Are waterless car washes bad for the car?

DebDynamite

I got good deal on citydeal.ie last week for a car valet costing €50 which would usually cost €130. Was just looking at the boards.ie deal and they had a similar offer for a valet which was also waterless and one of the comments said that waterless car washes aren't good for your car as they can damage the paint work. Is this true? Also, can a waterless car wash really give the car a good clean around the wheels and near the underside? Should I wash the wheels myself beforehand?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help me.

MetzgerMeister

As far as I know, waterless car washes involve using the likes of those Armor All car wash wipes and "cleaner waxes".

I do car valeting part time and in my opinion, using these types of methods are inherently bad for paintwork as the pressure applied using these methods drags the dirt and debris across the paintwork which scratches it to hell.

You're much better off to just wash the car yourself using a wash mitt and the 2 bucket method whereby you use one bucket for dirty water i.e. you wash the mitt in this one after washing a panel of the car, ring it out and then dip it in the clean water bucket.

Gumbo

i would never use a waterless car wash.

veetwin

AFAIK that deal was cancelled and they are going to refund those who subscribed (myself included). If you hear any different maybe you could let us know!

DebDynamite

veetwin wrote: »

AFAIK that deal was cancelled and they are going to refund those who subscribed (myself included). If you hear any different maybe you could let us know!

I actually called them up to ask after reading the same thing here. The guy said citydeal made the mistake by leaving the deal up for longer than what was agreed and too many took up the offer, when it should've only been 100 people that took the offer up.

He said the deal still stands and all vouchers bought will be honoured. What they've now done is extend the offer from 3 months to one year so they won't be flat out with people who bought the offer trying to get their cars done over the next 3 months.

Kind of wished it was cancelled now though!

Esel

I think I remember reading they use 2 litres of water, so not strictly 'waterless'!

Anyway, found this on www.ecovalet.ie

ecovalet wrote:

Due to the overwhelming response to our recent CityDeal offer, we have now extended the 3 month valid period to a 12 month valid period - so no need to panic if we can't fit you in straight away !

We have also set up a CityDeal voucher dedicated number.

So if you have a voucher, please phone 086 2 55 11 88 and we will arrange a suitable time and date to valet your car.