*Complimentary Towel Dry Station*

[Waxman]

I know Soapy does this, and, since a good idea is always worth copying, I'm set to give it a whirl at my little 2/1.

Thoughts: Weekends only for now. Rubbermaid cart. Big signs:'Dirty towels Go Here', "Clean Go Here". Attendant 'manages' towel dry station as needed, collects towels folks leave lying here and there, puts cart in at end of shift, does laundry as needed.

Questions: Which towels to buy? I'm thinking economy and buying in bulk from Dr. Joe or similar company.

Am I forgetting anything? Thanks!

[bigleo48]

People like free stuff...like taking home free towels in hotels!

I installed a spot-free machine last week...so no towel drying required (will post a sign saying so).

Not sure why, but the dryers work better if the final rinse is RO water. I guess the fewer the minerals, the less adhesion to the paint.

Big Leo

[Andy]

Wow, I like this idea!!

Do you have attendants on site currently that would be doing this or would you need to hire additional people?




EDIT: When I first read your post, I thought you meant you’d have attendants drying the cars. I like this idea better then offering free towels.

[MEP001]

I like the idea too, but be prepared to go through a lot of towels. They'll steal them or dry things that will get grease or tire dressing on them. If you'll have to have an attendant monitoring the towels, you might as well have him dry the cars instead - he'll be able to control their use directly, plus he'll probably get tips for drying which he won't get for trying to stop abuse of your free service.

[Waxman]

Yeah, I did have an attendant drying cars when I first opened. Some people loved it, some hated it. To me, it negates the concept of 'touch free' too much. Some customers felt pressured into tipping. Some were well versed in what the IBA will remove and what it won't, like my friend who owns a body shop. He'd race away from the exit of the IBA so the towel dry guy wouldn't touch his truck in the winter!

Then there's the idea of feeling they got 'less than' when the towel drier wasn't on duty.

I saw an article in a trade magazinw featuring a wash/washes that offered the towel dry station and I want to at least explore the idea. I know I'll lose some towels to walk-aways and grease. But hey, that's a legit write-off!

[soapy]

After 15 years of having free towels I have a few thoughts. 1. Buy a cheap towel from Sams or costco. They are $12 for 48 towels. If you buy better towles they get stolen quicker. I dye mine an odd color like pink or purple. That lets everyone know where they came from. The total cost per month per location runs about $100. This is with me providing towels 24/7 365 days per year. The cost is small and the advertising alone is worth it IMO. I think I get a lot of loyal customers who might overlook a bad wash once in a while since they are getting something free. If you are the only one providing this service it gives you a advantage over the competition. I also price my SS bays higher than anyone else and never get complaints because of the towels. In a large metropolitan area this might not work but for us in the smaller towns it will work fine.

[Louise]

The towels sound like a great idea, however, I give my bit of free service on the other end. I have a teenager scrubbing rims for free before they enter the in-bay. Customers love it. It sets me apart from my competition.

[Greg Pack]

I've been doing the towels as soapy suggested for a little more than a year. The wash is in a good upper income area. I don't lose more than a bag a week of towels, if that many. I dye mine dark blue so it minimizes appearance of dirt. I place the towels in plastic boxes on a chrome plated cart I bought at Sam's club. The top shelf is for clean towels, the bottom shelf holds another container for dirty towel return. I have a sign that requests that customers use no more than two, and not to use them to wax or apply dressings. Most comply. All in all it is a very popular service.

I also have a free wheel scrub station with spray bottles of tire clean. I have a free bug remover station, which is a hose sprayer connected to a dema mix-rite pump mounted in the equipment room. Last November , I installed a free carpet mat cleaner amde by JKO. I have also had windshield washer stations on the auto cashiers. All these are are very popular. Customers can address bad wheels or heavy film on glass without being nickel and dimed. All these extra services probably cost me less than .10 per customer on average. One thing I like about the towels is customers dry off on the front apron of the wash, which makes the place look more active. The biggest downside to the prep stuff is it occasionally causes delays. I have two autos so this isn't a big deal that often.

