Car wash

A car wash (also written as “carwash“) or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior [1] and, in some cases, the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-serve, fully automated, or full-service with attendants who wash the vehicle.

With the modern convenience of touchless automatic car washes, it may be difficult to recall that the industry was not always so high-tech. Tho’, other commercial car washes came before it, the very first semi-automatic car wash in the United States made its debut in 1946, and from there, the industry has grown in both size and sophistication.

1946 Edit

The embark of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to shove or stir the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

Many things had occurred within one thousand nine hundred fifty five regarding car washing history. A businessman named Dan Hanna was encouraged by the car washers in Detroit, operated his own materials, then eventually made his own car wash called the Rub-a-Dub in Oregon. In 1957, he formed the Hanna Enterprises and eventually reached about thirty one car washes in America. In 1959, Hanna operated his wash rack until he made the very first mechanized car washing system. As the news spread via the city, so did his business. [Two]

1960s Edit

By the mid 1960s Hanna Enterprises had established itself as the main source innovator and the manufacturer of car washing equipments and materials. Over time, Hanna had made several machines that will be the very first to do the main requirements over car washing, this includes the Wrap-Around Brush, Roller-on-demand Conveyor belt, soft cloth friction washing, several ways to wash the tires, and a recirculating water system. With that said, Hanna Enterprises have become the largest vehicle washing equipment manufacturer. [Two]

1970s Edit

In the 1970s it was a difficult time for the car washing industry, as the result of the gasoline prices enhancing rapidly. Still, Hanna Enterprises made another two inventions during this time: the automatic wheel cleaner, and the grind’n’paraffin wax. [Two]

1980s Edit

In the early 1980s, the U.S. economy began a period of growth. The car wash industry recovered from the 1970s oil price surge. Automobile ownership grew rapidly. In one thousand nine hundred eighty five it was reported that there were one hundred sixty two million cars in the United States. The car wash industry developed more, the car washes grew rapidly in the 1980s. The Hanna Enterprises took this time to build many fresh inventions, and then brought them at the market. The magazine Entrepreneur gave Hanna Enterprises the #Two manufacturer and franchise in the world. And in 1982, it was the #1. Annual sales have reached a peak of $30 million. In 1989, the Hanna Enterprises was ranked #1 nationwide regarding conveyorized car washes. [Two]

1990s Edit

Within 1993, a Texas capital venture group thought about merging the two companies together. Hanna Enterprises and Sherman Carwash Company. Both of the companies later became Hanna-Sherman International Inc. Their main concentrate was with the marketing plans. Hanna had very first expanded into the Far East (Korea and Thailand), and merging other companies that includes China, Russia and Eastern Europe. Hanna had also marketed in Germany, Ireland, Latin America and also Southeast Asia. [Two]

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the possessor of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Trio] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is possessed by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

As of this date, Hanna Car Wash Systems International has more patents and trademarks than any other conveyorized system manufacturer. At the peak of over 30,000 installations within ninety countries, with over six hundred fifty million vehicles presently being used worldwide. [Two] [Four] [Five]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Arm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to stir the vehicle through a series of immobilized cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light mud accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other devices as well. [citation needed]

Mechanized car washes, especially those with brushes, were once avoided by some meticulous car owners because of the risk of bruising the finish. Paint finishes have improved as have car washing processes, and this perception of vehicle harm is much less prevalent today. However, this perception was the motive behind the rise of facilities utilizing “brushless” (cloth) and “touch-free” (high-pressure water) equipment, as well as modern “foam” washing wheels made of closed cell foam.

In today’s modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate filth and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. [ citation needed ] There has been a strong budge in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one’s home), where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in flows, rivers and lakes.

A ordinary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to begin the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

The very first conveyorized automatic car washes appeared in the late 1930s. Conveyorized automatic car washes consist of tunnel-like buildings into which customers (or attendants) drive. [ citation needed ]

Some car washes have their customers pay through a computerized POS, or point of sale unit, also known as an “automatic cashier”, which may take the place of a human cashier. The mechanism inputs the wash PLU into a master computer or a tunnel controller automatically. When the sale is automated, after paying the car is put into a line-up called the stack or queue. The stack moves sequentially, so the wash knows what each car purchased. After pulling up to the tunnel entrance, an attendant usually guides the customer onto the conveyor. At some washes, the system will send the correct number of rollers automatically, based on tire sensors. The tire sensor lets the wash know where the wheels are and how far apart they are. On other systems the employee may guide the customer on and press a ‘Send Car’ button on the tunnel controller, to by hand send the rollers which thrust the car through.

