Car Wash Chemistry: The Basics of Car Wash and Detail Science
Sea-Land Chemical Company |
The first patent for a mechanized car wash in the United States was filed in 1900. These cleaning facilities were first named “auto laundries.” Their popularity in the United States increased with the first mass production of the Henry Ford Model T Automobile in 1908. The Detroit, Mich., Automobile Laundry opened in 1914 and is believed to have coined the term car wash.
Automatic car washes debuted in 1946 and set the precedent for the types of car washes of the 2020s. As the mechanisms for washing vehicles advanced so did the car wash soaps and cleaners used to achieve a clean car. Today, motorists continue to enjoy a variety of car wash and detail options, including hand car wash, self-service facilities, in-bay automatic, tunnel washes, mobile car wash, and touch-free car washes.
As car wash machinery and cleaners have become more advanced, so has the need for car wash vendors to monitor the systems on a regular basis. Monitoring the quality of the water is essential to ensure there is no mineral buildup. Carwash owners want to be sure they are using cleaning products formulated to keep their systems in the best shape possible. They will also want to ensure they are meeting regional regulatory needs for the chemicals released from their facilities.
Managing Chemical Usage in Moder Car Wash and Detail Systems
Car wash systems have advanced, and so have the formulations that accompany them. Car wash systems need constant monitoring, which includes checking both equipment and chemicals.
Checking the car wash equipment helps ensure the customers get a proper clean when they go through the car wash. One of these maintenance items is to check if the nozzles are clogged. They can get clogged for a few reasons: hard water mineral build-up and/or chemical build-up. Both cause an uneven product spray in the car wash, leading to an unsatisfactory wash.
Some of the new chemicals modern car washes are using are called super-concentrated products. These are optimized car wash formulations that come in smaller containers and take up less space at the car wash. In some cases, this means a car wash owner can now store the equivalent formulation found in a 55-gallon drum in a 5- to 10-gallon container. This saves space at the car wash, allowing owners to store less product. These products are diluted more than a typical 55-gallon drum. For example, a 55-gallon drum of car wash chemicals may be diluted 10:1. In a super-concentrated wash, the dilution could be 1000:1.
Modern car wash systems are moving away from harsh car wash chemistry to become more environmentally conscious, among other reasons. Regulatory requirements and sustainability goals are encouraging car washes to use formulations with biodegradable ingredients. Another reason owners are moving away from harsher chemicals is to accommodate water reclamation systems. Water reclamation systems recycle water for future washes. If harsh chemicals are used, the reclamation system must work harder to remove chemicals from the water before it can be used again.
Advances in Car Chemistry
Companies have made vast improvements in car wash and detail chemistry over the last decade, partly driven by regulatory and environmental factors. One of the largest concerns is the 1,4-dioxane requirement. 1,4-dioxane is a byproduct created from various chemical manufacturing products, and it can be unintentionally present in ethoxylated products. Companies are trying to move away from these harsh chemicals. New car washes also require a reclaimed wash system. As mentioned, this is a way to clean and reuse the water from car washes.
Other car wash industry advancements include chemicals used in these formulations. These innovations help improve the car wash’s flexibility. When chemists create formulations, they must consider the availability of raw materials. Before, if raw materials were not available, they might not be able to make their formulations. Now, flexible formulations allow the chemist to pivot and use something else.
Advances in Car Care Products
These advances have inspired innovative products that help solve various problems at the car wash. One of these is a car wash that is stable in both hot and cold weather extremes. These formulations need to stay together during weather fluctuations. Another innovative product is a super-concentrated car wash formulation. These super-concentrated car wash materials carry all the power of a car wash formula but in a smaller package.
Chemical advances in car wash formulas have made them easy to use and blend while maintaining performance. For example, adding a rinse aid to your car wash formula can help boost the result. A rinse aid helps optimize the drying process by influencing and improving the water runoff. A rinse aid creates a hydrophobic surface for the water and leaves behind a layer of shine on the vehicle.
Below are three quality car wash chemicals to boost formulations and meet the new car wash standards:
- CARSPRAY™ 800 HF is a readily bio-degradable and reclaim system-friendly chemical that protects the vehicle finish and leaves the vehicle looking glossy
- SOLAGUM™ USPI is used in tire shine, a water-based thickener, and in car wash bay cleaners
- TOMADRY™ DAB added to your formula will help create a long-lasting wax effect and a protective barrier in your formula
Innovations in Auto Chemical Detailing
Auto detailing provides an increased level of cleaning and protection than a standard car wash. You can break auto detailing into interior and exterior focuses. The interior cleaners are leather and fabric and plastic trim, while the exterior focuses on tire shine, glass cleaner, and waxes.
An increased interest in vehicle care has provided another avenue for innovative automotive chemistry. Chemists and car wash owners have worked to include some of these auto detailing chemistries and features in their tunnel washes. Some of these include tire shine, under-body cleaning, and glass cleaning. Each of these features requires a different chemical to achieve its goal.
