Behind the scenes of the booming car wash industry

I stumbled across Luv Your Car via the internet. It’s on Canvey Island, a place, incidentally, whose civic leaders, inspired by Catalonia’s bid for independence, are seeking autonomy from Castle Point Borough Council on the Essex mainland. They’re an independent bunch, those Canvey Islanders – as is Rick Plowman, founder and boss of Luv Your Car, a steam car wash.

“Best in class is not good enough. World class is where we want to be,” Plowman tells me when I visit. (He also says things like “you could copy this but it would lack the ‘us’ power”, “the key to retail is detail” and “most people in business are dead from the neck up”.)

However, the most interesting thing he says is: “We put compliance at the forefront of our business. We take all reasonable steps to ensure our staff’s documents are valid and that they’re clear to work. They all have passports, so I know who I’m employing. They’re paid above the minimum wage and taxed on PAYE, which is why, later this month, they will be moving into their own, good- quality rented accommodation not related to this business.”

So that’s his workers’ welfare taken care of. As for their working conditions, Luv Your Car operates from a clearly branded business unit in the corner of a Sainsbury’s car park. At either end of it are two ‘pods’, or rooms. One is for the cleaners, a place where they can relax and watch TV. The other is the customer reception office. So that all transactions are recorded and accounted for, customers are encouraged to pay by card rather than cash.

While they do their Sainsbury’s shop, any valuables in their car can be locked in one of 20 Luv Your Car safes. Customers take the safe key with them and are texted when their car is ready.

The large, covered cleaning area separating the two pods is clean, tidy and free of waste water. A steam clean uses just two litres of water and takes around 30 minutes. No chemicals are used. Luv Your Car’s cleaners – Mehdi Rostami, Martin Naskov and manager Navid Marzei, each identified by ID badges complete with their photos – use microfibre cloths to wipe down the car rather than a chamois, which can hold grit.

Rather than clambering on the door sills to reach the car’s roof, they stand on a portable platform. Floor mats are clipped to a custom-made rack away from dirt and debris, to be steam cleaned.

It’s all very smart and sophisticated, an impression reinforced by the classical music playing over the Tannoy. During my visit, I hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, opera star PlaÃcido Domingo and the soundtrack to Out of Africa, which makes me dream of a land far from Canvey...

I can’t resist having a go with the steam lances. I pop into the staff room and emerge moments later in my Formula 1-style race suit. Navid hands me one of the lances, turns the steam to ‘wet’ and lets me loose on a customer’s Audi Q5.

He says steam is much gentler than a jet wash, which he’s seen lift paint around stone chips, as well as the edges of a colour wrap. It certainly makes light work of the door shuts and alloy wheels.

Next, I turn the valve to the dry steam position to do the interior.

It seems wrong to be blasting the Audi’s dashboard and leather seats but they emerge almost dry from the experience and looking like new.

I return the lance to its rack just as customers Peter and Gill return from Sainsbury’s to claim their Q5. It’s their 10th visit to Luv Your Car. “All the local cleaning businesses are a bit slapdash but this one leaves your car spotless and streak-free,” Peter says. “The people are polite and friendly too. We’ll be back!”

Having seen what Luv Your Car can do for his Q5, I may just be back myself with my old motor. While some of my local hand car washes continue to fail their workers and customers, it’s the best excuse I can think of to go to Canvey Island, independent or not.