Throw In the Towel

Throw In the Towel
Don't let bad towels put your wash through the wringer

By Sara Cooper

When volumes are high and the carwash is swinging, the last thing an operator wants to deal with is lint buildup on car windows or towels that deteriorate quickly or just push water around on a car. It may seem that, in the busiest times, the towels an operator has on hand can suddenly become about as effective as trying to stop a dam leak with a washcloth. The water wins in the end.

What many operators don't realize is that they may not have the best towel for the job at hand. Depending on climate, volume and application, different towels are needed to keep vehicle wetness under control. Once the right towel is chosen, it is important for an operator to know how to keep it drying as long as possible.

The three basic types of carwash towels are body towels, window towels and detail towels. Bob Gartland, sales representative for Beautiful Toweling, Paulsboro, N.J., says if nothing else, an operator should at least have separate towels for body and windows because of the unique needs of the two applications.

Body towels. The body towel should be the heaviest towel at the wash, Gartland says, since it is the one that is going to receive the most abuse, drying areas such as the lower side of the car. Towel companies typically will buy these towels in bulk from mills that specialize in providing industrial towels designed to withstand daily washing. Gartland says two-ply towels are used in a lot of areas of the country where people need a towel with a little more "meat" on it to dry a large number of vehicles on busy days.

Climate plays a central role in finding the right towel, according to Gartland. "In warmer regions like Arizona, Southern California and parts of Florida, a medium-weight or thinner towel tends to do better," he says. "In the drier climates, you don't need a big, heavy towel like you do in Michigan or Ohio where it is snowy and you need to work quickly on a cold day."

When the weather is cold and damp, the water does not evaporate as quickly as it will in areas where the warmth of the sun can sometimes get to the car before the towel can. In warmer areas, Gartland says lint-free surgical towels are often the most popular.

Amin Khalifa, operator of Auto Shine Car Wash in Mt. Ephraim, N.J., suggests steering clear of white towels. Over time, they will take on a gray-brown color, even when clean. This will alter the customer's perception that the towel is clean. In the past, he has dyed white towels to avoid this dirty look.

Window towels. Thin towels such as huck and surgical towels are best for window applications, Gartland says, because they are easier to work with and virtually lint-free. A huck towel is a 100-percent cotton non-terry towel with a high thread-count fiber. Gartland says operators often ask him if the huck towel will hold up. He says they are quite durable and long lasting, despite their thinness.

"In my opinion, either you love [huck towels] or you hate them on glass," says Gartland. "Either an operator loves them because they are lint-free or an operator hates them because they don't absorb enough."

For those looking for a greater level of absorption, Gartland recommends a thinner-grade terry towel. Terry window towels have a short loop, as compared to body towels, and shed dramatically less lint because the fibers are kept intact. The shorter, tightly woven fiber is not as apt to drag along the car allowing lint to break away from the terry loop. The lightweight terry towel provides a good balance between absorption and less lint.

One of the newest towels to enter the market is the microfiber towel, a synthetic towel with a high absorption rate. It is suggested for window use. The towel is very thin and not much larger than a washcloth, Gartland says. He feels the main reason the towels are not catching on in full-serve applications is their cost. Whereas a basic towel might cost an operator about $1.30, the synthetic towels can cost as much as $4. This can be an expensive investment, considering the number of towels the average carwash loses in a day.

Detail towels. The detail towel is typically a mid-weight towel that is durable but still thin enough to get into crevices and tighter areas such as trim and molding. It does not need to be as heavy as other towels, Gartland says, because it is doing a different job--polishing and wiping.

Detail towels should be color coded to prevent mix up with other towels during washing, he says.

Extractors

Most operators feel that a towel that is already moist before it touches the car will do the best drying job because it glides over the wet surface. "A fully dry towel tends to have brakes on it," Gartland says. "When it hits a moisture area, it tends to stop a little bit and break your flow."

Kim Shady, North American sales manager for UniMac, Ripon, Wis., says fully dry towels can also shed more lint.

It is for these reasons that operators prefer to use washer extractors rather than dryers to remove excess water from towels. Shady says the key to a good washer extractor is it has to have a short cycle for washing and drying and a high enough extract speed. He suggests having a machine that extracts at speeds in excess of 600 g force or 1,500 RPMs.

Typically, towels should be washed and extracted after every car, although Gartland says in very busy periods, operators can get away with extracting after every other car. This also depends on the size of the towel the operator is using.

