Watch CBS News

New Local Startup Washes Cars Without Using Water

By Mike DeNardo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new business will come to you and wash your car without leaving suds in the driveway or on the street.

Waterless Works provides water-free car washes on location. It's the brainchild of 21-year-old St. Joseph's University junior Chris Caporale of Havertown, Pennsylvania, who was using a waterless emulsifier to clean his own car one chilly day.

"I started using that solution and it was like, 30, 40 degrees out," he says. "I was like, 'I wish someone would come and do this for me!' So the idea was born."

Book a wash by phone or on the web, and Waterless Works arrives. Caporale says the secret is the water-free solution.

"You spray it on the dirt and the material, the solution gets behind the dirt particles," he says. "And it loosens it up. And it allows our 'waterless specialists' as we call them to wipe away with a clean microfiber reusable towel, leaving behind a sealant and a wax."

Corporate stops go for $19.99, while residential visits start at about $35.

"You can go to a car wash and easily spend in the mid-20s," Caporale says. "So for an additional 10 or 20 dollars you're really paying for the convenience."

Caporale says each wash saves 38 gallons of water. For each clean car, Waterless Works donates five gallons of water to a worldwide charity.

Check Out These Other Stories:

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.