What Is the Best Way for Your Customers to Wash Their Cars Using Your Car Wash Supplies? 

Have you ever taken the time to notice how your customers are washing their cars at your self-serve car wash? If you haven’t, make sure to do so the next time you stop by to fill up your vending machines with car wash supplies and empty out the coin boxes. You may be surprised that many of your customers aren’t washing their cars correctly.

One of the biggest mistakes you might notice is your customers start washing their cars right away with car wash soap. While soap will help clean the car, your customers are not getting off as much dirt and grime as they could by starting with a prewash cycle and soaking the entire car.

To help ensure your customers are getting the most out of your car wash and know how to wash their cars correctly, it can be beneficial to offer advice, tips, and suggestions through the use of posters in each of your car wash bays.

You could even post these same tips and tricks on your preferred social media page. On the bottom of your posters, just put the web address of your social media site. You could even encourage your customers to post pictures of their vehicles after they are done washing them.

Make sure your customers know how to use all of your car wash and car cleaning equipment.

The biggest complaint people have about self-serve car washes is that they didn’t get their vehicle as clean as they liked. The reason for this, most of the time, is simply because the person was not sure how to correctly use the car wash and car cleaning equipment. Your goal should be to educate your customers on the right way to use all of your equipment, including the different wash settings and which each one does.

Offer a step-by-step car wash instructional poster in each car wash bay.

Right above or next to your car wash equipment, you should hang up a poster that provides instructions on the right way to wash a car. You will want to use illustrations when possible, like which car wash setting to use or small pictures showing whether to use the wand or brush.Most of the time, the steps should be fairly straightforward, as follows:

• Wet down the entire car, including wheels and tires, using the prewash or high-pressure-water-only setting.
• Switch to the car wash soap setting.
• Starting from the roof of the car and working downward, move the wand back and forth slowly to evenly distribute the foam soap on the vehicle.
• Allow the foam soap to set for a few minutes before rinsing off.
• Use a damp, soft sponge to remove any difficult dirt and debris.
• Switch to the brush and select car wash soap setting.
• Wash the tires and wheels with the car wash brush.
• Switch to the rinse cycle and rinse off all of the soap.
• Switch to the hot wax cycle, if applicable, and apply hot wax to the entire vehicle.
• Switch to the spot-free rinse cycle to rinse off excess wax and have a spot-free finish.

Keep in mind, this is just a general outline of the steps to follow. Your steps could vary based on what types of commercial car wash products you have installed in each of your car wash bays.

Remind your customers to put finishing touches on their cars after they are washed.

You can also use posters to remind your customers of different finishing touches they should do after washing their cars. Make sure to highlight the different car wash and car cleaning products you sell in your vending machines.

For instance, you may want to recommend using microfiber cloths to fully dry off any excess water. To ensure the vehicle has the right amount of wax, you could recommend customers use Eagle 1 Wax-As-U-Dry spray.

Once the car is dry, then suggest they spray down their tires with Armor All Tire Shine or Tire Foam. To remove any water spots from windows, recommend they use Armor All Glass Cleaner Wipes.

These are just a few ideas you can use for inspiration to come up with your own list of finishing touches and products your customers could use to make sure their cars shine and sparkle!

Don’t overlook your vacuum cleaner bays. 

Your vacuum cleaner bays are other areas where you can offer car cleaning tips and suggestions. After all, your customers deserve a great-looking interior to go with their freshly washed and detailed clean and shiny exterior.
Again, you could use small posters to provide instructions on the right way to vacuum out a car. The most effective way to vacuum out a car is by using these steps:

• Pre-clean the car and removal all trash. This step is a great tie-in to use to suggest buying car cleaning products from your vending machine. It is always better to clean as much of the interior as possible before vacuuming, especially if the car is very dusty or dirty inside.
• Prior to turning on the vacuum, open all car doors and the trunk. This will save time when having to move from the front seat to back seat and opposite sides of the vehicle.
• Remove all floor mats and shake these out to remove excess dirt and debris. A lot of what gets on floor mats can be shaken out so that there will be less to vacuum up later.
• Vacuum the vehicle’s carpeting first, then put the floor mats back in and vacuum these second. Most people start with their floor mats, only to have to waste vacuum time removing them. With the floor mats already out of the vehicle and shaken off, it makes sense to start with the carpeting, and then to do the mats.
• Vacuum cloth upholstery before moving on to the next section of the vehicle. Remind your customers to not overlook their seats, which can attract dirt and debris.
• Vacuum the trunk to remove any dirt and debris. Trunks can get dirty from hauling groceries and supplies. Keeping the trunk clean also helps your customers organize whatever they keep in their trunks.

In addition to step-by-step vacuuming instructions, you should also have posters with car cleaning tips—like using Armor All Protectant Wipes to clean interior surfaces and protect interior surfaces.

Use social media to get feedback from your customers about what items to stock in your vending machines. 

The most important thing you can do to help make sure your customers are washing their cars the right way is to find out what types of car wash supplies and cleaning products they need. Anytime you stop and visit your car wash, take the time to talk to your customers and ask them questions about what products they would like to see stocked in your vending machines.
Since you cannot be at your self-serve car wash 24/7, make sure to put up posters near the vending machines directing your customers to your social media site. The posters should encourage them to reach out to you and let you know what types of supplies and products you could put in your vending machines to help them keep their vehicles clean.

Whenever you get a post from one of your customers, make sure to take the time to thank them for their feedback. If you intend to stock a product they requested, also make sure to let them know when this will be available in your vending machines.

By helping your customers learn the right way to wash and vacuum their cars, not only are you helping them keep their cars clean, you are also encouraging them to buy all their car wash and car cleaning products directly from you out of your vending machines!