Car Wash Business Equipment – 10 Tools for Service Centers

What tools are needed for a car wash? Here is the ten major car wash business equipment you’ll need to set out.

The car maintenance industry is quite vast with a variety of services being provided. One of them includes a car wash service. This sector has seen a lot of investment with significant profits being made.

What Equipment Is Needed For a Car Wash?

To invest in a car wash business, you’ll need to know the equipment to purchase, as well as the costs involved.

Now, such equipment comes in different brands and types. Here, we won’t be going into details of all such equipment.

Rather, our focus will be on the basic equipment needed to start your car wash business. The type of equipment required depends on your scale of operations.

Types Of Car Wash

When discussing equipment needed for a car wash business, the type of car wash will determine the equipment to be used. Now, there are four types of car washes. These include handwashing; waterless car wash; rinse-less or rinse-free car wash as well as automatic car washes.

Choosing your preferred type of car wash boils down to different factors such as access to water, time (how much time you have), and money. We will be providing a general overview of the equipment required.

As expected, some of these car wash equipment are more essential than others. In other words, certain equipment is considered more important or indispensable than others.

If you’re wondering what is needed for your car wash, the following will prove useful.

Equipment For Starting A Car Wash

The car wash equipment we’ll be covering will be placed under different categories. These will range from car wash pumps, wash stations, mobile cleaning, and general equipment.

Others include supplies (consisting of car wash detergents and soaps), spray guns & wands, spray nozzles, car detailing & polishing, hose & tubing, soft wash, and vacuums & vacuum accessories.

  • Car Wash Pumps

Car wash pumps come in different types. These are high-pressure pumps available in different brands. They include high-pressure engine driven pumps, high-pressure diaphragm pump packages, high-pressure piston pump packages, and de-icer line thawed.

Other types of pumps include high-pressure plunger pumps, high-pressure plunger pump units, high-pressure piston pumps, and high-pressure plunger pump packages. There are also pressure washers, hydrostatic test units, and jetters/sewer cleaning pumps.

  • Wash Stations

Wash stations come in different types such as undercarriage rinse system, undercarriage, side blast & top rinse system, truck wash systems (double pump), truck wash systems (single pump), stacked high-pressure wash system and stacked pump stations.

Others include plant washdown/ industrial cleaning systems, side blast & top rinse system, 5-20 HP Motor-driven piston pump units as well as economy high-pressure wash packages.

  • Mobile Cleaning

There is a mobile cleaning equipment too. These serve specific purposes and include wash water containment, trailer sprayers for high-pressure mobile cleaning, wet/dry shop vacuums, and surface cleaners. Others are storage tanks, sprayers & spray equipment, spray nozzles, spray guns, spot-free rinse systems, pressure washers, and motors.

More mobile cleaning equipment includes hose reels, high-pressure pumps & pump units, engines, carpet extractors, auto detailing & polishing, and cargo ramps.

  • General Equipment

These consist of a wide variety of car wash equipment. They consist of weep systems, windshield service, water softeners, waxing systems, water heaters, wash prep systems, vending products, and wash pan assemblies.

Others are vending machines, vacuum & accessories, vehicle alert sensors/road switches, vehicle height restriction bars, trash cans, undercarriage cleaners, timers, and tire & engine cleaner systems. There are also tanks, surface & roof cleaners, switches, swivels, steam cleaners, sprayers & spray equipment as well as spray guns & wands.

More general car wash equipment includes reverse osmosis systems, rotor arms & spinners, pre-soak systems, pressure washers, nozzles, pet wash systems, mat & rug cleaners, motors, jump ramps, hose reels, and heaters & heat systems. There are also free & pay air/water machines, foam sprayers, foam brush systems, dryers & drying systems, currency counters, crypto play credit card system.

Coin, bill & credit card meters, conveyor rollers, chain & accessories, chamois wringers, car wash signs & decals, car wash pumps, car wash change machines, car mat holders, brushes & brooms, booms, bollards & pole sleeves as well as auto detailing supplies are part of the general equipment for a car wash.

  • Supplies

Equipment goes together with supplies. Some of the supplies required for a car wash include soap, detergent & wax accessories, automatic/tunnel wash products, foam brush detergents, pet odor control, self-serve car wash products, and tire cleaners/ dressings. Others are truck wash/ aluminum wash and wall cleaners.

  • Spray Guns & Wands

Car wash equipment in this category include spray guns, spray gun & wand accessories, spray wands, spray wand extensions, wand handles, trigger valves, wash down guns and wand holders.

  • Spray Nozzles

Under spray nozzles, different types fit specific purposes. These range from washdown nozzles, tank cleaning nozzles, sewer nozzles, rotary cleaners, nozzle valves, misting nozzles, hydro excavation nozzles, high-pressure nozzles, gutter cleaning nozzles, and garden hose nozzles.

Others are foam nozzles, fog nozzles, broadcast nozzles, boom-less nozzles, banding nozzles, adjustable ball nozzles & parts aerial nozzles, variable rate nozzles solid stream nozzles, and nozzle accessories.

  • Car Detailing And Polishing

These equipment types are also used in car washes. Under this category, the different types include aprons, cleaners & protectants, detail brushes, dual-head orbital polisher accessories, pads & sponges, fragrances & deodorizers, polishers, paper floor mats, and sprayers.

Others are single head orbital polisher accessories, wash mitts, towels, and tornado cleaning guns.

  • Hose And Tubing

There are varieties of hoses and tubing as well as accessories that include air breath hose, air hose, air seeder hoses, abrasion-resistant hose, hose accessories, asphalt hose, anhydrous ammonia hose, blower hose, boom hose, carpet cleaning hose, car wash hose, dryer hose, discharge hose and flex joint hose, etc.

  • Vacuums & Accessories

The different types of vacuums and accessories include backpack vacuums, car wash vacuums, central vacuum components, and combo vacuums. There are also water capture systems, vacuum accessories, as well as vacuum/blower unit.

We could go on and on with the types of car wash business equipment. However, it must be noted that you won’t be needing all of this equipment. Only some of these will be necessary for your type of car wash business. Use this information as a guide to enable you to actualize your goal.