Prior to injecting the automated section of the wash tunnel, attendants may prewash customers’ cars. This process can consist of a broad range of manual cleaning procedures, including applying specialized bug removing cleaning agents to various parts of the car, performing a manual high pressure prewash (possibly focusing on areas which the tunnel cannot reasonably clean), and using manual brushes to scrub down areas of the vehicle which are difficult for the equipment to clean. Manual prewashing may be more extensive if a vehicle has mud or if the customer purchases an upgrade.

When the customer is on the conveyor, the attendant (or signage) will instruct the customer to put the vehicle into neutral, release all brakes, and refrain from steering. Failure to do so can cause an accident on the conveyor. The rollers come up behind the tires, pushing the car through a photogate, which measures vehicle length, permitting the controller to tailor the wash to each individual vehicle. Some car washes may also use ultrasonic profiling systems to determine the height or width of a vehicle, or to detect open pick-up truck beds. The equipment framework, or arches, vary in number and type.

The car wash will typically commence cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to dump chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mess and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which liquidate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a display for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen mud on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as mud is usually most intensely concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various innards to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes worthless for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following motility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a diversity of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are fastened to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being leaned. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing movability to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s mobility can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often show up as side washers with an unusually long and arched arm. Instead of leaned arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes emerge as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then resumes to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to injecting the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear cover, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a lean protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear cover protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to compelled air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Drying is done using blowers, and, in many cases, mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with specialized drying material. [12] Blowers may be present in a multiplicity of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as puny circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Similarly to the rest of the tunnel’s layout, the configuration and type of blowers varies based on operator preference. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may go after the blowers. In many cases, these extra drying components retract if a customer does not buy an upgrade. Below the blowers or textile drying elements are often tire shine applicators (also referred to as tire shiners). Tire shiners typically emerge as box-like assemblies with a guide rail on their entrance sides and a brush or sponge pad on the side closest to the vehicle. When active, a tire shiner extends out towards the vehicle and applies a water or silicone-based tire shine product to its brush, which in turn applies the product to the tire. Tire shiners are generally activated only if the customer purchases an upgrade.

Older automatic washes – a majority of which were built prior to one thousand nine hundred eighty – used to use brushes with soft nylon bristles, which tended to leave a nylon deposit in the form of a bristle, called brush marks, on the vehicle’s paint. Many newer washes use either cloth (which is not harmful to a car’s finish, as long as it is flushed with slew of water to liquidate the grit from previous washes) or a closed cell foam brush, which does not hold mud or water, thus is far less likely to harm any painted finish. Closed cell foam brushes can, in fact, provide a gentle grinding effect that will shine the vehicle’s surface during a wash. [ citation needed ]

In order to avoid marking paintwork, “touchless” (aka “touchfree” or “no-touch”) car washes were developed. [ when? ] A touchless car wash uses chemicals and high water pressure to clean the vehicle instead of brushes, minimizing the chance of surface harm to the vehicle. There are five primary factors to cleaning a vehicle successfully using a touchless system. These five factors are water quality, water temperature, chemistry, time, and water pressure generated by the equipment. If these factors are all set decently, vehicles will come out clean and shiny without the chance of vehicle harm caused by brushes. [ citation needed ]

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by mitt, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by arm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

Swimsuit car washes are typically a summer events which are fund raisers for a school, a sport association (such as roller derby [13] or auto racing [14] ), or other youth organizations or charities. Typically, women in swimsuits bring in donors by standing on a roadside with colorful cardboard signs or posters, and the cars are washed by their classmates in a nearby parking lot. Depending on the organization responsible, as well as the local laws, a variation of the swimsuit car wash sometimes occurs, in which the women will wash the car bare-chested, usually for an extra fee. There are also commercial swimsuit car washes, where bikini-clad women actually wash the cars for a fee and the entertainment of the drivers. Hooters restaurants usually have swimsuit car washes in the summer to attract customers.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made superb strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multiplicity of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very rigorous regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Contamination of surface waters may arise from the rinse discharging to storm drains, which eventually drain to rivers and lakes. Chief pollutants in such wash-water include phosphates; oil and grease; and lead. This is almost exclusively an issue for home/driveway washing, and parking lot style charity washes. Professional carwashing is a “non-point source” of discharge that has the capability to capture these contaminants, normally in interceptor drains, so the contaminants can be eliminated before the water comes in sanitary systems. (Water and contaminants that inject storm water drains does not go through treatment, and is released directly into rivers, lakes and rivulets.)

Soil contamination is sometimes related to such surface runoff, but more importantly is associated with soil contamination from underground fuel tanks or auto servicing operations which commonly are ancillary uses of car wash sites — but not an issue for car washing itself.

