Fire Truck Car Wash Tutorial

For Big Brother’s Fire Truck 3rd Birthday Party we decided to make a Fire Truck Car Wash for the kids to enjoy in the HOT Texas Summer. Big Brother LOVES fire trucks and he also loves to go to the car wash… funny, I know! We built the Fire Truck Car Wash with the idea that the kids could drive their little cars, scooters through it, but we could also quickly move it to the grass to create a Fire Truck Car Wash Slip and Slide! It was a hit and immediately got tested out my all the neighborhood kids! We loved that it fit perfectly over the sidewalk to ‘drive through’ and added a extra splash to an ordinary slip and slide. 

My husband shares below how he {I admit, I only cheered from the sidelines and took pictures} built the Fire Truck Car Wash. The process is very easy and he breaks it down step-by-step for you to make your own! The best part is that you can adapt the theme and colors to whatever your family plans to use it for; go ahead, go get your feet wet! 

Materials:

• 10- Pool Noodles (dollar stores are great places to find these) Make sure that the noodles are hollow in the middle (not all noodles are hollow)
• 1- Clear shower curtain lining (or however you want yours to look)
• 4- 10 foot 1/2 inch PVC pipes (I got ours at Home Depot)
• 10- 1/2 inch PVC ‘T’ slip* x slip* x slip* connectors
• 4- 1/2 inch PVC 90 degree slip* x slip* elbows
• 4- 1/2 inch PVC slip* x MIPT Pressure adaptors (part 1- corner connector)
• 4- 1/2 inch PVC 45 degree slip* x slip* x FPT elbow (part 2- corner connector)
• 1- Nylon String (or some sort of string to attach the noodles to the frame)
• 1- Soaker hose about 25 feet (an old hose can be substituted, but you will have to use something to poke holes in it to allow for the water to come out)
• 1- Pack of 100 or so zip ties

*Slip is a type of connector that means that the PVC pipe sections can be connected by inserting one into the other (they are not threaded).

Tools:

• - Hacksaw
• - Drill wit a bit that should be larger than the string you use (1/2 paddle bit- usually for wood)
• - Wire cutters (or scissors- to cut the ends of the zip ties off)

Instructions:

Frame:
Do not use PVC glue unless you are ready to have a finished product (I have not, and do not intend to glue the PVC pieces together).

• Cut all pieces to the correct sizes (if you are making a carwash with different dimensions, you will need to factor in that you will lose some of the length because the PVC fits into the connectors).
• 8 pieces 45 1/2 inches long
• 8 pieces 14 1/2 inches long
• 2 pieces 46 1/4 inches long
• 3 pieces 45 1/2 inches long
• 4 pieces 22 1/2 inches long
• Assemble the 4 corner connectors

• Assemble the front and back of the frame (using the 4- corner connectors and the 4- 90 degree elbows along with 6 of the 45 1/2 inch sections)
• Assemble 4- 45 1/2 inch pieces with ‘T’ connectors on each end (these are the: support ‘T’ connector pieces)
• Assemble 1- 45 1/2 inch piece with ‘T’ connectors on each end (this is the: middle ‘T’ connector piece)
• Using the 8- 22 1/2 inch pieces: attach two ‘T’ support connector pieces to the front and back of the frame
• Attach the 2- 46 1/2 inch pieces along the bottom of the frame to connect the front and back of the frame
• Insert the 4- 22 1/2 inch piece into the middle ‘T’ connector piece
• Connect the middle ‘T’ connector piece into the top section of the frame

The overall frame is now finished

Noodles:

• Using any cutoff pieces of the PVC (pieces that were left over that have probably been added to the kids’ collection of castoff pieces)- cut 10- 5 inch sections to insert into the noodles as you plan on having (You may need to buy an extra section of 1/2 PVC pipe- when I made ours I had pieces left over from another project that may have been used.)
• Drill a hole through the PVC sections about 1/4 inch from one of the ends (this is for the string)
• Cut 10- 12 inch sections of string (this length may need to be trimmed depending on how much separation you want between the noodle hanging from the frame (adjust the length by playing around with the first section)
• Put the string through the PVC pieces by threading each end through the outside of the pipe to the inside, then pull the ends up (I had to use needle nose pliers because I have big fingers, but it is not difficult)

• Knot the two ends together (if you are using nylon string- I recommend using a lighter to melt the knot a little so that it will stay knotted), then pull the outside part of the string so that the knot fits into the PVC pipe
• Using the hacksaw: cut enough section of the noodle off so that they will be able to hang from the frame without touching the ground (the amount cut off will vary depending on the length of the noodle- I left about 3 inches of clearance)
• Cut the left over noodle pieces into 20- 3/4 inch sections (the size doesn’t matter too much- these will be used to prevent the noodles from moving side to side on the frame)
• Insert the PVC pipes with string into the uncut ends of the large pieces of noodles (I pushed it far enough in so that only the string was visible (you should be left with only string coming up out of the noodle)

• To attach the string onto the frame, slide a 3/4 inch section of noodle onto the front crossbar of the frame, then slip the string on, then a second section of 3/4 inch noodle.

• Slide the noodle into place on the frame, then repeat using 4 more noodles (do 5 on the back crossbar of the frame as well)

Curtain:

• If your shower curtain has holes that are big enough to fit onto the 1/2 pipe, you are in luck!
• If not, fold the curtain accordion-style, and drill a hole through the curtain using the 1/2 paddle bit- (it is not necessarily the prettiest way to do it, but it worked)
• While still folded, hold the curtain up to gauge the length you’ll need it to be, then twist the bottom of the end tightly in order to cut it with a hacksaw (scissors will work, however I felt like it would be more tedious for me to do it that way)
• Then slide the curtain onto the middle crossbar (maintaining the accordion-style fold)
• Using scissors or a utility knife, cut the curtain in sections that will separate as the kids run/drive through the wash

Soaker Hose:
This is where this design differs from most of the other DIY kid-car washes. I did not want to make the PVC be the conduit for the water because it lacks water pressure, and I don’t necessarily want to make that much PVC be only for a kid-car wash. I might want to use it for a different project later, but don’t tell the boys that.) The soaker hose we used was one that my parents weren’t using so that made this project cheaper.

• Beginning at one of the bottom corners with the the section that connects to the hose, attach the hose to the frame, with the zip ties, in a way that all the holes are pointing inward towards the car wash. (It is important to make sure that the zip ties are secure, but not pinching the hose so much that water will not make it through)
• The configuration of the hose is not important, but it is important to use enough zip-ties to allow the hose to stay up without sagging too much

Mackenzie is a follower of Jesus, wife, mama of two toddler boys, teacher at heart, and coffee lover. She was a lower school elementary teacher for over 6 years, with a master's degree in Reading, and is a certificated Reading Specialist. She currently works part-time at a private school allowing her more time at home with her little guys.

Mackenzie has blogged 497 posts here.