Car Wash

Mechanized car washes, especially those with brushes, were once avoided by some meticulous car owners because of the risk of damaging the finish. This perception of vehicle damage was the motivation behind the rise of the "brushless" (cloth) and "touch-free" (high-pressure water) car wash facility.

In a modern car wash facility, whether automatic, in-bay automatic or self-serve, soaps and other cleaning solutions used are based on milder acids and alkalies designed to loosen and eliminate dirt 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. There has been a strong move in the industry to shift to safer cleaning solutions. Many car wash facilities are now required by law to treat and/or reuse their water and are required to maintain waste-water discharge permits, in contrast to unregulated facilities or even driveway washing where waste-water can end up in the storm drain and, eventually, in streams, rivers and lakes.