Our Chemistry at work
Our R&D team is dedicated to providing the best chemical products to our operators and distributors. From our laboratories to the car wash exit, every aspect of the wash process has been meticulously considered to ensure best-in-class performance and value for our customers.
The Chemistry of cleaning
A premium quality product begins with premium ingredients. All Turtle Wax® Pro products contain ultra-high quality raw ingredients such as reverse osmosis water used in chemical blending.
Contact angles are critical to a high-quality car wash process. We take great care to optimize contact angles so that all chemistry is cleaned and dried more efficiently.
By using complimentary ingredients at each stage of the cleaning process, our products not only prepare the surface of each vehicle for optimal cleaning and lubricity, but maximize protection, water beading, and shine.
Most Turtle Wax® Pro products are formulated in a hyper-concentrated format, and our AutoLux line offers powerful concentrated formulations, ensuring every ounce of chemistry applied to a vehicle is cleaning it efficiently with less water and better results.
THE FIVE FACTORS OF CLEANING
A major component of an effective and successful car wash is finding the perfect balance of the “five factors of cleaning”. These factors are Water Quality, Chemistry, Active Cleaning Time, Temperature, and Mechanical Action, and each can be controlled to varying degrees at every car wash. Once they are optimized, the five factors will work together effectively and will provide exceptionally clean cars at an affordable price point.
Water quality includes water hardness, pH, and total dissolved solids. If not moderated, water quality issues can reduce the effectiveness of the chemicals or even cause issues that you then must resolve. For instance, many washes must harness softened water and even reverse osmosis water (for final rinsing), for the cleanest, spot free, results.
Chemistry not only includes the products being used at a wash (such as Turtle Wax® Pro and AutoLux), but how they are diluted and applied to the vehicle. Proper concentrations and titrations for each chemical are very important to achieve the best results from the chemistry, ensuring the proper application.
The active cleaning time (dwell time) is the amount of time a product is on the surface of the vehicle before being rinsed off or before another product is applied. Typically, a longer active cleaning time increases the cleaning power of the product.
The cleaning temperature is a combination of the air temperature, surface temperature of the vehicle, and the temperature of the applied products. If one fluctuates (for example, during hot summers, where the surface temperature might rise significantly) you might need to adjust the temperature of the applied products.
In a friction wash, mechanical action is created by the cloths or brushes. In a touchless wash mechanical action is in the form of impingement (the force of the water against the surface to be cleaned).
Each factor plays a role in cleaning quality, yet the absence of one can be counterbalanced by others to ensure a clean, dry, and shiny vehicle. For example, if the presoak temperature is too low, you might increase the wash pressure or leave the presoak on longer.
Depending on the type of cleaning being performed, changing certain factors might have a greater impact than others. For example, with the limited mechanical action involved with touchless car washing, controlling the chemistry and water quality are critical, followed closely by ensuring the time and temperature are suitable. However, in a friction wash, the most important factor is the mechanical action while the chemistry, temperature, and water quality play less significant roles.
WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T CONTROL
There are many additional factors of cleaning that you have less control over such as:
These introduce some unknowns, which is why it is critical to harness the five controllable factors. Customer interaction, training, and taking note of results is the best way to understand how to navigate through these additional variables. Ultimately, you will have differing amounts of control over the various factors. The goal is to make as many of these factors work in your favour to offset the cleaning factors you do not have control over.
Discover Transchem Group’s Chemical Brands
Turtle Wax® Pro: the most recognized car wash chemistry brand in the industry, and Transchem Group’s flagship chemistry line. For more than 75 years in the car care industry, the Turtle Wax® brand has been synonymous with high quality and a long-standing tradition of excellence. Choosing Turtle Wax® Pro for your car wash proves you are committed to providing the highest-quality, environmentally friendly products and utilizing the opportunity to market the most recognizable brand in the industry. One of the simplest ways to grow and maintain your business is to invest in a well-recognized chemical brand that your customers know and trust.
Our AutoLux line of car wash and commercial fleet wash formulations provide clean, dry, and shiny vehicles, and work with the specific cleaning needs of each operation. Enjoy features like low usage rates, consistent product quality, high customer satisfaction, exceptional product performance, controlled chemical costs and a reduced carbon footprint. Let us work with you to introduce the right chemicals for your business. While many of our formulations are geared towards car washes, we also offer a breadth of products geared towards solving tough commercial and industrial cleaning challenges, particularly in our specialty section.
A pet wash is a great way to bring in customers regularly and add another revenue stream to a car wash operation, or to operate as a standalone, high-margin business. Doggie DeLux products ensure your customers’ beloved pets are indulged to gentle cleaning and conditioning, leaving coats shiny and healthy.
Our private label program provides customers large and small an opportunity to put their branding on our products. As a private label partner, you can go to market confident that your products contain the highest quality ingredients and are thoroughly tested and compliant with regulations.
Have a great idea? The process of developing, manufacturing, and launching new cleaning chemicals can be overwhelming and cost prohibitive. At Transchem Group, we take a cooperative approach to understand your objectives to help launch your products.
