Prepping to Deliver Great Results

Ever wonder why that friendly Snap Clean team member standing outside the tunnel as you drive in takes a moment to brush your car with a quick hit of soapy and detergent before our soft foam brushes go to work? Washing cars, as with cleaning most things, is all about chemistry! Everything we do here is designed to help our detergents and shine agents perform optimally, so you get the best clean possible when your wash cycle is complete.

Our tunnel is basically a massive robot. The chemicals it carries need a little personal assistance to deliver the great experience and beautiful shine you’ve come to expect from Snap Clean. Here are four reasons we prep your car for the tunnel along with a little chemistry lesson on car wash chemicals.

Reduce surface tension. Every detergent, from your dish soap to the stuff you wash your face with to – you guessed it – the amazing chemicals we use to clean your vehicle, contains something called surfactants. Surfactants reduce the surface tension between the dirt, dust and soil on your vehicle, so that the junk you don’t want on your vehicle can be gently lifted away leaving behind a great shine and well-maintained paint job. By applying a quick brush of a basic detergent, we’re getting the process started so that the soaps and detergents can better penetrate the soil on your car.

Remove tough soils. Our tunnel washes are equipped with soft-cloth brushes that apply the foaming detergents and shine agents you see when you are inside our tunnel. Our preppers focus on tough soils like bugs, bird droppings and sap to loosen them a bit so that the soft cloth can wipe them away. The team members are trained in making sure to do this prep work carefully, and the brushes we use are cleaned after every vehicle to make sure we’re not working the same junk back over the next car.

Deliver an even clean across the vehicle. Because every car model is designed slightly differently, we prep the cars as they head into the tunnel making sure to apply detergent to hard-to-reach areas. This ensures your vehicle is evenly clean when you leave and that the cleaning and shine applications in the tunnel can perform optimally.

Provide a great end-result. First, we reduce surface tension. Then we increase it! The final applications of our tunnel are drying agents that make the surface of the vehicle super shiny AND that help repel water. You’ll know you got a great wash – especially if you are a Platinum user – because the final applications (drying agents) will cause a drop of water to bead up on the surface on the vehicle and roll away when the dryers hit the car. By prepping your car well to receive all the great products in our tunnel, you’ll be left with a fantastic end-result.