Was That the Last Time I'll Wash My Car in the Driveway?

It was a hot summer evening in Seattle last night and I had two cars that needed a good wash. It had been a long time since I washed a car at home. In fact, I hadn't done it since we moved to the Seattle area last year.

Don't pollute from teresia via Flickr

I still had a bucketful of rags, car wash soap and other tools of the trade in the garage. With the kids "helping" me, I rinsed and lathered up the new Mercedes and then the Mazda.

It was enjoyable, but as I rinsed off the cars and dumped the remaining soapy water down the driveway and into the gutter, I thought about the potential damage to the water system and the cost in time and materials that was put into that wash.

Also, I remembered all those little signs on the storm sewers with pictures of turtles and fish warning you not to pollute.

And so, I'm thinking that is the last time I wash the car at home. I will still vacuum and detail myself in the driveway, but I won't do the soap wash.

I like to use the self-serve wash places and I'm a fan of local Brown Bear and Pink Elephant (what's with the animal themed-car wash chains around here?). It's fairly cheap to do a decent wash and they recycle their water.

And, while researching this post, I found that Washington would like to ban car washing in the driveway. That explains the dirty looks I got from a neighbor.

Tips for eco-friendly car washing:

• Use a hose with an adjustable nozzle. 
• Only use the hose for rinsing, not washing - fill a bucket with soapy water for the washing phase.
• Swap paper towels for re-usable microfiber towels.
• Wash your car using any number of waterless formulas available.
• Spray your car once (fast). Rinse fast.