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Touchless v. Touch or Friction Washing
As the owner of WCW who formerly washed
by friction, I find it difficult to comprehend the above debate. Oddly, it is one which is "argued" by car
wash owners, not the users. As you will read to the right, CONSUMERS PREFER TOUCHLESS CAR WASHING, OVERWHELMINGLY.
Nonetheless as a service to you, and as an indication of our commitment to touchfree car washing, we offer the debate and
both major arguments. Then, you can answer what's best for your vehicle and your peace of mind... Certainly, I
had to do the same before making a major investment in my "next generation" car wash. And that investment decision cost well
over 12,000 times the price of our SuperWash. So, yes... I suppose you can say that I "Put my money where my mouth is!"
Tony Sottile, Owner
P.S. I respect that owners of other car wash
technologies can make this same last statement. However, in light of consumer preference, you will have to ask them
why they did so.
Here's my take...
All road film is difficult to remove... This is true whether you wash your vehicle at home, at
our touchless LaserWash, at a tunnel, or at a self serve. That's why The Car Wash Industry... not just WCW... recommends
frequent washings to save your finish.
Road film is an inevitable consequence of today's driving. In truth,
removing road film defines the core business of the Car Washing Industry. What is Road Film? Road film
is literally road and exhaust fumes, oil particles, tire rubber, dust, dirt and grime, all made worse when combined
with moisture and sun, that adheres to the painted surface.
Today, there are three ways to remove road film of which only two are commercially available...
Touchless, where soap and pressure do the work, or Touch/Friction, where a combination of
friction, soap, and pressure do the work. The third method is electronically/acoustically; however, this is currently
not an economic alternative.
Regardless of the wash method , I and other car wash owners are bonded
with you through your vehicles. Afterall, we share the same goal:
You want your vehicle washed. And, we want to wash it.
Since both processes of touch and touchless accomplish this process, the question remains.."Which
is the preferred method?"
Friction advocates argue that if you want you car washed... and that nothing
does it better that friction... or as my mother would hollar at Saturday night' bath, "Don't forget to scrub!" ( Skin
is a regenerative tissue... your car's clear coat finish is not!)
Touchless advocates argue that any touching will scratch your clear coated finished, and that their soaps, which
they refer to as surfactants, will molecularly lift the dirt from your finish which will then be washed away with pressure.
To which the Friction Faction argues that the pressure removes paint and that the soap is too caustic.
To which the Touchless demonstrate with facts...THAT THIS IS JUST NOT THE CASE AT ALL, as empirically evidenced
over years and years of soaping the same cars without incident... plus reduced insurance claim resulting from touchless washing.
Often the best way to clarify an issue is to argue it at the extremes. Let's do it. For this exercise, Touchless
yields to the argument that scrubbing gets really filthy, baked-on crudded cars cleaner THE FIRST TIME THROUGH, And Friction
yields to the fact that Touchless absolutely does not scratch your vehicle REGARDLESS HOW MANY TIMES YOU PASS THROUGH A TOUCHFREE
WASH.
Now that the vehicles condition is described as neglected, and the the number of pass through the washes are
bounded to the initial pass (or perhaps even two), the question is reduced to... "First time through with such a vehicle,
after such a long time between washes, would you prefer a slightly cleaner car or one without scratches?"
Well, when you read the facts to the right, you will see that vehicle owners are overwhelming opting
for touchless, despite the industry's debate.
And here's why...
ROAD FILM IS TEMPORARY... SCRATCHES ARE PERMANENT
And here are our facts garnered through 8 years and 100s of 1,000s Touchless washes...
First time through: Vehicle with extreme road film... baked by the summer sun... unwashed since the
spring... will come out cleaner with a friction wash. In truth, this vehicle will require a couple of scratchless
passes with touchfree.
Third time through: Vehicle now approximates "regularly cleaned"... and has acquired nominal road
film, and Touchless cleans better (especially for odd shaped vehicles) than friction.
So now, where ROAD FILM IS TEMPORARY... SCRATCHES ARE PERMANENT, the question is reduced to one
simple question. Is your car's finish important enough to you to pass through the
Touchless wash one more time.... the first time through... if you have not be faithful to your "Ol' Faithful."
BECAUSE IF IT IS... AND YOU ARE NEW TO OUR WASH... PLUS YOUR VEHICLE'S FINISH HAS BEEN "VICTIMIZED,"
WE WILL PASS YOU THROUGH OUR "Bring'emClean, Scratchless Program" WITH A SUPER WASH TO PREVENT YOU FROM SCRATCHING
YOUR FINISH.
| The LaserWash 4000 Washes Vehicles Everywhere! |
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| From Brutal Icey Cold To Parched Desert Hot |
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"Speed and convenience have moved way up the 'ICA Study of Consumer Car Washing Habits' list from
1995. Cleaning power, which is where the friction people seem to want to attack touchfree...cleaning power is way down the
list in terms of importance to that consumer. It's surprising."
