The History of Car Washing

Humble Beginnings: Washing by Hand

The very first cars in the early 20^th century had no special place to get cleaned – it was all down to good old-fashioned elbow grease. Early motorists (or their chauffeurs) used buckets of water, soap, rags and brushes, much like they’d clean a horse-drawn carriage. Roads were often unpaved and dusty, so cars quickly became caked in dirt and mud. Frequent washing wasn’t just for show; it was needed to keep lamps, windscreens and other parts functional and free of grime.

Washing a car by hand was a laborious task. It could take hours of scrubbing to get an early automobile gleaming, especially when it was covered in muck. There were no high-pressure hoses or special car shampoos back then – just muscle power. Yet, for those proud owners, the effort was worth it to keep their “horseless carriages” shining.

Birth of the Car Wash Industry (1910s–1920s)

As cars became more common, entrepreneurs saw an opportunity: why not offer a service to wash people’s cars for them? In 1914, the first car wash business on record opened in Detroit – fittingly called the “Automated Laundry” even though it wasn’t truly automated at all. Its founders, Frank McCormick and J.W. Hinkle, set up an assembly line of workers for each task. Cars were even pushed by hand through a long bay, as one worker soaped, another scrubbed, another rinsed, and so on, until finally the car was dried.

Throughout the 1920s, similar hand-wash car “laundries” began popping up in cities across the U.S., promising to save owners the hassle of doing it themselves. These businesses were still labour-intensive, but the convenience was a selling point. Dropping off a muddy Model T and coming back to a clean, shiny car felt like a luxury in an era of do-it-yourself chores. The idea of paying someone else to wash your car caught on, setting the stage for bigger innovations to come.

The Road to Automation (1940s)

For about two decades, car wash services remained essentially manual operations. By the 1940s, however, the first major step towards automation had arrived. In 1940, a car wash in Hollywood, California opened that used a conveyor system to pull cars through a tunnel. It wasn’t fully automatic – attendants still scrubbed and dried the vehicles – but at least machines took over the job of moving the car along. No more teams of people pushing cars by hand!

By 1946, further automation arrived in the form of overhead sprinklers. A car wash operator named Thomas Simpson added a system of nozzles to spray water onto the car automatically. Now cars could be soaked without an employee wielding a hose. While the scrubbing and drying were still done by people, these 1940s innovations laid the groundwork for the fully mechanised car washes on the horizon. Bit by bit, machines were taking on the heavy lifting in what had been a purely manual job.

The Fully Automated Era (1950s–1960s)

The 1950s heralded the true birth of the fully automated car wash. In 1951 in Seattle, Washington, a trio of inventive brothers – Archie, Dean and Eldon Anderson – achieved what earlier car wash pioneers could only dream of: a hands-free car cleaning system. Their facility introduced machines to do almost everything, from scrubbing with rotating brushes to soaping, rinsing, and even blow-drying the car at the end. For the first time, a car could roll into a wash tunnel and come out clean with minimal human intervention. This was a game-changer for car care, and drivers were amazed to sit back and watch their cars being scrubbed and sprayed by giant whirling brushes and jets.

The success of fully automated car washes spread quickly. In 1955, a businessman named Dan Hanna opened his first automatic car wash in Oregon and quickly grew it into a chain. By the mid-1960s, Hanna was also manufacturing automated car wash equipment and installing it far and wide, helping modern car wash facilities spread across the globe. During this period, automatic car wash tunnels popped up across the United States and soon made their way to Europe and beyond. Driving through a “robotic” car wash went from a futuristic novelty to a normal part of owning a car. Families in the late 1950s and 1960s would pile into their shiny saloons and marvel at how technology had turned a once-tedious chore into a quick, entertaining experience.

Self-Service and Speciality Washes (1960s–1970s)

As automatic car washes gained popularity, the 1960s also introduced another idea that’s still with us: the self-service car wash. Not everyone wanted to trust machines or attendants with their beloved vehicle, and some people simply enjoyed the satisfaction of doing it themselves. In 1962, the world’s first coin-operated self-service car wash opened in Oklahoma, USA. This facility let drivers insert a few coins for a timed session and use a high-pressure water hose and brush to wash their own car in a bay. The concept caught on quickly. Soon, self-serve car wash bays were appearing at petrol stations and in dedicated wash centres, giving budget-conscious or hands-on motorists a convenient place to clean their cars without messing up the driveway.

