Is It True That the Main Criterion for a Good Car Wash Is the Washing Quality?

The contactless car wash process usually looks very simple. However, these elementary actions hide many chemical and physical processes that affect the final result of washing a car. Many factors affect the result of the cleaning. Let’s discuss them in detail.

Chemicals

A car is made up of many parts. You need to wash not only the paintwork but also glass, plastic, rubber, chrome, and other materials. The cleaning solutions for each of the surfaces must be different. At the same time, they should not damage the other parts of the car, which is not so simple. Dirt is also comprehensive in composition. Depending on where we drove, where the car was parked, different types of mud can be detected (organic, inorganic).

The most common in the car wash industry are alkaline types of auto chemicals, which are mostly safe for use by people. However, they are still less safe than washing with the auto detail steam cleaner. The concentration of the solution directly influences the efficiency of auto chemicals. The dosage is indicated by the manufacturer on the package.

The Water Quality

Not even all car wash manufacturers understand the importance of water quality. Automotive chemicals are applied to a car in a diluted form. If the water is hard, i.e. contains a high amount of hardness salts, they prevent chemicals from dissolving in water, which means poor effectiveness. If the water has a high content of iron or manganese, then immediately after dilution, the process of interaction of the detergent with metals, or rather their oxidation, begins. Meanwhile, the auto detailing steamers do not require any chemical reactions. This distinguishes any steam machine for car detailing from other alternative methods.

Temperature

If you remember the school chemistry course, the chemical reactions accelerate with increasing temperature. So, the higher the temperature, the better chemicals work, removing dirt from the surface. In practice, when the water temperature is higher than +16, the correct chemistry is used, and the water is of good quality, then the water can be left unheated. Ideally, high-pressure water should be heated for flushing, but this is not cheap, especially if there is no central heating. In such a case, one can use the steam cleaner for cars by Fortador, which automatically heats the water.

Time

For any chemical reaction to proceed successfully, it takes a certain amount of time. The time required for the reaction depends on the type of chemicals, the current program, the amount of dirt, and the temperature. For the “high-pressure shampoo” program at +20, 2 minutes is enough for action. For the foam, a longer time is needed for a quality impact – 3-4 minutes. If you use a car detailing steamer, it may take a bit longer to remove the dirt.