By the numbers:
"We sell both touchfree and friction equipment and the touchfree units we sell out-revenue the friction
hands-down.
"According to the new ICA Consumer Profile Study, the consumer--without regard to what the manufacturers
think--has pointed toward their preference for touchfree by the hard revenue facts. The touchfree units in my territory are
out income-producing the friction units significantly. This is a heated argument, but you cannot argue with hard revenue fact.
The consumer makes his choice by spending his money.
"There are units in the Northeast...single, one-bay automatics...that are getting $30,000 to $35,000
a month in revenue. In the July issue of the magazine, Ryko quotes $13,000, which is no big number. There are units out there
doing three or four times that number with a single touchfree." --Steve Kirkpatrick,
Complete Car Wash Systems, Lincoln, AL.
"If you look at the fastest growing area of carwashing in the United States, in-bay automatics, and
ask what is the percentage of sales by friction or touchfree. You will find that 70 percent or more of all units being sold
are touchfree. Ask those who have gone from friction to touchfree to tell you how the volume of damage has gone almost to
zero." --Fred Grauer, Mark VII Equipment Inc., Arvada, CO.
Emerging trends
"You can educate most intelligent people. As they see things work, they will buy into them. I see
more (operators) going for touchless for all the right reasons, including ease of maintenance, better equipment, customer
perception of no harm to the car-customer friendliness." --Pete Denton
"I see touchless taking the market. I see it in the little convenience stores, where they are removing
their friction washes and going to touchless. I think it's going to take over the market because of the price of vehicles
and people are really nuts about their cars in this country, from the classics to the newer models. In our area, there are
a few friction washes and they are little or no competition to us."
"People are taking better care of their vehicles, which are so expensive. They really pamper their
vehicles, and I didn't think it was a smart thing to buy friction when the people--especially in our area--are so concerned
about scratches and their wipers breaking off. They really don't like things touching their vehicles." --Jimmy Garland, Lee Highway Super Car Wash, Bristol, VA.
"I have real nice vehicles that I have run through soft-cloth tunnels and it seems their reputation
is that they mess up your wheels and stuff. Plus, there were 50 cars there before you. There's dirt on that cloth. Plus, if
the soft cloth could really get the cars clean, they wouldn't need the employees out there wiping it dry. The reason they
wipe it dry could be to catch where they missed...the dirt on the hood, the crevices, anywhere."
"The in-bay touchless has come a long way. It's safer, it does a good job and it satisfies the customers.
I just put in the latest model Magic Wand has got, and I love it and the customer feedback is just great. They love it."
"I think there will be more touchless. I see the service stations converting over to touchless. That
kind of tells you that they've got a liability there, that the cloth has done some damage. That's my opinion." --Steve Watkins, Car Masters, Chattanooga, TN.
"You'll have critics...there are those that love friction, and there are a couple of friction models
on the market that do good friction. But they are friction; they will tear things off the car. And, sometimes, those things
get wound up in the equipment, and if your car has to be the next one, then you get branded with it. You know, customers don't
like that." --Pete Denton, Better Enterprises Inc., West Columbia, SC.
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Bring'em Clean, Scratchless!
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Bring'em Clean, Scratchless! (tm)
is our proprietary name for a recovery program in which we offer to clean your vehicle's
finish that has "fallen on hard-times" -- for reasons that we will not judge." We offer this program
for two reasons:
1. HARD LUCK FINISHES NEED CLEANING NOT SCRATCHES.
We will do most any reasonable thing to get your vehicle clean without seeing you
incur scratches from friction scrubbers.
2. OUR 24/365 CONVENIENCE MAKES ONGOING CARE A SNAP!
We want you to experience the ease in preventing a "relapse" where your vehicle's
finish returns to the condition that "qualified" it for this BCS Program to start.
Very Simple Program Rules:
1. This is a one time offer.
2. You must accept your initial cleaning during our
weekday Attended Hours
3. You agree to purchase one Super Wash -- which will be
your ultimate first wash (you may receive more than one wash) that you will get on your first visit... and One
Deluxe Wash which you can use us at anytime that is convenient.
4. You agree to pay $15.00 for what would regularly
cost $17.00
5. You agree that once we accept your vehicle, you
will provide us adequate time to properly clean you car during the first wash.
6. This offer excludes, commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles,
and vehicles whose clear-coat finish has already been destroyed.
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