Can't Shake The Eyebrows!

[twoclean21]

I have a Vector using CSI chems. I can't get rid of the eyebrows and a film on the paint. Using Riptide & Wipeout w/ Boost. Titration is good and water is zero grains. Don't understand, maybe its the chems. Any help would be great.

 

[tobaccofarmer]

problem is 3 letters! CSI

 

[Gabriel]

A bunch of good chemical companies will let you sample their product for free. Blendco will switch your system out and you want need to look anywhere else!

 

[mr-gte]

Physics of touch free washes do not remove film.
The surfaces need rubbed with hand mitt or a machine with foam soft carlite.
Try to get customer to prep the car in the self serve
bay.Demonstrate your hog hair ss brush. Then run through a touch free.
A combo inbay, carlite foam brush wash packages are priced
higher than a touch free. Cars come out film free and shines
Touch free machines are less trouble in regards to extra aftermarket equipment causing damage to a machine.
It is a major
trade off.

 

[Jeff_L]

Combination of problems? Dwell time on presoak? No friction to scrub? Road grime is very tough to get off in a touchless automatic without prepping or scrubbing. Many come to the touchless just because of the "touchless" and the speed it takes to wash. I explain to customers who bring their concern to me (after I give them a refund) that the touchless auto is a great way to maintain a good wash, but that you do have to scrub your car from time to time in the self serve bay. They understand and hopefully change their washing habits!

 

[captain cw]

I love offering both touch-free and friction washes or a hybrid combo system. That way you can make everybody happy. I would increase the dwell time. Certain seasons can make the road film a little tougher.
I have a friend that hired a minimum wage retired guy to prep the vehicles before they enter his wash. The main objective is to remove the eyebrow, but they also hit the tires and grill. He puts a tip box out there for them. He states that if he can increase his wash count by one car per hour, then the attendant is paid for.
He does amazing volumes in a small town, so I have a hard time arguing with him.

 

[rph9168]

The only products I found that could remove most eyebrows all contained Hydrofluoric Acid which I do not recommend using. Even those did not get 100%. Other than adjusting your presoak (usually acidic presoaks do a better job but even that is not totally accurate) and increasing dwell time which might get some of the easier ones I don't think there is much you can do without some prepping. I wish I had a better answer except to say I would really doubt any chemical guy who said he could consistently remove all eyebrows.

 

[Waxman]

I've had great results with 2 hi ph passes and 10 seconds dwell on each pass.

I always recommend to customers they scrub the car in my SS bays every 3 IBA Touchfree washes.

There's nothing wrong with this mentality! Look at how much the friction tunnels scrub the car; prepping manually for the tough spots (which include the eyebrow), plus mitter curtains, etc. It's only giving good advice to scrub the car every few touchfree washes.

For me, it's putting out a car that is acceptable to the customer and to me. Maybe getting all the eyebrow off isn't feasible with every car and you have to adjust your expectations somewhat.

 

[bigleo48]

I always recommend to customers they scrub the car in my SS bays every 3 IBA Touchfree washes.

Customers who complain about this are usually too picky for the Touchless and I take them over to the SS bay and show them how to wash their car. In the end I also tell them that they will save money. This works great as the margins are higher on the SS side and they usually will spend more than the average SS user.

That's why it's nice to have both. However, I am very diligent at checking the performance of my IBA. I make sure everything is perfect. For example, last week I notice a performance degradation. I did a hardness test and found the softner wasn't working. Took it apart and notice that a valve had disconnected from the actuator. 5 Minutes later is was fixed and washing was back to normal. The Exxon station down the street would take months to find that problem!

BigLeo