For these reasons, some state and local environmental groups (the most notable being the Fresh Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) have begun campaigns to encourage consumers to use professional car washes as opposed to driveway washing, including moving charity car wash fund raisers from parking lots to professional car washes.

Car wash

With the modern convenience of touchless automatic car washes, it may be difficult to recall that the industry was not always so high-tech. However, other commercial car washes came before it, the very first semi-automatic car wash in the United States made its debut in 1946, and from there, the industry has grown in both size and sophistication.

1946 Edit

The commence of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to shove or stir the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

In the 1970s it was a difficult time for the car washing industry, as the result of the gasoline prices enlargening rapidly. Still, Hanna Enterprises made another two inventions during this time: the automatic wheel cleaner, and the grind’n’paraffin wax. [Two]

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the proprietor of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Three] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is possessed by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Arm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to stir the vehicle through a series of immobile cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light filth accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other contraptions as well. [citation needed]

In today’s modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate filth and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. [ citation needed ] There has been a strong stir in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one’s home), where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in flows, rivers and lakes.

A ordinary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to embark the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

Prior to coming in the automated section of the wash tunnel, attendants may prewash customers’ cars. This process can consist of a broad range of manual cleaning procedures, including applying specialized bug removing cleaning agents to various parts of the car, performing a manual high pressure prewash (possibly focusing on areas which the tunnel cannot adequately clean), and using manual brushes to scrub down areas of the vehicle which are difficult for the equipment to clean. Manual prewashing may be more extensive if a vehicle has mud or if the customer purchases an upgrade.

The car wash will typically embark cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to bust chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mud and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which liquidate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a display for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen mess on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as filth is usually most strenuously concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various insides to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes futile for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following movement may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a multitude of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are linked to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being leaned. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing motility to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s motility can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often show up as side washers with an unusually long and arched arm. Instead of arched arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes show up as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then proceeds to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to coming in the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantaneously followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear cover, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a lean protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear cover protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to compelled air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Older automatic washes – a majority of which were built prior to one thousand nine hundred eighty – used to use brushes with soft nylon bristles, which tended to leave a nylon deposit in the form of a bristle, called brush marks, on the vehicle’s paint. Many newer washes use either cloth (which is not harmful to a car’s finish, as long as it is flushed with slew of water to liquidate the grit from previous washes) or a closed cell foam brush, which does not hold filth or water, thus is far less likely to harm any painted finish. Closed cell foam brushes can, in fact, provide a gentle grinding effect that will shine the vehicle’s surface during a wash. [ citation needed ]

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by mitt, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by palm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

Swimsuit car washes are typically a summer events which are fund raisers for a school, a sport association (such as roller derby [13] or auto racing [14] ), or other youth organizations or charities. Typically, women in swimsuits bring in donors by standing on a roadside with colorful cardboard signs or posters, and the cars are washed by their classmates in a nearby parking lot. Depending on the organization responsible, as well as the local laws, a variation of the swimsuit car wash sometimes occurs, in which the women will wash the car stripped to the waist, usually for an extra fee. There are also commercial swimsuit car washes, where bikini-clad women actually wash the cars for a fee and the entertainment of the drivers. Hooters restaurants usually have swimsuit car washes in the summer to attract customers.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made fine strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multiplicity of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water confinements are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very rigorous regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Contamination of surface waters may arise from the rinse discharging to storm drains, which eventually drain to rivers and lakes. Chief pollutants in such wash-water include phosphates; oil and grease; and lead. This is almost exclusively an issue for home/driveway washing, and parking lot style charity washes. Professional carwashing is a “non-point source” of discharge that has the capability to capture these contaminants, normally in interceptor drains, so the contaminants can be eliminated before the water comes in sanitary systems. (Water and contaminants that come in storm water drains does not fall under treatment, and is released directly into rivers, lakes and rivulets.)

Car wash

1946 Edit

The embark of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to shove or budge the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the holder of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Three] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is possessed by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Arm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to stir the vehicle through a series of motionless cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light mud accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other devices as well. [citation needed]

Mechanized car washes, especially those with brushes, were once avoided by some meticulous car owners because of the risk of hurting the finish. Paint finishes have improved as have car washing processes, and this perception of vehicle harm is much less prevalent today. However, this perception was the motive behind the rise of facilities utilizing “brushless” (cloth) and “touch-free” (high-pressure water) equipment, as well as modern “foam” washing wheels made of closed cell foam.

