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Soft Cloths.
They wash with friction, less soap. The cloth material can vary, but it should not scratch your car. However, if cleaning jets do not rince the cloth properly (like if they get clogged), the dirt on the cloth will. I would never put my cars through a soft-cloth owned by a big oil company!
Self-Serves. Most are crap. Soaps are so weak they do nothing. (Soaps lift soils off the surface and high pressure impact, get it off) HP Soap doesn not work (too much water). Presoaks (low pressure strong surfactant) will do the trick. "wax" in all carwashes are not wax, but drying agents that help the car dry, but leave no lasting protection. My SS bays have the following...Bug Remover Presoak, Grime Presoak, Tire Cleaner Presoak, HP Soap, HP Rinse, HP Wax, Clear-Coat protectant with Teflon, spot free rinse and hand held air dryer. It takes a little time, but you can to an excellent job in my bays.
Detailers. Like anything else, some are very good and some are terrible. Properly cleaning a car requires skill, knowledge and experience. Not many have all three. A local car wash operator I know also has a detail shop. He knows nothing about paint, chemistry and get this..."he's legaly blind"! So consumer beware!
In the end, you should wash your car regularly to remove corrosive elements like salt, bird droppings, bug guts, etc. And also protect the surfaces with a proper wax or regular hyper beadant like RainX. Even if the car is clean, acid rain and pollutants will eat away at the clear-coat finish and dull the paint.
Hope this helps Big Leo!
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