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FALL 2022 • 3
CONTENTS<br />
Fun & Games ..................6<br />
Tips ......................................8<br />
Around the Wash:<br />
Water polarization ............ 10<br />
Fill in the<br />
Blank/Poll ...................... 20<br />
Tricks<br />
of the Trade .................... 22<br />
Association News<br />
& Calendar .................... 28<br />
Industry<br />
Dirt .................................... 32<br />
Note to Self<br />
BY DEBRA GORGOS, EDITOR<br />
Before this very issue landed<br />
in your mailbox,<br />
it was Halloween-time and spooky regalia seeped throughout stoops, storefronts and crevices<br />
from Main Streets to the suburbs. Spider<strong>web</strong>s, scary looking critters and howling animatronic<br />
adornments were everywhere. And, while people will pay good money and get a<br />
kick out of haunted houses and hayfields, I can guarantee you that people will not pay good<br />
money to visit a creepy car wash after the sun sets. The other night I drove around looking<br />
to take pictures of self serves in the moonlight (please do this if you haven’t already as the<br />
moon serves as a wonderful source of light for photographs). And, eek! So many businesses,<br />
not just car washes, look downright haunted. I’m not exactly Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, but<br />
I can hold my own physically and there were some parking lots I drove by and just kept on<br />
driving. Where are the lights? Why is there garbage blowing around? Why are there dead<br />
shrubs? Weeds through the cracks in the pavement? Cob<strong>web</strong>s? Are these places abandoned?<br />
They are not. But, it seems as if the owners do not care about night time patronage. What<br />
about people driving home from work who need a car wash? None of the moms I know<br />
would step foot, let alone drive onto your property, with the way it looks (and feels) at night.<br />
How about some bright lighting? Cleared out properties? Working surveillance cameras?<br />
Maybe even an attendant, or the owner on site to check on things throughout the evening?<br />
Don’t be another business that doesn’t care about its appearance or the safety of others. I<br />
honestly would drive out of my way to a car wash that appears to be more safe than a closer<br />
one with a set-it-and-forget-it owner.<br />
And, until next time,<br />
Extra Extra ..................... 36<br />
Cover Story .................... 44<br />
Darwin ............................. 50<br />
LETTER TO THE EDITOR<br />
Dear <strong>SSCWN</strong>,<br />
VOL. 50, NO. 4, FALL 2022<br />
Publisher Jackson Vahaly<br />
Editor Debra Gorgos<br />
Design Katy Barret-Alley<br />
Editor Emeritus Jarret J. Jakubowski<br />
Editor Posthumous Joseph J. Campbell<br />
Editor Posthumous Julia E. Campbell<br />
Self Serve Carwash News is published 4 times<br />
per year and is independently owned by Jackson<br />
Vahaly. Web address is www.sscwn.com.<br />
All inquiries should be directed to:<br />
Self Serve Car Wash News<br />
110 Childs Ln., Franklin, TN 37067<br />
jacksonv@sscwn.com<br />
I don’t think the writer of the article on the causes of inflation was identified<br />
but he/she was either uninformed about the subject or knew better but chose<br />
to spout the false narrative that places the complete blame for inflation on the<br />
Russian invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of world oil prices. I could not<br />
believe the writer did not mention as a major cause of inflation Mr. Biden’s halt<br />
of the Keystone Pipeline and his own war on the domestic production of oil and<br />
natural gas (while facilitating Russia’s production of oil). Tell your writer to do<br />
some research and learn that the price of oil, gasoline and diesel was increasing<br />
at a steady pace before the Russian invasion (and when the cost of energy increases<br />
so does the price of everything transported by trucks: food, pharmaceuticals,<br />
appliances, and clothing-to name a few.) The Biden administration tried<br />
to blame the increased cost of energy and the resulting increase of everything<br />
else on the “Russian War.” Of course that event exacerbated inflation, especially<br />
since our government printed so much money to send to Ukraine. Another<br />
cause of inflation not cited by the writer was the Biden Administration’s flooding<br />
the economy with billions of dollars. The Russian invasion made inflation<br />
worse but was certainly not the cause of inflation.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Richard Keen<br />
Keen Carwash Denham Springs, LA<br />
Copyright 2022. 2 Dollar Enterprises/<strong>SSCWN</strong>. All Rights Reserved<br />
4 • FALL 2022
Hello, Richard and thank you<br />
so much for your email.<br />
While I do love a good tet a tet, I have to start off by<br />
saying that in the Summer 2022 issue of Self Serve Car<br />
Wash News, the mentioning of the Ukraine War (Vol.<br />
50, No. 3, Summer 2022, page 31) it hardly places the<br />
complete blame for inflation on the Russian invasion. In<br />
fact, it is one of 6 reasons mentioned. Here is a screen<br />
shot for your reference:<br />
Now, in the second bullet point, it does state that<br />
another factor for inflation is due to soaring energy<br />
prices, which leads us back to good ol’ Russia and our<br />
dependence on its oil supply. And that is just pure fact.<br />
Russia is one of the largest suppliers of crude oil in the<br />
world. Other factors listed include the rise in consumer<br />
goods, labor shortages and salary increases that darn<br />
Federal Reserve.Oh, and lets not forget the pandemic<br />
(who could?) and the trillions of dollars spent on stimulus<br />
money.<br />
I wish none of these aforementioned reasons existed,<br />
but the key word is “reason-s,” as in plural, as in, no<br />
where did the war in/on Ukraine solely take the blame.<br />
And, as for the jab against the Biden administration,<br />
unlike my predecessor no mention of politics, or where<br />
I stand, will make its way into this publication. JJ was<br />
good at doing that – seamlessly imbibing political<br />
views like warm caramel oozing over vanilla ice cream.<br />
I, on the other hand, am so politically tangled up, I<br />
cannot form a cool-headed thought, other than<br />
to say one of the best things about this country<br />
is the First Amendment.<br />
I truly appreciate your letter and hope you’ll<br />
continue to call out anything you think is wrong or<br />
EDITOR’S RESPONSE:<br />
misguided, and I welcome others to do the same.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Debra Gorgos,<br />
Editor<br />
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FALL 2022 • 5
FUN & GAMES<br />
WHAT’S DIFFERENT?<br />
Think<br />
these two pictures taken at a self serve car<br />
wash are the same? Think again!<br />
There are five differences. Can you spot them?<br />
1. Drain is missing 2. Dropbox is missing 3. Clearance sign is gone 4. Bigfoot is passing by 5. There is a second light<br />
6 • FALL 2022
BE PREPARED FOR<br />
WINTER<br />
Get you car wash ready<br />
for the cold season with<br />
anti-freeze detergents<br />
and shampoos<br />
Once salt hits the roads<br />
customers will be lining up to<br />
remove it from their vehicles!<br />
• Salt removal is a great profit<br />
center during the winter months!<br />
• Replace bug remover with Desalt<br />
in the winter months!<br />
Giant Pumps<br />
PU21495<br />
Kleen-Rite<br />
KR5AF<br />
Kleen-Rite<br />
VSK5825<br />
Simoniz<br />
PA5568<br />
Suttner<br />
ST1500<br />
Weep Guns<br />
Weep guns allow water to<br />
drip from the gun at all times<br />
when you don’t want water<br />
to freeze in gun and hose -<br />
perfect for winter use!<br />
J.E. Adams<br />
GU0114<br />
Weep Mizer<br />
Keep your lines from freezing this<br />
winter without allowing free rinsing.<br />
Keeps track of external temperatures<br />
so you won’t need to run water through<br />
the weep when it is above freezing<br />
Dixmor<br />
TI0100<br />
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FALL 2022 • 7
TIPs<br />
SAFETY TIP<br />
New OSHA Training<br />
Centers now<br />
available<br />
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational<br />
Safety and Health Administration announced<br />
the addition of a new organization to its OSHA<br />
Training Institute Education Center network and<br />
the renewal of 25 existing education centers. OTI<br />
Education Centers are non-profit organizations<br />
that offer training courses on OSHA standards<br />
and occupational safety and health topics to<br />
workers and employers across the country.<br />
Since 1992, the OTI Education Center program<br />
has provided training nationwide to private<br />
sector and federal personnel from agencies outside<br />
OSHA and trained more than 42,000 people<br />
in fiscal year 2022.<br />
The centers also help administer OSHA’s Outreach<br />
Training Program and fulfill the program’s<br />
monitoring requirements. They are the sole distribution<br />
channel for Outreach Training Program<br />
trainer courses, including OSHA standards and<br />
update courses. The program trained more than<br />
three million people from fiscal 2020 through fiscal<br />
2022. This voluntary program is not a training<br />
requirement of any OSHA standard.<br />
Following a national competition, the new and<br />
renewed OTI Education Centers were announced<br />
on April 18, 2022. The competition evaluated<br />
applicants on organizational commitment, experience<br />
and qualifications; staff experience and<br />
qualifications; location and training facilities; marketing<br />
and administrative capabilities; Diversity<br />
Equity Inclusion and Accessibility; and language<br />
accessibility.<br />
OSHA does not fund OTI Education Centers.<br />
The centers are supported through established<br />
tuition and fee structures and provide instructors<br />
and facilities. For more information on the<br />
OTI Education Centers Program, the Outreach<br />
Training Program, and the Office of Training and<br />
Education, please visit the OSHA Training <strong>web</strong>page<br />
at OSHA.gov<br />
The new and renewed OTI Education Centers<br />
are listed below. An asterisk indicates the new<br />
center for 2022:<br />
REGION I<br />
• Keene State College – Manchester, NH<br />
REGION II<br />
• Atlantic OSHA Training Center, a consortium<br />
that includes Rutgers School of Public Health –<br />
Somerset, NJ (lead organization); Universidad<br />
Ana G. Mendez – Bayamon, PR; and University<br />
at Buffalo – Buffalo, NY<br />
• Rochester Institute of Technology – Rochester, NY<br />
REGION III<br />
• National Resource Center, a consortium that<br />
includes West Virginia University – Morgantown,<br />
WV (lead organization); and CPWR – Center for<br />
Construction Research & Training – Silver Spring,<br />
MD<br />
• Mid Atlantic, a consortium comprised that<br />
includes Chesapeake Region Safety Council<br />
– Baltimore, MD (lead organization); and<br />
Northampton Community College – Bethlehem,<br />
PA<br />
REGION IV<br />
• Eastern Kentucky University – Richmond, KY<br />
• University of South Florida – Wesley Chapel, FL<br />
• Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA<br />
• Southeastern OTI Education Center, a<br />
consortium that includes North Carolina State<br />
University – Raleigh, NC (lead organization); and<br />
University of Tennessee – Nashville, TN<br />
• The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL<br />
• Volunteer State Community College - Gallatin,<br />
TN<br />
REGION V<br />
• Mid-America OTI Education Center, a consortium<br />
that includes Ohio Valley Construction Education<br />
Foundation – Springboro, OH<br />
• Great Lakes OSHA Education Center, a<br />
consortium that includes University of Cincinnati,<br />
College of Medicine – Cincinnati, OH (lead<br />
organization); Eastern Michigan University<br />
– Ypsilanti, MI; and UAW Health & Safety<br />
Department – Detroit, MI<br />
• National Safety Education Center, a consortium<br />
that includes Northern Illinois University –<br />
DeKalb, IL (lead organization); and Construction<br />
Safety Council – Hillside, IL<br />
REGION VI<br />
• Texas A&M University Engineering Extension<br />
(TEEX) – College Station, TX<br />
• University of Texas at Arlington – Arlington, TX<br />
• Mid-South OTI Education Center, a consortium<br />
that includes Alliance Safety Council – Baton<br />
Rouge, LA (lead organization); and Louisiana<br />
State University – Baton Rouge, LA<br />
• Oklahoma State University – Stillwater, OK<br />
REGION VII<br />
• Great Plains OSHA Education Center, a<br />
consortium that includes Metropolitan<br />
Community College – Independence, MO<br />
(lead organization); Barton County Community<br />
College – Grandview Plaza, KS; and Saint Louis<br />
University College for Public Health & Social<br />
Justice – St. Louis, MO<br />
REGION VIII<br />
• Mountain West OSHA Education Center – Salt<br />
Lake City, UT<br />
• *Construction Education Foundation – Denver,<br />
CO<br />
REGION IX<br />
• University of California, San Diego – La Jolla, CA<br />
• Arizona State University – Tempe, AZ<br />
• California State University, Dominguez Hills –<br />
Carson, CA<br />
• Chabot-Las Positas – Pleasanton, CA<br />
REGION X<br />
• University of Washington – Seattle, WA<br />
For information on the geographic areas served<br />
by OSHA’s Regional Offices, visit https://www.<br />
osha.gov/contactus/bystate.<br />
8 • FALL 2022
FINANCIAL TIP<br />
What is the 504 loan program?<br />
The CDC/504 Loan Program provides longterm,<br />
fixed rate financing for major fixed assets<br />
that promote business growth and job creation.<br />
504 loans are available through Certified<br />
Development Companies (CDCs), the Small<br />
Business Administration’s (SBA) community-based<br />
partners who regulate nonprofits and<br />
promote economic development within their<br />
communities. CDCs are certified and regulated<br />
by the SBA.<br />
The maximum loan amount for a 504 loan<br />
is $5 million. For certain energy projects, the<br />
borrower can receive a 504 loan for up to $5.5<br />
million per project, for up to three projects not to<br />
exceed $16.5 million total.<br />
Are you eligible?<br />
To be eligible for a 504 loan, your business must:<br />
• Operate as a for-profit company in the United<br />
States or its possessions<br />
• Have a tangible net worth of less than $15 million<br />
• Have an average net income of less than $5<br />
million after federal income taxes for the two<br />
years preceding your application<br />
Other general eligibility standards include falling<br />
within SBA size guidelines, having qualified<br />
management expertise, a feasible business plan,<br />
good character and the ability to repay the loan.<br />
Loans cannot be made to businesses engaged<br />
in nonprofit, passive, or speculative activities. For<br />
additional information on eligibility criteria and<br />
loan application requirements, small businesses<br />
and lenders are encouraged to contact a Certified<br />
Development Company in their area.<br />
How to use a 504 loan<br />
A 504 loan can be used for a range of assets<br />
that promote business growth and job creation.<br />
These include the purchase or construction of:<br />
• Existing buildings or land<br />
• New facilities<br />
• Long-term machinery and equipment<br />
Or the improvement or modernization of:<br />
• Land, streets, utilities, parking lots and<br />
landscaping<br />
• Existing facilities<br />
A 504 loan cannot be used for:<br />
• Working capital or inventory<br />
• Consolidating, repaying or refinancing debt<br />
• Speculation or investment in rental real estate<br />
How to apply<br />
504 loans are available exclusively through<br />
Certified Development Companies (CDCs).<br />
First, find a CDC in your area to ensure you are<br />
dealing with a qualified lender.<br />
Then begin to prepare and assemble your 504<br />
loan authorization package, using the 504 Authorization<br />
File Library at sba.gov to identify the<br />
documentation you will need to apply for your<br />
504 CDC loan.<br />
How do you pay back a 504 loan?<br />
Loan repayment terms vary according to several<br />
factors:<br />
• Repayment terms<br />
• Both 10- and 20-year maturity terms available<br />
• Interest rates<br />
• Pegged to an increment above the current<br />
market rate for 5-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury<br />
issues<br />
• Totals approximately 3 % of the debt, rate may<br />
be financed with the loan<br />
Existing borrowers can create an account in the<br />
SBA Capital Access Financial System (or CAFS)<br />
to monitor their loan status.<br />
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FALL 2022 • 9
Around the Wash<br />
The Miracle of<br />
Polarized Water<br />
By Tom Scott<br />
As a matter of introduction my name is Tom Scott<br />
and I reside in Dallas, Texas. I was one of the original<br />
2 founders of the original North Texas Car Wash<br />
Association which grew to become the Southwest<br />
Car Wash Association we all know and love today.<br />
I am a young 80 years old. Over the last 53 years I<br />
have owned and operated a 4 bay, an 11 bay and a 12<br />
bay car wash and at times had attached convenience<br />
stores. Having been cursed at birth with too many<br />
aptitudes I have been in numerous other enterprises<br />
including the design and production of aircraft, operating<br />
a fixed base airport operation and flight school,<br />
owning and operating a fast food restaurant, and other<br />
lesser endeavors and now I have a farm and continue<br />
to operate my 11 bay self serve I built in 1970.<br />
