# Shell Jet Washes



## Alex_225

Anyone used one? 

Took a trip down to Brighton with the missus last night, got caught behind the dreaded motorway gritter on the way there.

Peppered the whole front of the f*cking car so on the way home I stopped in at the Shell garage in Brighton and gave the car a once over with their jet wash. 

Cost me £2.99 for a set wash consisting of pre-rinse with some kind of shampoo, brush over then high powered rinse. 

Went over the car with the high pressure foam, then the brush came on. ****** to using that horrible grit filled thing haha. So left the foam to dwell, then the high pressure rinse came on, so went over it again working from bottom up then top to bottom. 

Have to say it did actually do a reasonable job of getting the wheels clean and obviously blasting the sh!t off it. 

Question is, has anyone else used one of these? Is the shampoo too harsh? The car had two layers of Collinite on it. Will these have just disappeared now? 
Can't see if the car is beading as it still has a layer of snow on it haha.


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## karl_liverpool

afaik they use a heavy tfr in those washes. so you may find your colly is no longer present


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## Glasgow_Gio

as above really. All these quick washes use TFR's so you may find your LSP is lessened now.


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## Detail My Ride

I know that the majority of BP use Turtle Wax, although am unsure of Shell.


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## Alex_225

Sh!t and b*gger!! lol 

Although having looked out the window, the snow has now melted and rain is beading and running off the car. Maybe Collinite is tough enough to withstand it. 

I know most of the acronyms on here but whats TFR mean? lol


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## Ste T

Example

TFR

Autoglym Powermax 3 Mulitwash TFR - 5Litre 
NON-CAUSTIC. Multi-purpose and biodegradable. For Traffic Film Removal , oil, grease and copolymer coatings.

For use with hand spray, hot or cold pressure washer. Dilute with water


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## Alex_225

Aaah thanks mate, that explains. 

I'm gonna keep an eye on the beading on the car and if need be top it up. Looking at it now though, considering the car did a 40 mile drive back so isn't that clean is still beading up.


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## djohn

Excellent 'Jet wash' near where I live at a Somerfield filling station. Charges are £3.00 for 5 mins - £5.00 for 10 mins and £7.00 for 15 mins. Works on the amount of tokens you place in the machine.

Unlike other washes I've tried your not fixed to a time limit for each stage but choose your own as you go along. There are 4 settings, Hot pre-rinse - Hot brush, both with shampoo. Hot final rinse followed with a spray of wax if you wish.

Best part though is you can spend as much, or little time on each stage as you wish/need just by pressing one of the 4 buttons on the front of the machine. You can also go back and forth between each operation or even miss one or more stages out if you want to. Great for these really cold days when you have a larger car and it takes you longer than the standard 5 mins to do a decent job for whatever reason. I have a heart condition so can't rush, suites me fine. 

Only found this machine a few weeks back, wish I had known about it much sooner. :driver:


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## Avanti

20RSport said:


> Example
> 
> TFR
> 
> Autoglym Powermax 3 Mulitwash TFR - 5Litre
> NON-CAUSTIC. Multi-purpose and biodegradable. For Traffic Film Removal , oil, grease and copolymer coatings.
> 
> For use with hand spray, hot or cold pressure washer. Dilute with water


At 8% dilution and hot it will remove transportation wax , I doubt his wax is removed.


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## Avanti

Alex_225 said:


> Anyone used one?
> 
> Took a trip down to Brighton with the missus last night, got caught behind the dreaded motorway gritter on the way there.
> 
> Snip
> 
> Cost me £2.99 for a set wash consisting of pre-rinse with some kind of shampoo, brush over then high powered rinse.
> 
> snip
> 
> Have to say it did actually do a reasonable job of getting the wheels clean and obviously blasting the sh!t off it.
> 
> Question is, has anyone else used one of these? Is the shampoo too harsh? The car had two layers of Collinite on it. Will these have just disappeared now?
> Can't see if the car is beading as it still has a layer of snow on it haha.


