Hand Wash vs. Tunnel Wash

Perform a Google search on how to best wash your car, and you’ll be inundated with search results from automotive care and enthusiast sites on the best products to use for a hand wash at home in the driveway. For many auto enthusiasts, anything other than a careful hand wash followed by a hand wax and an inspection with a magnifying glass will just never do. But most of us have lives, jobs, kids and seemingly endless demands on our time!

At Snap Clean, we get it! We all have real lives, and that’s why we are passionate about delivering a fantastic 5-minute vacation at the end of which you can drive away in a clean vehicle and get back to your daily grind. What should you expect from our tunnel, and how we stack up against so-called full-service washes or the option of a DIY wash in the driveway?

In the professional car-washing industry, hand-washing is largely a thing of the past due to automation. So, your options are tunnel washes, self-service (coin operated) or a full service. Here’s how they stack up and why a tunnel wash like Snap Clean offers a great value for most vehicle owners.

Prepping. Prepping is an essential step in the car wash process. It initiates the reduction in surface tension between your car and the water and detergents we use to deliver a fantastic clean. Whether you choose a full-service wash or a tunnel wash like ours, every commercial car wash worth their salt should have a prepper at the entrance to the tunnel. If they don’t, go elsewhere.

Chemistry. Snap Clean recently upgraded to a more powerful line of car care chemicals at all three of our North Texas locations. Though the cost of doing business has risen for most small businesses like ours, thanks to growth in new markets, we were able to introduce a new line of chemicals. Powerful chemistry matters. When you visit our tunnel, you will experience the cleaning power of our car care products first-hand. While many in the industry are cutting costs by reducing the volume, we upgraded to make sure that every dollar you spend with us is worth it because of the results we deliver.

Soft-Touch Technology. The large majority of commercial car washes today are tunnel washes, though some tout themselves as full-service and charge a premium for their service which basically means they dry off the car for you. Soft-touch technology is the preferred method for cleaning the surface of your vehicle. Some filling stations offer so-called “touchless” car washes, and we recommend avoiding! In our opinion, a soft-touch brush is the best and safest way to remove surface contaminants. Touchless car washes must use more and harsher detergents and chemicals to break down bird droppings, sap, concrete dust and other gunk that accumulates on the surface of the vehicle. Soft-touch brushes allows Snap Clean to use an optimal cleaning blend to remove surface contaminants without the use of harsher chemicals.

Snap Clean’s tunnel wash system and high-end chemistry combines performance and value to offer the best experience for our customers, both inside our tunnel and when you drive off down the road.

Ready to enjoy a great shine and a fantastic value? Stop by Snap Clean today.