I’m getting tired of repeating all this info on magnetic<br />
water treatment for every new person that<br />
wants to know about it so I am writing this article.<br />
Then I won’t have to bore you with it if it’s not interesting<br />
to you and I can do something more productive<br />
with my time.<br />
Except for air, water is the most important element<br />
in our lives. We cannot live long at all without it. It<br />
is essential in almost everything we do. It can be as<br />
timid as a tear or it can be as powerful as the mighty<br />
oceans. This report reveals how it can be altered in a<br />
very simple and inexpensive way to serve you better.<br />
First I’d like to make it emphatically clear that I am<br />
not sharing this information to profit. You are being<br />
given this info without cost or obligation and I stand<br />
to gain nothing monetarily from any other source. If<br />
you decide to try polarized water for yourself, sources<br />
for the magnets and instructions for their installation<br />
will be included here. In this age of multilevel<br />
marketing and rampant scams you can be assured I<br />
have nothing to gain from any purchase you make.<br />
This thing I call “POLARIZED WATER” is truly<br />
amazing and can be a huge boon to your car wash<br />
WARNING<br />
Be aware that shiny glazed tiles on shower floors newly cleaned by<br />
polarized water may become much more slippery than you may be<br />
accustomed to. For “safety first” you may want to use a shower mat<br />
or install anti slip strips.<br />
and your personal enjoyment of life. It is one of those<br />
deceptively simple things that is also somewhat complex<br />
because of the many and varied things it can do<br />
for you. But it’s really painless. And it’s inexpensive<br />
and simple to do.<br />
A LITTLE<br />
BACKGROUND<br />
I still own a car wash and well over 50 years ago<br />
I installed an old set of relatively weak iron magnets<br />
on the water line because I was told it would prolong<br />
the life of my very expensive water heater. That<br />
was my only objective or expectation relative to the<br />
magnets. I was oblivious to any other benefits they<br />
might provide because I had no experience to compare<br />
to. The magnets were installed in 1970 and they<br />
became obscured by stuff stacked around them as<br />
time passed and I forgot about them.<br />
Don’t start thinking I’m just promoting something<br />
to prolong the life of your water heater because that<br />
is a very small part of what this is about. But this<br />
example is bold and undeniable proof that magnets<br />
have a profound effect on water that provides many<br />
amazing benefits. Please stay with me and read on.<br />
35 years later I noticed the magnets for the first<br />
time in decades and I thought, “Why did I put those<br />
10 • FALL 2022
www.SonnysDirect.com 800-327-8723<br />
FALL 2022 • 11
AROUND THE WASH: THE MIRACLE OF POLARIZED WATER<br />
things on there?” Later I remembered and realized<br />
that the water heater was in fact now very old. I<br />
asked a professional plumber how long it should<br />
have lasted and he said “In Dallas water, about 7 or 8<br />
years.” He couldn’t believe 35 years! Well, as of this<br />
writing it is now 52 years old and still going strong.<br />
We put a new $10 thermocouple in it occasionally<br />
when they go out, but that’s it.<br />
By all rights the coiled heating tubes in the heater<br />
should have grown completely shut with mineral<br />
buildup at least 4 decades ago yet they are still completely<br />
free of ANY mineral scale thanks to a couple<br />
of magnets.<br />
Things that work and don’t cause problems or<br />
need maintenance tend to be forgotten and taken<br />
for granted. We just don’t tend to concern ourselves<br />
with things that don’t cause us trouble. So for all<br />
those years I had no idea what a huge benefit that<br />
simple little pair of inexpensive magnets had been<br />
to me or how much money they had saved me. They<br />
prevented me from having to replace that huge<br />
expensive water heater as many as 7 times over all<br />
those years! That’s HUGE! Each one would have<br />
been at least $8,000. Total - at least $56,000 plus a<br />
lot of aggravation.<br />
This is where this all just “begins” to be a little hard<br />
to believe because a person naturally begins to say,<br />
“Well if this is That good, why isn’t everyone doing<br />
it?” That explanation is probably best left to a psychiatrist,<br />
but later on I will make a stab at it. For now I<br />
will try to explain the science of WHY the magnets<br />
do their magic.<br />
WHAT IS<br />
POLARIZATION?<br />
Understanding a few scientific principles and basic<br />
magnetic physics.<br />
1. Water and any particles, such as minerals, that are<br />
in or carried by water are made up of molecules.<br />
Without getting too complex we’ll simply say<br />
that those molecules are either positively (+) or<br />
negatively (-) charged. For our purposes here we<br />
don’t need to be any more precise than that. We<br />
are talking for our purposes here about common<br />
tap water or well water. Processed water such as<br />
distilled water or RO water don’t contain minerals.<br />
2. The scientific principle of “Opposites Attract<br />
and Likes Repel,” is the basis upon which the<br />
magnets are able to work their magic. This simply<br />
means that if you have two “oppositely” charged<br />
molecules ( + & - ) they will “attract” each other<br />
and if you have two “like” charged molecules (<br />
+ to + ) or ( - to - ) they will “repel” each other.<br />
An example would be that the (+) north pole of a<br />
magnet will stick ‘to’ the (-) south pole of another<br />
magnet, but will push ‘away’ from the + north<br />
pole of another magnet. Hence “opposites attract<br />
and likes repel”. The needle of a compass that is<br />
painted red and points toward the ‘north’ pole of<br />
the earth is actually the ‘south’ pole of the needle.<br />
Think about it.<br />
“Well if this<br />
is that good,<br />
why isn’t<br />
everyone<br />
doing it?”<br />
In all of nature and science and everything around<br />
us this principle applies and holds true. From very<br />
simple things like dust sticking to a wall, and why<br />
electric motors work, to planets and even galaxies<br />
staying in orbit, the “Opposites and Likes” principle<br />
is applicable and responsible and it all boils down to<br />
fundamental electrical activity. I am going to control<br />
myself at this point and not get into any of the other<br />
fascinating aspects of this science and just stick to the<br />
polarization of water.<br />
We will start with what happens when water travels<br />
thru a pipe:<br />
First fact is that the pipe is grounded to the earth. Therefore<br />
its electrical potential is always negative or ( - ).<br />
The next thing that must be realized is that all of<br />
the molecules in and of the water are made up of<br />
both positive and negative electrons or ‘charges’. So<br />
as the positively charged particles go merrily along<br />
inside the negatively charged pipe, they are continually<br />
pulled toward the walls of the pipe. Some get<br />
too close and actually stick because of the “opposites”<br />
attraction. In scientific terms this behavior is actually<br />
very basic “electroplating”. Every time the water<br />
stops moving the + molecules have an opportunity<br />
to freely move to the pipe wall and stick. The negative<br />
molecules continue on unaffected. Heat exacerbates<br />
this behavior so hot pipes gather mineral scale<br />
much faster. Hence the rapid deterioration of water<br />
heaters not protected by polarized water.<br />
Note: When I refer to “pipe” here, I am referring to “non<br />
magnetic” or “non ferrous” pipe or pipe a magnet will<br />
not stick to such plastic, brass, copper, etc..<br />
A magnetic field passes through non ferrous material<br />
as if it were not there at all. Magnets can not be<br />
utilized on a ferrous pipe such as one made of steel.<br />
Magnets reverse the polarity of the molecules in<br />
the water to the “opposite” of whatever magnetic environment<br />
they are exposed to, thereby “polarizing”<br />
the water. Normally water pipes are not located in<br />
the presence of any abnormally strong magnetic influences.<br />
But if strong magnets are placed on both<br />
sides of a pipe with the north (+) poles of both magnets<br />
facing each other across the pipe, then the water<br />
inside the pipe will be altered or “polarized” to be<br />
(-) ‘negatively’ charged. Seems contrary to logic but<br />
that’s the way it works.<br />
Positioned in this manner the + magnets will<br />
physically push away from each other, or “repel”<br />
each other. If the magnets are powerful enough<br />
they can be difficult to bring close enough together<br />
to touch the pipe. The more powerful the magnets,<br />
the more thorough the polarization of the<br />
molecules in the water traveling through the pipe.<br />
The magnets do NOT have to touch the pipe to<br />
be effective.<br />
Remember: The magnets MUST be pushing away<br />
from each other. And the NORTH poles MUST be<br />
the poles facing each other. This arrangement has<br />
proven most effective. I do know from experience<br />
that ‘some’ benefit will be experienced if the magnets<br />
are placed attracting each other ( + to - ), but<br />
they will be a great deal less effective.<br />
Originally (52 years ago!) I used some plain iron<br />
bar magnets. They weren’t really very strong and I<br />
put them on wrong. But still, they did protect my water<br />
heater. More recently (05/2022), I have switched<br />
to 1/2” X 1” X 1” N52 Neodymium magnets for typical<br />
3/4” home service water lines. The difference is<br />
truly astounding. On the 1 1/4” water line at my car<br />
wash I installed new 1/2” X 1-1/2” X 3” magnets!!<br />
Talk about powerful?? Those things are truly dangerous.<br />
But the effects they are having on the car wash<br />
would be unimaginable if I weren’t seeing it myself.<br />
I keep discovering new positive effects of these<br />
wonderful magnets. I will list as many as I am aware<br />
of at this time.<br />
SOFTER WATER<br />
The polarized water has the effect of “softening”<br />
the water. Hard water is caused by excess minerals in<br />
the water. Normal salt based water softeners add salt<br />
ions to the water in an exchange process to replace<br />
the mineral ions that it removes to soften the water.<br />
The resulting heavy salt load is not healthy and the<br />
process is costly.<br />
This softening effect results in softer fabrics from<br />
the laundry. Sheets and towels become much softer<br />
for instance, but all fabrics washed in polarized water<br />
are softer and more luxurious feeling.<br />
12 • FALL 2022
FGM 227-air-vac-machines-NE-carwasher-final-outline<br />
final outline<br />
-<br />
FALL 2022 • 13
AROUND THE WASH: THE MIRACLE OF POLARIZED WATER<br />
NO MORE RESIDUE<br />
Anything that comes in contact with the polarized<br />
water will be affected by it or in some regards<br />
NOT affected by it. Getting polarized water is like<br />
some magician came onto your property and waved<br />
a magic wand. Without you doing anything at all you<br />
will find that fixtures and appliances where water is<br />
any part of the situation will strangely clean themselves.<br />
Stuff that used to grow mineral deposits will<br />
no longer do that. Things that used to grow mold or<br />
mildew will no longer do that!! It’s like putting some<br />
kind of miracle fungicide on tile grout mold and mildew.<br />
Even in those tiny crevices it slowly disappears.<br />
Even our bird baths in the yard have “cleaned themselves”<br />
since getting polarized water. And the outside<br />
of windows that the sprinkler system oversprays<br />
onto no longer have that aggravating haze on them.<br />
Even what was on them previously has cleared up!<br />
Most city waters and well waters deposit a coating<br />
or “scale” of minerals on the surfaces of everything the<br />
water contacts. That scale is not just a kind of coating<br />
on the surface like soap scum for instance. It is literally<br />
grown to the surface and is very hard to remove. It is<br />
very common in showers, on the wall tiles and grout,<br />
and on the glass surfaces like shower doors. Nothing<br />
but harsh acids will remove it. That results in damage<br />
to grout and other unintended things. Dealing with<br />
it is very frustrating and hard work. Most folks that<br />
think they clean well enough that they don’t have it<br />
don’t realize that they really do until it has actually<br />
been ‘truly’ eliminated. In such cases their surfaces are<br />
clean, but they are not “clear”.<br />
Polarized water literally makes all that stuff<br />
WANT to get off the surface it has stuck to. When<br />
the molecules become reversed, they LITERALLY<br />
push by natural repulsion off the surface they have<br />
been stuck to. Is that cool or WHAT!?<br />
A short while after polarizing our household water,<br />
I complimented our cleaning lady on what a<br />
good job she had done on our master bath shower.<br />
She replied saying, “Oh No Mr Scott. I thought YOU<br />
had done that!” Fact was, NO ONE had done it. The<br />
shower had cleaned itself.<br />
And because this action works all the way down to<br />
the molecular level, the result is so complete and so<br />
thorough it boggles the mind. After 2 months, there<br />
is not even the slightest hint of mold or mildew in<br />
the grout lines of our shower. And the shower doors<br />
are crystal clear and sparkling which shows off the<br />
like new tiles in the shower. Looks like we had the<br />
bathroom remodeled yesterday.<br />
APPLIANCES<br />
AND FIXTURES<br />
Any appliance like an ice maker that utilizes water<br />
in its operation will benefit. Water heaters will last at<br />
least twice as long depending on the type and how<br />
long they have been in service prior to the polarized<br />
water. A new water heater might last as long as the<br />
house. The electric elements in electric water heaters<br />
“All plumbing<br />
fixtures and<br />
parts will work<br />
better and longer<br />
with vastly less<br />
maintenance.”<br />
will also last longer. Polarized water will descale the<br />
freeze plates on surfaces in ice makers and prevent<br />
additional scale from forming. The ice will be thicker<br />
and clearer. There will be NO more need to buy<br />
expensive ice machine cleaner or go through that<br />
cleaning process. Humidifiers and steam irons will<br />
also release the scale that forms on them and never<br />
scale up again. The scale that forms on shower heads<br />
will slowly disappear and there will be no more need<br />
to soak them in vinegar or some commercial cleaner.<br />
They will run free and clear as long as they are running<br />
polarized water.<br />
Anywhere mineral deposits build up on the outside<br />
of a house or in the landscape - that hazy appearance<br />
will slowly disappear as the new water<br />
rinses away the old deposits. Bird baths will take on<br />
a clean and newer look and mold and fungus will<br />
cease to pollute them. Your feathered friends will<br />
enjoy cleaner, clearer water. Swimming pools will<br />
stay cleaner with far less chemicals and if you have<br />
a fountain or waterfall in the pool you will notice<br />
bubbles in the agitated water that never were there<br />
before polarized water.<br />
Now this is strange but the drain lines for your<br />
home or car wash will actually clean themselves as<br />
well!! The same water that comes out of the faucets<br />
and works its magic is the same water that continues<br />
on to run down the drains where the same principles<br />
apply. So all the old nasty gunk that lines the sewer<br />
lines slowly releases from the walls and is flushed<br />
away. There are a few places where you can actually<br />
see the inside of drain lines. you can peer inside the<br />
drains of the kitchen sink and through the small holes<br />
in the shower drain for instance. Before the polarized<br />
water they will look dark inside. A few months after<br />
the water you will be able to see the white plastic<br />
inside of the drain pipe below the drain. Scrubbing<br />
toilets to remove the mineral ‘rings’ or stains will be<br />
a thing of the past.<br />
All plumbing fixtures and parts will work better<br />
and longer with vastly less maintenance.<br />
If you have a water well and it has bad smelling<br />
water, or which contains a lot of minerals which<br />
cause scale buildup in the toilet, shower, tub and<br />
elsewhere, the polarized water will eliminate all<br />
that. Just put the magnets on the main waterline<br />
from the well. Very soon you will have clear odorless<br />
water and the toilet and shower and other fixtures<br />
that use the water will simply clean themselves.<br />
HEALTH<br />
Soap will simply work better. Polarized water reduces<br />
the surface tension of the water and soap will<br />
sud much better. You can tell by just washing your<br />
hands. I get a kick out of the big bubbles I get frequently<br />
while washing my hands. Your body will literally<br />
be squeaky clean after a shower and your hair<br />
will be softer. Your skin will feel softer and take on a<br />
subtle glow. Eliminating almost all mold and mildew<br />
from your living space will result in too many benefits<br />
to list here. You can run your finger lightly up<br />
the inside wet glass of the shower door and hear that<br />
squeaky clean squeak that tells you the glass is truly<br />
and actually clean. Same for the tiles on the walls.<br />
My mouth feels cleaner when I brush my teeth.<br />
I inhale the heavy mist from my humidifier filled<br />
