Complete Guide to Self Service Car Wash

• Car maintenance,
• Oct 14, 2019

 

Car washes can be tricky. Especially when they are performed by yourself. The risk of ripping your paint off the car is great due to the high-pressure water stream striking your cash at immense speed. What is the alternative, use a bucket or a low-pressure pipe? Well, there is a problem with that approach as although it is safe, it is not that efficient or convenient as it takes up a lot of time and does not clean your car as well as the high-pressure water flow does. However, you need not worry since we are here to teach you all about self-service car washes, their working, and the procedure to use them.

 

What is Self Service Car Wash?

Before we jump right into the procedure, let’s first understand correctly what a self-service car wash actually is. As the name suggests, it is the type of car wash where a person washes the car himself using the equipment provided by the car wash company. It might sound absurd but it is a really good method of cleaning your car. It is both cheaper than other types of car washes and saves you time as well as makes you experienced with the equipment and car wash techniques.

 

Many of the car washes have an instruction manual printed near the equipment which a person can use to learn the procedure, however, it is much more complicated than that. It takes time and experience to learn it properly. Your first car wash would be terrible, there is no denying that. However, with time, you will become an expert and could one day open one of your own as a side business, right? (Yeah… nevermind).

 

How does car wash machine work?

The car wash machine(s) follows a specific procedure of working. At self-service car washes, the equipment is laid out in front of you. There is a brush, a hose with a long extensible pipe (spray pipe), some clothes and other cleaning equipment. The dashboard, control panel, or a weird-looking machine with buttons are present at the spot that controls the type and flow of the equipment. When a customer inserts the required amount of coin(s), the machine becomes operable for a time and the equipment can be used. The customer can then select their desired option and use the equipment accordingly. The detail of the procedure of self-service car wash equipment is given in the heading below.

 

How to wash a car at a carwash?

 

Follow the steps mentioned below to perform a successful car wash:

 

 1- Starting the Equipment: The equipment can be started by inserting the required amount of coins (either your country’s currency or tokens obtained from the car wash). It becomes operable and you can then move on to the next step. In case it does not start, call someone from the staff to help you out.

 

 2- Pre-Wash Precautions: Before you start washing the car, make sure you are parked at the right spot and you have enough space to walk around freely. Your position should also be comfortable for all the equipment to be handled around with any trouble.

 

 3- Wash the car: Press the “wash” or “water” option on the control panel of the main machine with which the spray pipe is attached. When it is done, you can take the spray pipe off the machine and point it towards your vehicle. Maintain a safe distance of about 3-4 meters from your vehicle and never place the pipe too close to your vehicle. Otherwise, the paint might get raked off. Wash your car’s exterior properly with water and clean the tyres too.

 

 4- Apply soap: The second option is usually “soap” on the machine. Press it and start applying soap through the pipe all over the vehicle. Once done, get a brush and start scrubbing your vehicle while applying soap so it does not just remain on the surface and reaches the parts which are hidden too. Never ever soap the interior of the vehicle.

 

 5- Rinse off the soap: Once you have done soaping your vehicle, it is time to rise it off. Press the “rinse” option or the “wash” option on the panel and start taking off the soap. It should be quite easy to do so and should not take a lot of time.

 

 6- Dry the car: When you have finished rinsing off the soap, you can grab one of the cloths and start drying your vehicle. There might be air blowers available at the car wash and you can always make use of them. 

 

 7- (Optional) Wax: If there is a wax option available at the car wash, you should always consider doing that. Follow the same steps as washing but only wax the metal/plastic exterior of the vehicle to give it a new lustrous look.

 

Those are all the steps involved in washing your car a self-service car wash! With practice and doing it over and over again, you would find it more efficient than other kinds of car washes which you have to pay a lot for in comparison to this one.

 

If at any point, you want to perform a revs check, a car history check, VIN number check, etc. on a vehicle, consider doing it through QuickREVs since they do it efficiently and quickly and the outputs are great too, just like washing your car at self-service car washes.