Hand wash vs car wash

[Superdannyboy]

This color combo reminds me of an '04-'07 WRX STI

That was my inspiration! Told my wife I put light bronze wheels on the truck, she said what the, she went outside and saw it and said yeeeeaaaa I like it, haha.
I was planning on rallying it this year the season started 2 weeks ago in Austin, but with the newborn we decided to wait until next January and haul it on a trailer as a family.
I have fiberglass and it's gonna get dirty and chip but I'll still hand wash it. I just don't like those swirls from the brush carwash.

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[Motorpsychology]

I think the old nylon "pine needle" bristle rotating brushes were prone to leave scratches, but I've had no scratching with the newer felt strip type brushes. I usually get the spray wash and I hand wash both my Ranger and my Mariner with a wash mitt a couple times a year. But where I live the DOTs use some witch's brew of potassium chloride or magnesium chloride in the winter that will not spray off completely. The soft touch gets most of it off.

I would avoid any car wash that is in proximity of say, an off road park but typically, most road patina is very fine, concrete dust etc, and the bulk of it rinses out when the brushes start up; usually 2-3 seconds before the trolley starts moving over the vehicle.

Below, are pictures of my original paint 2009 Mercury Mariner that has had several dozen brush car washes over the last twelve years:

Both the Ranger and the Merc have had three applications of 303 Graphene in 2021. Before that, the Mariner was waxed with various Meguiars or Turtle Wax products a couple times a year.
I think a good base coat of quality wax got a long way to protecting the paint against everyday road patina, and probably lessens the effect of scratching. I always get the top wash with the really cool rainbow foam, too regardless.

 

[Trash Panda]

Hand Wash only. ? Adam’s Polishes are my jam! Their Graphene Line is top notch too!

 

[MXGOLF]

I too only hand wash my Ranger! I just did wash mine Saturday! Nice weather finally after all the rain and a bit of snow we have had. Major rain this winter here in Oregon. Lucille is looking good.

 

[SpazC]

Used to be a 100% 2-bucket, foam cannon, hand wash guy. Then I found myself being on the road 200+ days a year for work... so I hand washed when I could, and didn't have touchless washes near my house.

If you pay attention to the various brushed automatic washes around where you live, and/or talk to the management there, you can get a good idea of when they change our their hanging and spinning mits. There are about 15 automatics within 15-20 min of the house so it wasn't hard to find one with fresh equipment monthly.

I'd catch whichever place had just replaced their mitts and go on the first day they had the wash back up and running. That + selecting whatever wash had the most stuff spraying on your vehicle ( prewash, suds, extra soap, all the gimmicky multicolored snake oil elixirs) seemed to give me the least amount of swirling/scratches. I figured the more liquid snake oil sprayed on, the more lubrication the mitts had which I found lead to the least damage.

I also made sure to use the most popular ( at the time) sealant/wax/ceramic coating on 3 month basis regardless of longevity claims.

I quit that industry that was keeping me out all the time and have since gone back to foam cannon + 2 bucket for my last vehicle and my current Ranger.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Hand Wash only. ? Adam’s Polishes are my jam! Their Graphene Line is top notch too!

The top photo is how our vehicles look after a week of driving on our brine solution sprayed roads! ?
I've always liked the chrome pkg on a black truck. I would've gotten a black Ranger/chrome pkg, but the two previous vehicles were black and I wanted to change it up.
My Carbonized Grey Ranger after ~40 mi WI-MN driving:

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Years back I used to work for a car wash/detail company and I would run my car through the wash every day I worked that was one of the perks. Washed it 5 days a week for 2.5 years straight (except rain days) and never had a single solitary issue with the paint getting messed up. Car was always immaculately clean and glossy just like the day I bought it.

Car washes, it all depends on the quality of the brushes and if the company maintains the equipment or not. As long as they do then there should never be an issue. The cheap crappy wash stations at the local gas station are the worst. Touchless are better but only work on light surface dust and won't really get it as clean as the full service units or done by hand. The full service establishments are much better as long as they know what they are doing. Any place that's been around for more than a couple years under the same owner/management is obviously doing it right and not screwing up a bunch of cars. Otherwise you would never see anyone there and/or sell out/close shop.

 

[Doc]

I squirt it with the hose …

 

[BrassSlinger]

I handwash until it gets too cold to do it. In cold season i run through touch less car wash.

The touch less ones will only remove the top layer of dirt they dont scrub very well. They are good to make it a 10 footer wash and closer and you can see the grime it couldn't remove

 

[Langwilliams]

As a condo dweller I have a monthly pass for $30 a month up to 8 washes a day. Underbody spray, clear coat protectant an air dry. It has the "soft brushes". There's only one no touch I know of near me an since it does one car at a time so the line takes forever. The advantage to the pull through is they can run a ton of cars a minute. The grime around the wheel wells doesn't get that clean so I occasionally hit it at home with a bucket before going or use the self spray. Hand washing is against the rules but only one person ever objected to it when I wash the HD an she moved. The tap was on her wall an she heard it an didn't like it.

 

[D Fresh]

Condo dweller here. Touchless 33%, wand wash 66%. Now that I have the Prinsu rack it will be 100% wand wash.
I detailed cars for a year. Now I am happy if it looks good from 5’ away.

Don't live in a condo, and never detailed cars. But this is me.

I'll wax once a year and claybar maybe every couple of years in addition. But that the extent of the effort I'm putting in.

 

[landiscarrier]

Living in NE PA handwashing past November isn't really going to happen. I put a good coat of wax on it in the fall and join the local full serve drive through car wash club. $30.00 a month unlimited washes....undercarriage too. Then in spring I wax it up again.

Brush washes aren't the best but they're 100% better than leaving salt and road grime on them.

 

[Trash Panda]

The top photo is how our vehicles look after a week of driving on our brine solution sprayed roads! ?
I've always liked the chrome pkg on a black truck. I would've gotten a black Ranger/chrome pkg, but the two previous vehicles were black and I wanted to change it up.
My Carbonized Grey Ranger after ~40 mi WI-MN driving:

See, I’m not a Chrome guy. But my Ranger was the cheapest Lariat I could find in Alabama. However I agree; a black truck is the only acceptable color with Chrome to me. ?

It’s growing on me though. ?

 

[OrangeStreak]

I wash my truck only by hand with Meguiar's car wash and a soft mitt using the two-bucket method. Dry with microfiber towels.

My past experience with a brush wash and soft cloth wash have not been favorable. The brush wash of course left swirl marks in the paint and the soft cloth wash left a sticky coating of oil on my tires (this happens when the cloth gets contaminated from picking up dirt, oil and grime off other vehicles then it is transfers to yours). I have never liked to wash vehicles by hand and probably never will but once I get going it is therapeutic and provides some exercise.

The paint on 5g Rangers is known to be soft so doing it by hand can help protect the clear coat and prevent the paint surface from being damaged. I realize that not everyone is able to do a hand wash due to physical restrictions and location, so they need to use other options.

Last wash, clay bar and wax in 2021...

 

[Mirage775]

See, I’m not a Chrome guy. But my Ranger was the cheapest Lariat I could find in Alabama. However I agree; a black truck is the only acceptable color with Chrome to me. ?

It’s growing on me though. ?

IMO, chrome doesn't belong on any vehicle past 1990! I do love the "sport" look of everything being the same color, Black preferably I thought that the Iconic Silver Lariat Ranger w/Chrome pkg would look ok, but after seeing it in person, I disagree now...

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