[Waxman]

Wow. Lots of great input and ideas! Thanks. Will start this(towel dry station) this weekend!

[soapy]

I have also had a prescrub prep bucket in front of the automatics since I started the towels. I use a small wheel wizard brush and put it in a 30 gallon bucket that has bug and tire and wheel cleaner. It is very popular also. About 1/2 the people use both the towels and the prescrub bucket. Instructions say to use the prescrub on glass, tire and wheels bugs etc and to limit prep time to 2 minutes or less.

[Gabriel]

Tried it--customers love it. Great customer service idea that helps to even better compete with mini tunnels. I think it builds great customer loyalty.

[Waxman]

Great, Gator. Thanks for your input. Actually will be starting this weekend; last was rainy plus I just got some towels at Costco like Soapy suggested. Like $13 for 50 terry towels.

[MEP001]

I prefer the towels from Sam's Club - the Costco ones seem to disintegrate after only a couple of uses.

They lint like crazy when they're new, as you should expect from a cheap towel. You can minimize this with a prep:

1. Wash them in a double-dose of detergent on a cycle with no rinse, with the machine underfilled but set to full load (Cold water only).

2. Restart the washer with a cup of vinegar instead of detergent on a full wash and rinse cycle. Be sure to clean the lint trap, as it will likely be full after the first run.

3. Tumble-dry them on medium, clean the lint screen and tumble them another 20-30 minutes with no heat.

[Waxman]

super. thanks for the tip! will do when towels arrive this week!

looking forward to launching this during my veterans day car wash!

[dogwasher]

I prefer the towels from Sam's Club - the Costco ones seem to disintegrate after only a couple of uses.

They lint like crazy when they're new, as you should expect from a cheap towel. You can minimize this with a prep:

1. Wash them in a double-dose of detergent on a cycle with no rinse, with the machine underfilled but set to full load (Cold water only).

2. Restart the washer with a cup of vinegar instead of detergent on a full wash and rinse cycle. Be sure to clean the lint trap, as it will likely be full after the first run.

3. Tumble-dry them on medium, clean the lint screen and tumble them another 20-30 minutes with no heat.



Yes I just pulled up a old post..Im working on some sort of towel drying station I think it's a good idea. MEP what is the Vinegar for? #1 No rinse so does this mean while the towels are waiting for the Vinegar to be put in they still are soaked in soap?

[dogwasher]

OK I looked it up on the internet and got my answer about the Vinegar.
What kind of sighn's did you guys print up for your towel station?

[MEP001]

I've actually switched to an ammonia-based cleaner - it's cheaper and works better than vinegar for removing the oils from manufacturing, and helps cut silicone dressing that people will invariably get on them.

[Ric]

Great ideas.

Pictures please!!!

[soapy]

I know Bill posted some pictures of my towel drying staion in another thread. I am not sure which thread it is in.

[robert roman]

I have a friend/client with a high-volume express tunnel wash, touch-less, located in a predominately blue-collar market.

He is now selling an optional service that includes a hand-prep as well as towel drying and hand applied tire shine and rim treatment for $8.00 a pop that is performed near the vacuum area.

He sold 10% out of the gate and is approaching 20%.

600 X 0.20 X 8 = 960 - (130 + 70) = 760 gross net

Why give it away for free?

[soapy]

Why Free? Because most SS washes are not fully attended. In a tunnel setting I agree that you should not give it away. In a SS setting it builds customer loyalty and provides a service to the customer when you can't be there.

[dogwasher]

I've actually switched to an ammonia-based cleaner - it's cheaper and works better than vinegar for removing the oils from manufacturing, and helps cut silicone dressing that people will invariably get on them.

I did the Vinegar and the towels still not soaking up the water very good, what is the ammonia based product?