"We select towels that are in the 20- by 16-inches to 24- by 24-inches range," says Khalifa. "We want the towel to be small enough to fit in the hand (folded twice), and large enough to flip to gain a new clean surface out of the same towel without having to get a new one."

Whether or not the operator chooses to extract after every car, Shady says the towel eventually will get to the point where it can no longer hold any more water or it becomes soiled from contact with the underside of the car.

Gartland says many operators choose to do a lot of their towel washing and extracting in the morning and late afternoon during their slowest times to prepare for busy periods like lunchtime and weekends.

Using the washer extractor is fairly simple but does require some common sense. Employees must occasionally check the water and change it by hitting the plunger if it is dirty.

It is also important to put the right size load into the machine. If the machine is only 20-percent full, Shady says the load may become off balance, putting a lot of excess stress on the machine.

Khalifa says washer extractors are often rated for a certain weight. He tells his employees to put in 18 towels per load to avoid putting too much strain on the transmission. It may be helpful, Shady says, to put up signage instructing employees on the basics of washer extractor use.

A small percentage of carwash operators are opting to use front-load washers with automated soap dispensing and cycles, eliminating the need for extra employee involvement. The employee simply pushes a button, and in about 10 minutes the towels are done. The downside of these units is the rate of extraction. They usually run at around a 300 g force, nearly half that of the industry standard. They will therefore not extract as much water.

Jonathan Rice, the Western United States detailing specialist for Ecolab, Inc., Tucson, Ariz., says the best detergents for washer extractors are powdered or liquid alkaline detergents with a pH level within a range of 12 to 13. The detergent used should be caustic and have high activity, Rice says. Basic store-bought detergents may clean but can also deteriorate the cotton. It is also important to use the right amount of detergent, Khalifa says. Too much can make it difficult to rinse the soap out of the towel, while too little can leave the towels in need of further cleaning.

Gartland says to always avoid using bleach on towels, as it will shorten their life considerably.

Extending towel life

Gartland has heard many operators over the years say they never wear a towel out. In other words, it is often the case that customers see no harm in permanently "borrowing" the towel from the wash.

Khalifa tells his employees to give customers a towel if they ask for one, but to make sure they return it when they are finished using it. Unfortunately, they still disappear since many of the carwash's regular customers keep one in their car and exchange it for a clean one each visit.

"This is a major problem with towels," Khalifa says. "You charge a customer $6 for a full-service wash, and they get a clean car plus two towels worth $3 from us. Not a bad deal for them. It is a double-edged sword. You do not want to anger the customer by being too blunt and strict on the policy."

Rice says operators who are having a real problem with disappearing towels might find it beneficial to take morning and evening inventory. He says that by making employees accountable for lost towels, operators can keep shortages to a minimum.

For the towel that does stick around, there are a number of things an operator can do to get the most out of its life span, which Gartland says is usually 700 washings if cared for properly. He says it is a good idea to wash and dry towels a couple of times when they are first purchased. This removes any lint collected during the manufacturing process. Khalifa says towels are most frustrating when they are new because they tend to push the water around rather than absorb it. For this reason, he initially avoids putting towels in the dryer.

Towel enemy # 1

One of the biggest enemies of towels is bacteria. It is not uncommon for operators to leave damp towels sitting out overnight or during off periods. This allows bacteria to grow and deteriorate the towel. It is this bacteria that causes the mildew odor with which many are familiar.

Bacteria buildup is particularly common when warm weather begins to enter the picture. There are a couple of ways to prevent bacteria-laden towels. Grady recommends sticking towels in an on-site dryer preceding any period of time the wash will be closed. Khalifa says an on-site dryer can also be used to dry window towels and occasionally detail towels.

Rice says another solution is to leave the towels immersed in water during down periods. The bacteria will not be able to attach itself to the submerged material. Employees can then extract the towels when they return to the wash.

Vinegar can be a handy tool in keeping towels bacteria-free. Gartland recommends washing towels with a half cup of vinegar every third wash or so. The vinegar neutralizes the bacteria in the fiber of the towel.

He says another benefit to washing towels with vinegar is it removes any excess soap that may have built up in the towel which causes streaking. Soap buildup can be a problem in sunny weather where a window may be dried instantly by the sun, leaving behind a soapy film. Because of this, Gartland says it is not necessary to always wash towels in detergent.

When it comes down to it, Gartland says most operators have their own philosophy about what works best for towels. What is most important is that the towel carries on a tradition of quality drying well into its old age.