In today’s modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate mud and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. [ citation needed ] There has been a strong stir in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one’s home), where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in flows, rivers and lakes.

A plain and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to commence the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

The car wash will typically begin cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to burst chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mud and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which liquidate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a showcase for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen mess on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as filth is usually most intensely concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various insides to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes futile for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following motility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles budge alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a multitude of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are fastened to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being arched. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing movement to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s movability can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often show up as side washers with an unusually long and arched arm. Instead of leaned arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes show up as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then resumes to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to injecting the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear cover, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a skinny protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear cover protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to coerced air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Drying is done using blowers, and, in many cases, mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with specialized drying material. [12] Blowers may be present in a diversity of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as puny circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Similarly to the rest of the tunnel’s layout, the configuration and type of blowers varies based on operator preference. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may go after the blowers. In many cases, these extra drying components retract if a customer does not buy an upgrade. Below the blowers or textile drying elements are often tire shine applicators (also referred to as tire shiners). Tire shiners typically show up as box-like assemblies with a guide rail on their entrance sides and a brush or sponge pad on the side closest to the vehicle. When active, a tire shiner extends out towards the vehicle and applies a water or silicone-based tire shine product to its brush, which in turn applies the product to the tire. Tire shiners are generally activated only if the customer purchases an upgrade.

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by palm, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by palm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made superb strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multitude of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very rigorous regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Car wash

1946 Edit

The begin of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to shove or stir the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the proprietor of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Three] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is possessed by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Palm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to stir the vehicle through a series of stationary cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light filth accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other devices as well. [citation needed]

In today’s modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate mess and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. [ citation needed ] There has been a strong budge in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one’s home), where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in flows, rivers and lakes.

A elementary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to commence the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

Prior to injecting the automated section of the wash tunnel, attendants may prewash customers’ cars. This process can consist of a broad range of manual cleaning procedures, including applying specialized bug removing cleaning agents to various parts of the car, performing a manual high pressure prewash (possibly focusing on areas which the tunnel cannot adequately clean), and using manual brushes to scrub down areas of the vehicle which are difficult for the equipment to clean. Manual prewashing may be more extensive if a vehicle has mud or if the customer purchases an upgrade.

The car wash will typically begin cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to bust chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mud and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which liquidate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a showcase for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen mess on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as mud is usually most strongly concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various innards to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve finish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes futile for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following mobility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a diversity of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are affixed to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being arched. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing mobility to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s movability can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often show up as side washers with an unusually long and leaned arm. Instead of leaned arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes show up as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then resumes to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to injecting the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear cover, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a lean protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear glaze protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to coerced air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Drying is done using blowers, and, in many cases, mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with specialized drying material. [12] Blowers may be present in a diversity of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as puny circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Similarly to the rest of the tunnel’s layout, the configuration and type of blowers varies based on operator preference. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may go after the blowers. In many cases, these extra drying components retract if a customer does not buy an upgrade. Below the blowers or textile drying elements are often tire shine applicators (also referred to as tire shiners). Tire shiners typically emerge as box-like assemblies with a guide rail on their entrance sides and a brush or sponge pad on the side closest to the vehicle. When active, a tire shiner extends out towards the vehicle and applies a water or silicone-based tire shine product to its brush, which in turn applies the product to the tire. Tire shiners are generally activated only if the customer purchases an upgrade.

Older automatic washes – a majority of which were built prior to one thousand nine hundred eighty – used to use brushes with soft nylon bristles, which tended to leave a nylon deposit in the form of a bristle, called brush marks, on the vehicle’s paint. Many newer washes use either cloth (which is not harmful to a car’s finish, as long as it is flushed with slew of water to liquidate the grit from previous washes) or a closed cell foam brush, which does not hold filth or water, thus is far less likely to harm any painted finish. Closed cell foam brushes can, in fact, provide a gentle grinding effect that will shine the vehicle’s surface during a wash. [ citation needed ]

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by mitt, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many total service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by arm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made fine strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multiplicity of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very stringent regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Contamination of surface waters may arise from the rinse discharging to storm drains, which eventually drain to rivers and lakes. Chief pollutants in such wash-water include phosphates; oil and grease; and lead. This is almost exclusively an issue for home/driveway washing, and parking lot style charity washes. Professional carwashing is a “non-point source” of discharge that has the capability to capture these contaminants, normally in interceptor drains, so the contaminants can be liquidated before the water comes in sanitary systems. (Water and contaminants that come in storm water drains does not go through treatment, and is released directly into rivers, lakes and rivulets.)

