is kept wet it dries quickly and leaves bad streaks that the in bay does not take out.

Two is that it is costing me about $.20 per car. We think we can stretch it to a month but even then its $.10 per car which I think is way to high.

One option is to increase the pressure that is going to my prewash guns. Right now its pretty low, just enough to get the cars wet. If I increase the pressure I could use less soap.

here is what I have now

Can I just put a higher pressure pump or would I have to run new lines to the guns?

What type of soap would ya'll recommend I try for my prewash soap?

 

[madscientist]

If your wash is cleaning the cars properly you don't need your prewash to be that strong or use that much. Just a quick pass over for most of the car with a little extra attention to the bugs on the front, the tires, and perhaps the back of suv's should do the trick. You don't need any in the brush buckets.

What is the pressure now?

On days like today when it is 102 degrees, we wait until the car in the bay is about to finish before spraying down the next car.

 

[tw1012]

The pressure is pretty low, looks like 90 psi. Its just enough to get the cars wet but doesn't do anything to remove dirt or bugs etc.

My wash doesn't do much by itself, if a car is not prewashed properly it doesn't come out clean on the other side. I removed the second presoak to save time and money. I'm sure I can crank it back up again and get cleaner cars with just the wash but I would rather keep my in wash chemical costs low and do the work before they go into the wash.

What do ya'll use for prewash?

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

You may want to take a look at what you are using during the wash. Maybe if you used better chemical in there you wouldn't need prewash or so much labor. What equipment do you have and what are you using for chemicals?

 

[tw1012]

laserwash

we have a laserwash G5.

We use "the option" for Presoak
10 sec wait
High pressure pass using reclaim
spot free rinse
polish
wax
clearcoat
spot free rinse

 

[car washing systems inc]

Are you doing a 2 step presoak ?

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

Other people are getting clean cars with that machine. With the right chemical setup you should be able to also. I'm a friction guy but I'm certain that a good chemical guy could change your life.

 

[tw1012]

I am only doing a one step presoak to save time and money.


Even if I were to get it perfect in the machine I would not be able to give up the prewash. My customers expect the prewash and come to my wash because of all the work we do so cutting out the prewash is not an option.

I just need to find a cheap effective product to use in the prewash.

 

[DavidM]

I read back over some of your old threads trying to get a good picture of what you are trying to accomplish. As other operators have pointed out, I think you are firmly straddling a fence that you will need to eventually choose a side - Labor free and low volume or higher volume with labor. If you don't understand why that is, we can help explain it more clearly.
Anyway, to answer your question, I would decide if the automatic is cleaning cars or the prep guys are cleaning the cars. There is no sense in double washing. If the prep guys do the cleaning, speed up the automatic part. Most guys get a clean car out of a 7 minute wash without prepping, if you are going to prep, get that wash down to 3-4 minutes. Because you are paying 4 employees, you need to maximize your throughput.

As for a prep soap, it will be difficult to find one that cleans well and can dry on the vehicle without leaving streaks. If the soap has to be on the vehicle for 5 minutes before entering the wash it will dry. In a tunnel wash the cars move fast enough that the soap doesn't have time to dry.
Maybe one option is to not start prepping the vehicle until shortly before it is ready to enter the wash. Also, the weaker the soap, the less likely it is to streak. If you are planning to cut the usage in half that may help with the streaking. Finally, there are some high quality soaps that may be less likely to streak.

David

 

[tw1012]

David,

Thanks for taking the time to read through my old posts. I am defiantly looking to run a higher volume wash with labor. The Automatic is only there to rinse off the soap, put on a show and apply the gloss, wax and clear coat. Right now we don’t have the numbers to need to cut down on the wash time. It is currently around 6 minutes and when the wash volume gets high enough I have some ideas to cut the time down to 3 or 4.

Just to clarify I only have one employee and myself at the wash during the week and have 2-3 extras on the weekends not 4 employees at one time.
We are trying not to let the soap dry but we have been hitting record highs here between 100 and 104 daily and towards the end of the day it’s really hard for one guy to spray the car and brush all the way around before the soap dries on the other side.
We are trying some different combinations and are weakening the amount of soap that is being sprayed on.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Kevin James]

Use whatever is the most economical for you. If Dawn works for you as a prewash use it. I’ve been washing my cars in the driveway since I was 15. I’ve used whatever Mom had under the kitchen sink, Dawn, Joy, Palmolive and now I still use whatever we’ve got under the sink. I’ve never had any problems with the paint on any of my cars. I hand wax them once or twice a year. They look as nice when I sell or trade them off as they did when I got them.

 

[raisetheprice]

How's your water? Softner working correctly? That machine should be getting the cars perfect in the summer as the cars aren't coming in as dirty with zero rainfall. Another plus is that they are coming in hot, hitting them with a ton of prep cools the surface and cuts your machines abilities. Windshield, grill, wheels/tires, back glass on SUVs. That's it and right before the car in the bay leaves. You really need 2 passes of presoak and 2 dwell times. I used to rinse in between presoak, it only wasted time and water. Also, the rinse in between only diluted the 2nd presoak. Dwell time is the key, not prepping.

Here's our setup:

$10 Top wash:

undercarriage 35 seconds
lp soak High PH (bug & rear double)
dwell 12 seconds in the summer, 15 winter
lp soak 2 High PH
dwell 12
HP Rinse (bug & rear double)
lp wax
medium pressure protectant (drying aid)
spot free
dry 65 seconds