Driving through rural Iowa some time ago we encountered a swarm of insects. Soon the windshield was plastered with dozens of bug innards. If I practiced entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, it would have been a picnic.

Instead, several attempts with the vehicle’s windshield washer removed most of the bug parts but the next day I drove to the local car wash to completely clean the windshield and the rest of the vehicle.

As the car was mechanically pulled through the lengthy car wash and big whirling brushes whipped the car clean I thought about how lazy I have become.

Back when I was a kid washing a car was a much bigger chore.

When I was very young my mother was the family car washer and she did so with a bucket, a sponge and a towel. I assume she learned this method back when water was obtained from the farm pump.

By the time I was old enough to wash the family car by myself we had pressurized water, a garden hose, nozzle, sponge and a few old rags for towels.

In the summer of 1962, unable to find an employer in our tiny community who would hire a 14-year-old, I established my own business — Deluxe Car Wash. There was no competition in our town and after the word got out I had a thriving little business.

Best of all, folks thought that I was older and asked me to come and get their cars and deliver them when done. Our next-door neighbor was the town marshal and he didn’t seem to be bothered by my shuttling vehicles around town and I, of course, enjoyed the opportunity to drive.

One of my regular customers drove a cherry red 1961 Ford Galaxy 500 with a big V-8 engine and four-on-the-floor. He always asked me to pick up and deliver his car. I never told him but I would have washed his car at no charge just for the opportunity to drive it.

In January 1965 I bought my first car — a 1955 Chevy. As soon as spring arrived I washed that car at least once a week and waxed it about once a month. It was a traditional wash — garden hose, sponge and a chamois to wipe off the water.

About that time, however, modern car washes were opening in our county seat. The cost was 25 cents for a few minutes of high-pressure hot water and soap along with rinse water. I took pride in washing my car in just two cycles for a total of 50 cents.

We moved to Sioux City in 1974 and there I discovered automatic car washes. For around a buck the automated car wash blew off dirt and most of the bugs. I could do a better job by hand but an automated car wash was better than no wash at all, particularly in cold weather.

A few years later I discovered a car wash in town that pulled your car through a series of spray nozzles and brushes. The rinse included thick fabric strips that wiped the excess water off the car. These strips were automatically moved in a horizontal fashion resembling the grass skirt of a hula dancer. My young children enjoyed riding along to see the “hula dancers.” The entertainment for the kids helped their frugal father justify the higher price for the better car wash.

Life went on and I was comfortable with the automatic car washes but every once in a while I liked to wash my car with a garden hose and sponge to get it really clean. This included door frames, inside windows and a thorough vacuuming of the interior.

When my daughter took a two-month backpacking tour of Europe she left her car at our house. My daughter is neat, clean and tidy but in those days her car was not. While she was gone, I gave her car a thorough 1960s-style wash and wax and interior cleaning. Fortunately, she takes much better care of her car these days.

This brings us to 2025. I don’t recall having hand-washed a car since my miracle cleaning of my daughter’s car.

I pay a monthly fee to access a chain of automatic car washes. While I am frugal, I am also fussy about my car and the monthly fee makes it easier to visit the car wash as often as needed.

I learned a long time ago that a clean car drives better.

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. ©2025 by Huisman Communications.