Q & A
Q: I wash my car at home using a garden hose. Lately,
the finish looks dull and marked. What could be wrong?
A: Washing your car at home is extremely harmful to the finish
of your car.  The University of Texas proved that a single home
hand-wash can leave scratches in the finish as deep as 1/10 of
the paint's total thickness. Also, the average garden hose
cannot supply enough water and water pressure with the
detergent action to avoid damaging a car's finish.  This
important study concluded that automobile owners should avoid
washing their cars at home. Only a professional car wash can
provide the proper amounts of water and water pressure
needed with the appropriate cleaning solutions to safely and
effectively clean your car.
Q: How often should I have my car washed?
A: Weekly. Washing your car once a week will ensure that
your vehicle's surface is being cared for properly.  If your car
is exposed to corrosive materials like salt, sand and industrial
fallout, it should be washed often. The same goes for vehicles
in areas with high humidity. Moisture attracts contaminants
and promotes a variety of chemical reactions that can destroy
your car's finish. Frequent washing is essential to the life of
your car's chrome and painted surfaces.
Q: When should I wash off insect residue?
A: As soon as possible, especially if the car is new. Insect
residue and bird droppings form acids that immediately start
to eat away a car's finish.
Q: What is the major cause of rust?
A: Rust is simply the oxidation of untreated metal surfaces
when they contact the elements. Moisture is the main cause of
rust. Since dirt attracts and traps moisture, a dirty car is the
instigator of almost all car rust, especially in those hidden
areas behind the chrome and trim. Only a professional car
wash operator has the equipment and know-how to effectively
reach all those hard-to-reach places and remove
corrosion-producing grime before damage is done.
Q: Isn't rain a natural, cost-effective car wash?
A: No! Rain and snow contain acid that eats away at the paint
and finish of vehicles. After acid rain falls on a car, the water
evaporates, but the acid remains. Concentrated by sunlight,
this acid can become so strong that it will eat through the
finish, ruining the vehicle's paint and appearance.
Q: Is car washing environmentally safe?
A:  YES! Using a professional car wash is the best way to
protect the environment.  We use less (about 60 gallons of
water) water than washing in your driveway (100 gallons of
water).  Our wash water is treated and properly disposed of.  
Washing your car in your driveway causes the water to go
directly into storm drains (or worse yet it seeps into the ground
and pollutes drinking wells).  These storm drains are only meant
for rain water.  The soapy wash water and cleaning chemicals
ends up in our rivers and lakes killing fish and polluting the
environment.  At the professional car wash, the dirt that comes
off your vehicle ends up as cover at landfills and is recycled for
use at asphalt plants!
Q: Is it safe to bring my convertible, vinyl, or
canvas custom topped vehicle to Earl's Auto Wash?
A: YES!  It is perfectly safe to bring those types of vehicles to
our wash.  Our advanced touchless drying system has been
perfected not to damage these types of vehicles.  The level of air
velocity is designed not to be too powerful that it would cause
damage to convertibles, vinyl, or canvas custom toped vehicles.
Q: I have protective coating on my undercarriage,
so why do I need to have the undercarriage
treatment?
A: Although the protective coating applied by the manufacture or
another after market source does provide protection, the
underside is susceptible to pollutants as well.  Every time you
drive through a puddle you are splashing up contaminants.  The
undercarriage is not only important in the winter to remove sand
and salt, as you would think, road contaminants are present all
year round.  The undercarriage of your car takes a tremendous
punishment  from small stones that are kicked up by your tires.  
These stones bombard your  undercarriage and nick your
undercarriage's armor and expose bare metal.  Once rust gets a
foothold it will spread regardless of the protection.  The
undercarriage treatment will rinse and flush the undercarriage,
which will help prevent the harmful effects of rust.
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