Meanwhile, automatic car wash technology continued to improve through the late 1960s and 1970s. This era saw the introduction of “soft touch” materials in automated washes. Early automatic brushes had been quite stiff and could sometimes be hard on a car’s paint. Newer car washes began using softer cloth and foam brushes that were much gentler, reducing the risk of scratches and appealing to owners of more expensive cars. Washes also started offering add-ons beyond just a basic wash – options like wax coatings, undercarriage washes, and tyre cleaning became common, with machines handling these extras automatically. You could now choose a basic wash or pay a bit more for the works, all without anyone having to touch the car by hand.

By the 1970s, car washes had become a part of everyday life around the world, from American suburbs to European motorway services. Automatic car washes and self-service “jet wash” bays were common sights, and drivers had more choice than ever. By the end of the 1970s, both a leisurely Sunday hand-wash or a quick drive-through wash when pressed for time were readily available. Car owners could pick whichever suited their mood and schedule – a sure sign that the car wash had arrived as an institution.

Computerisation and Customisation (1980s–1990s)

By the 1980s, the car wash industry was embracing computers and catering to customers’ desire for more choice. Microprocessors started to run the show behind the scenes, making automatic car washes smarter and more precise. Wash cycles could be programmed exactly, sensors could detect the shape of a vehicle, and different wash “programmes” (ranging from a quick rinse to a deluxe polish) could be selected by the driver. This meant a more customised experience – you could drive up and choose a wash package to suit your needs and budget, and the system would adjust accordingly.

Technology-wise, this period also saw the rise of the touchless car wash. By the 1990s, touchless car washes started gaining popularity as a no-contact alternative for paint-conscious car owners. Instead of using brushes or cloth, these systems relied solely on high-pressure water jets and specialised detergents, with sensors guiding the sprayers around the vehicle. At the same time, the materials used in traditional “soft-touch” washes kept improving – brushes became even softer and better at holding suds. By the 1990s, car washes came in all shapes and sizes – from coin-operated jet wash bays to large conveyor tunnels – bringing car care fully into the digital age of convenience.

High-Tech and Touchless: 21st Century Car Washes

Since the turn of the millennium, car washing has become more high-tech than ever. Today, many car wash facilities have automated payment kiosks – you can pay by card or app and drive right in. Some even recognise your vehicle via its number plate or an RFID tag if you have a subscription, opening the gate for you automatically.

Once inside, advanced sensors measure your car’s shape so the rotating brushes and cloth pads can adjust to every contour. The brushes are made of modern materials like microfibre foam that clean effectively while staying gentle on the paintwork.

Modern touchless systems use only powerful jets of water and specially formulated detergents to blast away dirt without anything touching the car’s surface. They’re ideal for a quick clean or for very delicate paint, and these days they clean much more effectively than the early no-touch experiments of the past.

Contemporary car washes also reclaim and recycle much of their water, using filtration systems to reuse water for multiple washes. They use biodegradable soaps, making them far more eco-friendly than old-style driveway washing that sent soap suds down the gutter. Car washing today is truly a far cry from the days of spending half a day with a bucket and sponge just to remove all the mud.

Is hand washing a car still better?

After witnessing a century of innovation, we come to a question many car enthusiasts still ask: is washing a car by hand better than using an automatic car wash? The answer, as with many things, depends on what you mean by “better”. Hand washing a car – whether you do it yourself or pay for a hand-valet service – certainly has its merits. A careful hand wash can reach nooks and crannies that machines might miss, and it’s gentler on delicate features like intricate chrome or wheel designs. Many enthusiasts swear by doing it themselves for total control. Done properly, a hand wash is extremely thorough and minimises the risk of paint scratches or swirl marks.

On the other hand, modern automatic car washes have improved tremendously and offer undeniable convenience. They save time and effort – you can have a grimy car cleaned in a matter of minutes while you remain comfortably in the driver’s seat. For everyday use, a good automatic wash will do a fine job of cleaning off the grime from city or motorway driving – and modern soft-cloth or touchless systems are designed to be gentle on your paint when well-maintained. From a water conservation perspective, automatic washes usually recycle water and use only what’s needed, whereas washing at home with a hose can waste a lot if you’re not careful.

When it comes to the hand washing vs machine debate, it ultimately comes down to personal preference and the level of care your car needs. If you own a show car or just love the therapeutic process of detailing your vehicle, hand washing might still be king. However, for most people and most cars, the convenience of modern automatic washes means you don’t have to live with a dirty car just because you haven’t got the time or energy. In the end, car washing has come a long way from its humble beginnings. And still, the simple pleasure of a hand wash hasn’t been completely outshined by machines. Whether you’re team hand-wash or team automatic (or a bit of both), knowing the history behind it all makes the act of getting your car clean all the more fascinating. Next time you find yourself at a car wash – be it with a hose in hand or in a tunnel of whirling brushes – you’ll appreciate just how far car washing has evolved to keep our prized wheels gleaming.