AutoBrite Company

07/20/2026

Should you stay or should you go?



Going to the Car Wash show every year, we always get the question: Was it worth it? Or should I go?

The answer is probably yes. There are a lot of good things about The Car Wash show every year. The same goes for all the other shows around the country.

If you haven't been to any car wash shows, and you are in the industry, you should go. You can learn a lot. Not just new equipment, but what is going on in the industry, how everyone else is doing, and new things you can do at your wash to be more profitable. Talk to the vendors, but also talk to the other attendees. Yes, we are in competition with each other, but we also need to work together to help each other. What's good for the car wash industry is good for all of us.

Attend the sessions. We all want to see the shiny new advancements. Learning about the business from others is a great way to grow your brand. Learn from others' successes and failures. Maybe you'll walk away with a new strategy, different opinions on chemicals, or even a new belt system

Here is an article about the car wash show that I was interviewed for.

Read the article, go to a show, then go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun

07/13/2026

What's the one thing that makes your wash better than the one down the street?

A conversation we have had with lots of car wash owners and prospective owners, what is your unique selling proposition (USP)?

This press release from "Ben's ScratchFree CarWash" says it all. It's right there in their name. Here is the press release if you want to read it.

In the car wash business, this is just two touchless in-bay automatics, but the owners started branding it to stand out among the other local car washes.

Have you ever heard the old story about the hiker who kept tennis shoes hanging on the outside of his pack? His friend wondered for a while and then asked him what the shoes were for.

The hiker simply replied that they are in case we meet a bear. Everyone knows you can't outrun a bear. But the hiker continued, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."

Your wash is the same. You don't have to outrun everyone; you just have to be better at something your potential customers value. The wash we are talking about just leaned into its touchless aspect.

What is one thing you do better than your local competitors?

Does every one of your potential customers know it?

Now, go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun.

Image https www globalnewslines com uploads 2026 05 1779456180 jpg Fort Worth TX May 24 2026 Ben s ScratchFree CarWash is celebrating three successful months serving the Fort Worth community with its premium touchless car wash specially designed to protect ...

07/06/2026

Have you seen this before?

Car washing can be fun if we make it that way. Use everything fun, funny, amusing, or that makes you smile at your car wash to help advertise and share with your customers and employees.

This was from an Instagram Post that came across our feed and made me smile. It's a car wash in Australia, and the couple seemed to have great fun at their second wedding with the videos. But it made everyone at the wedding laugh and smile about a car wash.

Anything that makes someone smile will give you a positive association with you and your brand.

Use it to your advantage.

Then, go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun.

06/29/2026

Should you remodel your car wash?

We talk to customers every day who are thinking of remodeling their wash. If you are thinking about remodeling, that makes you normal. Why wouldn't you want your wash to be the best? Owners and operators are always thinking of remodeling their wash. Even the ones that just finished a remodel are thinking, should they do it again to make this just a little bit better, and when?

Good reasons and not-so-good reasons to upgrade your wash:

Customer Expectations

Customers are expecting better and better stuff. Customers no longer accept things that don't work, a dark area to wash in, something that looks grimy, or an unhappy feeling place. They will simply go down the street to a cleaner and happier wash.

Sometimes you just need an upgraded feeling when your equipment is still working. Plastic-lined walls, a new asphalt seal, and a spit polish could go a long way to make your wash feel new and create customer loyalty.

Put a fresh coat of paint on everything and change out all the things your customers touch as a start. If your car wash looks dirty, how can customers trust it will make their cars clean?

Rising Competition

If other washes are doing something better than you are, then you should change. If you are doing things better, then you don't need to remodel.

Remember, only one person's opinion matters, your customer's, not yours. What are they saying? Ask them. They will tell you.

Before you spend a boatload of money on a remodel, spend a busy Saturday doing nothing else besides asking your customers. Then you will know what you could be doing better or what needs upgrading or cleaning.

Aging Equipment

This is the one that pi**es you off the most. Aging equipment always requires more maintenance than new equipment. It can be easy to become very emotional and spend a lot of money just because you are mad older parts don't work as well as you want them to work.

Keep good records, including time spent maintaining and fixing equipment (there is a difference) and how much money you are actually spending.

You may be spending a lot of time fixing equipment and almost none maintaining it. If you aren't spending any time maintaining your equipment, new equipment is probably not going to help for very long. When you neglect the maintenance, all the equipment goes bad, and you just keep fixing things.

You should also look at your downtime and what you realistically lost. If it is pouring rain out on a Tuesday night at midnight and you are down, you probably aren't losing any money. Create a formula and do the math. Try to use the average of what is going on that day or that week, not some hopeful best Saturday you had once. No feelings until after you have the numbers to look at.

New Equipment Performance

Yes, new equipment will use less water, probably fewer chemicals, wash better, and look shiny. But is it worth it? It depends.

Start with the math. What is all that costing you right now, and how much do you think it will save you with new equipment? Sometimes new equipment is an easy yes. Other times, when you add up the savings, you will be only saving a $1,000 but will be putting out $100,000 for the new equipment. If the only reason you are buying new equipment is to save $1,000 a month, it could take you 10 years to earn that money back. Is it worth it? Does the math make sense?

The Competition Remodeled

So? Are they taking your business? Really? Look at the numbers. Write them out and create a graph on a piece of paper if you have to. You need to know the numbers to see if it is really hurting you.

