Touchless car washes should generally be okay. The thing to consider is that the inclusion of the high and low pH chemicals can be a little harsh on your clear coat.
It should be noted that the harshness of the chemicals used are more likely to be damaging to protective coatings applied to your finish since they are less durable than the clear coat itself.
If you are using an automated touchless car wash infrequently you shouldn’t be concerned with your clear coat breaking down. You should plan on reapplying wax or paint sealant afterward.
If you have a ceramic coating you should be less concerned with automated car washes breaking down your paint protection. Ceramic coatings are very good at resisting harsh chemicals.
If your car isn’t too dirty and you’re not concerned with having to re-wax your ride, you should be reasonably happy with the end result.
If you have an issues with your clear coat already it would be wise to avoid all car washes aside from hand washing.
What is a touchless car wash?
An automatic touchless car wash is very similar to the normal drive-thru car wash that you’re familiar with. The difference is that instead of giant spinning brushes or long strips of undulating fabric it uses high pressure water jets and more powerful chemicals.
You may have even used a touchless automatic car wash and not even realized it was any different than a more traditional automatic car wash. If you’re not actually paying attention to the mechanisms used for cleaning your car or truck you won’t notice any difference.
Where you may notice a difference is in the quality of the cleaning you’ll see when your vehicle comes out the other end. High pressure can’t completely replace physically touching the surface of your paint to get it clean.
To help close the gap, touchless automatic car washes usually use a combination of high pH and low pH cleaning solutions to break down the attachment that dirt and road grime has with the clear coat of your car.
These chemicals help the performance of the touchless car wash so it can produce a much cleaner result than with just pressure.
Unfortunately it typically doesn’t do quite as good of a job as a more traditional car wash but the results are usually more than adequate.
Touchless Automated Car Washes vs the Touchless Car Wash Method
One of the methods we recommend of washing your car or truck yourself to minimize opportunities to scratch the finish is the Touchless Method.
The touchless method is a car washing method that is very similar to that of a automated touchless car wash but it is a little different in one important way. The method we recommend uses typical car shampoo which is extremely gentle.
Automated touchless car washes typically use a combination of high and low pH cleaners which are much harsher. These cleaners are more effective at loosening dirt and grime.
Car shampoo is designed to be pH neutral and great for loosening dirt and road grime but not damage waxes, sealants, or ceramic coatings applied as protection.
While car shampoo is reasonably effective, it isn’t as effective as the combination of high and low pH cleaners.
Both automated touchless car washes and the touchless car wash method use high pressure water to get the vehicle clean.
The car wash uses industrial water jets and at home you’d use an electric pressure washer to get a similar result.
Neither of these solutions are going to get your vehicle perfectly clean unfortunately. They will do a pretty darn good job but if your car is very dirty you will need to break out the buckets and wash mitt to get the best results.
Post time: Dec-17-2021