In a tunnel wash, choosing a higher-priced option comes with different features, such as adding tire shine or wax. These detailing features require more complex systems as well as formulations, depending on where they are added in the wash. Some items, such as drying agents or rinse aids, can be added to the formulation, whereas a tire shine would be a separate piece of machinery near the end of the tunnel wash.
Some of the common chemicals used in auto detailing are:
- SOLAGUM™ UPSI– provides benefits in tire cleaner by increasing the dwell time on the tire and acting as an emulsifier
- TOMAKLEEN® X-50 – is used to help remove tough soils in or on the vehicle. This product can be used in all-purpose automotive cleaners and to help degrease surfaces.
- TEGO SORB™ A 30 – is used to completely encapsulate mal odors and not re-release them, helping to remove any odor in the vehicle.
Insight Into Ceramic Coating
The term ceramic coating has generated a lot of buzz in the last few years – but what is it? Ceramic coating is a protective layer on the vehicle’s paint that can be applied in multiple ways, either by a professional, at home, or in a tunnel car wash.
When applied by a professional, ceramic coating is a semi-permanent nano-coating that provides a protective and hydrophobic clear coat on the vehicle’s paint. A tunnel wash ceramic coating is a spray-on silicone that helps to keep the vehicle shiny and prevent water spots. This type of ceramic coating is applied through a nozzle at the tunnel car wash and is sprayed evenly as the vehicle passes through.
Tunnel wash ceramic coating requires different formulations than those used in at-home or professional applications. Due to the way it is applied, this coating needs to mix with other chemistries and not separate or break down. The type of water and the weather in the tunnel wash’s location also come into play when formulating these car wash chemicals.
What makes a tunnel-wash ceramic coating look so good on the vehicle? This silicone spray helps create a hydrophobic surface on the vehicle’s paint to bead and lift the water off the car. This is what causes the car to dry without water spots and keep it shiny.
Water Quality
A large challenge when formulating car wash and detail products is hard water. The harder the water, the more likely there will be clogging and instability in the car wash. Choosing the right chemicals when creating a car wash formula is important to help with the stability of the wash. Car wash formulations are moving to super-concentrated washes requiring more dilution water. Having hard water can make this more complicated. Additionally, hard water impacts foaming. The foam helps disperse the car wash cleaner over the vehicle to help the chemicals penetrate and clean the surfaces.
Hard water can also cause buildup on the machinery. Hard water has more minerals, which causes the buildup and clogging. This buildup of minerals in the car wash machinery will not allow the car wash cleaner to do its job effectively since the nozzles are pressurized to deliver a quick and effective spray of car wash. Build-up and clogging of the machinery will require more maintenance to keep them working properly. This is why it is important to choose the correct chemicals and a car wash formulation that accounts for hard water.
The last problem that hard water can cause is leaving behind water spots. This occurs when the water doesn’t slide off the vehicle and dries on the surface. Water spots are the minerals that are left behind after the water dries. These water spots frustrate the customer who just paid for a car wash and, over time, are bad for the paint.
Continuous Improvement in Car Wash Chemistry
Car wash chemistry continues to improve and advance as more chemists find ways to make more efficient, environmentally friendly products and keep up with consumer trends. With all of these innovations, it is important to have a chemical manufacturer who can provide ongoing support and help refine chemical usage.
Choosing the right chemical manufacturer can be tricky. A chemical manufacturer’s role is to produce chemicals that meet regulatory standards, improve cost efficiencies, and help provide formulation support.
Best practices for fine-tuning chemical usage can come from local, state, or federal regulations. These regulatory requirements could impact the type of chemicals used in car wash formulas as well as the type of car wash systems.
For example, according to California Water Code 10951, new car washes built after January 1, 2014, are required to use a water recycling system that reuses 60% of the water already used in a car wash’s wash or rinse cycle. It is important to keep up with these regulations and what they mean for car wash machinery and formulations.
When selecting a chemical manufacturer or distributor, it’s crucial to choose one that collaborates closely with you and understands your specific formulations. This partnership enables the development of a formulation that not only cleans effectively but also offers cost savings. By working with the right manufacturer or distributor, you can access top-quality car wash chemicals that will improve the performance of your car wash formulas.
Choosing the right partner will elevate your car washing business by guaranteeing high-quality chemicals and formulations.
Conclusion
For decades, car wash operations and formulations have maintained the status quo without major advances. That’s changed. Now, there are many options for how and where to wash a vehicle, and new car wash formulation developments have produced more specialized solutions.
Cleaning effectively and efficiently is the primary goal, and choosing the right chemistry can help achieve that. When you choose the right chemical distributor or manufacturer, they can help you achieve that primary goal by helping you create these car wash formulations, get to know the formulations, and keep up to date with new and innovative chemistry.
Learn more by contacting Sea-Land or visit our Autocare page.
