I live in the Downers Grove/Westmont area and am having trouble finding good do-it-yourself car washes. I suspect they are pretty rare around here. The yellow pages are not helpful at all, as they don't provide much information on the type of services available at the car wash.

Are there any decent do-it-yourself car washes around? I've found a high-pressure wand wash east of Cass on Ogden, but they expressly forbid bucket washing in the bays.

Are there any really nice (heated, wand/bucket, etc.) washes in this area? I would really prefer to do it myself with my products rather than trust Fullers/TurtleWax, etc. to clean/protect my car.

What do all of you DuPage County MINI owners do (aside from washing at home)?

Thanks,
bonmot

 

I've never had a problem with using a rag/bucket washing so long as no other cars are waiting for all the stalls. If I felt concerned about it, I'd ask the attendant (if there even is one), if it would be okay when it's not busy. Most every pressure wash place has a sign prohibiting hand washing or bucket washing...

There's a Spirit of America pressure wash at 1308 Ogden that I've used a few times (not recently, however, as I'm not in the area as much). It's between Main and Finley, on the north side of the street.

 

As long as you wash your car later in the day at a DIY car wash, most owners don't mind. The best car was for me [and I live in Dupage] is actually in Cook County, on Higgins, at the intersection of Higgins and Golf. The car wash is called Busy Bee. The owner [or so he called himself the owner!!] had no problem with me washing my MINI --bucket and all -- as long as I didn't interupt his busy times of the day. I usually go to wash the car around 10pm, and I can then dry it at the same time without leaving the bay.

 

Thanks for your replies. I guess the key is asking nicely for use during an off-peak time.

Are there any other decent self-service washes around? in the area south of the Burlington-Northern tracks?

 

There's a DIY car wash in north Wheaton on Main St. between downtown and Geneva Rd., next to the ACE Hardware. It's usually kind of busy. I put in $3 worth of quarters and spent the last minute just waiting for the water to run out. That was usually just barely enough for my truck.

Drew