Car wash

1946 Edit

The begin of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to thrust or stir the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Forearm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to budge the vehicle through a series of immobilized cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light filth accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other instruments as well. [citation needed]

A ordinary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to commence the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

Prior to injecting the automated section of the wash tunnel, attendants may prewash customers’ cars. This process can consist of a broad range of manual cleaning procedures, including applying specialized bug removing cleaning agents to various parts of the car, performing a manual high pressure prewash (possibly focusing on areas which the tunnel cannot adequately clean), and using manual brushes to scrub down areas of the vehicle which are difficult for the equipment to clean. Manual prewashing may be more extensive if a vehicle has mud or if the customer purchases an upgrade.

The car wash will typically commence cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to splatter chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mud and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which eliminate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a display for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen mess on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as mess is usually most intensely concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various insides to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes worthless for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following motility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a multiplicity of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are affixed to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being leaned. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing movement to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s maneuverability can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often show up as side washers with an unusually long and leaned arm. Instead of arched arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes show up as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then resumes to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to coming in the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear cover, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a lean protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear decorate protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to coerced air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Drying is done using blowers, and, in many cases, mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with specialized drying material. [12] Blowers may be present in a multiplicity of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as petite circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Similarly to the rest of the tunnel’s layout, the configuration and type of blowers varies based on operator preference. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may go after the blowers. In many cases, these extra drying components retract if a customer does not buy an upgrade. Below the blowers or textile drying elements are often tire shine applicators (also referred to as tire shiners). Tire shiners typically show up as box-like assemblies with a guide rail on their entrance sides and a brush or sponge pad on the side closest to the vehicle. When active, a tire shiner extends out towards the vehicle and applies a water or silicone-based tire shine product to its brush, which in turn applies the product to the tire. Tire shiners are generally activated only if the customer purchases an upgrade.

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by forearm, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by palm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

Swimsuit car washes are typically a summer events which are fund raisers for a school, a sport association (such as roller derby [13] or auto racing [14] ), or other youth organizations or charities. Typically, women in swimsuits bring in donors by standing on a roadside with colorful cardboard signs or posters, and the cars are washed by their classmates in a nearby parking lot. Depending on the organization responsible, as well as the local laws, a variation of the swimsuit car wash sometimes occurs, in which the women will wash the car bare-breasted, usually for an extra fee. There are also commercial swimsuit car washes, where bikini-clad women actually wash the cars for a fee and the entertainment of the drivers. Hooters restaurants usually have swimsuit car washes in the summer to attract customers.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made good strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multiplicity of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very stringent regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Car wash

With the modern convenience of touchless automatic car washes, it may be difficult to reminisce that the industry was not always so high-tech. Tho’, other commercial car washes came before it, the very first semi-automatic car wash in the United States made its debut in 1946, and from there, the industry has grown in both size and sophistication.

1946 Edit

The commence of the history of car washing dated back into 1914. People used manpower to shove or budge the cars through stages of the process. Eventually, manual car wash operations peaked at thirty two drive-through facilities in the United States. Prior to this time, the evolution of car washing was just at the beginning, and that the automatic car washing was born. The very first semi-automatic car wash was active for the very first time in Detroit, Michigan using automatic pulley systems and manual brushing. [Two]

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the possessor of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Three] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is wielded by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Palm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to stir the vehicle through a series of immobile cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light filth accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other instruments as well. [citation needed]

A ordinary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to embark the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

Prior to coming in the automated section of the wash tunnel, attendants may prewash customers’ cars. This process can consist of a broad range of manual cleaning procedures, including applying specialized bug removing cleaning agents to various parts of the car, performing a manual high pressure prewash (possibly focusing on areas which the tunnel cannot reasonably clean), and using manual brushes to scrub down areas of the vehicle which are difficult for the equipment to clean. Manual prewashing may be more extensive if a vehicle has mud or if the customer purchases an upgrade.

The car wash will typically commence cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to splash chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal mess and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which eliminate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a showcase for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen filth on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as mud is usually most strenuously concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various innards to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes worthless for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following motility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a multitude of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are linked to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being arched. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing mobility to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s movability can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often emerge as side washers with an unusually long and leaned arm. Instead of arched arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes show up as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then proceeds to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to injecting the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear glaze, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a lean protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear glaze protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to compelled air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Drying is done using blowers, and, in many cases, mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with specialized drying material. [12] Blowers may be present in a diversity of forms, such as stationary gantries with a contouring roof jet or as petite circular assemblies with nozzles of various shapes and sizes mounted on arches. Similarly to the rest of the tunnel’s layout, the configuration and type of blowers varies based on operator preference. Mitters, side brushes, top brushes, and/or wraps outfitted with chamois- or microfiber-based material may go after the blowers. In many cases, these extra drying components retract if a customer does not buy an upgrade. Below the blowers or textile drying elements are often tire shine applicators (also referred to as tire shiners). Tire shiners typically emerge as box-like assemblies with a guide rail on their entrance sides and a brush or sponge pad on the side closest to the vehicle. When active, a tire shiner extends out towards the vehicle and applies a water or silicone-based tire shine product to its brush, which in turn applies the product to the tire. Tire shiners are generally activated only if the customer purchases an upgrade.

