EDEN – Since my grandchildren were small, they have loved going through car washes. I clearly remember when Thomas, now 17, and Joseph, now 11, being terrified the first time they went through a car wash as toddlers but now, it’s something we always do when I visit them in the mountains.
It's a "cheap" treat for them to go through a car wash and vacuum out the car. It gives us quality time together, and I get help cleaning the car.
Several months ago I noticed construction underway at the old Sonic location on Van Buren Road at the East Harris Place intersection. When I asked what it was, I was told a new car wash was being built there.
“Not another car wash! Don’t we have enough of them in Eden,” I said.
However, ModWash, which opened Dec. 11, is not your regular run-of-the-mill car wash. I waited until Thomas and Joseph came to visit during Christmas before I went to it. As we pulled in, General Manager Jason White greeted us. He explained if I joined, the first 30 days would be $9.99 and I could visit as often as I wanted. After that, I would be a member and could choose between two monthly prices that allowed as many car washes as I wanted – every day if I so desired! He also said I wouldn’t have to remember any pass codes or numbers since a camera had recorded a picture of my license plate and every time I entered, the camera would confirm the plate was valid and automatically open the gate.
People are also reading…
So, I signed up and White told us, “Enjoy the show!”
Weird expression, I thought, but proceeded to the entrance and started to drive over the track located to one side. Jakema Lester, a 2016 Morehead High School graduate, stood at the tunnel entrance, motioned me to move back to the right, then, guided me so my left front tires were in a 14-inch plastic-covered steel track. As I got closer to the tunnel entrance, Lester pointed to signs reading “Vehicle in Neutral, Foot Off Brake, Hands Off Steering, Wipers Off.”
Then she hosed off the front and back windshields before returning to her position and hitting the “start” button.
Away we went and were we surprised! First, psychedelic lights came on and yellow soap poured down the windshield. Then, it turned pink, then purple, blue and yellow as soap covered the car before big wrap wipers rolled from front to back and back again. A second round of soap brought us pink, red, and yellow foam.
“They look like an octopus,” Joseph exclaimed as the heavy wraps scoured the entire car.
As the rinse process began, the water turned blue, pink, red, yellow and green. Now for the dryer, which Thomas described as “hurricane driven.” As we waited for the car to dry, a red light thanked us, then flashed to the green “Go” light.
Normally, we would have gone to the vacuuming area but the boys and I went back to talk to White.
The Danville, Va. resident said the business is owned by ModWash LLC Hutton Corp. out of Chattanooga, Tenn. They have 17 car washes in North and South Carolina, Florida, Maryland and New Jersey. Seven of those are in North Carolina with the closest ones to the new Eden one being in Thomasville, Lexington and Winston-Salem.
Originally, the Eden site was to have been a Zips Car Wash, but “our company acquired the building when it was completely done except for the signage and rebranded it,” White said.
They then recruited the staff of four full-time and five part-time employees and opened for business.
"Karen Hutton, the owner, is very community-minded,” White said. She believes in the “ripple effect one small business can have on an entire community. We try to be a driving force in the community.
“We try to give a sense of pride in your investment and we give back to our community.”
A major way ModWash does that is by using an energy efficient business by reclaiming all the water. It is cleaned and goes through a four-step process before being retained in four large 2,500-gallon vats inside the building.
White noted individuals often use as much as 150 gallons of water when they wash their own vehicles at home. That water flows into their yards and, eventually, into the sewer system.
Less than 30 gallons of water is used per vehicle at ModWash and all the chemicals are biodegradable and pH-balanced, he said, noting they reclaim and filter about two-thirds of that water and reuse it.
In addition, the water that is not reused and the dirt from the cars is accumulated in the central collection system and sent to facilities to be properly handled and refined and processed for use as potting soil and fertilizer.
“We are an extremely green company,” White said.
In addition, all law enforcement vehicles in the county are washed for free. The process takes only two minutes so officers are back on the streets quickly.
“It gives us police presence and the city, county and state a matter of pride to have clean vehicles,” White said.
Joseph probably would go through the car wash every time we got anywhere near it, but I had to explain to him that we only needed to go when the car needed to be washed. However, I did take him through it several times over the 10 days or so he was with me so he could “enjoy the show.”