with polarized water to cure and prevent nasal and<br />
respiratory problems. I had chronic sinus infections<br />
for decades. Now I no longer have to deal with those<br />
very unpleasant problems and it has helped with allergies<br />
as well. I place my face and nose about 3 or<br />
4 inches above the outlet of the humidifier directly<br />
in the heavy discharge of the mist and slowly inhale<br />
the mist directly down my nasal passages and throat<br />
and into my lungs while breathing in and exhaling<br />
as deeply as possible. The moisture does wonders<br />
and the extra oxygen contained in the moisture is<br />
great for all kinds of things. After a little practice<br />
this 10 minute ritual has become a favorite part of<br />
my day. When beginning this protocol the respiratory<br />
passages will not be accustomed to the moisture.<br />
This may cause a reflex cough for the first few<br />
breaths. But that will quickly pass. Just persevere<br />
and it will soon be forgotten as the benefits take<br />
over. The salt water at the beach has always been<br />
good for my sinuses so I’ve started adding sea salt<br />
to the water in the humidifier. Seems better to me.<br />
I am a man so there is one benefit of polarized<br />
water that has been especially impressive to me:<br />
Shaving. I’ve shaved for over 65 years and always<br />
dreaded it. I ALWAYS nicked my face while shaving<br />
and still seldom got what I considered a ‘close’ shave.<br />
Immediately after switching to polarized water I got<br />
14 • FALL 2022
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16 • FALL 2022
AROUND THE WASH: THE MIRACLE OF POLARIZED WATER<br />
a shave I could not believe. I was shocked!<br />
{NOTE: I shave with a safety razor and all my life I<br />
have shaved after washing my face thoroughly in the<br />
shower to soften my beard.}<br />
First there were NO NICKS! But the best part was<br />
that the shave was unbelievably close. The blade I<br />
was using was probably a month past the due date.<br />
NOT new. I made no special effort and wasn’t even<br />
thinking about the new water. Yet my face was “Baby<br />
Butt Smooth”. I had never had such a shave in my<br />
life! It’s now 6 weeks later and I’m still using the<br />
same old blade and still getting the same close shaves.<br />
Every man knows that the harder you try to get<br />
a close shave, the more the after shave is going to<br />
sting when you apply it. Well, I’m here to tell you<br />
that the improvement in the quality of these close<br />
shaves did not come with that price. The ‘sting’ is<br />
less than it would have been with a previous mediocre<br />
shave and I NEVER get a nick! I can easily go 2<br />
days on one of these shaves and the 2nd day I’ll still<br />
look better than the 1st day before. Even the third<br />
day when the whiskers are well grown out there is<br />
a strange softness to the beard. It’s like the whiskers<br />
have dull rounded points to them. They aren’t nearly<br />
as scratchy to the feel. I have no idea why that would<br />
be but it’s real.<br />
“These magnets ARE NOT TOYS.<br />
Children should never be allowed to play<br />
with them. They are very powerful and can<br />
be dangerous if not handled carefully.”<br />
BUILDING, PLANTS<br />
AND LANDSCAPING<br />
Another unexpected benefit of the polarized water<br />
is that all of our landscape and potted plants seem<br />
to be really thriving on this water.<br />
And, how about a self cleaning car wash! One of<br />
the biggest jobs at my car wash for over 50 years has<br />
been trying to keep the walls of the wash bays clean.<br />
Originally I thought the problem was just soap scum<br />
and dirt from the cars sticking to the walls. I couldn’t<br />
understand why it was so hard to get off. Years later I<br />
realized that the worst part of the problem was actually<br />
the minerals in the water literally growing to the<br />
walls. The new and more powerful magnets are now<br />
causing those minerals to release from the walls and<br />
they are “Cleaning Themselves”!!!! A little bit more<br />
and more, day by day, they just get better and better.<br />
An amazing thing to experience.<br />
The walls in my wash bays are now spotlessly sparkling<br />
clean! The PVC panels are like 15 years old<br />
and look like they were put up yesterday. They are so<br />
clean they are literally reflective! And high pressure<br />
rinse keeps them that way.)<br />
Being a car wash owner and being around water almost<br />
all the time we used to have areas where water<br />
stood that would develop mold and mildew. Those<br />
areas are clearing up as well. On their own. With no<br />
help from anyone. It’s like the water itself acts as an<br />
antifungal agent.<br />
Sure wish I had known about all these benefits 50<br />
+ years ago. At least now you do. You’re welcome.<br />
THE MAGNETS<br />
Neodymium magnets can be purchased online<br />
from numerous sources. Two sources that I deal with<br />
are K & J Magnetics and Amazing Magnets.<br />
The part number for the magnets I use for residential<br />
service from K & J is BXOXO8. They measure<br />
1/2” X 1” X 1” and they are made of Neodymium<br />
with a nickel-plated covering. They ship UPS in a<br />
cardboard box. There are spacers between the magnets<br />
because if they get stuck together they are very<br />
difficult to separate. I would call to place my order<br />
and ask them to put extra spacers so you don’t have<br />
a hard time separating them, and ask them to mark<br />
the magnets as to the north and south poles.<br />
For larger services like say a car wash I use larger<br />
magnets. They should be at least as wide as the pipe<br />
being treated.<br />
These magnets ARE NOT TOYS. Children should<br />
never be allowed to play with them. They are very<br />
powerful and can be dangerous if not handled carefully.<br />
Keep them as far away from each other as possible<br />
and away from metal objects and surfaces until<br />
they are installed. For instance do not nonchalantly<br />
lay them down on a table within 2 feet of each other<br />
or some tool or knife. They can seem as safe as a normal<br />
block of plain metal but if allowed to get close<br />
enough to something magnetic they can suddenly<br />
and unexpectedly accelerate together with destructive<br />
effects. The closer they are to contact, the stronger<br />
the magnetic force. The force is exponential. Not<br />
lineal. So if allowed to fly together unrestricted the<br />
collision force can be so powerful that the magnets<br />
will literally shatter apart rendering them useless. If<br />
human flesh is caught in the collision there will be<br />
severe pain and probably blood so be careful. Always<br />
hold onto them firmly as if someone is trying to take<br />
them away from you.<br />
You should not have to handle them much in order<br />
to get them installed and anchored down. After<br />
that, the risk will be over. Just don’t fool with them<br />
unnecessarily and be aware at all times that they can<br />
hurt you.<br />
The magnets should be installed on the main service<br />
line to the property being served. Most home<br />
water services have 3/4” main service lines coming<br />
in from the street side of the house and there will be<br />
a water meter box located somewhere along in that<br />
area, usually close to the street and flat to the ground.<br />
Some require a “water meter box key” to open, but<br />
not all require one. In any case the main service to<br />
the property must be located. In the case of wells,<br />
the magnets can be installed in the ‘well house’.<br />
In the water meter box (surprisingly!) there will be<br />
a water meter. Usually on the house side of the meter<br />
there will be room on the outlet from the meter to<br />
place the magnets but they can go on either side of<br />
the meter.<br />
The magnets are 1 square inch so all that is required<br />
is 1 inch of bare copper or brass or plastic<br />
pipe which the magnets can be attached to. Sometimes<br />
water meter boxes get dirt in them over the<br />
years and you may have to dig some out to expose<br />
the pipe. I’ve never found this to be much of a<br />
problem.<br />
The first magnets I put on a waterline at a house<br />
were old iron magnets that were much larger than<br />
the new neodymium magnets and there wasn’t<br />
enough room in the meter box for them. So I had to<br />
actually dig up the waterline outside the meter box<br />
and put the magnets on the waterline there.<br />
As I explained earlier, the magnets must be placed<br />
FALL 2022 • 17
AROUND THE WASH: THE MIRACLE OF POLARIZED WATER<br />
on the waterline with the north pole of each magnet<br />
facing the pipe. This is very important.<br />
When ordering the magnets you can ask that the<br />
poles of the magnets be marked. But if your magnets<br />
aren’t marked or if you want to verify the correctness<br />
of the poles there are several simple ways.<br />
1. First, if you have a compass, simply hold the<br />
compass in the vicinity of the magnet and see<br />
which side of the magnet the compass indicates<br />
is the north pole side. It will point to the north side<br />
of the magnet just as it points to the north pole of<br />
the earth.<br />
2. Second, if you don’t have a compass then you can<br />
sort of create one with your magnet. Simply fill a<br />
large bowl with water. Then float a smaller bowl in<br />
that bowl. Then place the magnet ‘on edge’ in the<br />
center of the floating bowl. Make sure the bowl<br />
is floating ‘freely’ in the center and not touching<br />
the bottom bowl anywhere. Also make sure there<br />
aren’t any ferrous metal objects nearby like iron<br />
stove tops or whatever. The magnet in the floating<br />
bowl will rotate the floating bowl around to where<br />
the “SOUTH POLE” of the magnet will be facing<br />
NORTH (for the directionally challenged - that’s<br />
toward Canada). You can mark that side with an<br />
“S” and the other with an “N” for north. Just so<br />
you know which side is NORTH.<br />
Once you have one magnet marked correctly you<br />
can use it to determine the poles of another magnet.<br />
Just always remember that “opposites attract” and<br />
“north will always push away from north”.<br />
It is fairly easy to install the first magnet on the<br />
pipe starting with duct tape. Cut a piece of tape<br />
about say 10” long. Place the magnet about 4 inches<br />
from one end of the tape and centered on the tape<br />
on the sticky side with the “south” side of the magnet<br />
sticking to the tape. The north side is going to go<br />
onto the pipe.<br />
You will want to make sure enough dirt is cleared<br />
away so you can get the tape around and under<br />
the pipe. Now place the tape and magnet onto the<br />
pipe with the north side of the magnet against the<br />
pipe and the tape positioned so that you can wrap<br />
it around the pipe and over itself. Since the pipe is<br />
not magnetic the tape and the magnet will go right<br />
on with no problem. Locate the magnet on one side<br />
of the pipe.<br />
Putting the other magnet on the pipe is a bigger<br />
challenge because the magnets are going to be<br />
pushing away from each other during the process<br />
and they are strong. You may want to hold the second<br />
magnet in your hand very firmly and put it<br />
down in the box and try to slowly move it toward<br />
the place you want it to go on the pipe across from<br />
the first one just to get a feel for what you are going<br />
to be dealing with. Be sure you are approaching the<br />
pipe with the NORTH side of the magnet. It should<br />
be pushing away from the pipe with strong force.<br />
If it starts to pull toward the other magnet pull it<br />
back and recheck because one or the other of the<br />
magnets is backwards.<br />
You do not have to get the second magnet all the<br />
way onto the pipe at this point. Just get a feel for<br />
the force. Be careful not to let the magnet leave<br />
your hand and get attached to the first magnet.<br />
Hold on FIRMLY.<br />
Fix up the second magnet on a strip of tape just<br />
like you did the first one only but this time make<br />
the strip of tape about 4 inches longer. South side<br />
of the magnet should be toward the sticky side of<br />
the tape. Now put the magnet and the tape down<br />
into the box and into place straight across from the<br />
other magnet. This will be difficult due to the push<br />
of the magnets. Wrap the tape around the pipe and<br />
the first magnet to hold them in place. They will<br />
probably not be very tight against the pipe but that<br />
is ok. Now take 2 plastic tie wraps and put them<br />
around the whole affair one at a time and pull them<br />
down tight. Do not trust the tape to constrain the<br />
magnets. The force of the magnets would eventually<br />
overcome the strength of the tape. The tie wraps<br />
will make everything permanent.<br />
That’s it. Good for life. NO filters to change. No<br />
chemicals to add. No oil to change. Just great water<br />
from now on. Enjoy!<br />
I look forward to sharing more with you in future<br />
issues.<br />
And, here’s to healthier water and a better cleaner<br />
car wash!<br />
Keep<br />
coming!<br />
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18 • FALL 2022
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FALL 2022 • 19
POLL<br />
How much<br />
crime?<br />
I have had this type of<br />
criminal activity at my<br />
car wash:<br />
We ask. You answer!<br />
The following polls were posted on carwashforum.com<br />
• Break-ins (attempted included): 94.1%<br />
• Vandalism: 58.8%<br />
• Drug dealing: 64.7%<br />
• Armed robbery of a person: 5.9%<br />
• Gang-related fights: 11.8%<br />
• Gun-related injury, death: 5.9%<br />
• Other (comment below): 11.8%<br />
Other: the original owner of my wash had moved<br />
away and his mother was checking up on it. Three<br />
men approached her and asked for money, but<br />
she said no. One of them punched her in the face,<br />
knocked her out and left her for dead. They didn’t<br />
rob her. There may have been other things, but<br />
that’s the worst one I know of. - MEP001<br />
The worst case we had was when our husband<br />
and wife cleanup was attacked … for no reason, he<br />
didn’t try to rob them. In less than a minute Gene’s<br />
life changed forever, today he is in a wheelchair with<br />
a brain injury, his wife has since recovered from<br />
her injuries. Alice tried to pepper spray him but she<br />
was severely beaten for her efforts. This is a prime<br />
example as to why you need to pay your employees<br />
on the books so they are covered by workman’s<br />
comp, L & I. We have the police on speed dial, so<br />
far this year we have called the police 27 times for<br />
one thing or the other. - RANDY<br />
Unfortunately, I’ve experienced multiple break-ins,<br />
vandalism, graffiti and drug dealing. When we first<br />
bought our car wash 19 years ago, we had 6 breakins,<br />
consecutively over 5 months. They started<br />
using a pry-bar to break into the vacuum coin box<br />
(stealing quarters), graduated to stealing the entire<br />
vacuum, cutting off the equipment room door and<br />
tearing out the cash machine. We have since added<br />
a rolldown security door (with 2 LAI locks), added<br />
a high-quality alarm system and high-resolution<br />
cameras. As strong as I try to remain, the reality is<br />
that each incident hurts. As a woman, I feel more<br />
vulnerable. I try to focus on the 99% good in my<br />
community, not the 1% scumbags in our society.<br />
I’ve learned that I can’t outrun the bear, I just need<br />
to be faster than the guy behind me. I am no longer<br />
an easy target. - KIMBERLY BERG<br />
Yep! We have experienced all those fun issues of<br />
owning a SS wash in the last 25 years…<br />
We made the upgrades to accept CCs and now<br />
only dispense our tokens. We do accept customers<br />
quarters and dollar coins…<br />
This conversion has reduced a lot of the daily<br />
%$#@$%, and the cameras seem to help, in theory<br />
at least! - SJB<br />
Friendly<br />
Competition<br />
I check out my<br />
competition by...<br />
• Doing a drive-by: 33.3%<br />
• Using and testing out the car wash: 53.3%<br />
• Checking the competition’s online reviews: 6.7%<br />
• Doing nothing - there is no competition: 0.0%<br />
• My competition isn’t worth checking out: 6.7%<br />
On a regular basis we do the first three. - OURTOWN<br />
Some fall in the category of numbers 1, 2 and 3.<br />
Some fall into the category of #5. - WASHNSHINE<br />
It is more fun working to be the competition. - TOM<br />
THUMB<br />
My real competition are friends. I do test out other<br />
washes, sometimes read the online reviews of the<br />
worst ones. - MEP001<br />
Not worth my time. I’d rather invest it in my washes<br />
to make them top tier therefore the competition is<br />
worried about me, not vice versa. At one location I<br />
put my competitor out of business. He even came to<br />
my site and said I can’t and don’t have the energy to<br />
compete with you....his last ditch effort was $5 for<br />
30 minutes in his self serve bays! - RFREEMAN<br />
I casually check if I am driving by but do not go out<br />
of my way to do so. I am more worried about my<br />
business and how it is running. - SOAPY<br />
I drive by and test. On occasion I have checked<br />
reviews when I wanted to see if they had some of<br />
the same idiotic reviews I had. They did and usually<br />
worse. - EARL WEISS<br />
When I use other carwashes in our area, my main<br />
aim is to find things that I could improve at our<br />
wash. Trying to pinch any good ideas they might<br />
have! - GREG_T<br />
I am friendly with one of my competitors and the<br />
other one is a gas station and I don’t know the<br />
