Keith "Car Wash" Arrington in front of his latest client's car.
He is one of those classic local fixtures. Born and raised in DC, Keith Arrington, known as “Car Wash” by locals, can be seen around the Hill with a trademark mobile car wash kit looking after his 25 regular clients and picking up new ones along the way.
A resident at 8th & A NE, I met Arrington after passing him several months in a row washing an SUV on 12th Street near Lincoln Park. Initially I thought maybe he was a particularly clean, fastidious car owner but once you’ve seen him at work, you can tell he isn’t a recreational car washer. His motto “More Clean, Less Green”, means a quick, thorough wash, but he keeps his prices low — a recent wash and vacuum for my embarrassingly dirty Honda was $13. He also offers waxing, carpet cleaning and will steam your engine.
An employee of the Department of Public Works in the evenings, Arrington has built this side business exclusively by word of mouth over the past 15 years. He first got the idea in 1985 from a co-worker at a PMI garage who washed cars while they were parked. Starting out, he approached friends and family. He began to expand by getting referrals from those first clients. Today, he doesn’t even need to carry business cards. He walks around the neighborhood knocking on doors to check in on clients every few weeks. This is also how new clients find him — by catching him on the street or talking to him while he’s at work on a car.
Arrington's trademark mobile car wash.
When asked what is up next for his business, Arrington reflects on the local youth. He’d like to get a van with a pressure washer so he can expand the business and hire young people from the neighborhood. He already has two youth who help him out on weekends in the summer, but Arrington has a vision to do more: “I want to show the youth that there is always something good you can do with your time.”