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by palm, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by arm or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

Swimsuit car washes are typically a summer events which are fund raisers for a school, a sport association (such as roller derby [13] or auto racing [14] ), or other youth organizations or charities. Typically, women in swimsuits bring in donors by standing on a roadside with colorful cardboard signs or posters, and the cars are washed by their classmates in a nearby parking lot. Depending on the organization responsible, as well as the local laws, a variation of the swimsuit car wash sometimes occurs, in which the women will wash the car braless, usually for an extra fee. There are also commercial swimsuit car washes, where bikini-clad women actually wash the cars for a fee and the entertainment of the drivers. Hooters restaurants usually have swimsuit car washes in the summer to attract customers.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made fine strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a diversity of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very stringent regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

Contamination of surface waters may arise from the rinse discharging to storm drains, which eventually drain to rivers and lakes. Chief pollutants in such wash-water include phosphates; oil and grease; and lead. This is almost exclusively an issue for home/driveway washing, and parking lot style charity washes. Professional carwashing is a “non-point source” of discharge that has the capability to capture these contaminants, normally in interceptor drains, so the contaminants can be eliminated before the water comes in sanitary systems. (Water and contaminants that inject storm water drains does not fall under treatment, and is released directly into rivers, lakes and rivulets.)

Car wash

1946 Edit

1955 Edit

1960s Edit

1970s Edit

1980s Edit

1990s Edit

2000s Edit

Within 2001, a prominent group known as the Northwest Inventors, had bought the assets of Hanna-Sherman International, and then later formed today’s Hanna Car Wash Systems International, LLC. As the fresh company’s shareholders includes The Aspen Group that is based in (Portland Oregon), and Roy P. Disney, the holder of the Apogee Company, that is based in (Burbank, California). [Three] The Aspen Group is an investment group formed in 1989, and has contributed to over two hundred diverse projects including Warner Bros. The Channel thirty two in Salem Oregon, the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, also the Gregory Loft’s in Portland’s Pearl District. The Apogee Group is a private investment organization that is wielded by Roy P. Disney. [Two]

While there are many types of car washes, most fall into the following categories:

Palm car wash facilities, where the vehicle is washed by employees.
Self-service facilities, which are generally coin-operated, where the customer does the washing, including pressurized “jet washing”. [6]
In-bay automatics, consist of an automatic washing machine and dryer that rolls back and forward over a stationary vehicle – often seen at packing stations and stand-alone wash sites.
Tunnel washes, which use a conveyor to budge the vehicle through a series of motionless cleaning mechanisms. [6]
Chemical car wash, also known as waterless car wash, uses chemicals to wash and grind car surface. Claims to be an eco-friendly car wash method. [7] Recommended only for cars with light mud accumulation to avoid paint harm. [8]
Steam car washes use a jet of steam and micro fiber towels, some include detergent injection. Known to have originated from South Korea, steam car washes have been especially popular as a low-investment, eco-friendly car wash solution in Asia, Middle East and Europe thanks to its sanitizing features and mobility. [citation needed]
Mobile car washes, often also serving as mobile detailing systems, which carry plastic water tanks and use pressure washers. Sometimes these systems are mounted on trailers, on trucks, or in vans. Generally these operators also have a generator to run a shop vac., buffers and other contraptions as well. [citation needed]

In today’s modern car wash facilities, whether tunnel, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are designed to loosen and eliminate filth and grime. This is in contrast to earlier times, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was commonly used as a cleaning agent in the industry by some operators. [ citation needed ] There has been a strong stir in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Most car wash facilities are required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and may be required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing (at one’s home), where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in rivulets, rivers and lakes.