owners. I drive by both locations in the course of a<br />
normal business day and I do look around and see<br />
what’s going on. - WAXMAN<br />
I don’t even consider the 2 dirty, run-down car<br />
washes around me competition. I drive by both of<br />
them on the way to my car wash. It has become<br />
my guilty pleasure reading their 1 star reviews and<br />
reading what customers are complaining about. It<br />
validates my hard work and keeps me motivated to<br />
stay on top of cleaning, maintenance and customer<br />
service! - KIMBERLY BERG<br />
20 • FALL 2022
Everything you need to Succeed<br />
D&S Car Wash Supply<br />
FALL 2022 • 21
TRICKS OF THE<br />
(Note: Some posts feature minor<br />
edits for readability.)<br />
Presenting some of the best discussions from the Self Serve, IBA and General Discussions sections of CarwashForum.com. To view more posts discussing some interesting<br />
and common problems, as well as some of the best and brightest solutions, visit CarwashForum.com<br />
The long<br />
and<br />
widening road<br />
So we have found out that the NCDOT is widening the road our<br />
car wash is on. We have seen the plans and they are taking us<br />
for sure. We have a 4 bay self service wash with 4 vacuums and<br />
vending. It is an all brick structure with a metal roof. I know for<br />
sure we are gonna get %$#@! on this deal because the appraisal<br />
they are doing doesn’t take into account it being a building with<br />
bays as opposed to a regular steel building. We would have to<br />
find land which is crazy expensive in this area and then build<br />
a new building. The purchasing of land and building will begin<br />
in about a year. I have hired an Eminent Domain Lawyer Firm<br />
from another town. Has anybody gone through this process and<br />
what was the outcome if so? - 99ROADKING<br />
A quick fix<br />
I went to buy a soda yesterday and<br />
the quarters go in and do not credit<br />
25 cents. They come out if you press<br />
‘refund’. What is the problem? -<br />
WAXMAN<br />
Open the coin acceptor and clean the coin path with a<br />
damp microfiber towel.<br />
If your machine is new or newer, that shouldn’t really<br />
be the problem, but someone may have inserted a<br />
gummy coin.<br />
One of my locations had dirty power, giving all sorts of<br />
faults. I just put an UPS in line with the power cord and<br />
no more problems. Up until then, I would have to reboot<br />
the machine to make it work correctly. If cleaning doesn’t<br />
help, try rebooting. - HAPPYCARZ<br />
Also the coin mech may be slightly moved out. Try a<br />
visual inspection, and drop coins in while watching. -<br />
WHALE OF A WASH<br />
What is a UPS? - KING”DOCTOR”WASH<br />
UPS = Uninterrupted Power Supply. - ERIC_H<br />
Since you hired a lawyer who specializes in eminent<br />
domain actions he will argue the value<br />
is based on many things including the income<br />
a property generates not simply the type of<br />
structure. There can also be a “Uniqueness” factor<br />
argued. - EARL WEISS<br />
I went through this last year at a wash I owned.<br />
My strategy going into buying the wash was that<br />
TX DOT would eventually buy me out sooner<br />
than later.<br />
Mine didn’t get to an eminent domain hearing<br />
and we were able to negotiate a great deal<br />
and I sold. Out of the gate I told them if this is<br />
going to be eminent domain I’ll lawyer up because<br />
we’re not going to agree on value.<br />
They hired an appraiser, who like most, didn’t<br />
know jack about valuing a wash. Said the cash<br />
flow was business value and he can’t consider it<br />
in determining the value of the property.<br />
Long story short, I negotiated a price 150%<br />
higher than their initial offer. - RFREEMAN<br />
Just an anecdote and not advice:<br />
A wash in town was purchased and rehabbed<br />
for the sole purpose of running a large amount<br />
of funds through. The new equipment was installed<br />
for easy removal. Eminent domain paid<br />
many times what the guy paid for it three years<br />
prior since it was “making $300k a year.” Equipment<br />
was removed and sold, the building was<br />
bulldozed and it still sits there an empty lot ten<br />
years later. - MEP001<br />
I see what you are saying he did, but didn’t he<br />
take quite a loss on the equipment, or did he<br />
have a buyer who understood what was going<br />
on? Or, did the selling price make it all a non<br />
issue? - WASHNSHINE<br />
The guy who installed the equipment got it<br />
back, cleaned it up and resold it. He knew what<br />
was going on. - MEP001<br />
The only car wash operator that we know who<br />
lost his car wash to DOT pretty much got<br />
screwed. After attorney fees he pretty much<br />
got land value and was lucky to get that. He<br />
got to take everything from the car wash and<br />
left an empty shell. It was probably 5 or 6 years<br />
before the state did its project.<br />
Another guy I know was bought out by the<br />
city. His car wash was next to city hall and they<br />
wanted his car wash so they could build a new<br />
city hall. The city offered him more than he<br />
wanted so he sold it. After he sold it the city<br />
couldn’t get the funds to build the new city hall<br />
so the city is running the car wash now. - RANDY<br />
I cleaned the chute and all is well again in the vendor-world.<br />
- WAXMAN<br />
<strong>SSCWN</strong> EDITOR CHIMES IN:<br />
Sharks ain’t got nothing on a vending<br />
machine! I was at a local aquarium this<br />
past summer with my kids when I noticed<br />
a poster in the shark section titled: Things<br />
more deadly than sharks. Obvious things<br />
included, volcanoes, beestings, etc. But,<br />
to my surprise, vending machines made<br />
the list. Apparently a few people have<br />
died after being crushed by a vending<br />
machine. There isn’t a lot of data to back<br />
this up, but according to a recent Slate.com<br />
story, “Based on a 1995 U.S. report from<br />
Consumer Product Safety Commission,<br />
vending machine injuries arise from users<br />
rocking or tilting the machine. There are<br />
some gruesome stories from the ’90s about<br />
vending machines killing people in this<br />
way.” The same report stated that the CPSC<br />
is aware of at least 37 deaths and 113<br />
injuries since 1978 that have resulted from<br />
consumers rocking or tilting the machines in<br />
an attempt to obtain free soda or money.<br />
22 • FALL 2022
FALL 2022 • 23
1<br />
9<br />
7<br />
2<br />
5<br />
0<br />
TRICKS OF THE<br />
Roof positive<br />
I just redid all of the high and low pressure<br />
hoses on our roof and would like to protect<br />
them from the sun to get as many years as<br />
possible out of them. Any suggestions for something<br />
to cover them with? I was thinking of something like<br />
a split wire loom but since the hoses start in a large bundle and then<br />
slowly get narrower as each bay splits off it’s hard to figure out a good<br />
solution. Curious what others do with their hoses on the roof to help<br />
protect them? - MCHAS<br />
?<br />
About 30 years ago I worked<br />
with a company out of France.<br />
They made a truck wash<br />
machine that was NOT a<br />
rollover. Rather it was a large<br />
frame that laid on the ground<br />
was about 12’ wide and 60’<br />
long. It was suspended by cables<br />
and rose and lowered. Can not<br />
remember their name but have<br />
a need for one now . Any help<br />
would be appreciated. - MAC<br />
Does anyone<br />
know the<br />
answer?<br />
I’ve seen tile drain used for short runs from a<br />
trough to where they come up from underground<br />
in PVC. You’ll probably want some that’s not<br />
perforated. - MEP001<br />
How about a 1 foot x 1 foot, three sided trough<br />
made from treated lumber? - DIRT<br />
I had a heat pump guy make a trough and put 2<br />
inch styrofoam on all 4 sides and made it where<br />
the lid would come off. Has lasted over 25 years<br />
and still in good shape. Make it big enough so you<br />
can work on the fittings. - DAWGWASH<br />
Just spray paint the lines all white. You’d be surprised<br />
how effective & cheap a solution that is. -<br />
SOONERMAJIC<br />
I run all my lines in 6 PVC pipe just under the roof<br />
attached to the ceiling joists. I do not see why you<br />
could not run them on top of the roof. - SOAPY<br />
<strong>SSCWN</strong> EDITOR CHIMES IN:<br />
Can anyone out there help out<br />
mac? If you have the answer,<br />
or a guess, you can comment<br />
by visiting carwashforum.com/<br />
and using search keywords:<br />
France and manufacturers.<br />
24 • FALL 2022
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FALL 2022 • 25
WE WANT<br />
YOUR<br />
STORIES!<br />
Pour it<br />
on thick<br />
TRICKS OF THE<br />
New cement being poured in my 4 bay, contractor is asking what thickness<br />
is required. He thinks 6” but I’m sure I read 4” was adequate for a SS wash<br />
with no heavy equipment using it. Also, what is a good angle or slope that<br />
works to be comfortable for the users to walk around but still move water<br />
quickly to the pit? - KNIGHT01<br />
Do you have a funny<br />
story from the bay?<br />
Maybe an inspiring<br />
tale from the wash?<br />
Try something<br />
new that worked well?<br />
“You won’t believe what this<br />
Darwin did at my wash…”<br />
“The best decision I ever made<br />
for my business was…”<br />
“On rainy days, I like to…”<br />
4 1/2” minimum unless you have 16-wheeler tractors<br />
and dump trucks, then I’d recommend 6” and<br />
rebar. I’ll try and measure the slope of my bays.<br />
IMO they’re ideal, enough slope to clean easily<br />
without chasing dirt around the drain while cleaning<br />
and not uncomfortable to walk on. I worked<br />
for a distributor that did full turnkey construction,<br />
and my wash was one we built in 2001. - MEP001<br />
Where is this wash? If it’s in a cold climate, keep in<br />
mind that you will need to heat all that concrete.<br />
-I.B. WASHINCARS<br />
And you want a good base under the concrete. We<br />
used crushed stones under a 6” concrete with rebar<br />
and floor heating. I think the pitch to the pit is<br />
10 deg. If you are pouring new floors I would add<br />
PVC for the foam brush and wand holder to drain<br />
directly into the pit. Cuts down on the water on<br />
the floor if you have a weep system. - ROZ<br />
I.B. Washingcars: Yes, in Ohio. I have plans for individual<br />
radiant loops to each bay. I’m not sure if I<br />
leave them on the base if they will be effective or<br />
if I put them on some type of riser if they will stay<br />
in place while the cement is pouring around them.<br />
Roz: The heat in the floor and the pvc is the main<br />
reason for the new floors. Last winter, my first with<br />
the wash, we had 4 14x24 skating rinks and ice<br />
castles surrounding the weep guns. LOL. - KNIGHT01<br />
Floor heat lines should be zip tied to the rebar. You<br />
can get heat reflector material for underneath the<br />
lines too. Adds a bit to the cost but saves you fuel<br />
costs when the system is run. - ROZ<br />
Minimum would be 1/8 inch per foot drop. I think<br />
most car washes are 1/4 inch per foot drop. I have<br />
one that is more and it is easier to clean but people<br />
really notice the slope. Last wash I built the cement<br />
guys did not want the heat loops tied to the<br />
rebar so I had to put down wire mesh for the loops<br />
then rebar. I personally like my rebar on one foot<br />
centers but I think 2 foot centers are more common.<br />
Be sure that your floor loops are pressurized<br />
before the concrete is poured. I would also spec<br />
4000 lb concrete and go with 6 inch pour. Existing<br />
wash you should tie the rebar into the walls<br />
by drilling the rebar into the walls, that way you<br />
won’t have a floating slab. The rebar should also<br />
be raised, supported and in the lower 1/3 of the<br />
floor. Don’t let the contractor say he will just lift<br />
the rebar up after the pour. - SOAPY<br />
Such a screed is necessary for places of unorganized<br />
water outflow to ensure compensation for<br />
the difference between adjacent surfaces. Suppose<br />
you have an idea of the concrete floor’s installation<br />
process. In that case, there will be no difficulties<br />
in performing the work. During installation,<br />
you should carefully and constantly check<br />
the functionality of the drain itself in the room.<br />
Otherwise, later you will have to spend time drilling<br />
and cleaning. It is enough to create an angle of<br />
inclination of 4” and make more than 2 inches in<br />
the height of the installation itself. Concreteservicesdenver.com<br />
does screeds like this. Ask them if<br />
you’re not sure. - PAULAGRACERO<br />
Is there an additive or type of concrete that minimizes<br />
damage from salt? Curious to know. My<br />
bays over the years have concrete damage from<br />
car road salt and lot salting. Something for you to<br />
consider if your area has salt use. - TURBOJET<br />
I finally measured it. It’s not entirely accurate because<br />
the bays level out almost a foot from the<br />
walls and apron, but with a level on a 10’ piece of<br />
Unistrut I measured 2 1/4” to the floor at the end<br />
of the strut. It doesn’t seem like much, but the bays<br />
are really easy to clean, other than the level parts at<br />
the walls. I don’t get a lot of mud, but when I do it’s<br />
pretty hard to rinse down.<br />
The handicap bay is a lot flatter. - MEP001<br />
Reach out to Editor Debra Gorgos<br />
debgorgos@gmail.com to share<br />
your story with our readers.<br />
<strong>SSCWN</strong> EDITOR CHIMES IN: The concept of cement dates back thousands and thousands of years,<br />
although some credit the Egyptians, who used a mixture of mud, straw, gypsum and lime<br />
for their colossal pyramids, more than 5000 years ago. A more modern mixture of concrete<br />
cement most commonly used today was invented by Englishman Joseph Aspdin back in<br />
1824. A bricklayer by trade, Aspdin came up with a more marketable form and called it<br />
‘Portland’ cement due to its resemblance to the stones used for homes in Portland, England.<br />
According to an article distributed by the Canadian Concrete Expo, the Portland cement<br />
technology crossed the Atlantic and, by the end of the century, America had built its first<br />
concrete bridge (the Alvord Lake Bridge in San Francisco, California) and its first concrete<br />
street (in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and is still around today). And in 1875, American mechanical<br />
engineer, William Ward, completed the first reinforced concrete home in the United States and<br />
it still stands today in Port Chester, New York.<br />
26 • FALL 2022
Corporate Office: 81 Highland Avenue, Suite 300, Bethlehem, PA 18017 | icscarwashsystems.com | 800.642.9396<br />
Defining the World of Car Wash Technology<br />
FALL 2022 • 27
Association News<br />
2022<br />
CALENDAR<br />
OF EVENTS<br />
*All events are subject to<br />
changes due to current<br />
circumstances.<br />
NOV 16, 2022<br />
2022 Kleen-Rite EXPO<br />
Columbia, Pennsylvania<br />
JAN 15-17, 2023<br />
7th Women in<br />
Carwash Conference<br />
B Ocean Resort<br />
Fort Lauderdale, Florida<br />
New England Carwash Association<br />
NRCC keynote speaker talks about hope, perseverance<br />
It was another successful Northeast Regional Carwash<br />
Convention, which once again took place at the<br />
Atlantic City Convention Center, between September<br />
19-21, 2022. Hosted by the New England Carwash<br />
Association with Dave Ellard and John Shalbey<br />
Jr. as co-chairmen, the tradeshow floor was bustling<br />
the first day. With a pickleball convention happening<br />
next door, it seemed as if crowded conventions<br />
were back to normal and people were swarming<br />
the Atlantic City Convention Center to once again<br />
mingle, network, get ideas, and upgrades. One of the<br />
highlights of the recent Convention was the keynote<br />
address given by New York Times Author, Travis<br />
Mills. Mills, who is famous for writing Tough as They<br />
Come, is a retired United States Army Staff Sergeant<br />
who calls himself a recalibrated warrior, motivational<br />
speaker, actor, author and advocate for veterans and<br />
amputees. Mills lost portions of both arms and legs<br />
from an IED (improvised explosive device) while on<br />
active duty in Afghanistan. Mills’ road to recovery<br />
was not one marked with sorrow or pity, or despair,<br />
but instead humor, grace and determination. “You<br />
cannot always change your situation, but you can<br />
change your attitude,” he told the packed crowd.<br />
Mills and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis Mills<br />
Foundation, a nonprofit organization, to benefit and<br />
assist post 9/11 veterans who have been injured in<br />
active duty or as a result of their service to the country.<br />
He offered up the advice of moving forward and<br />
being grateful that you’re still alive and, to not dwell<br />
on the past. Mills was kind enough to greet attendees<br />
of the keynote address and even answer questions.<br />
Details for next year’s NRCC are already being<br />
revealed. It will once again take place at the Atlantic<br />
City Convention Center, but this time in October<br />
and will be held from October 2-4, 2023.<br />
FEB 22-24, 2023<br />
Southwest Car Wash<br />
Association’s<br />
Convention & Expo<br />
Fort Worth Convention Center<br />
MAY 8-10, 2023<br />
2023 ICA Car Wash Show<br />
Las Vegas<br />
SEP, 21 & 22, 2023<br />
Carwash Show Europe<br />
EXPO Greater Amsterdam<br />
The Netherlands<br />
OCT 2-4, 2023<br />
Northeast Regional<br />
Carwash Association<br />
Atlantic City Convention Center<br />
Atlantic City, New Jersey<br />