Yes, a lot of times a new car was nearby will take business from you. Customers also get shiny new syndrome and always want to try the next thing on the market. Once the other wash is done with their remodel (or new build is open), you need to wait two or three months to see what happens with your numbers. Those first couple of months, it won't matter how much better your wash is; everyone is going to try the other wash. After three months, look at the numbers and then make a decision.

Look at your numbers and consider your options.

Then, go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun.

06/22/2026

very time you think I've seen it all! Or it can't get any worse...

And then it does...

This is from a news story out of North Carolina. There aren't a lot of details besides the video. The video says enough.

The first rule of going to the car wash with your truck is make sure there's nothing in the bed. A North Carolina man found that out the hard way.

06/15/2026

If you’re asking whether you should convert your IBA to a mini tunnel, this is really a money question.

Not an ego question.

Not a boredom question.

A numbers question.

An IBA might cap out around 15 to 20 cars per hour. A mini tunnel can push 40 to 60.

That sounds great.

But are you actually maxed out now?

Are you stacking cars and turning people away every week?

Or do you just feel behind when you drive past the express down the road?

A mini tunnel can cost up to $1,000,000 for a full conversion. That only works if your market can feed it and produce real net income, not just revenue.

If you are truly volume capped and leaving money on the table, it is worth running the numbers.

If your real problem is marketing, pricing, uptime, or operations, a mini tunnel just makes the problem more expensive.

Before you build more capacity, make sure you are using the capacity you already have.

Run the math.

Then decide.

For now go wash lots of cars, have lots of fun, and make lots of money,

06/08/2026

Most car wash decisions get justified by one day.

The busy Saturday. The line out to the street. The day everything feels like it’s working.

That day lies to you.

Not because it’s fake. Because it hides what it costs you to make it work.

When a wash is busy, a lot gets forgiven.

Loaders rush and it feels normal. Spacing gets sloppy and no one notices. Chemistry gets pushed harder just to keep cars moving. Water leaks get ignored. Equipment gets bypassed “just for today.” Small problems disappear in the noise.

On those days, the wash survives on momentum.

But momentum isn’t the same as working well.

Your best day masks how much effort it actually takes to get through it. It hides the stress. It hides the shortcuts. It hides the work you’ve accepted as “just part of the business.”

The real story shows up on normal days.

The average Wednesday or Thursday. No pressure. No excuses.

That’s when you see what the wash really is.

How smooth the flow actually feels. How much attention each car needs. How much labor it takes to keep things moving. How often you step in to fix something that shouldn’t need fixing.

Most owners don’t design for that day. They tolerate it.

They assume normal is as good as it gets.

It isn’t.

A better wash isn’t just more cars on peak days. It’s less effort on normal ones.

Less rushing. Less babysitting. Less compensating for layout, process, or decisions made years ago.

The right setup makes average days easier. And when average days get easier, busy days take care of themselves.

If your wash only feels good on your best day, there’s probably more opportunity sitting there than you think.

That’s not a pitch. Just an observation.

Sometimes the most useful conversation starts by looking at an ordinary day and asking a simple question:

Does this really have to be this hard — or could normal be better?

05/25/2026

Most people hear low pH and high pH presoak and assume one is stronger than the other. That is not how it works. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral. Below seven is acid. Above seven is alkaline. Each side has a job. One does not replace the other.

Low pH presoaks usually live in the 2 to 4 range. Their job is mineral based dirt. Hard water film, road salts, light rust staining, and that dull gray haze soap never fixes. Acid breaks the grip those minerals have on the surface so they can be rinsed away instead of clinging on.

High pH presoaks usually sit in the 10 to 12 range. This is where oils and organics get handled. Traffic film, grease, exhaust residue, bugs. High pH chemistry grabs oily soil, breaks it apart, and lets water carry it off the car instead of spreading it around.

The scale matters because too far in either direction causes problems. Acid that is too aggressive can dull trim, stain glass, and attack coatings. Alkalinity that is pushed too hard can dry plastics, haze paint, and leave residue behind. Effective cleaning lives in the working range, not at the extremes.

Low pH handles minerals. High pH handles oils. Understanding the number tells you what the product is meant to clean. This should give you an idea of where to start in your wash.

Now go wash lots of cars, have lots of fun, and make lots of money.

05/18/2026

Smaller build? We have owners come to us convinced they need a full tunnel.


On paper, it makes sense.



They have the traffic. They want the volume. And like most, the assumption is simple: bigger is better, more equipment equals a better wash.



The problem isn't the idea.

It's the site.



To make a full tunnel work, they would need more land, use bad turn-ins, or a tunnel shoved so far back you can't tell it is a car wash from the road. It fits on a drawing. It doesn't fit in the real world.

So we slow them down.

Instead of asking how big the tunnel should be, we ask different questions.

How do cars actually enter?

What does a driver see from the road?

What happens on a busy Saturday when traffic stacks up?



Once we start looking at that, the answers change.

They don't need a bigger tunnel.

They need a layout that works with their site.

This will avoid giant headaches in the future.

This is how we look at projects at AutoBrite.

Not bigger.

Not flashier.


But what works for you.

Go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun,

05/11/2026

Booth 414 is ready to go for this year’s ICA The Car Wash Show!

Whether you’re looking to convert an existing space or build a brand-new site, AutoBrite™ is your mini-express car wash expert. Our compact footprint solutions are designed to maximize vehicle throughput and drive profitability , without requiring a massive property footprint.