Maybe I am too worried of messing up my car, but the book to my Ford Fusion says not to get wax on certain surfaces, like windows. How do people handle this? At various automated car washes, I can’t even tell if wax is even included. (I would have thought wax would be itemized in the description of what I’m getting for my money.)
Also, what is a touchless carwash vs…what other type(s) of carwash? Obviously, I am clueless about such things.
Thanks!
The car wash near me uses pressurized jets of water, no brushes. In the past, I have used ones that had rubber strips/pads that shuffled back and forth, and some that used giant brushes. I guess this one qualifies as “touchless,” since the only touch is with water.
Probably doesn’t clean quite as well as other methods (especially for birdshit), but it’s quick and cheap. Certainly less hassle than hand work. If you don’t pay for the extra wax, you won’t get any on the windows, eh?
The concern, so far as I know, is that you won’t be able to see through your windows. Particularly with the types of wax that get hazy a few minutes after you put them on. This isn’t going to be an issue at a car wash where it’s formulated to not haze windows or ruin rubber/plastic moldings.
it’s not actually the windows that are the concern, but things like wiper blades and window/door seals. they tend to be made from EPDM rubber, and waxes of a hydrocarbon source (or carried in a hydrocarbon solvent) can degrade EPDM over time. spray “waxes” are usually a small bit of silicone and a tiny bit of (non-petroleum) carnauba wax suspended in water, and aren’t likely to hurt anything.
Thanks, all! I will look into this further as one car wash actually has an email.
I would speculate that the instruction is intended for hand applied waxing products (don’t rub turtle wax on your windows, dummy), rather than commercial car wash waxing options.
What about something like Rain-X?
Rain-X is a silicone.
and there’s nothing bad about getting wax on your windows as long as it’s not a rubbing/polishing compound containing abrasives. I knew people who used to wax their windshields before Rain-X was common.
If it’s of comfort, I take my BMWs to “touchless” car washes and have never had an issue; believe me, Bimmer evangelists preach that its the very worst thing you could possibly do to your car, but it’s been just fine for me. I go to a place with the automatic wash and wipe down by humans.
I do have a friend whose Honda wheel rim got a bit scratched by the rail that pulls the car through, so I guess that’s a minor risk.
I used to use Rain-X on the windshield on a regular basis. Part of washing/drying the car was to run a paper towel down the wiper blades. The front ones the paper towel would come up up black, like I was wiping the top layer off. This never happened with the rear blade. There also happened to the bottom of the window gasket over time. Therefore, I think the Rain-X had some negative interaction with rubber over time.
This was about 15 years ago; don’t know if they’ve changed the formula but I stopped using it as I’m one to keep a car for many years. I’d think you’d be okay if you had a leased car because you’d turn it in before you’d see most/any issue.
not likely; that residue is a combo of dirt and the surface of the blade breaking down from UV and oxidation.
That and the front blades are generally used far more often than the rear one, and the fronts cover more glass real estate too as they are larger. Also, bug remains. Bugs can’t splatter on the rear end of your car, unless it’s being towed backwards. Those smear like a bitch all over your windshield.
Would not there be the same amount of UV & oxidation on the rear blade? I’d expect less of that on the bottom of the front blades as they’re not in direct sunlight much. Also, how do you explain it happening to just the bottom of the windshield gasket & not the other three sides of it?