28 • FALL 2022
Association News<br />
And the 2022 NECA<br />
Scholarship Recipients are...<br />
Each year, one is awarded in memory<br />
of Tom Rando, an entrepreneur,<br />
innovator and respected industry<br />
leader. The 2022 Thomas Rando<br />
Scholarship recipient is Olivia<br />
Simons, whose dad Rick works<br />
for RoJo Carwash. Olivia is a rising<br />
sophomore at Bridgewater State University<br />
where she is majoring in business management with<br />
the hope of owning a business. She completed her first<br />
year on the Dean’s list while working two jobs and<br />
commuting from home to pay for her tuition, already<br />
exhibiting her entrepreneurial spirit.<br />
Marion Calabro, whose dad Ken works<br />
for Haffner’s Energy, also has been<br />
awarded a NECA scholarship. After<br />
graduating with honors from HS,<br />
she earned a Bachelor of Arts<br />
degree in History from Worcester<br />
State University. While working in<br />
residential services for young adults<br />
impacted by mental illness, her desire<br />
to be a nurse galvanized and this fall, she will be<br />
entering the BS Nursing Program at the Mass. College<br />
of Pharmacy and Health Sciences with the goal of<br />
addressing barriers vulnerable populations have in<br />
accessing health and mental health care.<br />
International Carwash Association<br />
Southeastern Car Wash Association<br />
Joins The Car Wash Show<br />
The International Carwash Association<br />
(ICA) announced that Southeastern Car<br />
Wash Association (SECWA) will become a<br />
co-marketer of The Car Wash Show, owned<br />
by ICA. The SECWA joins the Automotive<br />
Oil Change Association, the Midwest Carwash<br />
Association and the Western Carwash<br />
Association in partnering with the world’s<br />
largest car wash event, The Car Wash Show.<br />
According to the ICA, with this change,<br />
SECWA will exclusively support The Car<br />
Wash Show as its annual convention, discontinuing<br />
its own trade show, while increasing<br />
its focus on educational and networking opportunities<br />
for car wash operators and suppliers<br />
in the southeastern United States.<br />
“We’re thrilled to welcome SECWA to The<br />
Car Wash Show and our family of association<br />
collaborators,” said ICA CEO Eric Wulf, in a<br />
statement to the press. “SECWA’s support of<br />
The Car Wash Show will make for an even<br />
more dynamic environment for members,<br />
attendees and exhibitors. ICA collaborates<br />
with car wash associations across the United<br />
States, and around the world, based on<br />
our belief that we can accomplish more by<br />
working together. That’s why we’re equally<br />
excited about the role we’ll be able to play in<br />
supporting SECWA’s pivot toward delivering<br />
new value to its members.”<br />
“We are excited to be working closely with<br />
ICA to support the car wash community,”<br />
said SECWA President David Reep, in a statement<br />
to the press. “We have an ambitious<br />
educational and road show calendar coming<br />
up starting with our Atlanta Road Show on<br />
November 2, 2022. We also look forward to<br />
partnering with ICA for The Car Wash Show<br />
and more.”<br />
The Car Wash Show 2023 will be held May<br />
7-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas Convention<br />
Center’s new West Hall will host the<br />
event for the first time, which is expected to<br />
be record-setting. The Car Wash Show 2024<br />
will be held in Nashville, Tennessee.<br />
FALL 2022 • 29
Carwash<br />
Boom Assembly<br />
MODEL 203<br />
Zierco’s Original Swivel and<br />
Boom Assembly, with<br />
New Rebuildable<br />
Cartridge<br />
• Feather light rotating action<br />
• Twin compression springs are<br />
tension-adjustable for a variety<br />
of hose and gun weights<br />
• Swivel rotates 360˚ - 12 ft.<br />
diameter<br />
MODEL 203 FEATURES<br />
• Temperatures to 280˚ max.,<br />
pressure to 2000 psi<br />
• Longer hose life as spring<br />
prevents kinks<br />
• Ruggedly built, satisfaction<br />
guaranteed<br />
• Proven performance with over 50 years<br />
service in the field (Since 1962)<br />
OPTIONAL<br />
107C CARTRIDGE<br />
FOR COMPLETE<br />
INFORMATION<br />
CALL<br />
414-764-6630<br />
FAX: (414) 764-9763<br />
www.ziercowaterboy.com<br />
107C Cartridge Features:<br />
• Field Repairable<br />
• 100% 304 Stainless Steel Internal<br />
Materials Eliminate Failure Due to<br />
Corrosion<br />
• Double O-Ring Design Uses Any<br />
Type of Grease<br />
7355 S. 1st. Street<br />
Oak Creek, WI 53154<br />
sales@zierden.com<br />
TM<br />
VISA and Master Card accepted<br />
DISTRIBUTOR INQUIRIES INVITED<br />
QUALITY PRODUCTS SINCE 1937<br />
30 • FALL 2022
Carwash<br />
Boom<br />
Assemblies<br />
Zierco’s Easy Service Swivel and<br />
Boom Systems with<br />
MODEL 204 and 206 FEATURES<br />
• Twin compression springs are tension-adjustable<br />
for a variety of hose and gun weights<br />
• Swivel rotates 360˚ - 12 ft. diameter<br />
• Temperatures to 280˚ max., pressure to 2000 psi<br />
• Longer hose life as spring prevents kinks<br />
• Ruggedly built, satisfaction guaranteed<br />
• Optional stainless steel components<br />
• Proven performance with over 50 years service in<br />
the field (Since 1962)<br />
Boom Systems with Full 360 Degree roTATIoN<br />
Booms are Available with 3 Different Mountings<br />
MODEL 204<br />
ENHANCE YOUR SELF SERVING<br />
CONVENIENCE<br />
STYLE B<br />
Flat Plate<br />
Mounts directly<br />
to the ceiling or<br />
beam.<br />
Easy to Use -"Feather Light" rotating action<br />
STYLE C<br />
Swivel Base<br />
Mounts directly to<br />
the ceiling.<br />
MODEL 206<br />
OFFSET Overhead Carwash Boom<br />
Allows for TWO Center Boom Installation<br />
STYLE D<br />
Wall Bracket<br />
Mounts to wall and<br />
is adjustable so<br />
boom swings<br />
to wall when<br />
not in use.<br />
Ideal for foaming brushes.<br />
FOR COMPLETE<br />
INFORMATION<br />
CALL<br />
(414)-764-6630<br />
www.ziercowaterboy.com<br />
CONVERSION KIT<br />
204B<br />
To Convert Model 203<br />
to a 204 Assembly<br />
Remove boom body<br />
from hinge plate<br />
EASY 3 STEP PROCEDURE<br />
TO CHANGE SEALS.<br />
NO TOOLS REQUIRED.<br />
Rotate hinge plate<br />
counter clockwise to<br />
remove seal elbow<br />
Replace O-Rings<br />
7355 S. 1st Street<br />
Oak Creek, WI 53154<br />
Fax: (414) 764-9763<br />
sales@zierden.com<br />
QUALITY PRODUCTS SINCE 1937<br />
TM<br />
DISTRIBUTOR<br />
INQUIRIES<br />
INVITED<br />
VISA and Master Card<br />
accepted<br />
FALL 2022 • 31
Association News<br />
Announcing the ICA’s Emerging Leader Scholarship recipients<br />
Lilly Chapa profiled the 2022 Emerging Leader<br />
Scholarship winners, who were awarded during the<br />
2022 Car Wash Show in Nashville this past year.<br />
Chapa wrote about each of the winners who are<br />
listed below, for the ICA.<br />
Iona Kearney, Operations Manager at Speedy<br />
Sparkle Car Wash of Berthoud, Colorado<br />
When Iona Kearney’s dad foreclosed on<br />
a car wash during the 2008 recession, he<br />
figured he could either sell it for a loss<br />
or try to get into the business — and<br />
that’s how Speedy Sparkle Car Wash<br />
got started.<br />
“I grew up around it — we sat around<br />
the dinner table coming up with names<br />
for the wash, so I’ve been involved since the<br />
beginning,” Kearny said. She started working at the<br />
wash when she turned 14 and quickly became the<br />
top unlimited wash salesperson before going off to<br />
college to study economic criminal justice.<br />
After graduating, she traveled around the country<br />
doing leadership consulting, but after a while she<br />
realized she really wanted to get back into the car<br />
wash industry.<br />
“My dad was surprised but glad to bring me back<br />
into the business — but only if I learned how to operate<br />
a wash,” Kearney said. “So I was a GM for a<br />
while, and now I’m an operations manager.”<br />
Kearney became a general manager shortly after<br />
COVID-19 sparked a string of shutdowns in the<br />
community, making her first challenge as a manager<br />
an unprecedented one.<br />
“I truly think that it was about caring for the employees<br />
and keeping the culture fun, even during the<br />
pandemic,” Kearney said. “Everyone was losing employees,<br />
but I think we lost one every eight months.”<br />
32 • FALL 2022<br />
Kearney’s enthusiasm for creating a fun workplace<br />
and connecting with employees carried on<br />
long after the worst of the pandemic-related shutdowns,<br />
and it’s now her passion to cultivate a great<br />
workplace culture for everyone, she said.<br />
“I love the employees and the culture,” Kearney<br />
said. “I like to say we’re just washing cars, so we might<br />
as well make it fun — my whole thing is having<br />
fun. I love the connection I get to have<br />
with all of our employees and try to make<br />
it fun every day for them, and it’s truly<br />
genuine. The culture is so important for<br />
me, especially as we look towards<br />
expansion.”<br />
Thanks to this approach,<br />
Speedy Sparkle’s turnover<br />
rate is incredibly low, Kearney<br />
said. Even if employees leave for school<br />
or internships, they love to come back<br />
and work on the weekends or during holidays.<br />
“Our employees are not going anywhere because<br />
of the culture we’ve built, and I’ll sit down<br />
with them and ask how they’re doing,” she said. “I<br />
keep track of small things like who they’re dating, I<br />
give them any vacation they want off, and I’m happy<br />
making them happy. It sounds weird, but I’m so happy<br />
when someone leaves. When I have high school<br />
students who are trying to figure out what’s next, I<br />
sit down with them and look at other companies or<br />
internships or colleges, and it’s so awesome to see<br />
them grow.”<br />
Tyler Shreck, Store Manager at Autobell Car<br />
Wash in Hampton, Virginia<br />
Tyler Shreck needed a part-time job while<br />
he was going to college, and a friend who<br />
worked at Autobell Car Wash told him<br />
they were hiring. Shreck gave it a shot<br />
and immediately fell in love with the<br />
role, which was flexible and allowed<br />
him to work outdoors, alongside cool<br />
cars and with his friends. Before long he<br />
took part in the wash’s management program,<br />
became certified as a store manager and<br />
ultimately took a full-time role with them. More<br />
than 13 years later, Shreck is still enjoying the perks<br />
of working at Autobell — and passing them along to<br />
younger employees.<br />
“We’re big on promoting, and we work with a lot of<br />
high school and college students, and after being here<br />
for so long I’ve had an opportunity to work alongside<br />
them and get them promoted,” Shreck said. “I’m also a<br />
mentor, so some of the local store managers can reach<br />
out and we keep open communication about everything<br />
within the car wash industry.”<br />
Maintaining a work-life balance is important to<br />
Shreck, who appreciates that Autobell allows him<br />
to prioritize his wife and two daughters.<br />
“I want to be as present as possible — going to<br />
baseball games, school functions and doing my part,”<br />
he said. “Autobell is really great about that — they<br />
push you to be a family-first person with their flexibility<br />
and time management. A lot of that is in the<br />
structure of the stores, whether they have assistant<br />
managers and team members who are trained to respond<br />
to situations where you might not be there.”<br />
Shreck is continuing his growth as a leader — he<br />
recently completed an eight-week management certification<br />
course through Dale Carnegie.<br />
“It was an amazing experience and I developed a<br />
lot of new skill sets, and I’m excited to bring what I<br />
learned back to Autobell,” he said.<br />
Tara Huntley, Operations Manager at RPM Express<br />
Car Wash of Pullman, Washington<br />
Tara Huntley and her husband always valued<br />
having a clean car but were frequently disappointed<br />
by the car washes in their small<br />
town in eastern Washington — and decided<br />
to do something about it. Along<br />
with two local friends, the Huntleys<br />
opened up RPM Express Car Wash in<br />
January 2020.<br />
“I left my job as a teacher to help start<br />
the wash, and of course it was right before<br />
the pandemic,” Huntley said. “It was hard. I think<br />
we had enough time before COVID that people<br />
were super excited and supportive in the community,<br />
but we did close for six weeks, so that was tough.<br />
We had these brand-new employees and they were<br />
scared, so it was trying to make them feel more comfortable<br />
and that things would be okay. It was the<br />
hardest — feeling guilty that they weren’t working.”<br />
Huntley said they were able to adapt by closing<br />
vacuums and reducing face-to-face interactions between<br />
employees and customers, allowing them to<br />
survive those first rocky months.<br />
The next priority was bringing superior service to<br />
their region — the whole reason the friends had started<br />
the wash in the first place. RPM Express is the<br />
only tunnel car wash in the area, and Huntley<br />
said they also focus on making sure the<br />
equipment can handle the unique challenges<br />
vehicles face in the region.<br />
“We’ve got a lot of gravel roads, and<br />
we grew up in this environment, so<br />
we know the spots on cars that would<br />
get missed in other washes,” Huntley said.<br />
“Also, a lot of washes don’t wash the covers on<br />
pickup beds, and that’s something that really bothered<br />
us, so our wash does clean those. It’s just the<br />
little things like that, and really striving for great customer<br />
service. We’re proud of what we do, proud of<br />
having a clean car and making sure it’s done right.”<br />
Huntley said they are opening up a new location<br />
in Spokane this summer and are looking at another<br />
site next year, so the wash is in a period of transition.<br />
She is going to the Spokane wash to conduct interviews<br />
and training and will travel between the sites,<br />
and they are always looking at ways to offer even<br />
more to customers.<br />
“Even though we’re new, we’ve already made a<br />
lot of changes in our tunnels,” she said. “It costs us<br />
money, but if we find something that could be better<br />
we’re going to do it. We’re not just sitting back and<br />
watching, we’re really trying to grow and do the next<br />
big thing. I think that makes us a little bit different.”<br />
Miller Clayton, Operations Director at Washbox
Car Wash in Rainbow City, Alabama<br />
Miller Clayton got his first job at a wash in<br />
college, and despite earning a political science<br />
degree he stayed in the industry.<br />
Ten years later, he has run four different<br />
express tunnels and now works at<br />
Washbox Car Wash, which opened<br />
shortly before the pandemic. The wash<br />
is looking to open more sites by the end<br />
of the year, and as operations director Clayton<br />
expects to be moving around between the<br />
sites to oversee operations. Starting at a new wash<br />
right before the pandemic created many obstacles to<br />
overcome, he said.<br />
“It was the first time for anyone to deal with<br />
something like that, and we were literally just getting<br />
open,” he said. “There were no cars on the road<br />
because everything was shut down. We were doing<br />
the best we could while things were shut down, and<br />
then as things started opening up a bit we planned<br />
a big Halloween event — we were on the news and<br />
everything. So we tried to maximize everything we<br />
were able to do that year.”<br />
Now that the wash is more established, Clayton<br />
gets to enjoy the favorite part of working in the industry:<br />
giving back to the new employees who were<br />
just like him a decade ago.<br />
“I was young when I started, and I see myself<br />
in a lot of the people I hire now in high school or<br />
college,” he said. “This industry can teach younger<br />
generations so much — interacting with customers,<br />
learning how to have responsibility — it’s big. I have<br />
a bunch of friends who run different washes<br />
around the country, and we all have the<br />
same mission, because we all got started<br />
in the same way — we all had people<br />
we looked up to when we first started<br />
when we were young. So now we’re in<br />
the position to train those younger kids,<br />
and it’s really rewarding.”<br />
Clayton said he was looking forward to<br />
seeing the innovations at this year’s Car Wash<br />
Show and how technology continues to expand.<br />
“There’s a lot I’ve already seen that intrigues me,<br />
but it’s amazing how every single year how much<br />
the industry evolves,” he said. “I remember when I<br />
first started the technology was so different from<br />
where we are today — it’s astronomical. I love coming<br />
to these events because if you don’t keep up<br />
with things, you’re going to fall behind.”<br />
Taylor Kiley, Manager at Whatta Wash South 14<br />
in Greer, South Carolina<br />
Tayler Kiley was a preschool teacher when her<br />
friends approached her about starting a car<br />
wash. Kiley has a marketing background<br />
and left teaching to build out Whatta<br />
Wash’s marketing and social media<br />
strategy — and loved it so much that<br />
she now runs the wash and is writing a<br />
dissertation on the marketing challenges<br />
rural washes face.<br />
Association News<br />
“I’m getting my PhD right now, and I’m writing<br />
my PhD on companies that aren’t immediately successful,”<br />
she said. “Our car wash isn’t near any anchor<br />
points like a store or restaurant like many washes are<br />
