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.