Have you heard? Washing your car with water is so '90s, at least according to Michael Glass, founder of Tri-Kleen, Milwaukee's eco-friendly mobile hand car wash.
Glass launched his new business in early May as an interesting and innovative alternative to drive-through car washes, or, for that matter, hosing down your ride in the driveway. Glass's car washing service is completely waterless.
Replacing commercial cleaners and water with specialized biodegradable, organic soaps made from coconut derivatives that are sprayed onto the vehicle from a small bottle and then wiped away with soft, micro-fiber towels eliminates the use of harsh cleaning chemicals as well as any potential runoff that collects in the sewer systems.
Here's how it works in technical terms. The organic polymer blend emulsifies the dirt and breaks it down, separates it from the surface of the vehicle and wraps it in a lubricant. After wiping it away, Glass then follows it up with Montan wax, a long-lasting double wax protectant for your car.
Your vehicle can't be extensively dirty, he says, but the process takes care of regular road grime, salts and average contaminants.
"You don't get anything that drips on the ground at all. When the vehicle is done, it's dry. Even if it rained, the ingredients are biodegradable, so they wouldn't hurt anything."
The waterless technology sounds like a brand new phenomenon to us here in the Midwest, but Glass, who has been involved in the vehicle detailing industry for more than 15 years, says he remembers discovering it in the '90s. Back then it was gaining momentum in Australia, and eventually made its way to the United States, where it's since become almost mainstream in Southern and Western states that suffer from droughts and water bans.
When he initially discovered them, most waterless car wash products on the market were petroleum based and used kerosene, a factor that prohibited him from starting his business years ago. But more recent research lead Glass to newer eco-friendly products completely devoid of hazardous ingredients.
"We don't have drought problems around here, but we do have environmental problems, so I saw no reason it wouldn't work in Milwaukee," he says
Oh, and did we mention that he comes to you? Rather than renting a building for a permanent car wash (something he's looking to do in the future), Glass operates Tri-Kleen on a completely mobile level.
It doesn't matter if you're at work or lounging at home, as long as you're within the Greater Milwaukee area, Tri-Kleen will show up with the gear and clean your vehicle. Prices, which are listed on the Web site, vary from $15-$65, depending on the size of your car and which package you choose.
Glass says the company's name is taken from the word "trike," or tricycle. He plans to utilize industrial-sized trikes on his house calls by this summer.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
