Automatic Car Wash -- Touchless or Not

[Husker Soze]

With Winter weather on its way, how do you all deal with keeping your KT clean (for the most part).
I've always used the gas station car wash during the winter, but am now a little conscious on choosing between touchless or not. Thoughts?

 

[blitt]

With Winter weather on its way, how do you all deal with keeping your KT clean (for the most part).
I've always used the gas station car wash during the winter, but am now a little conscious on choosing between touchless or not. Thoughts?

Tough choice....MOST "touch" car washes are "harsh" on the finish....HOWEVER, there are some new ones that are using "soft touch" tech and they are fantastic.....I use one here in central Pa. and it very softly does the job and the finished product is beautiful......that being said, I would use "touchless" unless I knew more about the other choices. Today's paint , while more beautiful, does not hold up as well as the older paint when subjected to "hard scrubbing."

 

[JonFar111]

Many of the touchless places shoot the water up and under with tons of power. With all the electronics inside the upper hood area, I stay away from those. Touchless is a crap shoot. Some are soft and clean and don’t scratch. Others are dirtier or never get sand/dirt out of their brushes or pads, and so those will leave fine scratches.
So I installed a hanging gas heater and a wa em water tap in the garage and hand wash with softened water.

 

[TheNip73]

Many of the touchless places shoot the water up and under with tons of power. With all the electronics inside the upper hood area, I stay away from those. Touchless is a crap shoot. Some are soft and clean and don’t scratch. Others are dirtier or never get sand/dirt out of their brushes or pads, and so those will leave fine scratches.
So I installed a hanging gas heater and a wa em water tap in the garage and hand wash with softened water.

Jealous.

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[Husker Soze]

Many of the touchless places shoot the water up and under with tons of power. With all the electronics inside the upper hood area, I stay away from those. Touchless is a crap shoot. Some are soft and clean and don’t scratch. Others are dirtier or never get sand/dirt out of their brushes or pads, and so those will leave fine scratches.
So I installed a hanging gas heater and a wa em water tap in the garage and hand wash with softened water.

Just softened water? What...no evian?!

 

[JonFar111]

Just softened water? What...no evian?!

Trying to use less plastic!

 

[Soybean]

Most of the time I wash my own vehicles, we have a heated shop. I know most people don't have access to a heated wash bay so during the winter months a touchless would be my second choice. What I have found with the touchless though is that not all of the grime is removed, a hand washing is the only way to get a thorough cleaning. And as mentioned, some good touchless units will spray water from underneath which is great in helping to wash off the salt.
If anyone was within driving distance I'd offer my inside washing shop!

 

[critrider]

All car washes have deal with their waste water, consider that an advantage when you are thinking about options. And all you home hand washers/cannon users, all that stuff running down your driveway and into a storm drain odes not just vaporize so please be sure its environmentally friendly. There is a high end wash near me, frequented by a lot of luxury vehicles and I've never had an issue, but I do get the concern, especially in a harsh winter/salt/ road grime area.

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[Husker Soze]

Yeah...I'll be sticking with the touch-less option for now (at least during the winter).

 

[SBUBandit]

My go to is in the warm weather I wash by hand here in the driveway, and apply a good coat of ceramic once or twice during those months. The stuff I've been using so far lasts maybe 4 months, but I am going to try a better product next time around. When the weather isn't great for hand washing in the driveway, I go to a local wash bay on my way to work with the simple wand. The one I go to is dead in the morning when I go through, so there is nobody waiting to get upset by my process. I put in the minimum charge to start the water, and rinse off the mud (I work and live on dirt roads, so the white car is brown from the beltline down), then I soak it in soap. Sometimes the wand won't put a good enough amount of soap on, so i use the brush (never actually touching the car with it) to get soap all over the car. About that time the machine times out, and I use a wash mitt I keep in the back of the car to wash the whole vehicle, then turn the wand back on for the minimum time again to rinse it all off. I also keep the synthetic chamois in the back, and get it all dried off.

 

[ceenote]

Touchless is definitely cool especially in the winter, but i wont let them dry it off. Dont wanna have them towels on my ride... plus i also have a neighbor that does hand washes.. so far pretty good!

 

[PittPa]

Automatic car washes too rough in parts and misses a lot of areas. Touchless car washes looks great until everything dries and you see the film that never entirely gets removed. If it was me and I didn't have the means to wash my car by hand at home, I would go touchless and get it cleaned professionally every few months. It wouldn't hurt to keep it protected with a good wax, ceramic coating, synthetic polish....

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[gman1868]

Any auto car wash is harmful to the finish, soft touch or touchless, they use very harsh chemical soaps. The only safe way to wash is to hand wash with a pH neutral soap and microfiber mitts and towels.

 

[victorjessie]

My go to is in the warm weather I wash by hand here in the driveway, and apply a good coat of ceramic once or twice during those months. The stuff I've been using so far lasts maybe 4 months, but I am going to try a better product next time around. When the weather isn't great for hand washing in the driveway, I go to a local wash bay on my way to work with the simple wand. The one I go to is dead in the morning when I go through, so there is nobody waiting to get upset by my process. I put in the minimum charge to start the water, and rinse off the mud (I work and live on dirt roads, so the white car is brown from the beltline down), then I soak it in soap. Sometimes the wand won't put a good enough amount of soap on, so i use the brush (never actually touching the car with it) to get soap all over the car. About that time the machine times out, and I use a wash mitt I keep in the back of the car to wash the whole vehicle, then turn the wand back on for the minimum time again to rinse it all off. I also keep the synthetic chamois in the back, and get it all dried off.

For winter, the safest option for keeping your KTM clean is a touchless car wash. It avoids brushes that can leave scratches or swirl marks, which is especially important on a bike’s painted surfaces. They may not remove every stubborn spot like a hand wash, but they’ll get the salt and grime off safely. Many owners use touchless washes throughout winter for convenience and protection, then do a more thorough hand wash in warmer months.