How safe are 'waterless' carwashes?

L

LocumGuy

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2012
Messages
21
Reaction score
1
Location
Cape Town
Recently I have seen so many people popping up introducing waterless carwash options.

I take it the guys at shopping malls use the same principle. They have also introduced it at our company for staff.

My mind tells me that somehow it scratches the paint in the long run. Maybe it doesn't look like it at first....

Some advice...
 
If the use some kind of sonic device to get the muck off, i guess it would be ok. Using those cans of whatever it is, and wiping it off is going to scratch.
 
I would never ever get that done to my car. Surely the dust that is on there will leave micro scratches?
 
Water is still the best method to clean a car.
 
Ask yourself, would you take a waterless shower or bath?

There is no way in hell anyone can convince me that you can clean a car, without scratching the paint, if you dont use water to remove the grime, bugs, and dirt.
 
LocumGuy said:
LOL - So I am not the only one concerned. A good old wash is still the best.
Click to expand...

You feel for these people sometimes but there's no way you can clean a car without water. The millions of dust particles has to go somewhere.
 
Thread necro, I wonder how many of Cape Town car washes have converted to waterless products? I see Canal Walk's Joe Soap car wash has done so. They have a sign up stating the switch to waterless, but I wonder how many people bothered to pay attention to that. Saw a Porsche being cleaned there tonight. I asked the lady behind the counter what products they use and she gave no specifics, just said it's waterless. I wasn't getting anywhere so I have up on further questions... They charge R169 for their basic wash and valet service.
 
Our local Nissan dealership uses this waterless system. In fact from what I can gather all CMH dealerships nationwide use the waterless system. Probably most dealerships outside CMH too. So you are probably getting your waterless car wash whether you are aware of it or not.
 
Waterless washes if done correctly, can be safe. However there is a 100% probability that they won't.

The solution will encapsulate and lubricate the dirt particles. This is then picked up with the microfiber towel. The dirty section of the towel should therefore never touch the paint again. You need about 8 microfiber towels for a single wash. But most I've seen used was 1.

My preference now is Rinseless washing instead. Love the convenience of washing in the garage.
 
There are a group of ladies at the ClearWater Mall, who offer this service. I believe they are part of the carwash that's near the entrance. There is no F-ing way I would ever do this to my car. You have to use water, there's no two ways about it.
 
These guys are in the Sandton City parking. Got there and they were busy cleaning a BMW 320i brand spanking new parked few cars away from me. When leaving I stoped to look at the paintwork on the BMW and it was full of swirl marks. Not sure if it was already there or happened with the waterless wash but the car still had a permit on it.
 
I happily use half a kiloliter of water per week on washing my cars. Waterless system is ok if you are poor and can't afford water.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X