It was the mid-1960s, and Bill Gorra’s father took great pride in keeping two cars — a Studebaker and a Rambler — clean. A chemist by trade, George Gorra washed the vehicles in the family driveway, mixing his own soap formulas in the garage.
It wasn’t long before he began selling those formulas to the new commercial car washes in the area, with the young Bill helping mix and deliver.
“Back then, it was only three or four different items,” said the younger Gorra, who grew up to become president and CEO of Simoniz USA. “Soap, white wall cleaner, sometimes a drying agent. That was really about it.”
Like many leading manufacturers of car wash cleaners, protectants and other surfactants, Simoniz now has hundreds of products in its catalog. Soaps have diversified to handle regional differences in dirt, seasonal changes, environmental and occupational regulations, sustainability, ease of use, varied vehicle type and paint, evolving car wash equipment and shifting customer expectations.
The good news is that it all results in cars that are cleaner and shinier faster — while using less water and making a much smaller environmental footprint than ever before.
“The industry has really put itself in a great position over the last number of years,” Gorra said. “We are providing to the motoring public the best quality wash I’ve ever seen and the most convenient setting I’ve ever seen.”
And the strategic development of soaps has played a significant role along the journey.
About the same time Gorra’s father was figuring out his formulations, another chemist — this one working in an Oklahoma oil refinery — was developing creations of his own. Barton Lockhart lived in Ardmore, a couple of doors down from Travis Harris, who had developed the first coin-operated high-pressure car wash with a friend, Jack Thompson. Thompson had installed a coin-operated laundry in the area. The two figured there had to be something better than Tide to use on cars, so they asked Lockhart for help.
The result was “Car Wash 106.” As time went on, Kem Company was founded to manufacture the soap and other products, and through a number of twist and turns, the company became the basis of today’s Blendco Inc.
“It’s a great story,” said Brent McCurdy, president of Blendco Systems and the DuBois Chemicals Transportation Division, “and some of it is just being rediscovered.” With a little bit of tweaking, he said, Barton Lockhart’s original powder formula was a leading cleaner in the industry for decades.
In the 1980s, however, cleaners of all types were shifting from powders to liquids. And thanks to the founding of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970, more attention was being paid to the chemicals being used — as well as what went into drainage.
The idea of liquids that could dissolve into water sounded great, McCurdy said, except for the fact that the soaps might only be soluble in water to 15 percent. There had to be a more efficient way to distribute products that didn’t contain so much water themselves, but powders were hard to dispense. Lockhart’s solution was to develop a powder that worked more like a liquid — a supersaturated liquid — which led to the invention of SuperSat. Blendco holds numerous patents, and the SuperSat System continues to be part of the Blendco catalogue. It now includes a powdered alkaline component and liquid surfactant component, which automatically mix with water onsite at the car wash. And it’s not only cleaner, McCurdy said; it’s also greener, as the products require less to package, ship and store, reducing the overall carbon footprint.
As a whole, McCurdy and others said, car wash soaps have become friendlier to the environment. That’s not just through formulations that use milder chemicals, but also in how much must be used — as well as how much water.
Zep Inc., for example, prides itself on having not just concentrated formulas, but “the most efficient, highly concentrated formulas out there,” said Andrew Landa, the company’s director of research and development. “We are reducing the waste of transporting water from A to Z.”
Over time, regulations have certainly had an impact. In addition to which chemicals can or cannot be released into the environment, OSHA has had a say in the safe handling of chemicals in the workplace. As a result, today’s products are typically more alkaline and less acidic. In addition, car wash product manufacturers are more likely to offer specific training in the proper use of product than in the past.
Gorra, for example, said training from Simoniz covers not only every aspect of car washing, but also every type of car wash as well as detail work.
“People travel from all over the world to learn how to use our products,” said Gorra, whose company is based just outside Hartford, Connecticut.
Global business operations also have impacted formulations. In some cases, car wash product manufacturers will remove raw materials restricted in other countries to simplify operations in the U.S. In others, there may simply be different formulas in, for example, China or Europe than in North America.
Product manufacturers agreed that it’s an understood for consumers that car washes would uphold sustainable practices.
“Ask any consumer, and they’ll tell you that yes, they want to do the right thing and use a sustainable car wash,” said Megan Loch, vice president of marketing, Zep Vehicle Care. “Some operators have gone to great lengths to market their wash as being green. Some don’t talk about it at all, but they may still be using significantly less water than the wash down the street.” Loch said a big part of this is educating the consumer . “Only 40 percent of consumers believe it is better for the environment to wash their cars at a professional car wash,” she said.
The truth is that a 10-minute home wash can use up to 140 gallons of fresh water, and a professional wash — thanks in part to advances in soaps — as few as eight, according to data from the Western Carwash Association.
To be sure, formulations have become more complex.
They’ve also advanced in their ability to wash on their own. In the early days, car wash soaps were applied with fairly tough bristles, then with soft cloths, followed by touch-free applications. “Now, there’s a more balanced approach with friction washes, but there is an increased need for lubrication,” Landa said. “You have to have the right elements present to wash the car but also to prevent negative effects like scratching.”
All this, of course, is magnified by consumers who consistently seek ways to be wowed. As a result, soap and other surfactants are delivering deeper shines, and are doing so in different colors — and sometimes, with accompanying scents for a more spectacular experience.
Technology will increasingly help car wash owners use just the right amount of cleaning products, with immediate notifications of underuse or overuse. And no doubt, research will continue into washless automobiles, just as advances have been made in driverless ones.
And chemists will continue to tinker, to mix and to ponder the next best formulation, delivery method or product combination.
“Where we focus is where our customers focus, and where their needs are,” Loch said. “Their needs are driven by consumers. In the broader landscape, they want things to be more efficient. They want it now. And they want it to be sustainable. Those are the kind of things we’ll always be working on. It’s about helping the operators have better performance and better profitability in a number of ways.”
It’s a world that Gorra’s father likely couldn’t have imagined back in those days mixing formulas in the garage. Neither could he have envisioned the way global companies would incorporate car wash soaps and other products into their portfolios, sharing chemical expertise and advances across industries.
Beyond the delivery of the brightest shine and the deepest clean, as many regions continue to be challenged by water shortage and drought, efforts will persist in reclamation and reuse, and in developing the soap formulations that make that as simple and efficient as possible, said Andrew Landa, Zep Inc.’s director of research and development.
Use of reclaim water is growing exponentially in car washes, though tough quality parameters must be met. Top-quality product chemistries, the experts say, stimulate water re-use and prevent downstream system incompatibilities.
Barton Lockhart in the ,70s with the first SuperSat and other products.