Scratch your car for $5.00


That's what we call charity or fundraiser car washes. I've organized and been in charge of a number of fundraiser car washes over the years as my daughter was a Cheerleader all the way through school and as well intentioned as a bunch of giggling high school girls can be you seriously don't want them washing your car if you care about the finish quality of the paint.

The same advice goes for any other organization putting on a car wash, including Football Team, Tennis Team, Church Groups, etc.


Even after doing my best to hold a mini-class for all the cheerleaders and explain to them the basics of how to correctly wash a car, I've watched in horror as these girls would drop a brand new wash mitt onto the pavement of a parking lot and then pick it up and go right back to washing a black Mercedes-Benz or fill-in-the-blank.

I understand and appreciate the idea and good intentions of anyone conducting a charity or fundraiser car wash but it's a fact that the masses don't know anything about clear coat paints including how easily they are scratches and more importantly how much work is involved in removing swirls and scratches as well as the fact that removing swirls and scratches mean removing a little bit of the thin and precious clear layer of paint.

For this reason, what I've always recommended to people that want to help out the cause is to pull into the car wash, hand them $5.00 and then leave.

DON'T LET THEM WASH YOUR CAR.


Help the cause but don't let them touch your car. Now that's a Win/Win deal.