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Hand wash or automatic car wash: which suits your car?
Both have their place. An automatic wash is a quick way to get loose dirt and salt off when you are short of time. A hand wash takes longer, but the person washing the car can see where dirt has been left behind and also cleans the places a machine cannot reach. We wash every car by hand, but below is an honest comparison of both.
Where an automatic wash does well
An automatic wash is quick, and you usually do not even need to get out of the car. It works well as an in-between wash when you want to rinse off salt in winter or dust in summer. If the car is otherwise in good condition and the dirt is fresh, the result is often good enough.
What the machine cannot reach
An automatic wash only deals with the outside of the car, so the door frames and the sills inside the door openings are always left unwashed. The backs of the mirrors, the area around the number plate, the recesses of the tailgate and the gaps between the wheel spokes are also places where dirt easily stays. You see the difference when you open a door or look at the car up close.
Scratches come from rubbing dirt
Fine scratches in the paintwork appear when the surface is rubbed while there is sand on it. In a brush wash the risk is highest when the car is covered in coarse dirt, such as the grit spread on the roads in winter. On a dark car the scratches show up more clearly in sunlight than on a light one.
A touchless automatic wash does not touch the surface at all, so it causes hardly any scratches. Water and detergent alone, however, do not always lift the greasy traffic film, and a grey tinge can be left on the paint.
A hand wash is not automatically scratch-free either. If the wash mitt is dirty or the sand has not been rinsed off first, a hand wash can scratch too. In a good hand wash the coarse dirt is rinsed off first, and only then is the surface touched.
Which suits you
- In a hurry, just everyday dust: an automatic wash is fine.
- Winter salt season: an automatic wash in between, and now and then a more thorough hand wash that also cleans the door frames and mats.
- Dark or new car: a hand wash. Scratches show first on dark paint, and a new car's paint is worth keeping scratch-free from the start.
- You want clean door frames and mats: a hand wash.
How we wash
All our washes are done by hand, and always in the same order. First the car is washed with shampoo and rinsed with a pressure washer, so that sand and coarse dirt come off before anything touches the paint. Then the whole car is washed with a sponge and shampoo, rinsed again with the pressure washer and dried with a microfibre cloth. The tyres are washed with every wash.
Basic wash (€34–47) is a hand wash that also covers the door frames and rubber mats. Premium wash (€39–52) adds a solvent wash of the paintwork, which lifts the traffic film. Seasonal wash (€49–62) includes a solvent wash and a quick wax.
The differences between the washes are set out in our article on the three hand washes. How scratches form and what can be done about them is covered in the article on scratches in the paintwork.
A hand wash, door frames included
Basic wash €34–47. Book online or call us.