Soaking up the waterless car wash
A few years ago while still in college, James Dudra spent a summer detailing cars in Australia, where he found that people don’t use water to wash their trucks and family sedans. Rather, they wipe cars clean with a bottle-spray formula.
And it’s no wonder. The average car wash can suck up between 80 gallons and 140 gallons of water. Drought-ridden Australia certainly can’t afford that extravagance, and neither can places like Georgia.
So last year, Dudra founded the New Hampshire-based company Eco Touch to adapt the idea for the United States. Unlike other waterless cleaners–which can use harsh chemicals like silicones and kerosene that can run into water systems unchecked–Eco Touch is a water-based formula with organic soaps and plant-based surfactants that wick away grime, Dudra said.
To me, it seems like a no-brainer choice, even though I feel sad at giving up those sunny days washing the car in the driveway and getting soaked in the process. One bottle of Eco Touch, which sells for $19.99 including towels, can clean an average-sized family car three to six times. That’s as much as 800 gallons of water in savings. The packaging is recyclable, too.
Dudra started selling Eco Touch in March, both online and through small stores on the East Coast. But he showed it off this weekend at the Green Festival in San Francisco to draw more retailers and buyers on the West Coast. Some attendees seemed to like to the idea.
”I’m from Georgia, so waterless car wash is a big thing,” said one woman who bought the product.
Other options to consider are No Wet’s “green and mean” wash or a steam-clean car wash. On Youtube, a company called Speed Steam advertised such a steam car wash in a video, which purported to get rid of car grime with less than four cups of water.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:13 am
updated sites…
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March 8th, 2008 at 9:32 am
free car quote…
Excellent post. Keep it up!…