A ordinary and automated type of car wash that is typically coin-operated or token-operated self-service system. Newer self-service car washes suggest the capability to pay with credit cards or loyalty cards. The vehicle is parked inwards a large covered bay that is tooled with a trigger gun and wand (a high-pressure sprayer) and a scrub foam-brush. When customers insert coins or tokens into the controller, they can choose options such as soap, tire cleaner, paraffin wax or clear water rinse, all dispensed from the sprayer, or scrub the vehicle with the foam brush. The number of coins or tokens inserted determines the amount of time customers have to operate the equipment; in most instances, a minimum number of coins is necessary to embark the equipment. These facilities are often tooled with separate vacuum stations that permit customers to clean the upholstery and rugs inwards their cars. Some self-service car washes suggest hand-held dryers, a somewhat fresh feature.

Conveyorized/Tunnel Car Wash Edit

The car wash will typically embark cleaning with chemicals called presoaks applied through special arches. These arches often use nozzles placed to drizzle chemicals in a bi-directional pattern. In many cases, presoak arches are designed to foam the presoak prior to its application to the car. They may apply a higher pH (mild alkali) followed by a lower pH (mild acid), or the order may be reversed depending on the car wash operator’s preference. Chemical formulas and concentrations may also vary based upon seasonal filth and film on vehicles, as well as exterior temperature, and other factors. Chemical dilution and application works in combination with removal systems based on either high pressure water, friction, or a combination of both. Chemical substances, while they are industrial strength, are not used in harmful concentrations since car washes are designed not to harm a vehicle’s components or finish. One or more sets CTAs, or “chemical tire applicators,” are often found near the presoak arches. These will apply specialized formulations, which liquidate brake dust and build up from the surface of the wheels and tires. In many cases, CTAs will only activate if the customer has purchased a wheel cleaning upgrade. Special presoaks may be applied if the customer purchases an upgrade. Extra presoaks are typically applied via a “lava” or “sheet”-style foamer to provide more of a demonstrate for the customer. [9]

After the presoak application, a car wash tunnel’s layout can vary greatly. In some car washes, presoak application is followed by an empty space, or idle zone. This provides time for the presoak to loosen filth on the car. In many cases, wheel cleaning equipment, such as sill brushes or high pressure wheel blasters, are placed in the idle zone. A sill brush (also known as a wheel brush or tire brush) consists of an 8-foot-long brush assembly which is shoved against the car’s wheels and door sill area. Sill brushes are typically use flagged bristle, as mud is usually most intensely concentrated on the lower parts of the car. The material on a sill brush may have alternating lengths or use material which is intentionally mounted off-center to permit wheel surfaces of various insides to be cleaned. Sill brushes rely on the rotation of a customer’s car’s wheels in order to achieve accomplish wheel contact. Similarly to the CTAs, wheel brushes often only activate when the customer buys a wheel cleaning upgrade. Some car washes use wheel-rim disc brushes in addition to or in place of sill brushes. These assemblies extend out towards the wheel and go after it at the same speed as the conveyor while rotating at high speeds to clean the wheels. These devices are popular in car washes that use belt conveyors, as a belt conveyor prevents the wheels of a customer’s car from rotating and thus renders sill brushes worthless for wheel cleaning. Some car washes feature numerous sets of wheel brushes and suggest numerous levels of wheel cleaning. Tracking high pressure wheel blasters consist of assemblies with numerous nozzles that go after a car’s wheel over a distance. While following a car’s wheel, a wheel blaster directs high-pressure water at the wheel. The following mobility may be achieved by having the nozzles pivot to face the wheel or by having the nozzles stir alongside the car at the same speed as the conveyor. At the end of a car wash’s presoak idle zone is often a high pressure arch. High pressure arches direct high pressure water at a vehicle’s surface. This may be done “V-jet” nozzles, rotating “turbo” nozzles, spinning manifolds, and oscillating and/or pivoting manifolds. Some high pressure systems maintain a constant distance from the vehicle to provide more consistent results. Separate high pressure top, wheel, and/or side blasters may be present in place of or supplementary to a high pressure arch.

