Why Brown Bear?

Brown Bear Car Wash protects your car & preserves its value

Keeping it clean retains your car's value
As you drive, accumulations of oils, corrosive chemicals, tree sap, grit and grime, and even bird droppings can damage your car's finish. Regular automatic car washing protects your car by gently but thoroughly removing these substances.

Our equipment protects the finish from abrasion
When you hand wash your car, grit and abrasive particles become embedded in the sponge or rag that you use. Over time, this causes microscopic scratches that degrade your car's paint, harming its appearance and impacting resale value. Our carefully maintained equipment reduces the wear and tear on your car's finish that is common with hand washing.

Detergents are formulated specifically for our region
Our specially formulated, environmentally friendly, non-caustic cleaning solutions will get your car sparkling clean. And our car wash equipment delivers the water pressure necessary to rinse away detergent film.

High-tech coatings add even more protection
At our automated tunnel car washes, we can apply Brown Bear Double Bond coating by Simoniz®. This advanced coating creates a deep shine that provides durable protection for your car's clear coat finish.

Auto makers recommend against hand washing
The methods we use are the same as those prescribed in the owner's manuals of leading auto manufactures including Ford, General Motors, BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Chrysler and others.

Why at-home washing can be bad for your car & the environment

Hand washing can hurt the finish
Sponges and rags can easily collect and retain tiny bits of abrasive particles. Accordingly, hand washing can be like taking fine sandpaper to your car's paint.

You can't really rinse clean
Your garden hose may not produce the volume of water or the pressure needed to rinse away detergents completely. This residue then settles on your car for days after you wash, potentially damaging the finish.

Pollutants go right into the watershed
There's a lot of toxic stuff that can build up on your car—heavy metals, phosphates, motor oil, antifreeze and other toxic substances. If you are not careful, all of this can go straight into the storm drain system (which doesn't receive any treatment) and in many cases goes directly into Puget Sound and other local waterways and has been proven to harm salmon, trout and other marine life.  This is a problem that has been recognized nationwide, and a study by Environmental Partners Inc. confirms that water quality in the Puget Sound region is affected by curbside car washing.

How Brown Bear protects our environment

We keep pollutants out of the waterways
We separate road pollutants including oils, heavy metals and antifreeze from the car wash wastewater we discharge. Once we've removed many of the toxic substances from the water we use wastewater is then released into the sewer treatment system, not stormwater systems, for further cleaning.

When you wash your car in your driveway the run off can end up in the storm drain system, where it receives no treatment at all. If this occurs, what comes off your car can end up in local waterways like Lake Washington or Puget Sound.

Download Fish Toxicity Test Report WA Dept of Ecology Car Washing and Stormwater Permits City of Federal Way Residential Car Washwater Monitoring Study

We use environmentally friendly products
Brown Bear Car Wash uses environmentally friendly cleaning solutions specially formatted for our region. Our detergents are biodegradable and contain no phosphates or caustic solutions.

We use less water
Commercial car washing is the "greenest" way to wash your car.  Our fine-tuned car wash machinery and pumps are calibrated to deliver the best car wash using the least water.  We are constantly improving our car washes, and have recently upgraded our water reclaimation systems to use less and recycle even more water!

The WaterSavers® program recognizes professional car washes for water conservation and environmental protection, and is committed to educating consumers about the car wash industry’s environmentally responsible business practices.