[Sidjohri]

Note: I tried searching the forum but could not find any existing thread on this topic. I am therefore starting a new one. Request Mods to kindly merge with a different thread, if applicable.

I’m posting this to share my (and our) experiences on practices followed by our revered car-cleaning personnel to supposedly keep our drives spick and span. How many times have you cringed to find your car unclean as you rush to beat the morning traffic? The satisfaction one gets to see both wiper blades in an upright position (a sign indicating your car’s daily grooming) is often priceless!

But all good things come at a cost. How often have you noticed unexplained nicks and depressions in your prized possession(s) which seemingly did not exist yesterday? I was experiencing such instances over the last few days with minor scratches appearing everyday (progressively) on the front fender of my car and hood. While I initially brushed these off as routine mobility related bruises I was (one not so fine morning) appalled and shocked to see this: our car cleaner was literally undertaking some over-adventurous manoeuvres to show-off his novel car cleaning practices! As you can see in the CCTV grabs below the gentleman not only mounts himself on the vehicle’s tyres (could be common practice) but goes that extra mile by climbing onto the scuttle panel, hood, wiper and windshield! On all twos!

I uncharacteristically lost my cool and confronted the said person. I was informed that he is a recent replacement for our regular cleaning guy. He being of a slightly short stature had no option but to perform such heart-in-the-mouth moves. Heart in the mouth big time for me – not sure about him!

While I have received an assurance from the gentleman that going ahead he would be gentler towards my (and other’s) steeds, the incident has indeed left me a bit shaken. No matter how much TLC you give the forces of nature will somehow slip through the cracks and confront your motor! I would be happy to know the views of our esteemed BHPians on this subject along with any such instances you might have experienced.

(Sorry for the low-quality images – the idea is not to put the spotlight on the gentleman in question but just to showcase his antics)

[shancz]

Short guy and tall car don't work very well with cleaning.
Ask me, cracked a plastic roofrail since I was using it as leverage to balance myself when when standing on the tyres to reach the far end of the roof

Standing on the hood/windshield part is wrong and unnecessary.

Just get the guy a sturdy plastic stool/small stepladder (non metal) if you want to avoid the antics.

TLC is only possible personally, IMHO.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Sidjohri

As you can see in the CCTV grabs below the gentleman not only mounts himself on the vehicle’s tyres (could be common practice) but goes that extra mile by climbing onto the scuttle panel, hood, wiper

Climbing on the tyres is a common practice, climbing onto the hood is NOT.

As suggested earlier, ask the guy to get something like this (or get him one): https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09DQ325H2/...FRJRH024NR55AD


On a side note, the most cringeworthy cleaning practice (and unfortunately, the most prevalent one too) is the cleaning guy using a single bucket of water and a cloth to wipe a dozen cars. The first car they touch in the day in the luckiest, the last one...

The cars look clean from a distance. Upon close look, you realise the dust/mud/grime has been wiped and spread across the body. With time, swirl marks and scratches appear on the windscreen and body. Learnt it the hard way and decided to do the job myself.

[PaddleShifter]

I only employed the services of a cleaning guy for few months once. I told him that I do not need a super clean car that has been rubbed hard. And even if difficult to reach areas are not cleaned, I am totally fine with it. The car had numerous swirls after few weeks anyway.

I drive a dirty car for this reason and get it washed once every two weeks or so. The only issue left is that the car wash station guy has a habit of slamming the wipers and I ensure he does not do it (I own a Maruti car so build quality, you know. ).

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by Sidjohri

I would be happy to know the views of our esteemed BHPians on this subject along with any such instances you might have experienced.

Recalling a singular experience..

Sometime back, I gave the society car cleaning guy couple of microfiber cloths and a Jopasu duster to dust (not wash) my Vento every other day. Gave him some preliminary "training" also. He was very diligent at his job.

One fine morning, I was about to leave for office when I noticed that the guy was washing someone else's car with the microfiber cloths (dipped in some nice society water) that I had provided him.
The moment he saw me, he realized that his act was caught and he started apologizing. He confessed that he had done that only for couple of days. I let the incident pass by just telling him to not use it again ever like that.