[MEP001]

I buy the Pro-Force stuff from Sam's and use a half-cup per load along with a double-dose of Tide powder. I run a small load on the lowest water setting and restart the washer before it rinses with no detergent on the large load setting for a double rinse.

[robert roman]

"Why Free? Because most SS washes are not fully attended. In a tunnel setting I agree that you should not give it away. In a SS setting it builds customer loyalty and provides a service to the customer when you can't be there."

I guess it depends on your definition of service.

In my mind, as with many other people, a service is something that involves people, employees who perform services/work and customer service.

If you only have wand-bays, you are basically a landlord who rents space and facilities and sells customers water, chemical and energy. The customer does all of the work themselves. You work is building it, taking care of it and stocking it, like a vending machine.

If the wand-bay facility has an in-bay, then you are selling a service because you are actually doing something for customers, automatically cleaning, shining and drying their vehicles.

Like I said, why give it away for free.

[soapy]

I will be sure to tell my favorite restaurant to charge me for the glass of water they bring me each time. Why should they give it away for free? Why does a EE wash give away free vac use?

[I.B. Washincars]

Why does a EE wash give away free vac use?

I've been wondering that for several years now. You get these guys with "tunnel vision" that preach customers expect more from a conveyor wash and that IBAs are inferior. Yet, they have to undercut IBA pricing and give something away to get customers to come.

[robert roman]

“I will be sure to tell my favorite restaurant to charge me for the glass of water they bring me each time. Why should they give it away for free? Why does a EE wash give away free vac use?”

In my market, during times of drought, many restaurants do charge for a glass of tap water.

If they don’t charge, the cost of the providing the water is intrinsically included in the bill you pay for your meal.

If they served bottled water, most likely the owner would charge because the water is associated with a brand and commands a premium.

Moreover, the restaurant owner could have a small RO and produce, bottle and sell his/her own brand of water and charge a price for it.

I am criticizing the decision to give it away but I do so to point out the revenue and profit potential of doing something else. It is your business, you can do as you see fit as well as choose to ignore what I have to say.

People have free use vacuums at an express exterior mainly because they are following the person who decided to it in the first place causing it to become a past practice that has become widespread and now commonplace to do so.

However, it is not absolutely necessary to do so for a wash to be considered an express exterior carwash business.

In fact, the precursor to express exterior is the exterior-only conveyor that uses a personal selling approach rather than automated pay stations, conveyor attendant and people to towel dry as vehicles pass the dryer nozzles. In most cases, the area adjacent to the tunnel has individual, canister, coin-operated vacuums.

This similar to the business model that is employed at Mike’s Express Wash chain in and around Indianapolis, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio with the exception there are no towel dryers, at least at washes I have been to.

Hope this helps.

[robert roman]

“I've been wondering that for several years now. You get these guys with "tunnel vision" that preach customers expect more from a conveyor wash and that IBAs are inferior. Yet, they have to undercut IBA pricing and give something away to get customers to come.”

Express exterior owners are able to undercut IBA pricing because they have a strong comparative advantage.

An express wash can have automated pay station that accepts cash/credit as well as having customer loyalty or “wash club” where customers can buy into the program at the POS as well as on-line.

An express wash is typically a long tunnel filled with a high-performance carwash system using the latest technology and wash processes that allows owners to produce many more cars an hour at a lower cost than an IBA. Moreover, express washes typically have a good mix of value-adding, on-line products that helps increase the average ticket as well as putting on a good show.

The wash process takes about 4 minutes start to finish and the vehicle is exceptionally clean, dry and shiny and with multiple POS, there is little waiting even during busy periods.

Express washes typically have an abundance of vacuum stations with wide spaces so customers don’t have to wait or work in cramped conditions. Some will have a canopy to protect customers from the elements.

Sounds like a tough act for an IBA owner to follow and it is.

However, you are not helpless and there a great many things a self-service owner with an IBA can do to minimize the comparative advantage.