AutoBrite Company

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.

05/04/2026

Five free ways to make your car wash better. Free is a great way to improve your wash. I know it's my favorite price.

As a good car wash owner, you are always looking at ways to improve your wash. The problem is that lots of them cost lots of money.

To break that trend, here are 5 things you can do to improve your wash today.

1. Take Pictures

Take pictures from the entrance of your wash and then analyze those pictures to see things you should be doing so your guests have the best experience as they come onto your lot. Smartphone pictures are good enough and cost you nothing since you already have one. The pictures will help you see your wash with fresh eyes. What do your guests really see?

2. Clean, Clean, and Clean some more

Stop passing those spots you know could be cleaner. You know the one we are talking about. That spot that you walk by and think I really should clean that, or wonder why it's there? Stop putting the task off. Get in there with some elbow grease and get your wash cleaner today.

3. Be Positive

Be happy, positive, and thankful to everyone you interact with at your wash, from your customers to your employees. Your employees allow you to scale and do other things besides being at the wash 24/7. Your customers give you money! Be a positive person around. Remember, they make your business work and feed your family.

4. Smile

Look happy to be at work. RBF may be your go-to, but it's not the image you want to portray. Get your employees to look like they enjoy being there. A simple fake-it-until-you-make-it smile could be the biggest differentiator between your wash and the one down the street.

5. Say Hi.

It couldn't be simpler. When you walk around your wash, say hi to everyone you come within 10 feet of. If they want to have a conversation, stop, talk, smile, and be a positive influence on that person's day. Positive interactions keep people coming back.

Do these five free things, and you will have a better wash.

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

04/27/2026

What does a drip cost? Does it really matter?

As a car wash owner, you use so much water daily; does a leaking pipe matter? Yes, it can in two different ways.

AutoBrite has been in thousands of equipment rooms, and most of them have water on the floor. But is that water from someone doing work, or is there a leak?

Two reasons you should care about a small leak.

First, small leaks never get better. Leaks only get worse and will eventually lead to a catastrophic failure, requiring an emergency repair. Things always break on a busy sunny Saturday and never on a rainy Monday when sales are slow.

Second, the leak is costing you money. Most car wash owners don't think about it because their water bill is so high anyway. Wouldn't you like to save money on your already high water bill? Some quick math, the average leak at 1 drip per second, will waste over 3,000 gallons a year. Do you have more than one drip? Does it drip when the pump is off and run when the pump is on? Can you see how this can get out of hand quickly? But it's only a drip, right?

Save some money and time, and go fix that drip you've been staring at for a while.

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

04/20/2026

Have you made your car wash business pillars simple so all your employees and customers can understand and repeat it?

Here is an example of something you might design your car wash around.

Steal AutoBrite's idea, or come up with your own. But make it simple and repeatable.

If you say your pillars constantly, then your employees will pick it up. If your employees pick it up and start saying it, then your customers will do the same. You want word of mouth advertising at your wash, simple and repeatable is how you do it.

Not only is this example very simple, but if you do it and say you do it, everyone will notice, and you will grow your business.

The four pillars AutoBrite came up with years ago to run a car wash are: Clean, Safe, Inviting, and Consistent.

These four things are super simple... but not easy. If you did these four simple things, as seen in the eyes of your customers, your wash would grow. Which of these four is your wash weakest at right now?

Don't believe us, go try it. We dare you to go all in on these simple concepts and not grow your wash.

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

04/13/2026

https://youtu.be/8ODYqPegj7Y?si=bl4vCOjnFh4Ar-4e
It seems like we need a sign for everything at our car washes these days. For liability that 's always helpful, but what does it cost when signs don't work right for you?

The video above of the car driving out of the entrance through the door is one of those crazy things that happen. It might not be preventable. This is obviously the customer's fault, but if this happens at your car wash it will be a major pain and take a ton of time and effort to get fixed. And you probably won't get loss of revenue from the insurance company.

You look at the signs at your car wash every day and think, how could someone not understand? But you have the curse of knowledge. Of course, the car wash is one way. But what about someone who has never been to a car wash? Do they understand which way they are supposed to go? Do they understand what they are supposed to do?

Most washes I visit do this part very well. The site is set up intuitively to go one way, and the signs are easy to read.

The signs that I rarely see are what to do if something goes wrong. We all know that in a tunnel, if you honk your horn, you will get help, but do your customers know that? How would they know that?

In the video, the lady goes into an IBA bay the wrong way and then gets stuck when the doors close.

No one would ever put a sign on what to do once someone entered the wash going in the wrong way, but what about adding a general sign, if something goes wrong, do this.

Once you figure out your signs, go wash lots of cars, make lots of money, and have lots of fun

Sarnia police are looking for a suspect after a woman drove the wrong way into a carwash and then rammed her way out. Subscribe to CTV News to watch more vid...