I doubt the shampoo mix will be too harsh H&S will see to that I doubt they use lorry wash more than likely TW or car plan , I know the BP and Texaco by me use TW , also Collinite is described as detergent proof wax, so Im sure it will still be there, I have been using AG pressure wash on my own car and RG42 and AG HD both hold out to many washes (and that is one coat at that) .


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## S63

djohn said:


> Excellent 'Jet wash' near where I live at a Somerfield filling station. Charges are £3.00 for 5 mins - £5.00 for 10 mins and £7.00 for 15 mins. Works on the amount of tokens you place in the machine.
> 
> Unlike other washes I've tried your not fixed to a time limit for each stage but choose your own as you go along. There are 4 settings, Hot pre-rinse - Hot brush, both with shampoo. Hot final rinse followed with a spray of wax if you wish.
> 
> Best part though is you can spend as much, or little time on each stage as you wish/need just by pressing one of the 4 buttons on the front of the machine. You can also go back and forth between each operation or even miss one or more stages out if you want to. Great for these really cold days when you have a larger car and it takes you longer than the standard 5 mins to do a decent job for whatever reason. I have a heart condition so can't rush, suites me fine.
> 
> Only found this machine a few weeks back, wish I had known about it much sooner. :driver:


This style of machine is a godsend, as safe as you're ever going to get for a jetwash. I have only one near me (Acton London W3), use to be a Jet Garage, now a Total garage, would be good if anyone who knows of one to post up the location.:thumb:


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## steveo3002

theyre mostly individual franchises , so chances are the owner buys whatever he can get a good deal on localy

i wouldnt worry...chances are its better than having a car caked in salt


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## Alex_225

Cheers for the info guys, it sounds as though these things aren't that harmful. I didn't think they would be bad as such but the products used probably wouldn't be top notch. 

As Stevo says, rather a car thats mostly clean than a car coated in horrible road salt. 

From the looks of it the LSP is still in place so I'm quite pleased about that haha. 

Djohn - My local car wash has a jet wash that you just feed your money in, think £1 gives you 2 or 3 minutes. You've then got the choice of 4 options, sound exactly the same as you one you've described. 
I've found it really handy to either give the car a quick going over, then get it home and give it a proper hand wash.


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## sotonjames

the shell garage near me you can pay 1.99 and get justthe shampoo firstthen rinse off and skip the brush altogether, but obviously not much dwell time.


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## Alex_225

I was hoping you'd just put your money in and do it as you went but the cheapest one was the £2.99.

Good thing was, when the brush bit switched on, the jet wash still had enough pressure to release the foam so I just coated the car with that, then it switched to the high pressure rinse. 

I was actually impressed with the wheels and the arches though.


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## sotonjames

i quite often use it as i live in a second floor flat and dont have immediate access to a hosepipe so washing is a bit awkward, only do it properly at my mums outside her flat, when the grass out front isnt like a muddy bog, might go use the shell jetwash now come to think of it


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## Alex_225

sotonjames said:


> i quite often use it as i live in a second floor flat and dont have immediate access to a hosepipe so washing is a bit awkward, only do it properly at my mums outside her flat, when the grass out front isnt like a muddy bog, might go use the shell jetwash now come to think of it


Haha glad there was a bit of inspiration in this post to go out and wash the car! :thumb:

In some circumstances its easier said than done having the space and facilities to detail a car like some on here are able too. Gotta do the best you can.


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## sotonjames

done it properly a couple of times at my mums in the last 4 or 5 weeks and it got 2 coats of megs #26 paste wax applied a week apart so it should be fine for winter, if i get a day off work in the week i might get down the old deers and do it again and give it a 3rd layer


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## sharifgh

My main concern would the damage the Brush does to the paint work. You don't know what nasty harmful objects are in that brush spread around on your paintwork.


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## Avanti

sharifgh said:


> My main concern would the damage the Brush does to the paint work. You don't know what nasty harmful objects are in that brush spread around on your paintwork.


