A car wash is a car wash is a car wash, right? Kind of. But not really. You’ve got the high-tech drive-throughs offered by so many gas stations, and–on a more luxurious scale–Pink Elephant. And then you’ve got your driveway, a hose, and a sudsy sponge mitten. But there is a perfect happy medium: the DIY washes with the power sprayer and foaming brush that cost three or four bucks for a thorough cleansing while not roughing up the environment. And of this lot, Ballard-birthed Brown Bear is the balls. MIKE SEELY 3977 Leary Way N.W. and multiple regional locations, brownbear.com