I got to know few days later that the guy had actually lost few of his jobs (cars for washing, to a new person in the adjacent society) and wanted to hold on to the remaining ones by trying to provide more value. Using the microfiber cloths, that is.

Clearly, the guy's daily livelihood was impacted (he also used to do night shifts as a society guard) due to loss of car washes. And I observed that he was actually very sincere with the job at hand, except for that momentary lapse.
I decided to give him some more "training" with the cleaning stuff, told him how to use the microfiber cloths properly and spread the word around in my society about this guy's newly-acquired skill.

Within couple of days, he came to me overwhelmed with the news that he had secured some new jobs within our society.

I went ahead and bought couple of more micro-fiber cloths and another duster for him, to help him continue his quest for adding value to his other clients.

[Prakritij]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Recalling a singular experience..

Sometime back, I gave the society car cleaning guy couple of microfiber cloths and a Jopasu duster to dust (not wash) my Vento every other day. Gave him some preliminary "training" also. He was very diligent at his job.

One fine morning, I was about to leave for office when I noticed that the guy was washing someone else's car with the microfiber cloths (dipped in some nice society water) that I had provided him.
The moment he saw me, he realized that his act was caught and he started apologizing. He confessed that he had done that only for couple of days. I let the incident pass by just telling him to not use it again ever like that.

I got to know few days later that the guy had actually lost few of his jobs (cars for washing, to a new person in the adjacent society) and wanted to hold on to the remaining ones by trying to provide more value. Using the microfiber cloths, that is.

Clearly, the guy's daily livelihood was impacted (he also used to do night shifts as a society guard) due to loss of car washes. And I observed that he was actually very sincere with the job at hand, except for that momentary lapse.
I decided to give him some more "training" with the cleaning stuff, told him how to use the microfiber cloths properly and spread the word around in my society about this guy's newly-acquired skill.

Within couple of days, he came to me overwhelmed with the news that he had secured some new jobs within our society.

I went ahead and bought couple of more micro-fiber cloths and another duster for him, to help him continue his quest for adding value to his other clients.

Thats a very nice gesture. Helping someone earn a livelihood in whatsoever way will make him remember you for the rest of his life.

[vgaquarius]

IMHO we can take care of the cleaning of the car only and only if we do it by our own selves. No one can treat our car the way we enthusiasts do. If we have a scratch, it tends to bug us till the time we get it worked out!

Car washing guys in our localities are working hard to earn their livelihood and would need to finish up the cleaning of almost all the cars before we all set off to our daily commutes. They can't afford to deliver special attention to every car specifically, else they might miss out upon others.

Educating them about the Do's and Don'ts is surely necessary if they are using practices which can lead to a significant damage (in this case, climbing on the fender and the windshield), however, we would have to ignore other practices which might introduce swirl marks.

Till the lockdown, I used to be so freaking possessive for my car's paint and how it should be washed, but when I had to do it manually by my own self following all the proper procedures, I was able to understand the pain.

Come on Guys! None of us would be able to get out of our blankets and grab a bucket of cold water early in the morning, irrespective of the season, and wash the car with full dedication. Maybe our families have to knock us down the bed in case of some urgent errands in the winter.

Swirl marks and other tiny imperfections can be taken care of by a decent detailing session once a year for dark colours or even more than 2-3 years for a light colour.

I believe we should just educate them and try bearing the tiny imperfections. At least the person is working hard to feed himself and his family, unlike the beggars on traffic signals.

Drive Safe.
Vaibhav

[YK85]

This exactly.

Few years ago, I used to have a guy clean my Vento every day but the problem being dipping the "cleaning" cloth in the same bucket of water, basically just spreading the dirt all over the car uniformly.
Now, just imagine that cloth with all that dirt being rubbed all over the car, I realised it's literally the same as using sandpaper on your car paint.

Seriously, the thought made me feel sick to the stomach and I decided to take care of car cleaning duties myself.
Now, I give my cars a wash and wax once every 2 weeks and use a jopasu duster for the daily cleaning.

Yes, there's a great deal of time and effort involved but honestly, the sight of my cars shining and gleaming makes it completely worth it. Peace of mind and a nice workout being additional bonus points.