Fall in Seattle means one thing you can count on, rain and lots of it. With showers rolling through every other day (sometimes more), it’s easy to assume washing your car is pointless until spring. In reality, fall is one of the most important times of year to keep up with regular washes, you just have to time them right.
Washing your car yourself feels like it should be simple: grab a bucket, some soap, and a hose, and you’re done in twenty minutes. In reality, a proper wash takes far more time, effort, and money than most people expect, and without the right skills, the results rarely hold up. Here’s what a DIY wash actually costs you.
If you’ve ever grabbed a bucket and a hose on a sunny Seattle afternoon to wash your car in the driveway, you might be surprised to learn that in most cases, that’s not actually allowed. Across Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region, local and state regulations prohibit soapy wash water from entering the storm drain system. Unless your car is parked on gravel or grass where the runoff can soak into the ground, washing it at home on a paved driveway or street is against the rules