— we’ve got nothing around us. We’re a little slower<br />
to build and grow, so I’m focusing on how to be<br />
successful if you’re not on the busiest street in town.”<br />
On top of working on her dissertation, Kiley<br />
works full time six days a week for about 50 hours a<br />
week and is always on call. This summer she’ll be an<br />
online college professor and keep managing at the<br />
wash and has one more year before earning her PhD.<br />
“I love what I do, so it doesn’t bother me, but I’m always<br />
on at the wash,” Kiley said. “I’m really big on the<br />
community aspect of it — I do a Christmas car wash,<br />
which a lot of people don’t do yet. But we give all that<br />
money back to the community. This year, we found a<br />
family whose daughter has Stage 4 cancer — they had<br />
only one car and the mom couldn’t work any more.<br />
They’re one of our regular customers, so it was the<br />
perfect opportunity — we did their whole Christmas.<br />
If you have the opportunity to give back it makes such<br />
a big difference.”<br />
Once Kiley earns her PhD, she plans to<br />
continue teaching and working at the<br />
wash while using her dissertation findings<br />
to figure out the best strategic<br />
communication and marketing strategies<br />
for washes that aren’t in the busiest<br />
part of town.<br />
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FALL 2022 • 33
INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
HAPPENINGS IN & AROUND<br />
THE SELF SERVE<br />
CARWASHING INDUSTRY<br />
Lock America<br />
names new National<br />
Sales Manager<br />
Frank Minnella, CEO of Lock America of Corona,<br />
CA has announced that Robert Chen has<br />
been named as the company’s new National Sales<br />
Manager. “We are pleased to acknowledge Robert’s<br />
creativity and performance in helping the company<br />
negotiate these challenging economic times,” he<br />
stated in a press release. “He has spearheaded and<br />
supported our efforts to enter new markets and<br />
enhance our products for current and new customers.<br />
Robert succeeds Dan Walsh on Dan’s retirement.”<br />
Lock America develops, manufactures, and<br />
markets a wide range of security locks and hardware<br />
for many markets, including Amusement and<br />
Vending, ATM, Information Management, Municipal<br />
Government, Petroleum and Propane Distribution,<br />
and Self-Storage.<br />
Robert Chen graduated from<br />
Cal State LA, majoring in marketing<br />
with a minor in economics.<br />
He has an extensive background<br />
in sales management, operations<br />
management and market development,<br />
originally in the auto<br />
accessories industry, and with Lock<br />
America for the past five years. He looks<br />
forward to continuing to expand product offerings to<br />
current and new markets: “Our goal is to develop customers<br />
at the manufacturing level. I’m committed to<br />
developing products that solve problems for our customers,”<br />
Chen stated in a press release.<br />
Robert’s mission is to manage the development<br />
of new security lock and hardware products<br />
that complement 21 st century technology singly<br />
and with industry partners. Minnella stated in the<br />
press release, “He is certain that Robert is the right<br />
person to lead that effort.”<br />
DRB ® Is a 2022 NorthCoast<br />
99 Award winner<br />
DRB ® , of Akron, Ohio, is proud to announce<br />
that it has been named a 2022 NorthCoast 99<br />
award winner by ERC, the Employers Resource<br />
Council, according to a September 6, 2022, press<br />
release. DRB was among 99 Northeast Ohio workplaces<br />
recognized for having exceptional policies,<br />
practices and benefits proven to attract and retain<br />
top performers.<br />
Founded in 1984, DRB is an industry-leading<br />
provider of point-of-sale and business optimization<br />
technology to the car wash industry and<br />
related industries. The company employs more<br />
than 500 professionals and prides itself on making<br />
employees feel welcome, wanted and important<br />
while investing in their personal and professional<br />
development. “DRB would not be able to achieve<br />
the success we have without our people,” said Ian<br />
Williams, DRB’s President and CEO, in the press<br />
release. “We strive every day to cultivate an environment<br />
that attracts and retains our best-in-class<br />
team and ensures we deliver a level of excellence<br />
and innovation to our customers. It is an honor to<br />
have ERC validate that.”<br />
To receive the NorthCoast 99 accolade, DRB<br />
participated in a rigorous application process, providing<br />
detailed information on how they address<br />
top-performer attraction, development and retention<br />
in the areas of:<br />
• Organizational strategy,<br />
policies and benefits<br />
• Talent attraction, acquisition<br />
and onboarding<br />
• Employee well-being<br />
• Employee engagement<br />
and talent development<br />
• Total rewards<br />
• Diversity, equity and inclusion<br />
“More than a business award or event,<br />
NorthCoast 99 is a yearlong research program<br />
that ERC established to help make our region a<br />
long-term destination of choice for companies and<br />
high-performing individuals,” said Samantha Marx,<br />
ERC’s Director of Strategic Projects, who oversees<br />
the NorthCoast 99 program, in the press release.<br />
The 2022 NorthCoast 99 awards program is<br />
sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield,<br />
CareerCurve, Cleveland Magazine, ERChealth,<br />
Fifth Third Bank, Gino’s Awards, Maloney + Novotny;<br />
Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis, Oswald<br />
Companies, Staffing Solutions Enterprises, UKG,<br />
and Wayfind Creative.<br />
DRB ® acquires<br />
Beacon Mobile<br />
In other DRB® news, the company announced<br />
on September 13, 2022, it has acquired Beacon Mobile<br />
LLC, a mobile technology innovator in the car<br />
wash industry.<br />
The acquisition gives DRB customers a frictionless,<br />
customizable and cloud-based solution to manage<br />
car wash memberships across the DRB family of<br />
brands. It also extends unlimited car wash membership<br />
capabilities to DRB In-Bay Solutions’ customers,<br />
according to a press release.<br />
“This acquisition expands our best-in-class POS<br />
solutions to be able to transact and manage memberships<br />
seamlessly across all of our offerings,” said DRB<br />
President Ian Williams, in the press release. “More<br />
than ever, we will be poised to help car wash owners<br />
grow their membership base more effectively and<br />
extend the lifetime value of their customers.”<br />
Alan Nawoj, CEO and Founder of Beacon Mobile<br />
also stated in the press release, “This relationship<br />
allows Beacon Mobile to leverage the stability<br />
and resources of a larger company. DRB is committed<br />
to developing and innovating the Beacon<br />
Mobile platform, and we are excited for our customers<br />
to reap those benefits.”<br />
The acquisition combines Beacon Mobile’s innovative<br />
technology with DRB’s depth of experience<br />
and breadth of customers, allowing DRB to<br />
offer consumer and market insights to customers.<br />
“The addition of Beacon Mobile aligns perfectly<br />
with DRB’s vision to become a world-class software<br />
and business intelligence company,” Williams added.<br />
Little Trees turns 70!<br />
The air freshener company, made famous for<br />
its tree-shaped ornaments scented with ‘Black Ice’<br />
(which launched in 2004), ‘New Car Scent’ and<br />
‘Morning Rain’ aromas, is now 70 years old. According<br />
to the company <strong>web</strong>site, back In 1952, a milk<br />
truck driver in northern New York complained to<br />
Julius Sämann about the smell of spilled milk. To<br />
address this issue, Julius combined exceptional fragrances<br />
with specialized blotter material and invented<br />
the first car air freshener. He gave it the shape<br />
of an abstract evergreen tree in honor of his years<br />
extracting aromatic oils in Canada’s pine forests.<br />
A 2012 New York Times article titled, “Who<br />
Made Those Little Trees Air Fresheners?”stated that<br />
In 1954, Samann filed a patent for paper impregnated<br />
with “odor-destroying, air-perfuming substances,”<br />
a cellophane wrapper and a string to hang<br />
it on. The string was a necessity, he noted in his<br />
application, because “the substances are sometimes<br />
of an oily or sticky nature or hard to remove from<br />
the hands.” The accompanying drawing featured a<br />
container holding a paper cutout of the profile of a<br />
bosomy, arch-backed pinup. But Samann eventually<br />
swapped out the pinup for the pine tree.<br />
“The reasons were largely practical,” the article<br />
stated, as the tree’s conical shape allowed its cellophane<br />
wrapper to be rolled back slowly, from its<br />
apex down, so the fragrance could be drawn out,<br />
branch by branch. Judicious users could preserve<br />
the pine scent for up to seven weeks.<br />
The first fragrances included Royal Pine, Spice<br />
and Bouquet. As the air fresheners grew in popularity,<br />
so did its catalogs of offerings. Based in Watertown,<br />
New York, the company expanded and<br />
added a factory in DeWitt, Iowa. The product offerings<br />
grew to vent wraps, vent liquids and sprays.<br />
Today, the company offers over 60 different scents.<br />
34 • FALL 2022
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FALL 2022 • 35
EXTRA! EXTRA!<br />
Presenting the news stories featuring self serve car washes<br />
Couple notices this in the corner of the self serve bay<br />
With it being Halloween season and all, it isn’t<br />
unlikely to see scary things or references to the<br />
dead, or morose symbols… you get the idea. However,<br />
when a man discovered an urn had been left<br />
behind at a car wash, they knew it wasn’t part of<br />
the usual Halloween decor. Riley Webb was cleaning<br />
out his car at Aurora’s Happy Henry’s Car<br />
Wash in Aurora, Colorado, in early October, when<br />
he noticed an urn sitting next to a trash can.<br />
“I go over and I pick it up and I look at it and<br />
I’m like, this is heavy,” Webb told a CBS News<br />
Colorado outlet.<br />
After realizing what he had found, Webb<br />
brought the urn home, according to the story. He<br />
and his girlfriend Laquita Mitchell are now trying<br />
to find its owner.<br />
The car wash’s owner, Matt Bergman, said he was<br />
out of town when the urn was dropped off but was<br />
able to capture video footage of the person who left<br />
behind the urn. Footage shows a white male driving<br />
a reddish Pontiac Grand Prix or Grand Am with<br />
no front license plate, the story said. However, in a<br />
twist of bad luck, Bergman said there was an internet<br />
outage and due to the load on the recorder, surveillance<br />
video of the dropoff was overwritten. “Even if<br />
I was able to give over the video, it wouldn’t have<br />
helped much with any sort of identification of the<br />
car that dropped it off,” Bergman said in the story.<br />
“We feel awful for the deceased relatives and hope<br />
they find the family it belongs to.” The urn has since<br />
been turned over to the police, who are still trying to<br />
find its owner or a family member.<br />
INDUSTRY DIRT<br />
D&S launches<br />
new <strong>web</strong>site<br />
According to a company press release,<br />
D&S announced that In conjunction with<br />
its logo rebrand earlier this year, it continues<br />
to evolve and grow with the modern<br />
car wash market - and to reflect these<br />
changes, the D&S Marketing Department<br />
has been hard at work crafting an all new<br />
D&S <strong>web</strong>site.<br />
“The new site improves the aesthetics,<br />
navigation, and user experience,” the<br />
press release stated. The official launch<br />
date of the new <strong>web</strong>site was Thursday,<br />
October 13th.<br />
As previously mentioned, D&S also<br />
debuted a brandnew logo over the summer.<br />
The rationale for the change, according<br />
to the company were the following<br />
factors:<br />
• To project a dynamic, forwardlooking<br />
symbol of the ownership<br />
change to Lometa Capital Partners<br />
while maintaining our core D&S<br />
identity.<br />
• To rebrand as D&S Car Wash<br />
Supply in a manner that<br />
differentiates the name change<br />
more effectively than a simple word<br />
substitution<br />
• To accommodate brand extension<br />
logos such as our Field Sales &<br />
Service Division*<br />
• To give the 50-year-old face<br />
of D&S a makeover for a more<br />
contemporary, compelling and upto-date<br />
symbol of our firm.<br />
Secret Service returns $286 million in fraudulent small business loans<br />
The U.S. Secret Service returned $286 million<br />
in fraudulently obtained pandemic aid loans to the<br />
Small Business Administration (SBA), according<br />
to an August 29 CNBC report.<br />
The agency announced that the funds sent back<br />
to the SBA were obtained via the Economic Injury<br />
Disaster Loan (EIDL) program using both fabricated<br />
information and stolen identities, the story said.<br />
Around 15,000 accounts were caught using<br />
Green Dot Bank, a fintech institution. “Fraudsters<br />
in general are always looking for ways and techniques<br />
to better do their crimes and modern conveniences<br />
are just one of those things they use. So<br />
currently, cryptocurrency is a big thing, fintechs,<br />
third-party payment systems. But there’s not an<br />
institution, even our traditional financial institutions,<br />
that weren’t targeted during the pandemic,”<br />
Roy Dotson, lead investigator for the Secret Service,<br />
told CNBC in an interview. Green Dot stated<br />
it was cooperating and even partnering with federal<br />
agencies to identify the culprits.<br />
“Account protection and fraud prevention are<br />
top priorities for us, and we work around the clock<br />
and invest heavily to identify, block and address<br />
fraudulent activity. We’re committed to protecting<br />
customers, and also to serving as [a] proactive<br />
ally to government agencies and industry peers as<br />
we work together to prevent fraud,” Green Dot<br />
spokeswoman Alison Lubert said in a statement.<br />
While investigations are still ongoing, there<br />
have so far been more than 400 indictments and<br />
nearly 300 convictions related to pandemic fraud.<br />
Since the pandemic started back in March<br />
2020, the U.S. government allocated more than $1<br />
trillion to “Main Street” under both the Paycheck<br />
Protection Program and EIDL program to help<br />
small businesses stay afloat. “Reviews of the two<br />
programs by the SBA’s Office of Inspector General<br />
warned that criminals would potentially exploit<br />
the system due to the fast-moving nature of the<br />
rollout and demand for aid,” CNBC reported.<br />
The SBA OIG said it has identified $87 billion<br />
of potentially fraudulent EIDL loans. The Secret<br />
Service has so far seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently<br />
obtained funds and has been able to return<br />
approximately $2.3 billion to state unemployment<br />
insurance programs.<br />
36 • FALL 2022
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FALL 2022 • 39
EXTRA! EXTRA!<br />
Official car wash of the<br />
Denver Broncos opens<br />
another location<br />
A new car wash featuring touch free and self<br />
serve bays is now open in Denver, Colorado,<br />
according to an August 12 press release. Dennis<br />
Dreeszen, CEO of Autowash, said the new<br />
Autowash is open 24 hours a day and has do-ityourself<br />
dog wash stations. “We know the area’s<br />
been waiting for this location to open for a few<br />
years now, and we can’t wait to give the community<br />
the highest quality car wash available – especially<br />
those that love their cars!” Dreeszen stated<br />
in a press release. “Our washes are a big part of<br />
the car community in Colorado, we’re excited to<br />
help expand that community and help people<br />
take care of their favorite cars and trucks.”<br />
Autowash opened its first location 10 years<br />
ago in the Denver area. The chain now has 23<br />
locations and said in the press release it washes<br />
about 2 million cars per year. It is also the official<br />
car wash of the Denver Broncos.<br />
New self serve coming<br />
to Wadena, Minnesota<br />
The new South 71 CarWash, which is owned<br />
by Chad Dickey Sr., should be open for business<br />
by November 2022.<br />
“I looked at this spot and I said, ‘this would be<br />
the perfect place for a car wash,’” Dickey told the<br />
Pioneer Journal. His brother Chuck also operates<br />
a car wash down in Eagle Bend, Minnesota.<br />
The car wash will have a self-serve bay with a<br />
14’ doorway that’s large enough to accomodate<br />
a pickup and trailer or campers. There will also<br />
be a touch free bay including a LaserWash 360.<br />
According to the news article, Dickey pulled<br />
the trigger on the project in July 2021 and spent<br />
the winter coming up with a business plan so<br />
that he could take the necessary steps to obtain<br />
a business loan from his bank. By July 2022, the<br />
foundation was in place and the walls went up.<br />
Dickey and his wife Kathy hope this will be<br />
a nice side business for their family. Their son<br />
Chad, who is a trucker, will help out, too. “It’s<br />
going to be a fun deal,” Dickey said in the story.<br />
New car wash opens in<br />
Cazenovia, New York<br />
The brand new Caz Car Wash is now open<br />
for business in Cazenovia, New York, and features<br />
two self serve and two automatic bays,<br />
including a soft-touch and a touch-free laser.<br />
