Investigation Into Car Wash Slavery
Friday, 4. May 2018
Do you wash your own car or do you have it washed by a hand wash team now inhabiting one of the many filling station forecourts closed down over the past 10 years?
If you use the hand car wash option I warned some time ago about the use of some very strong chemicals with high acid content being used to clean alloy wheels and potentially damage or destroy them.
Some have sprayed the concoction onto paintwork that is heavily soiled with street muck, tree sap, or large packages plopped onto our cars by our feathered friends. At best fading the paint and at worst scabbing the paint. In my case I have been using the same team for 7 or 8 years and whilst they all come from abroad they always use good quality products and do an excellent job.
However, as this isn’t always the case a group of MP’s are looking into these hand car washes amid concerns that the staff are being trapped into ‘Bonded Labour’ and that some of the cleaning chemicals used are hazardous to the staff and to the environment.
The enquiry is being led by Mary Creagh, chair of the Environment Audit Committee who said on the BBC ‘We have environmental, employment and slavery concerns.’ The Car Wash Advisory Service – yep there is one, says that there are up to 20,000 hand car washes in the UK, with roughly 8,000 ‘bad boys.’
Whilst the investigation is being carried out always use a car wash you feel you can trust and if you are concerned about the cleaning chemicals being used – ask. Make sure that if you see the container it shows that the solution doesn’t contain dangerous or hazardous chemicals and is environmentally friendly. By Graham Hill
