I probably know the answer to this question, but does anyone on here EVER use touchless washes to remove winter grime? Took my '06 scab to the mountains over the weekend. It was covered in salt when I got home. I figured a run through a touchless wash couldn't hurt and would be better than having all that salt on my truck until it's warm enough to wash.

I did it....and now I'm regretting for some reason. Didn't I hear someone say that high pressure is bad for paint?

 

Well, i've run through the touchless a few times, and my paint is ok. But i've heard other truckers on here, say they've used the touchless wash with the brushes, and it dominates their trucks. Everything from scratched paint, to broken 3rd brake lights. But if its just a high pressure wash, you should be ok. Given your rig isint already rusting away, for some reason or another.

 

I don't use the mechanical touchless, but I use the high pressure self serve. I spray it down good with the their soap to knock off the surface, then use the two bucket system with Gold Class. I then rinse it off with high pressure, followed by a rinse with soft water. I then dry with micro fiber towels.

 

The one completely stupid thing I did was leave my Access Rollup Cover rolled down. Don't know what the heck I was thinking. There is no visible damage to the cover. I contacted the manufacturer; they said these covers can take a hell of a beating. However, they do NOT recommend leaving your cover down in a car wash. Just thought I would provide some exeperienced advice......learned at my own expense

 

I used a touchless a few weeks ago after a winter storm here and I was really surprised how well it did, plus it is really nice that it has the under carriage wash. My paint looks good still didn't notice any problems, I have heard of the touch ones messing up stuff, but never the touchless laser style.

 

The biggest problem with the touchless (by touchless I mean nothing but water touches the car) is in order to remove dirt without agitation they use a harsh soap. It will more than likely strip any protective wash off in the process.

 

It's a chemical that can kill the wax.

 

I use them all the time so I can get some fresh water on the underbody. Tons of salt on the roads here in Mid Ohio! As soon as the temp gets above 50 for a few days, I'll wash and wax the trucks, but until then, I'd rather keep blowing the salt off and the local carwash always has specials running during the winter, like buy one get one free deals.

 

I always thought that pressure washes were the best for a paint job because, using any type of brush, you can get dirt in the brush and then your rubbing dirt all over the paint when washing.

 

I would think that the chemicals used would be less damaging than the salt, for sure.

 

Don't use the brushes at the self serve and don't use the drive through car washes that have brushes or those little foam finger things that spin around and go slam into your truck. A true touchless won't use any brushes of any sort. But just because you're using a pressure washer doesn't mean you have to use the brush.

 

Absolutely. I used to own 3 self serves. You would not believe the grime and grit that collects in those brushes.

 

That's what I'm saying.

Just use the pressure washer.

Even a hand washing at home I would think is worse than a pressure wash.

When I want to handwash a car, I first go to the pressure washer so the larger chunks of dirt are removed first. Then I hand wash it.

This way I don't get much if any dirt in my wash mit.

I just don't understand how the OP thinks a pressue wash will hurt his truck?

When I think it's the safest.

 

I do once in awhile, but mostly just pressure spray the underbody and body off to keep salt off.

 

That soap is extremely rough on the rubber/plastic trim. I fresh water rinse until I can wash properly...but they salt the roads where I live once a year maybe at the most.