Following the idle zone and/or high pressure arch (if applicable) is the friction zone. In the friction zone, a diversity of brushes are used to clean all of the vehicle’s surfaces. Wrap-around brushes (wraps) clean the front, sides, and rear of a car. A set of wraps consists of two offset brushes which are fastened to overhead arms which are generally mounted over the center of the tunnel. Some wrap-around brush designs use jointed side-mounted arms to increase the brush’s front and rear contact time. Wraps typically rotate with the vehicle’s direction of travel. Some wrap-around brushes are capable of switching direction while cleaning the front of a car to prevent customers’ license plates from being leaned. Wraps are supplemented by side brushes (ranging in size from eighteen inches [45 cm] up to sixty three inches [160 cm] tall or higher). Side brushes may be either top or bottom mounted. To conserve space, side brushes are often staggered in the space occupied by a set of wraps or placed under top surface cleaning components, such as top brushes or mitters. Side brushes rotate against the vehicle’s direction of travel to increase cleaning power. Top brushes are rotating brush assemblies which clean the vehicle’s top surfaces. A top brush can face either the entrance or exit of the tunnel to assist in cleaning the car’s front or rear. Some specialized top brushes are designed to achieve more contact time with the front or rear of vehicles. [Ten] To prevent harm, a top brush can be programmed to retract if an ultrasonic pick-up truck bed detection system detects a pick-up truck with an open bed. In many car washes, top brushes are either supplemented by or substituted with mitters. Mitters are components which suspend cloth strips or sheets over the tunnel while utilizing maneuverability to increase friction against the car’s surface. A mitter’s motility can be front to back, side to side, rotational, circular, or diagonal. The friction zone may also include specialized front grill and rear brushes. Front grill brushes clean the front, and in many cases, the sides of vehicles. They often emerge as side washers with an unusually long and arched arm. Instead of arched arms, some front grill brushes use jointed arms. Like standard side washers, a grill brush may be either top or bottom driven. Rear brushes emerge as a specialized tall side washers with long arms that face the entrance of the tunnel. Once a car’s mirror passes a rear brush, the brush makes contact with the vehicle’s side, where it then resumes to engage until the assembly cleans the rear of the car. Extra high pressure components may also be present in the main friction zone. [11]

After the main friction zone, some car washes have a dedicated care zone. Prior to injecting the care zone, the car is rinsed with fresh water. This is instantly followed by a series of extra services. In many car washes, the very first of these services is a grind paraffin wax. Grind waxes pack in microscopic imperfections in the vehicle’s clear glaze, thus improving shine. After the grind paraffin wax application is typically a retractable mitter or top brush and, in some cases, side brushes or wrap-around brushes. Next is a protectant, which creates a skinny protective film over a vehicle’s surface. Protectants generally repel water, which assists in drying the car and aiding in the driver’s capability to see through their windshield during rain. A low-end paraffin wax or clear glaze protectant goes after the main protectant. A drying agent is typically applied at the end of the tunnel to assist in removing water from the vehicle’s surface prior to coerced air drying. After the drying agent, there may be a “spot free” rinse of soft water, that has been filtered of the salts normally present, and sent through semi-permeable membranes to produce very purified water that will not leave catches sight of.

Older automatic washes – a majority of which were built prior to one thousand nine hundred eighty – used to use brushes with soft nylon bristles, which tended to leave a nylon deposit in the form of a bristle, called brush marks, on the vehicle’s paint. Many newer washes use either cloth (which is not harmful to a car’s finish, as long as it is flushed with slew of water to liquidate the grit from previous washes) or a closed cell foam brush, which does not hold mess or water, thus is far less likely to harm any painted finish. Closed cell foam brushes can, in fact, provide a gentle grinding effect that will shine the vehicle’s surface during a wash. [ citation needed ]

At “full-service” car washes, the exterior of the car is washed mechanically with conveyorized equipment, by arm, or using a combination of both, with attendants available to dry the car by hand, and to clean the interior (normally consisting of cleaning the windows, wiping the front and side dashes, and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery). Many utter service car washes also provide “detailing” services, which may include grinding and waxing the car’s exterior by mitt or machine, shampooing and steaming interiors, and other services to provide thorough cleaning and protection to the car.

Swimsuit car washes are typically a summer events which are fund raisers for a school, a sport association (such as roller derby [13] or auto racing [14] ), or other youth organizations or charities. Typically, women in swimsuits bring in donors by standing on a roadside with colorful cardboard signs or posters, and the cars are washed by their classmates in a nearby parking lot. Depending on the organization responsible, as well as the local laws, a variation of the swimsuit car wash sometimes occurs, in which the women will wash the car stripped to the waist, usually for an extra fee. There are also commercial swimsuit car washes, where bikini-clad women actually wash the cars for a fee and the entertainment of the drivers. Hooters restaurants usually have swimsuit car washes in the summer to attract customers.

The primary environmental considerations for car washing are:

Use of water supplies and energy are self-evident, since car washes are users of such resources. The professional car wash industry has made good strides in reducing its environmental footprint, a trend that will proceed to accelerate due to regulation and consumer request. Many car washes already use water reclamation systems to significantly reduce water usage and a multitude of energy usage reduction technologies. These systems may be mandatory where water limitations are in place. In Europe, Germany is leading the way and has very stringent regulations making it illegal to wash your car on the street or in your driveway. [15]

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Car wash

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1946 Edit

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Car wash

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