Challenge Everything: The Story of How Mint Eco Car Wash is Changing an Industry

Car washes have historically fallen into a category of businesses rampant with negative stereotypes from consumers. Many people picture in their heads something similar to one of the most famous depictions of car washes, found in the Netflix TV show “Breaking Bad.” What you see in the show and from older car washes is a building that is very dirty and unappealing, a place that you would never want to spend more than 5 minutes inside, and maybe even a place with workers who you can’t trust with your valuable belongings let alone your definition of “clean.”

When Mint Eco was in its early stages of being dreamed up by its founders, they started with a list of all of the negative aspects of car washing and said “let’s do the opposite.” That is how A Fresh Approach to Washing Cars was born. What we have narrowed in on as a company are five stereotypes that we are actively working to change and challenge about our industry, on a daily basis:

“Car washes are dirty, rundown places.” Car washes are often seen as a paradox: the place that you go to get your car cleaned is dirty and disgusting. The location itself is typically a local eyesore that bombards you with crazy graphics and confusing language, and the facilities are definitely not somewhere you would bring your family to wait.

At Mint Eco, we designed our locations to blend in with the landscape and beautify the neighborhoods they are adjacent to. Every location spends over $100,000 to landscape the site to feel like a tropical, hidden oasis with trees, tall privacy shrubs, and other flowers native to South Florida. Our sites are also meticulously maintained and cleaned daily by our team because we believe that clean sites produce even cleaner cars.

“Car washes don’t feel like somewhere I want to sit, like the spa.” When you think of the lobby experience within in any industry, they’re typically a stiff or tense place clearly meant for a temporary seat. Because we are a flex car wash that provides interior and detail services, we have customers who spend 15-minutes or more on our site. The last thing we would ever want is for a customer feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in our lobbies!

What we did during our design phase was pull inspiration from places that people love to go and spend time in: spas, hair salons, massage parlors, and more. We installed comfortable seating, refreshments, and modern restrooms to ensure that our customers feel relaxed and at ease. We also play spa music to help further relax the customer from any stress they may have had before their visit to Mint. We also built a tropical outdoor lobby experience, with Adirondack chairs and palm trees so guests can enjoy the beautiful South Florida weather, or lounge with their furry friend!

“Car washes are harmful to the environment.” Car washes were often seen as adversaries of the environment – a place where toxic chemicals and harsh soaps are used, hundreds of gallons of water are wasted, litter and other debris is are put down the drain, and much more.

At Mint Eco, none of those statements are true—and we confirm that annually during our environmental self-audit. Our wash process and water reclamation practices allow us to utilize significantly less water than other car washes or washing at home! We have also committed as an aspect of our environmental promise not to utilize harsh chemicals or toxic substances that would harm our waterways or the environment. (Even though our water system does not allow our used water or chemicals to enter the environment directly, we would not risk using harmful substances in the first place.) Additionally, we have partnered with our local parks departments to adopt parks for every wash location we open and perform monthly park cleanups.

“Car washes do nothing to help the communities they are in.” This statement hit especially close to home, because our founders firmly believe that business has a responsibility to do good and be better. In addition to the environmental promise, Mint Eco made a community promise too because we believe it is crucial to be involved in the communities our washes are located in.

As a relationship-oriented business, we strongly value connecting and being a part of local businesses programs and government, as well as a wide variety of local organizations doing amazing work. This looks like volunteering in our communities, donating to charities, and providing free washes to people in the community (such as police officers!). So far in 2022, Mint Eco has donated over $65,000 to local charities, as well as handed out thousands of free washes to the community. And we don’t plan on stopping!

“Hourly employees cannot act like an owner would.” One of the things that sets apart great brands and experiences is the interaction with employees. It is why everyone loves to go to Chick-Fil-A, get the fries, say thank you, and hear back: “my pleasure.” At Mint Eco, we have worked hard to hire the kind of staff that are dedicated to the goal of customer happiness, the same way our original founders were. We look for employees who are enthusiastic about their position within the organization, and always looking for ways to make it better.

When we say “acting like an owner,” we mean making decisions like an owner: taking responsibility for keeping the site beautiful, taking care of our customers, producing a clean car, and doing it in an efficient time frame. We aim to empower our employees and give them skills that are not exclusive to the car wash industry but can be used anywhere their careers might take them.

These five statements are just a few of the things we heard from people along the way when Mint Eco was developing, and we knew that we could find a way to do business better and bring something special to the car wash industry. Stop by your nearest Mint Eco Car Wash to experience our Fresh Approach to Washing Cars!