Your customers need you. More importantly, they need you open for business.
In order to keep their vehicle looking new and to protect its paint job, they will need the occasional car wash, especially after it snows. As Amit Patel of Wash Trends noted in a recent blog post, this is one of many reasons that car washes “have to be operational year round.”
Washing a car after a snowfall, however, isn’t the same as washing it after a summer rain. Below we explore what you need to do in order to effectively wash a car that has been snowed on.
Cleaning Equipment
As Bob Fox of The CarWash Factory discussed in an interview with CarWash.com, “One of the easiest problems to prevent is the closure of the wash due to unscheduled maintenance.”
Unlike rain, snow sticks to cars, causing many types of contaminants to stick to the body of a car. The dirt, salt, hard water and other forms of grime that result from this type of winter weather are especially hard on your equipment. As such, it is imperative that you have all of the cleaning tools necessary to thoroughly clean your equipment during this time.
Tunnel Equipment
Drivers will be desperate to get the snowy grime off of their cars ASAP; you need to be able to adapt to this rapid influx in demand if your car wash is to reap maximum benefits. All of the following tunnel equipment should be available for high volume post-snowfall cleaning:
-
Conveyor
Keeps the cars moving along smoothly -
Cloth
You need a good cloth that can effectively penetrate the layers of grime created by the snow -
Bearings
If your bearings are not properly functioning, they can cause your entire car wash system to fail
Backroom Equipment
Once you are certain that you have all of the tools to move plenty of cars through the car washing process, you need to make sure that you can actually clean those vehicles. This means double-checking to make sure that you have a full compliment of backroom equipment, which should include the following:
-
Power packs
These are critical for delivering enough hydraulic fluid to all of your equipment -
Chemical pumps
These allow you to effectively disperse chemicals onto a car -
High-pressure pumps
These allow you to deliver powerful streams of water to a car -
Air compressors
Most car washing equipment relies on the compressed air that this tool delivers
Don’t Approach a Single Car Wash after a Snowfall Haphazardly
Effectively running a car wash during any time of year requires the right set of tools. Before you begin, all of your car wash tools should be properly inspected, cleaned and replaced as needed. Otherwise, critical equipment could fail at a bad time — as Phillip Lawless of CarWash.com put it, “owners and operators should call on the old adage of hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.”
The Right Car Wash Tools Can Make a Difference
Car wash tools are vital for the success of any car wash business. Without the right equipment, your business won’t perform as well as it could. You want your car wash business to be successful, and you should invest in the latest equipment.
At Macneil Wash Systems, we are prepared to help every kind of car wash owner; from the self serve location that needs to revive business with an in-bay express, to the established full-serve car wash chain looking for a more durable tunnel. Contact us today for a no-obligation quote, and own this winter season!