According to an October 24 story by the<br />
Cazenovia Republican, washes can be purchased<br />
with cash, credit card, or Apple/Google<br />
Pay. Coins will not be accepted.<br />
The car wash will also have two vacuum<br />
islands offering vacuums, shampoo, and fragrance<br />
for cleaning vehicle interiors, the story<br />
said.<br />
The owners of the car wash are Don Ballway<br />
and Clay Coleman who also happen to be<br />
brothers-in-law.<br />
Karie Ballway, who is Ballway’s wife and<br />
Coleman’s sister, and Linda Coleman, who is<br />
Coleman’s wife, are assisting with the promotion<br />
of the car wash and will be active in its<br />
day-to-day operations, the story said.<br />
“Knowing that Cazenovia has not had a<br />
car wash in almost two decades, they felt this<br />
would be a service well-received by the community,”<br />
Karie said in the story. “The nearest<br />
car wash had been about 10 miles outside of<br />
town. “There are also several local lakes with<br />
many boat owners and recreational vehicles<br />
that need washing at the beginning and end of<br />
each season.”<br />
The story said the car wash was possible<br />
thanks to the Town of Cazenovia/Town of<br />
Nelson Route 20 Water District Improvements<br />
project, which extended public water<br />
from the Village of Cazenovia Public Water<br />
System to businesses and residential properties<br />
along Rt. 20. “Without the Water District<br />
Improvements project, we would not have<br />
been able to operate the car wash,” Karie said<br />
in the story. “We selected the site knowing the<br />
water district was forthcoming. The site also<br />
had all other utilities required to operate a car<br />
wash, [such as] electric, gas, and sewer.”<br />
Canadian car wash holds<br />
customer appreciation day<br />
Bridgenorth Car Wash, of Bridgenorth,<br />
Ontario, which is owned by former restaurateur<br />
Frank Palermo, held a customer appreciation<br />
day on Saturday, September 3,<br />
according to a Peterborough Examiner story.<br />
The weekend celebration was in honor of its<br />
one-year anniversary.<br />
Pizza and refreshments were served and<br />
Palermo said it will be an annual event.<br />
Bridgenorth Car War is a self-serve car<br />
wash, featuring three bays where boats, recreational<br />
vehicles and tractor-trailers can be<br />
cleaned. The car wash also sells snacks, refreshments<br />
and car accessories.<br />
It’s a family-run business and Palermo’s<br />
wife along with his three children pitch in.<br />
Palermo said in the story that he got out of<br />
the restaurant business to spend more time<br />
with his family.<br />
“It was all about just trying something<br />
different. The restaurant business had a lot<br />
of hours and late nights,” Palermo told The<br />
Examiner. “My family is growing and I was<br />
spending a lot of time away from my family.<br />
With the car wash I don’t have to be there<br />
24/7; with the restaurant I had to be there<br />
until 2 or 3 in the morning. So I’m able to<br />
spend more time with my family.”<br />
Wise Guys celebrates<br />
1-year anniversary<br />
of Canadian location<br />
Wise Guys Car Wash recently celebrated the one-year<br />
anniversary of its location in Kelowna, British Columbia,<br />
according to a press release. During October, it offered halfprice<br />
express, touchless and self-serve car washes and reduced<br />
the price of its Wash Club memberships.<br />
“The Kelowna Wise Guys Car Wash is the only car wash<br />
in town that has express, touchless and self-serve options,”<br />
said owner Travis Wise. “Why are we the best? Our staff goes<br />
the extra distance to ensure each customer is taken care of<br />
professionally and their vehicle shines.”<br />
Unlike other car washes, Wise Guys stated it offers free<br />
microfibre towels at the vacuum/detailing area so customers<br />
can add a personal touch while listening to classic rock music,<br />
the press release stated.<br />
40 • FALL 2022
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Self serve car wash featured in dental office commercial<br />
What is happening here?, you may be asking.<br />
Well, it looks like a dental office in Mesa, Arizona,<br />
is using the viral TikTok trend to promote its services<br />
and hygienists<br />
According to an October 25 Tiremeetsroad.<br />
com story, “Mesa and Chandler-based Aesthetic<br />
Family Dental staff filmed and uploaded a car<br />
wash challenge video earlier last month and, with<br />
over 7 million views, it’s certified a viral video.”<br />
Apparently there has been an ongoing viral<br />
TikTok challenge in which users film themselves<br />
at self-serve car washes doing a dance to the Ellie<br />
Golding’s “Lights.” TikTok, for those who don’t<br />
know, is a social media platform where people<br />
post and share videos. The number of clicks and<br />
likes can be seen along with the video.<br />
The video may have been their best marketing<br />
idea yet, as comments under the upload include:<br />
“Switching dentists immediately”<br />
“They’ll be scheduling into 2026 now”<br />
“So, um, my wisdom teeth needs to be pulled immediatly<br />
but I’m clearly going to the wrong dentist”<br />
So far, the video has been viewed more than<br />
7 million times and has received more than 1.2<br />
million likes and 27,000+ comments.<br />
Entire self serve<br />
bay lifted to free<br />
truck<br />
Here’s something you don’t see<br />
every day: A semi-truck crashed –<br />
and then got stuck – inside of a self<br />
serve bay in Chadron, Nebraska,<br />
according to a Chadron Radio report.<br />
The September 2 post stated<br />
the trucker was unloading a semi<br />
at Skeeter’s NAPA Auto Parts,<br />
located on the north side of 3rd<br />
Street and the highest point on the<br />
street when the tractor-trailer began<br />
rolling across the parking lot.<br />
“The semi crossed Maple Street<br />
and hit another truck parked at<br />
the Closer to Home Soup kitchen<br />
before veering south across 3rd St/<br />
Hwy 20 and hitting the north bay<br />
at the Hi-Tech Car Care car wash,”<br />
the story reported.<br />
Thankfully, no one was injured.<br />
However, the car wash bay had to<br />
be lifted upwards to free the truck.<br />
42 • FALL 2022
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From cashless toll booths<br />
to ‘credit-card-only vending<br />
machines’, there’s no<br />
denying that there has been<br />
a major shift in an average<br />
customer’s wallet content.<br />
It is not just due to the pandemic (where touchless<br />
transactions became the norm and dirty dollar<br />
bills were treated with rubber gloves), in fact, years<br />
before more and more businesses were looking into<br />
cashless payment systems for a variety of reasons,<br />
including:<br />
Customers appreciate them<br />
No cash on site = less crime<br />
Such set-ups are not for everyone though. Many<br />
customers, those from ‘old school’ cash-loving carriers<br />
to pre- to current baby boomers, to kids who aren’t<br />
old enough to have a credit card, may still want<br />
to use paper bills and coins. And, there are also concerns<br />
over the technology. For instance, if systems<br />
are down, how will people buy … well, anything?<br />
Back in March 2022, Hershey Park, a major<br />
theme park based around the world-famous chocolate<br />
company, announced it was going cashless. An<br />
official statement read: Hersheypark is now cashless<br />
in an effort to create more convenient retail and dining<br />
experiences for guests. All major credit cards, Hersheypark<br />
gift cards, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google<br />
Pay will be accepted.<br />
In place of cash, guests should consider purchasing<br />
an e-gift card before their Park visit. Guests who<br />
arrive at the Park with cash only can convert cash<br />
to prepaid debit cards at five Cash-To-Card kiosks<br />
throughout the Park at no fee. Prepaid cards can be<br />
used anywhere Visa is accepted. They cannot be reloaded<br />
or refunded.<br />
Guests will need to purchase a separate Gaming<br />
Card for games, which they can load via cashless<br />
payment at an in-Park Gaming Card kiosk.<br />
Some people liked the idea, some lost their ever-chocolate-lovin’<br />
minds. In a Hershey Park Facebook<br />
fan group called: Hersheypark Connissoures,<br />
comments about the new police ranged from: ``It's<br />
44 • FALL 2022
FALL 2022 • 45
POLL:<br />
Are you completely<br />
cashless at your<br />
carwash?<br />
NO: 80%<br />
No, but thinking<br />
about it: 14.3%<br />
YES: 5.7%<br />
COMMENTS:<br />
Who would wanna be cashless, in a cash business?<br />
- Soonermajic<br />
What? So the IRS isn’t involved? - CarWashBoy<br />
It seems to me that there will always be a<br />
varying degree of both types of customers -<br />
cash and credit, depending on location/demographics<br />
etc. Your business might be 95%<br />
credit card users and 5% cash, but even at that,<br />
those 5% might wash elsewhere if you don’t<br />
have the cash option at your wash. I’m just<br />
not willing to give up 5% - or even 1% of my<br />
customers. - Washnshine<br />
I think I will eventually-maybe five Years or<br />
so. - Greg Pack<br />
All Bays, Vacuums and Dog Wash are cashless<br />
and only have credit card readers. We sell<br />
custom wash cards (for people who only have<br />
cash) from our Mega Vendor 3. It’s the best<br />
set-up for self serves I have seen and we have<br />
had zero vandalism for over 2 years. Best decision<br />
we have made and it's the best of both<br />
worlds. We are about 80% Credit/Debit and<br />
20% Cash. - Carwashmafia<br />
Well, there also may be a time in the future<br />
when we are a cashless/currency-less society.<br />
- Washnshine<br />
That set-up would not work here in a small<br />
South Texas rural town where many don't<br />
even have credit cards or computers. Our<br />
business is currently 65% credit cards and 35%<br />
cash. - CheetahExpress<br />
I traveled in the UK for two weeks and never<br />
once used cash. EVERYTHING is TAP to<br />
PAY, even the donation boxes located inside<br />
churches (you can select any amount and tap<br />
to pay it - no matter the amount). Not many<br />
car washes in the UK, perhaps an untapped<br />
market.... - Roz<br />
I wonder how long before we will be accepting<br />
cryptocurrencies…. If ever…? - Sjb<br />
about time,” to ‘how dare they!” or something to<br />
that effect.<br />
One commenter named Deana Lucy wrote: Really<br />
ridiculous!, we’re Hershey people, have been<br />
many times & thought maybe they wouldn’t jump<br />
on this absurd trend.<br />
And some even lumped the policy in with their<br />
views on their rights and choices being taken away.<br />
Heidi N Warren Quinn wrote, I already said I prefer<br />
my card...but there are lots of people who don't<br />
prefer cards, and they should still be able to enjoy<br />
the park without having to jump through hoops getting<br />
prepaid cards. As far as "cash not being a thing<br />
in 5 years" that's actually really not a good thing. It's<br />
absolutely fine to have a cashless OPTION but any<br />
time a CHOICE is taken away from us, it's more<br />
control. I want my freedom to choose how I want to<br />
spend my money. I think it sucks …<br />
Major sports stadiums from Fenway Park to the<br />
Paul Brown Stadium have also adopted a no-cash<br />
policy within the last couple of years. And, once<br />
again, people took the news with a mixed-bag of<br />
emotions. When Levi Stadium announced it was going<br />
cashless in an August 2021 post, one commenter<br />
named Scott Lyons went down the political route,<br />
stating: Un American to not accept cash! More liberal<br />
crap<br />
Okay, so there’s the negative side to the coin.<br />
Of course, many do not like change (no pun intended)<br />
and cannot fathom that a change is not a<br />
part of some political agenda or a personal affront.<br />
But, what if there’s an honest-to-goodness reason<br />
for going cashless? What if it’s simply to cut down<br />
on crime? No cash? No break-ins! Or, at least less<br />
break-ins.<br />
“I’m in the process of buying a self serve wash<br />
and thinking of going cashless,” said Jonathan Amary.<br />
There is a cost to handling cash, he added, noting<br />
that the self serve is in a high crime area. “Damage<br />
to equipment or a person isn’t worth it and people<br />
will spend more with cc especially with count up<br />
that will offset the costs,”<br />
Jim Ralph is the owner of a wash with four self<br />
serves and three in-bay automatics in Northeast<br />
Pennsylvania and he said he will be making the<br />
switch to cashless for a variety of reasons. “I spend<br />
on any given week about three hours pulling money<br />
from my machines, separating cash to dispense<br />
as change, going to the bank and recording it,” he<br />
said. “The last two years I have also spent $5,000<br />
maintaining my equipment to handle my cash. Then<br />
there’s the bill dispenser maintenance/replacement<br />
parts and the time it takes resetting them when they<br />
go down.” Ralph said he also collects taxes on his<br />
credit card sales but pays the taxes out of his pocket<br />
for cash sales so he sees it as a way to put a small<br />
bump in revenue where he can repurpose his expenses<br />
and time to other areas of the business.<br />
“I’m currently at 85%/cc so I don’t think it’ll matter<br />
to my customers but you should know your market<br />
[before making any kind of switch],” he advised<br />
Nick Raehsler is a self serve wash owner in Wis-<br />
STRAIGHT FROM<br />
THE FEDERAL RESERVE<br />
Is it legal for a business in the United States to refuse cash as a form of payment?<br />
There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization<br />
must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses<br />
are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is<br />
a state law that says otherwise.<br />
Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled “Legal tender,” states: “United States coins and currency<br />
[including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks<br />
and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.” This<br />
statute means that all U.S. money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment<br />
for debts when tendered to a creditor.<br />
HOWEVER ...<br />
CHECK YOUR STATE LAWS<br />
Back in January 2020, New York City lawmakers voted Thursday to require stores<br />
and restaurants to accept cash for payment, saying businesses that accept only credit<br />
and debit cards are discriminating against New Yorkers who lack bank accounts and<br />
credit cards, according to the Associated Press.<br />
“This practice punishes the underbanked,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said<br />
before the council’s 43-3 vote in favor of the bill.<br />
Under the bill, businesses that refuse cash will be fined $1,000 for the first violation<br />
and $1,500 after that. The measure, which is expected to go into effect by the end of the<br />
year, also prohibits stores from charging higher prices for paying in cash, the Associated<br />
Press reported.<br />
46 • FALL 2022
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FALL 2022 • 47
consin, and he has his own thoughts on going cashless.<br />
You are putting your full trust into a credit card<br />
processor, he questions. “Half of my customers don’t<br />
have $8 in their bank account to float the $10 authorization<br />
or even a debit/credit account, let alone have a<br />
credit/debit to begin with.” Rachsler noted that while<br />
it wouldn’t work for his business, it really depends on<br />
your area and income. He did however note one negative<br />
side to going cashless: “Collecting the cash is the<br />
only fun part of my job like TikTok says!”<br />
Scott Murray is a car wash owner in Ontario,<br />
Canada. Canada is apparently one of the leading<br />
countries in the cashless movement, according to<br />
a Global News report, and Murray said there’s always<br />
a cost whether it be cash or cashless, but it all<br />
comes down to your patrons. “Try looking at what<br />
your consumer wants in your area,” he stated. “Stop<br />
focusing on pennies and focus on your consumers.”<br />
Car wash owner Iqbal Ahmed of San Antonio,<br />
Texas, made the switch to being cashless last September<br />
and has no regrets. “I had a change machine<br />
and a machine that dispenses tokens and then in the<br />
middle of August it was severely vandalized. It was<br />
a big mess. And it was a lot of money to get it fixed.<br />
And, then I thought about it and realized it was too<br />
much of a hassle to go through the trouble of getting<br />
it fixed.” At the time, his credit card sales were at<br />
around 55% of his total sales. “I simply didn’t want<br />
to put in a new change machine again and experience<br />
the same in the future.”<br />
Ahmed said he still has a coin acceptor on site<br />
that takes quarters, but it is up to customers to bring<br />
their own quarters.<br />
Ahmed said they put up signage announcing<br />
they were cashless and only a few customers complained.<br />
“‘Sorry, guys, this is just how it is now,’” he<br />
would say to the customers.<br />
Steve Elbaum, who has car washes in the San<br />
Fernando Valley area of California and has been in<br />
the car washing business for over 35 years, switched<br />
his five express locations to cashless almost two years<br />
ago. Elbaum makes it very clear that the move had<br />
nothing to do with politics, or following some sort<br />
of trend, instead, it simply has to do with time and<br />
money. “I have had people tell me it is un-American<br />
to not accept cash, and I can tell you that it has<br />
nothing to do with politics; it has to do with me<br />
