Where have all the automatic car washes gone?

Hardly... In backwoods Albania, there are small towns where every other house is a hand carwash.

Reply to
Adrian
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Special wax - another reason for not using an automatic. Don't want wax on the windscreen. A few bug splats mixed with light rain and wax = instant opaque windscreen when you turn the wipers on.

A well applied Rain-X treatment is good but note the well applied. Windscreen needs to be spotlessly clean, which takes effort and time. The application of the Rain-X itself and the buffing takes effort and time. It's a whole, warm and dry, afternoon job to do.

Worth it IMHO, screen is easier to clean both by the wipers and hand, rain beads and blows off. What can be a bit disturbing is the very fine mist like beads that the wipers can leave behind but they very quickly disappear. Wiper judder is not unknown, but curable by careful cleaning of the blades and applying Rain-X to them.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Used to do some of the Windows on the Farmhouse with Rain-X which had nothing between it and Dartmoor 16 miles away so got a real battering on some rainy days, made quite a difference to the ambience when the water just rolled off rather than staring out through a depressing murk. I got on with it on vehicle windscreens for a few years and agree the screen must be spotless ,ideally new. Later I either lost the knack or somehow despite intensive cleaning it always seemed to leave a misted effect when the wipers went back on their return stroke which was particularly annoying at night. Wonder if the formulae was ever changed? Since then I find a good intensive clean gives as good results if wipers are in good order. I did try Rain-X windscreen washer additive once about 15-20 years ago,That was a disaster and caused more misting than an Autumn morning.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

I don't know but I do know that often the automatic ones used to be paired with Volleying services. One assumes that this means inside as well, so you hand the car over removing anything valuable one supposes, and a guy cleans the inside then drives it through their machine. This costs an arm and a leg and i got the distinct impression only business users bothered. Never had a car of my own obviously, but this is what I hear. Not being in the workplace any more I don't know if this is still done. I understand that auto washers often use less water than a manual wash as well, but maybe they go wrong a lot, break bits of the plastic cars off or something. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

I am told that now the best ones to use of the manual kind are all run by Poles. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

The ones that ask you (politely) when you are parked in a Sainsbury car park if you want your car washed all have eastern european accents, but I'm not sure that I am skilled enough to distinguish a Polish accent from those of other nearby countries. I guess I need to brush up my language skills (not the first thing I thought of when finding I had a dirty car).

Reply to
Clive Page

I had wondered about the economy of Albania. I guess they make their living by washing each other's cars. Simples.

Reply to
Clive Page

Rain-X? Ghastly, evil stuff. If I'm looking at a car that's had its windscreen treated with it, I drop my offer by the cost of a new windscreen, since you can never entirely remove it and peering through the smeary end result is unacceptable.

Reply to
Huge

NY explained :

+1
Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

I knew someone would come along and say that. It's a Marmite substance. B-)

Probably badly applied. You can't just slosh it onto a even a freshly washed screen, move it about with a cloth/wipers and expect it to perform well. The screen has to be *spotless*, its getting the glass really clean that takes most of the time. As I said it's good, warm and dry, afternoons work to do properly and in my experience worth it.

I've put it on my last three cars and its performed very well. Above about 40 mph the wipers almost become redundant as the water beads and blows off fast enough to keep the screen clear. I find that combined with a decent strength screen wash(*) bug splat doesn't smear quite as much and will get wiped away much quicker than on a "normal" screen. "Misting" from very fine beads after a wiper disappears well before the next wiper pass but I agree can be a bit disconcerting. Judder just needs blades that are clean and aren't worn out.

(*) A concentration of something that will stop the fluid freezing unless it gets below about -8 C. Not the pathetically weak stuff garages top up with or is commonly available.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I can design and build a car. Should I be busy doing it?

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Hum, the rain and wind here can be similar to some one throwing bucket fulls at the windows while a small fire hose plays against them.

"Misting" in one direction of blade travel would indicate something not quite right the the blade (wear/age) and/or its geometry relative to the screen and/or its cleanliness.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Driving across Jutland, in sub zero temps I got both screenwash freezing AND severe ice build up on the radio aerial due to evaporative cooling.

Alcohol in the screenwash makes it almost worse!

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Yes, if building the car yourself is quicker, cheaper and easier than simply going out to buy one. I have the facilities here to make it all of those things, so I wash it at home.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

In my City all automatics almost all automatic have closed ... and so have a great deal of petrol stations ... they now have a Polish hand car wash instead of selling fuel.

Must be at least a dozen of these sprung up in last couple of years.

Reply to
rick

Takes me less time to wash the car at home than to drive to the nearest carwash and possibly have to queue to use it.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I leave mine with my man whilst I go off for coffee and cake. Washes, vacuums and does a darn good job on the alloy wheels, a task I particularly hate. Well worth the occasional tenner. ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

How do you wash the underside of the vehicle to remove all the salt?

Reply to
charles

With the 90deg extension wand for my pressue washer, purchased specifically for that purpose.

Reply to
Huge

Is there any need to do that with modern cars?

Reply to
ARW

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