The Best Type Of Car Wash To Visit If You Want To Protect Your Paint Job

Cars endure a lot of punishment on a regular basis, getting pelted with dirt, dust, animal droppings, and, depending on where you live, random scraps of trash casually tossed aside by rude people. Whatever the nature and origin of the crud covering your car, the solution is the same: a visit to the local car wash. You should make a habit of taking your car through the wash at least once a month, possibly more if you're regularly driving through rough terrain. Scrubbing all that junk off will go a long way toward extending your car's overall longevity, not to mention making it look nicer.

However, there's an important factor you need to consider before pulling into the nearest car wash you can find — the type of wash that it employs. While all of these methods are generally good at scraping off crud, some of them run the risk of damaging or diminishing your car's paint job or finish. The paint may not be vital to how your car runs, but nobody deserves to drive around in a dull, scratched wagon. So, what kind of car wash is best for keeping that paint pristine, and what kind should you avoid?

If you're in a rush and need your car to be cleaned thoroughly enough to be satisfactory, then the best car wash type for preserving your paint job would be a touchless car wash. Touchless washes employ high-pressure sprayers and wands, which fire off a blend of water and cleaning chemicals. The wands cover your car in the solution, while the combination of water pressure and chemicals loosens contaminants from the car's surface. After that, air blowers remove all the leftover droplets, leaving your car nice and shiny.

The reason this type of wash is best for preserving paint is pretty apparent: nothing is physically touching your car. No rigid or sharp implements mean nothing can scratch the paint. The only downsides to touchless washes are that they may not be able to get tough, ground-in stains, and if you go too often, the cleaning chemicals may dull your paint's sheen a bit. As long as you only go once a month, and don't mind wiping some more stubborn contaminants off by hand, touchless is the way to go.

If you're really concerned about machinery and jets scratching and dulling your paint job, then the best course of action is to eliminate all of that from the equation entirely. Rather than fancy automated washes, the most paint-friendly way to clean a car is to do it by hand. A few buckets of soapy water and a stack of clean sponges are all you need to rinse off a layer of dirt and scrub out any looming imperfections without inflicting paint damage. Some higher-end car washes offer handwashing services, though you can also do it yourself for free from the comfort of your driveway or garage. 

Of course, the obvious downside here is that washing an entire car by hand takes forever. We're talking about a giant hunk of metal here, so unless you've got some family or friends to help you, you're looking at an all-day affair. It's also much harder to clean out-of-the-way components like the undercarriage, though you could somewhat alleviate this with a handheld pressure washer. If you have the time to spare and don't mind getting dirty, a classic handwash will show your car you care.

Not all commercial car washes are made equal. It may sound simple enough to spray a car with water and soap, but unfortunately, there are a lot of washes out there that can't quite get that process right, potentially exposing your car to unsightly damage.

The primary kind of car wash you should avoid is also the most common: automatic washes. Yes, conveyor-style washes are cheap and convenient, but that's mostly because they skimp on quality. They'll scrub the dirt off, but don't be surprised if some of your paint goes with it. A lot of these places also tend to service many cars in a row without internal cleaning, which means going through them will just expose your car to a previous car's rinsed-off mess.

Speaking of messes, you should also be conscious of the general state of a car wash when you pull in. Does the facility look well-maintained? Are they rotating rags and sponges, or does every car get the exact same treatment? Are they using car wash brushes that could scratch your paint? If the car wash looks more like an old bathtub than a cleaning facility, then it's not going to do your car any favors, so drive away and find something else.