CHICAGO — Two competing trends in the car-wash business have the potential to upend the services category.
On one hand, new express washes seem to be sprouting up everywhere. How will these operators survive and compete when there may soon be one on every corner in some locations?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, how will the decreasing number of full-service car washes succeed against such competition when labor costs are rising to as much as $20 per hour, including employee benefits?
While cost cutting has long been the focus of many in the industry, operators from both ends of the spectrum have begun to realize that you cannot drive growth by pinching pennies, which can lead to a subpar customer experience.
Now a countertrend is occurring as a growing number of operators seek to add value by providing a better wash and experience from start to finish, so the customer is greeted with a smile and leaves with one. The goal is a simple one: When competition is stiff, outperform the other guy down the street.
“Car washes will be more profitable when operators pay attention to the details that customers care about,” said Dan Pecora, an expert on brush materials and CEO of Erie Brush in Chicago, a brush, cloth, foam and detailing supplier to the car-wash industry since 1948. “When they do this correctly, customers are willing to pay a little more, return more often and tell their family and friends about you.”
Equipment Counts
In terms of doing the best job possible for customers, every detail of the wash should be considered, from the water condition and equipment adjustments to the quality and types of brushes used.
In express- and full-service washes, for instance, one hazard of choosing the cheapest brushes is how quickly they can accumulate grit and particles from recirculated water, which can mar paint finishes, according to Pecora.
“Recirculated water carries sand and other particles that can act like sandpaper if they build up on the surface of the washing material,” Pecora said. “To save a little on material costs, cheaper cloth has larger gaps between the fibers. However, these gaps can trap sand and grit, which is a major cause of paint marring, particularly of black mirrored finishes.”
To prevent this, it is better to use cloth brushes with very small gaps between the materials, Pecora said. The gaps should be too small to allow such particles in.
Pecora cautions that the wash machines in the tunnel must also be properly adjusted, so they “just tickle the vehicle.”
“You do not want the machines to push too hard,” he said. “That would push any particles on the cloth, filament or foam harder into the vehicle’s paint surface.” Overly aggressive machines with harder brush materials could also give customers the impression that their vehicles are being beat on in the car wash, which could scare them away, he said.
A Softer, Quieter Touch
While express- and full-service washes can do a good job with filament, cloth or foam brushes, it is important that these provide a softer, quieter touch that still thoroughly cleans the vehicle and eliminates the grit problem, Pecora said. Using a softer brush with better lubrication can accomplish this.
“The softer the brush filament used, whether cloth, closed-cell foam or hog’s hair, the easier it is to release grit and the quieter the wash,” he said. “Tough cloth or foam might last a long time but won’t clean the car’s nooks and crannies. Soft cloth or gentle foam, when utilized correctly, is gentler on paint and will clean hard-to-reach areas.”
Because foams can squeak when rotating without adequate lubrication, he also suggests using enough soap and water for a quieter customer experience on the ride through the tunnel.
Car wash owner Bill Seniw of Beverly Hills Car Wash in Chicago says soft and stretchable brushes are a secret of his business’ success. “I’ve had no damage claims since I opened my express wash almost three years ago,” he said.
Along with softness, Seniw credits the gentle foam with providing a quiet wash that puts his customers’ minds at ease when they ride through his tunnel. “The gentle foam is so quiet that customers can’t even really hear it. So they know we’re being gentle on their vehicles.”
Larger Vehicles, Bigger Wheels
Another challenge to the car-wash industry has been how much the market has changed since many facilities were constructed. With sales of light trucks—including vans, SUVs, pick-ups and crossovers— accounting for almost 60% of all U.S. vehicle sales last year, it is clear that consumers now prefer larger vehicles over the sedans of the past.
In this regard, the problem has been greater difficulty in efficiently cleaning tires and wheels, which have become significantly larger and more intricate than in previous decades. High-pressure sprayer systems, in general, have raised costs while failing to sufficiently remove all the accumulated dirt and debris without scrubbing and friction.
“Previously, full-service washes required a lot of help to wash tires and wheels, and other washes tended to let them go out dirty,” said Pecora. “High-pressure sprayer systems lack the ability to scrub tough-to-remove dirt and grime as well as add a shine. The creation of wheel brushes with varied filament lengths basically eliminates the need for labor and costly high-pressure sprayer systems to clean wheels.”
Such brushes are now helping to save money and bring more return business, because labor is saved and tires and wheels emerge from conveyor washes cleaner.
For conveyor washes, brushes are also available that can apply a tire shine automatically to save labor. For this, Pecora advises using an engineered rotating brush made of cloth or filaments to better hold the tire shine liquid.
The bottom line to remember from all this is that professionalism will be rewarded, even as the competition gets tougher and the number of express washes continues to rise.
In the end, operators who pay attention to the details that customers care about, add value and improve efficiency will attract more business, improve profitability and gain market share from those simply pinching pennies.
Del Williams is a technical writer based in Torrance, California.
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