Which is actually the best car wash option?

Buzzing last time I went. I paid for the £5 poor man's wash. Guy in front had triple foam and my car also got the foam for free! It's the little wins that make it! 😆

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padro789@reddit

Preferably the £19 because it keeps me and my mates in business correcting the aftermath

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PrimalTripping@reddit

Are you going to expand on that at all or do you want us all to guess what you mean?

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Self-explanatory tbh. If you care about your car in anyway body work wise you should never take it to an automatic carwash/guys with brooms. They use the most caustic and acidic chemicals on the market that will always damage your paintwork. Wait till you get the proper package in the sunlight you'll be crying with the amount of staining and stripping it will do and especially your finished wheels ( diamond cut , moment those wheel cleaners go under the tiny worm holes you'll be chasing the damage for years )

But there's loads out there who don't care and that's totally fine. But if you have a new car or you have a passion for cars and realise what those car washes actually do to your pride and joy you'll be paying all us detailer's for the correction.

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AussieHxC@reddit

What should I look for when trying to find a proper car washer/detailer/whatever?

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padro789@reddit

If you haven't got the time to do it yourself at home. Have a look for self washing bays just don't use the brush they provide because that's been on thousands of cars and the amount of grit and dirt will do loads of damage.

Most people I know just bring a bucket in the car to a self wash bay with the likes of citrus pre wash, noodle, wheel cleaner, mitt, car shampoo and a finishing detail spray to dry your car afterwards. Can be knocked out in 20mins max

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AussieHxC@reddit

Yeah, no it needs someone to do a proper job.

I'm relatively rural so there is very little competition and shit detailers will still have lots of business, I want to know how to find the good ones.

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InvestAuggers@reddit

Do you recommend just doing it yourself instead of going those guys?

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padro789@reddit

100% if you have a drive or can park your car next to your house definitely go for it.

On a budget you can grab a karcher k2 £70, 15 metre power washer hose off eBay £15 and then a few products from companies doing start kits for £40 like ez car care, infinity wax, duel autocare , garage therapy, bilt hamber the list goes on.

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InvestAuggers@reddit

Thanks for the reply, I have the Karcher already so might be worth doing. I bought, unfortunately, with scrapes on the car so I'd like to avoid that more in the future. How long would it take you on average to do a complete clean and wax etc?

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padro789@reddit

I'm old fashioned and still prefer hand waxing so for a complete clean and hand wax on a medium car I'm about 3hrs but that can be half the time if I use a spray wax but then that won't last as long protection wise.

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InvestAuggers@reddit

Oof, 3hrs! Hopefully worth it haha How often would you do that?

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geniusgravity@reddit

Seems to think everyone is driving expensive cars they aren't leasing so would bother getting a paint correcrtion for some barely visible paint parks.

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Beartato4772@reddit

Machine washes fuck cars up.

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CAElite@reddit

Not in his field but do a bit of hobbyist detailing. Any kind of ceramic coating really needs a highly prepared surface, if there's any kind of dirt, salt etc on the paint when the ceramic is sprayed over it can stick it into the surface finish.

People treat ceramic like its fancy wax, it isn't.

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padro789@reddit

Exactly this and to be honest the only ceramic coating you should be using is the ones with a full prepped car in a sealed environment under heated lamps (preferably) you'll be getting many many years protection when someone does it correctly.

I do use the likes of infinity wax out door ceramic on customers cars and it does work but because it cures outside it really doesn't brake the estimated 2 year lasting time.

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Economy-Judgment-754@reddit

Naa bro if you know you know

And only his mates know

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WittyWitWitt@reddit

Elaborate

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MrDanMaster@reddit

What does it do

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HenchRS@reddit

This ^

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Model-Collabs-UK@reddit

You don't need to do it every time you wash your car, but at least every 3 months (probably more often with an automatic car wash because they put the bare minimum product in) you need to add some protection to the paint to prevent damage from bird droppings, tree sap, road tar, air pollution and many other things that will damage the paint surface and devalue the car. Personally unless the weather has been extremely bad I wash it myself, as I know it's done properly, with good quality products and it costs a lot less in the long term.

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No_Atmosphere8146@reddit

I hate that I can see the AI interference trying to clean up this image. It just looks worse.

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fastestman4704@reddit

If I'm taking my work van through one of these I get a total wax, tends to make it maybe a month before getting filthy enough to need cleaning again (though it is a black van so ymmv)

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yourefunny@reddit

I wash my car probably once or twice a year. Either myself with a jet wash, bucket and sponge on a stick or with the eco option. Eco option does fine.