I dont think anybody in thread said they used the brush :thumb:


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## BJM

I use a Power washer at work, It's serviced by Autosmart and uses an Autosmart TFR in it. I use it around twice a week and it doesnt seem to have removed my LSP so far (I usually top up the LSP every 8 weeks). If its just needing a quick going over I just foam up the car then power rinse off followed by a rinse with the open end of a hose. If it needs a better clean I foam up, power rinse, foam up again then use the Lambswool mitt to clean then power rinse then open end hose rinse again. 

It just makes keeping teh car clean in the dark winter months much easier. In the summer months I tend to stick to washing the car with the usual TBM!


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## roscopervis

Morrisons garages with a jet wash have a pay scheme - 35p per minute and it's not set on an order. The shampoo used does lessen the lsp longevity, but its good of your going to reapply soon, or just want to blast off crud with a high pressure water jet.


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## Alex_225

sharifgh said:


> My main concern would the damage the Brush does to the paint work. You don't know what nasty harmful objects are in that brush spread around on your paintwork.


I think thats an obvious one. I sat and waited for the brush attachment option to finish and moved straight onto the rinse.

I can imagine someone letting their kid brush their car, dropping it into the grit and then just putting it back. Makes me cringe thinking about it! 

I wouldn't let anything physically touch any of my cars unless its mine ie a wash mitt etc. Only someone elses water is allowed. :lol:


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## sotonjames

i always go for the 1.99 value wash, just shampoo and rinse, for children in need 2 bosses at work was washing cars for a fiver, one bucket one sponge, i watched in horror as they finished off on the one car with the said sponge on the wheels, then poured out all theleft over water, refilled the bucket with cold water and turtle wax shampoo and went onto the next car with the same sponge.

When asked by a girl in the office if i would let them do mine for a fiver i said IF i had a fiver in my pocket id have paid them NOT to wash it!!


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## Alex_225

sotonjames said:


> When asked by a girl in the office if i would let them do mine for a fiver i said IF i had a fiver in my pocket id have paid them NOT to wash it!!


Hey at least you can't be deemed a tight ar$e for not giving to charity that way!! :thumb:


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## Bigpikle

i think jet washes like this can be useful, especially if you can find a hot one that works as described above - use any stage you want :thumb:

I bet just a hot PW blast will remove plenty of crud between washes


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## ShampooEfficient

Both the local ones I use have the selectable options - I use them if I'm either a- feeling lazy but can't see out of the windows or b- doing a full job from scratch and need a good prerinse.


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## doggonwheels

sotonjames said:


> i quite often use it as i live in a second floor flat and dont have immediate access to a hosepipe so washing is a bit awkward, only do it properly at my mums outside her flat, when the grass out front isnt like a muddy bog, might go use the shell jetwash now come to think of it


Its fun living in a flat and trying to keep the car clean  i'm top floor!!

I either go to my sisters to clean the car or i use the sainsburys jet wash. Its a buy time job £1 for 3mins and you can choose which bit you want. I've found that if you take a pre filled bucket with shampoo and your mit etc, 3mins on the power rinse thing then wash as normal (although you do get some rather strange looks turning up with a bucket etc) then another 3 mins to rinse, then dry off (more funny looks) works a treat:driver:


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## MrLOL

Bigpikle said:


> i think jet washes like this can be useful, especially if you can find a hot one that works as described above - use any stage you want :thumb:
> 
> I bet just a hot PW blast will remove plenty of crud between washes


did this today

Roads were wet this morning round our parts and was filled with salt

Went out to my car at lunchtime and it was white all over. Quick trip down to the morrisons jetwash saw to that however. 35p a minute with a choice of programmes and no set limit. Brilliant

Granted its not going to get your car brilliant, but when you just want to remove a build up of road crap before your weekly wash, they're a handy tool (if you stay away from the brush !)


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## welsh-andy

our shell uses TW extreme, guy opened it up and low and behold there it was, with refils besides it, it doesnt strip was as i use it myself through foam lance, fine it gd stuff tbh:thumb:


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