I normally wash and dry my black H3 by hand but the other day I stopped at a self serve car wash on my way to work to spray off some mud. I used the "Pre-Soak" setting, sprayed and rinsed and then went to work. I figured most off the water would blow off by driving and I didnt want to towell dry it because it wasn't really clean enough for that.
When I came out for lunch my baby looked terrible! It had spots and streaks all over it and I spent hours cleaning it up. The spots on the glass were a bitch to get off and I'm going to have to use a cleaner wax to get the spots of the paint. I had to use a chorme cleaner on the grille. The worse part is all the rubber trim around the windows has discolored spots that I can't remove. I used Armor All on them and they look better but still are spotted.

So the lesson is:

1) Dont be lazy and do a half-ass wash job.

2) Always towell dry to avoid spots.

3) NEVER EVER use Pre-Soak spray- it's too harsh.

I normally wash and dry my black H3 by hand but the other day I stopped at a self serve car wash on my way to work to spray off some mud. I used the "Pre-Soak" setting, sprayed and rinsed and then went to work. I figured most off the water would blow off by driving and I didnt want to towell dry it because it wasn't really clean enough for that.
When I came out for lunch my baby looked terrible! It had spots and streaks all over it and I spent hours cleaning it up. The spots on the glass were a bitch to get off and I'm going to have to use a cleaner wax to get the spots of the paint. I had to use a chorme cleaner on the grille. The worse part is all the rubber trim around the windows has discolored spots that I can't remove. I used Armor All on them and they look better but still are spotted.

So the lesson is:

1) Dont be lazy and do a half-ass wash job.

2) Always towell dry to avoid spots.

3) NEVER EVER use Pre-Soak spray- it's too harsh.

That SUCKS!

Yeah, that crap that comes out of those machines at the car wash is nasty. I had to use them for a year to wash an old X5, and it sufferred terribly. It was black, and always had to be hand dried. Anything less, and the water would form like irridescent spots everywhere, mostly on the window trim. They were nearly impossible to remove. I noticed this with that "No Dry" spray thing too, where like you're not supposed to have to towel dry the car afterwards. So, be careful.

Thanks for all the info, I will be very careful next time I go to a self serve car wash.

Same thing happens when I wash mine @ home. I need a water softner!!!!

haha sucky! i always just use the high pressure water to blast everything off! including the paint! but i think it gives it character

yes i have found my blk hummer to be a wash every other day like job and If it is Sunny you must dri fast or you will get bad spots This is my first Blk rig i ever had so I think i am in for more work then I thought it would be. But i just had to have Blk

In CT we have a brushless car-wash franchise called Splash. They are in NY also, and expanding into other NE areas. They do a pretty good job.

Before your car/truck enters the wash, interior is vacuumed. Then it's pulled through the wash while two guys hand soap your rig from bumper to bumper. Then sprayed/rinsed and air dried.

Once out of the wash, your rig is hand dried with towels. Windows and dash are cleaned.

They clean the wheels and tires too, but I'm now thinking the stuff they put on the tires may spin off and onto the sides.

They have a menue of cleaning packages. The one I just described costs about $20.

These are the products they used as described to me by one of their managers:

"Two different soaps in our Hand Washes. Both are simoniz products, one is called Super shine, the other, Magic Lustre. Both are considered a neutral soap, and are safe for all finishes as well as the skin of the employees working with them. We offer foam polish protectants made by C.A.R. products and Simoniz as well which are also safe for all finishes. We use lambs wool wash mitts, and the H3 should fit through any of our washes without trouble."

Has anyone heard of these products? Pls let me know what you think of them.

Thanks

splash is supposed to be a real good chain. we have a few of them here and i'm sure they do a great job. the soap and everything sounds fine. most of those things are okay when you're hand mixing and drying it. depends on how picky you are. if you're as picky as i am, then u would just washing it yourself. i'm talking i have one lambswool mit for paint and one for wheels and lower part of the car.