sleeping better at night knowing I am not wasting<br />
my time counting money and knowing there is no<br />
cash on site for anyone to steal.”<br />
Elbaum said he was spending a half hour in the<br />
morning and a half hour in the evening counting out<br />
the money. Also, he noted that knowing they offer<br />
monthly car wash plans, customers are more likely<br />
to purchase a plan with a credit card in hand. Plus<br />
it costs money to deposit cash at the bank, so he is<br />
saving money that way, although he did note there<br />
are credit card fees, so it sort of evens-out.<br />
And, of course, there’s the cut-down on criminal<br />
activity. In fact, Elbaum said since going cashless<br />
there has been zero criminal activity at his washes.<br />
“With no cash on site, there is nothing to steal. I can<br />
ONE WAY TO DO IT<br />
In Niskayuna, New York, the local<br />
pub, Broken Inn, is a cash-only establishment.<br />
There is an ATM on site. And,<br />
every month, the business puts what<br />
money it saves by not having credit<br />
card fees and puts the money back<br />
into the town of Niskayuna. From the<br />
local baseball league, to the town’s<br />
community action program, thousands<br />
of dollars is donated each month. Not<br />
only is this a great way to give back, it<br />
helps the town and is great publicity.<br />
relax knowing an employee won’t steal from me,<br />
or a criminal won’t come to one of my car washes<br />
looking for cash.”<br />
In extreme cases when Elbaum is on the premises,<br />
he will make an exception if a customer is not in<br />
possession of a credit card. “It’s rare, but I have done<br />
it once in a while. I will take their cash and then<br />
use my own credit card for their wash. I would say<br />
it happens with five out of every 1000 customers.”<br />
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FALL 2022 • 49
Darwin<br />
DARWIN at<br />
the<br />
CARWASH<br />
The investment in security cameras pays off for carwash operators (and the readers of <strong>SSCWN</strong>) with these mostly<br />
frustrating, sometimes funny -- and always cautionary -- stories of Darwins Caught on Camera. Images of these criminals and/or<br />
their vehicles were given to police and the press. Many have been caught thanks to the prowess of security cameras.<br />
There’s a lot going on in this story.<br />
Gambling. Card counting. Murder.<br />
Could almost be a Danielle Steel novel… Days of<br />
Our Lives, or a ‘weaker’ James Bond plot starring<br />
George Lazenby.<br />
LET’S START WITH THE CRIMINAL: CHRIS LEE,<br />
a.k.a. Kevin Barton. A well-known card counter who<br />
has cleaned out blackjack tables all over the world,<br />
including South America, India and Australia.<br />
THE PLACE: CALGARY, CANADA<br />
THE VICTIM: VIDA SMITH. ANOTHER<br />
Blackjack-playing card counter and Lee’s partner<br />
since the 1990s.<br />
THE CRIME: MURDER<br />
Back in July 2020 Smith and Lee were at a Starbucks<br />
in Northeast Calgary. Following the meet-up,<br />
Smith disappeared….forever.<br />
One week later, Lee somehow learned that police<br />
were looking for him. He was then caught on<br />
camera cleaning out his Cadillac Escalade at a self<br />
serve car wash. Police were able to spy on Lee and<br />
witness some ‘questionable’ behavior.<br />
“Covert officers watched as Lee took his SUV to<br />
a car wash and vacuumed it before tossing car keys<br />
belonging to Smith in nearby bushes. They would<br />
also recover what turned out to be a homemade<br />
gun silencer, which Lee tossed over a wall at the car<br />
wash,” according to an October 19 CBC story.<br />
Lee then apparently drove to a nearby business<br />
area and footage shows him placing a tarp and mats<br />
in the back of the Escalade, the story said. He then<br />
walked into a pet store and purchased stain remover.<br />
Officers soon made an arrest. “Inside the vehicle,<br />
they seized five loaded firearms, knives, $44,000 in<br />
cash and handcuffs. DNA on the handcuffs would<br />
later come back as a match to Smith as would a<br />
droplet of blood inside the SUV. The same area also<br />
tested positive for baking soda and cleaning product<br />
residue,” the story said.<br />
Today, Lee is on trial for second-degree murder.<br />
Smith’s body has never been found.<br />
Who did this guy think he was, Andy<br />
Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption?<br />
A man in Florida tried to make his own doit-yourself<br />
escape route while attempting to rob a car<br />
wash, but failed miserably. Antoly Kutsar has been<br />
linked to the attempted burglary of the Your Choice<br />
Car Wash in Naples, Florida, back in August 2021.<br />
Kutsar, 40, of Collier County, Florida, and his<br />
partner Rachael Noel Kaz-Clark were already in jail<br />
after being arrested at the Holiday Inn on out-ofstate<br />
warrants, according to an NBC News report.<br />
“The two tried to elude deputies by cutting a hole<br />
through their hotel room wall and make their way<br />
into another hotel room, in an attempt to sneak out<br />
the window,” the story said. After their arrest, police<br />
were able to locate their storage unit where lots of<br />
evidence was found linking them to crimes in other<br />
states. One of the items recovered was a surveillance<br />
DVR taken from the Your Choice Car Wash.<br />
Video retrieved from the DVR shows Kutsar approaching<br />
the establishment around 1 a.m. on August<br />
23rd, 2021. “He would enter the building from<br />
50 • FALL 2022<br />
a rear door, before making his way into a washroom.<br />
Once inside, Kutsar would use a drill and cutting<br />
tools to remove a large mirror and plasterboard. He<br />
would then create a hole four-feet tall and nearly<br />
three-feet wide to gain access to the office and<br />
maintenance room which contained money collection<br />
machines,” the story said.<br />
Footage captured Kutsar using a grinder to cut a<br />
hole in one of the safes, which contained multiple<br />
sets of keys, and then cutting wires to the surveillance<br />
camera DVR. Footage also shows him taking<br />
off with the DVR.<br />
According to the story, Kutsar stole approximately<br />
$3,500 in cash and merchandise and caused over<br />
$15,000 in damages to the car wash. He now faces<br />
up to 44 charges for his alleged criminal activity.<br />
If any of you readers live in Pittsylvania<br />
County, please forgive me for making<br />
fun, but I cannot imagine how many times<br />
you have to slowly pronounce the name before people<br />
say, “You mean, Pennsylvania?” “No,” you probably<br />
have to reply, “It’s PITT-sly-VANIA.” I am not one<br />
to talk though, considering I grew up in Schenectady<br />
County, as in SKIN-NECK-TID-EE and the town<br />
of Niskayuna as in NISK-A-YOU-NAH! Those two<br />
names I have to spell out all the time, even to people<br />
who live nearby. In any event, it looks like police are<br />
on the lookout for two people who stole a car from<br />
the Hurt area of Pittsylvania, Virginia, and then used<br />
that car to drive to a car wash where they broke into<br />
the utility room and stole money. According to the<br />
October 20 WDBJ story, the thieves, one male and<br />
one female, are seen on surveillance video burglarizing<br />
the business and leaving in the stolen vehicle.<br />
Cash was taken from the car wash and damage was<br />
done to the building and equipment.<br />
Then, around 1:40 p.m. that same day, police received<br />
a call that a vehicle was on fire along the<br />
railroad tracks, and it matched the vehicle used in<br />
the car wash robbery.<br />
Police have released footage of the car wash robbery<br />
and have asked the public for help in identifying<br />
the suspect.
FALL 2022 • 51
And here it is, readers! The reason this<br />
section is called what it is called. In Wheeling,<br />
West Virginia, we have an alleged car wash thief<br />
who left behind some pretty damning evidence.<br />
….. that evidence was…. drumroll……his wallet!<br />
According to the article by The Intelligencer, the<br />
owner of the M&M Car Wash called police after<br />
he discovered a door had been left open at some<br />
point during the night. The police didn’t have to<br />
investigate much further after the owner also said<br />
he found a wallet on the floor. Inside the car wash<br />
equipment room, a wrench was found in near<br />
the change machine, according to, the story. Footprints<br />
were also found on top of the water tank<br />
and it appeared as if the thief climbed up on it to<br />
cover the car wash’s security camera with a pink<br />
and white bed sheet. The owner said nothing was<br />
taken, and that the change machine was not successfully<br />
broken into, according to the story.<br />
A driver’s license belonging to Joel Curtis Polley,<br />
was found inside the wallet along with four<br />
debit cards issued to Polley.<br />
Didn’t take police too long to track down<br />
Polley and get a search warrant to search his address.<br />
There they found five pairs of shoes with<br />
the same tread pattern as the shoe prints found<br />
on top of the hot water tank. Oh, and they also<br />
found the pry bar that was apparently used. Oh,<br />
for real??? Is this guy even trying to get away<br />
with it at this point?<br />
Polley was arrested and charged with breaking<br />
and entering.<br />
The bar is set pretty low when it<br />
comes to the criminals mentioned<br />
here, but to be fair, I do think the two thieves<br />
in this next story are smarter than the guy who<br />
left behind his wallet, and footprints. Why? Because<br />
at least these guys tried to burn their incriminating<br />
evidence. However… as you’ll read<br />
setting a vehicle ablaze and having it go up in<br />
flames is a terrible way to stay under the radar.<br />
You be the judge.<br />
In Campbell County, Virginia, a pair was<br />
caught on camera at the Five Flags Car Wash<br />
breaking into and burglarizing the utility room,<br />
According to an October 20 WFXR story, between<br />
the hours of 12:44 a.m. and 1:13 a.m.<br />
the pair took an undisclosed amount of cash<br />
and caused significant damage to the building<br />
and equipment. The pair fled the scene in a<br />
red 2008 Lincoln MKX that was apparently<br />
stolen earlier during another burglary nearby.<br />
Around 1:40 p.m. police were notified that a<br />
vehicle was on fire by some railroad tracks and<br />
it was identified as the same vehicle caught on<br />
camera at the car wash burglary. Deputies are<br />
still looking for the suspects and posted the car<br />
wash footage on their Facebook page.<br />
You must be pretty hard up if you rob a thrift store.<br />
A woman is now in custody after she supposedly<br />
robbed or attempted to rob 15 different businesses<br />
in Bend and Redmond, Oregon, according to<br />
an Oregon Daily News story. Laura Marie Zachary,<br />
30, faces 13 counts of burglary, 13 counts of criminal<br />
mischief, seven counts of thefts and more for<br />
robbing everything from a Spirit Halloween store,<br />
to the aforementioned thrift store, to the Choice<br />
Car Wash. At the thrift store, footage shows her<br />
taking a blanket and wrapping it around her to<br />
stay warm. Footage from the car wash shows her<br />
creeping around the building and fleeing when a<br />
customer drove out of one of the bays.<br />
According to the story, police say the woman<br />
was finally caught after a business owner watching<br />
their store’s surveillance video allegedly saw<br />
the burglar inside the business. Police went to the<br />
business and caught Zachary inside who attempted<br />
to flee on foot.<br />
I don’t know if these criminals were just dumb, or they simply weren’t allowed to<br />
play with Tonka trucks while in the playpen.<br />
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, thieves are accused<br />
of hijacking an $80,000 construction bobcat<br />
and ramming it into a car wash, news station<br />
KRDO reported. “The bobcat was driven up here<br />
and rammed into my son’s car wash,” Irene Toomey<br />
told KRDO. “They stole the coin changers and<br />
did extensive damage.”<br />
Colorado Springs Utilities confirmed the bobcat<br />
was stolen from a site near the car wash. The car<br />
wash’s surveillance cameras captured the suspects<br />
and police were called after the owners saw the<br />
live footage.<br />
The culprits also stole money from the change<br />
machine. “What are they going to do with all those<br />
quarters?” Toomey also said to KRDO.<br />
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FALL 2022 • 53
I don’t think a sequel to the movie<br />
Fargo will center around this story,<br />
although ***SPOILER ALERT: the villains<br />
in that movie didn’t get away with<br />
it either. END of SPOILER ALERT***.<br />
In Fargo, North Dakota, a car wash employee is<br />
accused of taking around $4,000 from a customer’s<br />
car. According to an Inforum.com story, Alyssa and<br />
Elijah Holter were in possession of $4,000 after receiving<br />
a loan from their bank. On their way home,<br />
they decided to stop at Don’s Car Wash and get a car<br />
wash. Now, why they would leave $4,000 in cash in<br />
their vehicle and hop out to have someone vacuum<br />
it is beyond me, but this section isn’t called: More<br />
Dumb Car Wash Customers, so we will just let that<br />
go. After the vehicle’s interior was vacuumed by an<br />
employee, they noticed the money was gone. Shocker!<br />
The car wash manager was more than willing to<br />
pull up the surveillance footage. Elijah described the<br />
footage, saying he saw an employee vacuuming the<br />
passenger seat and then going into the bathroom for<br />
about eight minutes, the story said.<br />
“He goes outside, he’s on a phone call, and then<br />
he waits until no one is around, and he digs around<br />
in his sock, shoe and then walks over to the dumpster<br />
and then throws something away,” Elijah recalled<br />
in the story.<br />
He said officers later found a crumpled up Gate<br />
City Bank envelope inside the dumpster. However,<br />
the money was not found. A representative of<br />
Don’s Car Wash said they even tore out the ceiling<br />
tiles in the bathroom while looking for evidence<br />
and that they found no proof the employee stole<br />
the money. They still fired the employee, explaining<br />
that they do not want to risk the possibility of theft.<br />
The Fargo Police Department confirmed that<br />
the investigation was still ongoing.<br />
Between a guy trying to crawl through<br />
walls like Andy-Dufrense and these<br />
guys acting like John McClean in Die<br />
Hard, we have a lot of Hollywood wannabes in<br />
the carwash criminal world. Two men are accused<br />
of breaking into a restaurant in Centralia, Washington,<br />
via the HVAC system then using a saw to<br />
cut a hole into a safe last July, The Chronicle reported.<br />
Cory Lee Hughes, 29, and Jordan Nathaniel<br />
White, 27, are accused of causing “well over”<br />
$5,000 in damage to the system in the process and<br />
stealing $1,455.86 from the safe. The two men<br />
then apparently fled in a blue Dodge Durango and<br />
parked it near a car wash.<br />
Surveillance footage from the car wash revealed<br />
the Dodge Durango’s license plate, which officers<br />
used to contact the vehicle’s registered owner, the<br />
story said. “A detective was assigned to the case on<br />
Aug. 24 and, upon reviewing the security footage,<br />
the detective was able to identify White by the tattoos<br />
on his hands. The vehicle’s owner confirmed<br />
that one of the two men in the video surveillance<br />
from the restaurant was White, but neither the detective<br />
nor the vehicle owner could identify the<br />
other man in the footage.”<br />
Hughes was eventually arrested and the second<br />
person seen in the footage has not yet been arrested.<br />
For starters, I would like for all of my<br />
exes to read this next story and be<br />
grateful I didn’t act as scorned as this<br />
crazy lady!<br />
In Las Vegas, a woman is accused of driving over<br />
her boyfriend at a car wash, and thankfully, it was<br />
all caught on camera. According to the Las Vegas<br />
Review Journal, a woman was arrested after apparently<br />
running over her boyfriend with a sport<br />
utility vehicle at a Las Vegas car wash during a domestic<br />
dispute. Elena Del Villar, 39, of Las Vegas,<br />
was booked on counts of attempted murder and<br />
domestic battery with a deadly weapon.<br />
According to the story, police said they were<br />
called to the car wash for a report of a man who<br />
had been struck and then dragged underneath a<br />
green Honda Pilot. The man also suffered an aortic<br />
dissection and was hospitalized in critical condition.<br />
Upon interviewing the victim, police said he reluctantly<br />
confirmed that the driver of the Honda<br />
was his girlfriend.<br />
Police said video surveillance from the car wash<br />
caught the whole incident on tape.<br />
When Del Villar was interviewed by police she<br />
said she initially did not know she had run over<br />
her boyfriend (mm..okay?) She also said the episode<br />
happened as they were arguing over the<br />
man needing “to stop smoking meth” when a soda<br />
spilled in the vehicle, police said, according to<br />
the story. That’s a legitimate argument, a couple’s<br />
counselor would probably say.<br />
Del Villar later said she was sorry and she “was<br />
flustered and panicked due to the soda spill on her<br />
dashboard and window,” police said in the story.<br />
No word on whether or not the couple is still together,<br />
but I am guessing the answer to that would<br />
be a “no”.<br />
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