I have been in the business of washing the exterior of automobiles for thirty-five years starting in 1970 with a system of all nylon brushes. In the early eighties, I switched to the Soft Cloth Brushless System, which is an oxymoron. Then in the 90's, I installed the International Touchless System, which at the time, was state of the art equipment in touchless washing. The equipment performed with precision, however our chemistry used in cleaning was unacceptable. So, back to a mix of cloth and nylon which brought us to the end of the 90's.

Mark Ellis, a dear friend and successful car washer, operating Southland Auto Washes in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recommended I try Kirikian's Neo-Glide. I acted on the recommendation, which became the start of my paradigm shift and evolved into a system I could not be happier with or more proud of. After five years of evolution and over 750,000 car washed, I completed a system of high pressure and all foam brushes. Thank goodness there are people in our industry, who like me, are searching for better ways.

I want to thank those who have helped bring about significant changes in our industry: Mark Ellis, the Kirikians for sharing their ideas, and the suppliers who have followed them. In thirty five years, I have used many different car wash manufactures' equipment, too numerous to list. However, Vince MacNeil and his company listened to concerns presented by car wash operators and contributed substantially to solving the problems faced. They were the first to reintroduce the top wheel. Thirty-five years ago it was a great piece of equipment for cleaning when it was nylon and now it is foam. I mentioned to Vince another area of real concern, the rocker panels and wheels. In May 2004, he send me their proto-type to test. The equipment has been a blessing to an area of need. As an 'old-timer' the brush was known as a lower detail.

My hope is other manufacturers follow MacNeil's lead. I thank Econocraft for their reversing top wheel. It does a tremendous job cleaning the backs of large vans, mini vans, SUV's, etc. The changes to which I am referring has allowed us to never, ever, prep hard to wash areas with a brush, known as mopping. Another supplier who played a major role, Gallup Brush and its owner Ted Yamin, worked with me and helped me to retrofit existing car wash equipment with foam. I also want to thank Robert Roman, who has written many interesting articles for our trade magazines, especially the articles in November/December 2004 issues of Professional Car Washing & Detailing.

The purpose of this article is not to promote or sell a manufacturer or product but to promote car washing for the non-car washing population. Why is there a huge non-washing market? The concern of scratches and vehicle damage is daunting. As an industry, we have failed miserably in meeting our customer's expectations. Think about all of the cars we do not wash. I tell you car washers, there is a better way, but like change it will take investment, commitment and effort

In closing, please don't ask me if it works; ask our customers, after all, it has only taken me thirty-five years to accomplish this. Believe me!