The free car wash at gas stations are car washes that
you can get at certain gas stations
if you buy a certain amount of gas or can qualify
in some other way. It not really a good car wash, but and
stretch of the imagination, but it is free, so there
you go.
Generally, the free car wash
is a big, open garage that you drive into. You stop in the middle
of the garage and hoses come down and spray your
car with soapy water from all sides. Then gigantic yellow
and black bristles on rollers come down to scrub your
car clean. The neat part is that, because of relative motion,
it seems like you're moving forward, even though you're at a
stand still and it's the rollers that are moving back.
An aside:
I like going through the free car wash at gas stations,
it's sort of like a roller coaster, except you don't move, really.
But last week I learned an important lesson about
the free car washes: You should always turn off
the air conditioning or vent before you go in.
I learned this the hard way because last week was
too damned hot so I thought I'd ignore the gas station's
dire warnings and leave my air conditioner
on but when I did I was nearly overcome by toxic soapy water fumes
when my car got sprayed. I felt nauseous and dizzy which, frankly,
I wouldn't have minded so much if not for the fact that I still had to
drive home.