Franchised wash new here in town

[mjwalsh]

On Sunday I tried out the brand new conveyorized Tommy Wash on their best "da works wash". I honestly did not think that my bugs on my front bumper of my Honda Fit were baked on that bad since I keep the vehicle out of the sun most of the time. I noticed it did not get the bugs off as much as I would have liked. They located a block north of our Capitol Grounds ... so location wise ... it might be less of consideration the amount they charge.

The point I want to make is ... judging by the bugs still on ... not washed off ... it seems like there is still a need for us "old fashioned self serves"?!

I went to the Tommy Wash Franchise Reviews on Google & it look pretty expensive to get in on the ground floor. I noticed that their 10 very fancy (booms included) self serve VACUUM stalls all used very small hung in the air canisters & only 1.5 inch vacuum hoses instead of 2 inch hoses.

Any thoughts? ... I hope this does not make any conveyor wash members mad at me for this post.

 

[washnshine]

On Sunday I tried out the brand new conveyorized Tommy Wash on their best "da works wash". I honestly did not think that my bugs on my front bumper of my Honda Fit were baked on that bad since I keep the vehicle out of the sun most of the time. I noticed it did not get the bugs off as much as I would have liked. They located a block north of our Capitol Grounds ... so location wise ... it might be less of consideration the amount they charge.

The point I want to make is ... judging by the bugs still on ... not washed off ... it seems like there is still a need for us "old fashioned self serves"?!

I went to the Tommy Wash Franchise Reviews on Google & it look pretty expensive to get in on the ground floor. I noticed that their 10 very fancy (booms included) self serve VACUUM stalls all used very small hung in the air canisters & only 1.5 inch vacuum hoses instead of 2 inch hoses.

Any thoughts? ... I hope this does not make any conveyor wash members mad at me for this post.

I’m a conveyor operator and I am not mad at you, Mj! I’m also not surprised at your findings. I operate an exterior conveyor (not express because we don’t have pay stations and we do a pretty thorough prep). We address bugs by hitting the front ends, windshields and side view mirror housings with a dedicated bug chemical applied by hand. Those areas are also cleaned with hogs hair brushes and a high pressure prep gun. We also have one set of wrap arounds in our tunnels as well as high pressure Omni- style arches. Our preppers also pressure wash under the wheel wells and also brush problem areas on the backs - like under spoilers on suv’s, in the recessed areas of license plates and down to the rear bumper where it angles in and out of site. In short - we really don’t leave any bugs.

Many of the new express exteriors I have seen do not prep and are not set up effectively to remove bugs without a prep. I rarely see a dedicated chemical targeted to the problem areas, the proper dwell time needed and then a combination of high pressure and enough friction to finish the job. That’s what it takes if you don’t use any manual prep to assist. And manual prep ensures the most stubborn stuff gets removed.

So yes - it is still good that self serves are around if the local competitor doesn’t get bugs off. I think we are extremely thorough with bugs and I own self serves too for those who still prefer to DIY!