Getting the winter grime off when it can freeze almost as fast as you can wash it off is a challenge for vehicle owners, and even more so for those who wash semis for a living with power sprayers.
Winter roads treated with salt-sand and ice-melt mixtures from plow trucks, along with the slush sloshed up from the guy who just passed you and the wind-blown sleet that instantly turns to ice make a fast mess of vehicle exteriors and wheel wells.
But when the thermometer falls into the teens, single digits or below zero, the decision of driving through a car wash raises other issues.
Casper-based mechanic Nick Wendling, owner of the Master Mechanic shop, said typically those issues aren’t major if you take a little extra care.
“This time of year, washing the outside isn’t terrible. My advice to somebody would be to take it for a five- or 10-minute drive on the highway to try and use the turbulence of the air to get as much of the water off,” he said. “Because at some point if you get enough water collected in an area, it is going to have a tendency to expand as it freezes and you can have some issues there.”
With his own vehicles, Wendling said he tries to avoid washing them if the temperature goes below 20 degrees. But for most people, washing their vehicles when it’s even colder shouldn’t cause issues.
That may depend, however, on how you wash your vehicle. When it’s below freezing, automatic drive-thru washes have an advantage over self-serve wash bays. That’s because the enclose drive-thru tunnels can be heated, as well as the water and product used.
Modern Design Helps
He said modern vehicle design typically drains water away from anywhere it could cause problems.
But the colder the temperature, the faster water freezes, and if it collects in a panel and expands, that could cause damage by potentially pushing panels apart.
People with older models and more classic cars who want to spray gunk out of an engine compartment may need to think twice.
“We get some people who will try and clean their engine bay — and there is nothing wrong with that — except older cars have distributors and they can get some water in that distributor, and it will cause some difficulty in getting it to start after they are done washing it,” he said.
Spraying off tires and wheel wells to remove ice buildup and getting brakes and rotors wet during cold temperatures also shouldn’t be an issue, Wendling said.
“Just a few stops during the drive, your rotors and things will get up to temperature, it will melt that off pretty quick,” he said.
For Michelle Sleep, owner of 307 Truck Wash in Casper, temperatures matter more. She travels the region washing trucking fleet accounts with a portable sprayer rig and often a water tank that can hold 540 gallons.
Some days she can’t work if it gets too cold.
“It has to be at least 40 and above and the feel-like has to be 35 or something,” she said. “This weekend we have accounts that we do and the feel-like is going to be 14 (degrees). As soon as you spray the soaps on it, it will just freeze.”
Sleep said she typically does not have a problem with her equipment in colder temperatures. The main issue is keeping herself warm by wearing layers and using hand and foot warmers.
Even in sub-freezing temperatures, car washes are open and do a brisk business. But there are risks washing cars when temperatures plummet. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Even in sub-freezing temperatures, car washes are open and do a brisk business. But there are risks washing cars when temperatures plummet. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Even in sub-freezing temperatures, car washes are open and do a brisk business. But there are risks washing cars when temperatures plummet. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Car Wash at Jackson Hole washes vehicles in any weather, according to its manager. (Courtesy Car Wash at Jackson Hole) 
The grime of winter can take toll on vehicles. When temperatures get colder, a mechanic advises taking a drive after washing the vehicle. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
At Rocky Mountain Wash in Casper, an attendant said self-wash bays may be closed temporarily if temperatures get too cold, but they try to open them back up as soon as possible. (Cowboy State Daily Staff)
Car Washes Typically OK In Cold
Finding a car wash open during the colder winter days usually is not an issue, but there are limits.
At the Let’Er Buck Car Wash in Sheridan, Samantha Hill said the drive-through car wash has heaters inside that keep water flowing and wash-wrap equipment moving up to about 10 degrees.
“We don’t close unless it’s under 10 degrees, that’s kind of when the wraps start to freeze up,” she said. “With the doors open the wraps can get little icicles on them that the heaters can’t keep out.”
Hill said they warn people who come to the wash when the temperatures hit the lower teens about the potential for door locks and doors to freeze.
At Casper’s Rocky Mountain Wash, an attendant pointed questions to the firm’s corporate office. Requests to the office were not returned. The attendant did say that when temperatures get really cold, the self-spray bays are temporarily closed until the air warms up.
At The Car Wash at Jackson Hole in Jackson, manager Jose Gomez said the cold weather typically poses no issues for drive-through car wash operations.
“We wash the cars in any kind of cold,” he said. “We wash the cars no matter the weather.”
The car wash’s website highlights its year-round access.
“Our parking lot comes equipped with heated concrete to provide the highest quality experience,” the website states.
Wendling said from his perspective, there are times in the cold weather when windows that aren’t sealed well can allow water into lock mechanisms and people may have issues with locks or doors sticking.
“Other than that, I think in some ways the risk outweighs leaving some of the salt and road chemicals on body metal and things like that,” he said.
Keep It Above The Teens
Cowboy State Daily's automotive writer Aaron Turpen generally agrees it's a good idea to keep your car clean in the winter months but to exercise some commonsense.
"I'd recommend not washing when it's in the teens, but above 20 is fine if it's a heated wash bay with air dryers," Turpen said.
And for the Do-It-Yourself crowd, wait until it's above 32 degrees.
"A wet car driving around attempting to dry is just going to collect muck, defeating the whole point of the wash in the first place," he said.
Contact Dale Killingbeck at dale@cowboystatedaily.com
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
