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A few months after the British Automotive Association (the AA) implored aggressive car washers to be careful where
they point their high pressure washers, warning that engine cleansing can cause electrical failures, the German safety
group DEKRA asks that the jet washers be kept away from tires as well. Pressurized, soapy water can apparently degrade
the rubber when sprayed directly at a tire sidewall, causing anything from tiny perforations to obvious shredding, both
of which can cause blowouts. And even if the tire doesn’t explode, the soap may remove protective chemicals from the
sidewalls, shortening a tire’s lifespan. Just wait, next thing you know they’ll be telling us not to point a high
pressure nozzle at somebody’s eyeball.