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mas-sive@reddit

Triple foam and the diamond wax every few months

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B_urner_69@reddit

The one I do myself at home, it's more thorough, uses better quality products and cost a lot less 🪣🫧🧽🚘👍🏻

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AffectionateJump7896@reddit

Triple foam @£6 via the app.

Whilst I agree with other posters saying that Eco plus is enough, but it's also £6, so you might as well get the foam bit for free.

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Zenmaster13@reddit

According to that sign the only benefit of springing for a triple foam is ... triple foam? 😂

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dinobug77@reddit

Triple cooked chips are better than once cooked chips ergo triple foam is better than one foam

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Herne_KZN@reddit

My razor has 5 blades now. 🖐🏻

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WittyWitWitt@reddit

It's 3 though

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NibblyPig@reddit

No double foam option makes me suspicious

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Killahills@reddit

That's two more foams mate. Bargain

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obiwanmoloney@reddit

If you have an AA gold membership, then the “Rainguard” with 50% off.

You’ll get a top tier wash, for entry level prices.

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Casper1875@reddit

If you have a Blue Light Card, get the Ultra HD - you get £5 off it with a code from the app so it's only a pound more than the Triple Foam

If you don't, stick with Triple Foam

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ouzo84@reddit

Same with the AA, or 50% off the rain guard.

But the number of people in the UK with access to a blue light card is ridiculously small

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Casper1875@reddit

I'm in a major city, so there seems to be loads around here. Plus my place of work alone accounts for 150 people with them 😂

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sc20nov@reddit

Alcoholics Anonymous get 50% off?!

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Gullflyinghigh@reddit

The secret one that isn't on the board. You need to know the handshake to get that one.

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EssentialParadox@reddit

I found the place in town that all the taxis go to. I pay £10 for inside and out.

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blizeH@reddit

£10 for inside and out is insane value. I usually do it myself (badly) but I would very gladly pay someone £10 to do it for me (:

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Character-Resort6284@reddit

Washing it yourself at home, cheaper and can focus on what's important

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waxfutures@reddit

Last time I went through the car wash the only option available was eco wash, and that wasn't really enough. So probably one up from that. Triple foam, whatever that means, maybe. Anything above that is faff.

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ridiclousslippers2@reddit

Got to motoring shop, buy 1 gallon car wash, 1 wash mitt, 1 bucket. Go home, fill bucket, wash car, rinse off with same bucket OR really push the boat out and use a hose. Total cost, less that 2 car washes, good for 20. Time taken to completely wash car 20 mins. Better wash too, no missed bits.

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iamdadmin@reddit

I’m be willing to pay upto a tenner, so the £12 available for £9 on sale would be what I go for. Does it make much difference? Idk but might as well get what my budget affords.

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Ayyyyylmaos@reddit

Eco plus, if you want anything more you should get ceramic because otherwise it’ll just wear away.

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FumbleCrop@reddit

Try the cheapest. If you're not satisfied, upgrade next time. Repeat until satisfied.

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Sniffy_LongDroppings@reddit

Missed opportunity to say “rinse and repeat”

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FumbleCrop@reddit

Daaaamn!

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Red-Egg-09875@reddit

Name checks out

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Elrobinio@reddit

Didn't notice the sub at first, thought you were rage baiting r/Detailing

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LentilRice@reddit

I thought this was r/Consulting or r/PowerPoint.

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Top-Childhood5030@reddit

God me too 😂

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Electrical-Rush-3538@reddit

Triple foam , more likely to get rid of all the dirt and grit from the paintwork. Hand wax / polish your car at least twice a year.

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This_Suit8791@reddit

I would say buying a bucket and sponge is better than all of these.

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GeekHabits@reddit

A bucket and sponge wont clean the roof from my wheelchair 😜

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This_Suit8791@reddit

That’s fair enough but I’m sure some teenager would be able to and charge less.

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NibblyPig@reddit

Have you tried getting out of the chair smh my head

What you're describing though sounds like something you could guilt trip the scamps on your street into doing for 50p pocket money

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psychicspanner@reddit

Work out how long it would take you to do everything listed for each wash, then apply a moderate hourly rate assuming you have all the products to hand.

Calculate how much it would cost you to do it and then consider all the things you could do instead of washing the car and even Ceramic XTR looks like a bargain….

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