QuickIn Car Wash founders Jerry Mthembu and Cyril Ndebele are proving that sustainability can be built into everyday business — one waterless wash at a time
Seen Here: Johannesburg entrepreneurs Jerry Mthembu and Cyril Ndebele, co-founders of QuickIn Car Wash, are rethinking the traditional car wash with a proudly South African waterless cleaning model. Based at Victoria Yards, QuickIn uses its locally manufactured waterless car cleanser and biodegradable car-care products to deliver a spotless finish while reducing reliance on one of our most precious resources. Photo Credit: Supplied
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — 4 September 2026 — In a city where water conservation is increasingly becoming a shared responsibility, two Johannesburg entrepreneurs are challenging one of the most familiar sights in neighbourhood commerce: the conventional car wash.
Jerry Mthembu and Cyril Ndebele, co-founders of QuickIn Car Wash, have built a proudly South African waterless car-cleaning business that aims to deliver the spotless finish motorists expect while dramatically reducing reliance on water.
Operating from Victoria Yards in Johannesburg, QuickIn is demonstrating how a small business can make sustainability part of its everyday operations without sacrificing quality, convenience or customer experience.
At the centre of the business is a locally manufactured waterless car cleanser, developed and produced in-house by the entrepreneurs. Used together with biodegradable car-care products, the solution allows vehicles to be cleaned and polished without the conventional hose-based wash.
For Mthembu, the idea was born from a simple question: if water is such a precious resource, why not rethink how an everyday service uses it?
“South Africans understand that water is a precious resource, but we also wanted to show that sustainability doesn’t have to mean compromising on the service or result you receive,” says Mthembu.
“We can deliver the clean, glossy finish customers expect while using a model that is far more conscious about water. Less water, same shine, just more sustainable.”
Turning a water challenge into an opportunity
The entrepreneurs’ approach comes against a backdrop of persistent pressure on South Africa’s water resources.
South Africa receives an average of approximately 465 millimetres of rainfall a year, compared with a global average of about 860mm, according to the Department of Water and Sanitation.
Johannesburg has also been encouraging residents, institutions and businesses to reduce consumption as the city works towards its water-use targets.
For small businesses, such challenges can represent more than an environmental concern. They can also present opportunities to rethink traditional business models.
QuickIn has taken that approach to an everyday service that is often associated with significant water consumption.
The hidden cost of a conventional wash
The potential impact becomes clearer when considering the volumes of water that can be used during a conventional vehicle wash.
An international peer-reviewed study monitoring 3,667 vehicle washes recorded average water consumption of approximately 158 litres for a saloon car and 197 litres for an SUV.
For a business washing dozens of vehicles a day, those volumes can quickly add up.
QuickIn’s waterless model removes the need for a traditional hose-based wash, replacing it with its own locally manufactured cleanser and biodegradable vehicle-care products.
The result is a business model designed around reducing water dependency while maintaining the appearance and finish customers associate with a professional car wash.
Sustainability starts with everyday businesses
For Ndebele, the bigger opportunity lies in showing that sustainability does not have to be an abstract corporate concept reserved for large companies.
It can start with the decisions made by small businesses every day.
“Sustainability has to become part of how we do everyday things,” says Ndebele.
“As entrepreneurs, we saw an opportunity to build a business that provides a service people need while being more responsible about how we use our natural resources. If there is a better way to do something, we believe it is worth pursuing.”
That philosophy is reflected in QuickIn’s broader business proposition, which combines quality, convenience and sustainability.
Rather than asking customers to compromise in the name of conservation, the founders are positioning water-saving as part of a better way of delivering an existing service.
A local business with a bigger message
As Johannesburg heads towards the warmer months, the founders believe businesses have an important role to play in encouraging more responsible water use.
Their argument is particularly relevant for small and emerging enterprises, which collectively make up a significant part of the city’s economic fabric.
For entrepreneurs, sustainability can also become a source of innovation — identifying where traditional practices consume unnecessary resources and developing alternatives that make commercial and environmental sense.
At QuickIn, that thinking has transformed something as ordinary as washing a car into an opportunity to demonstrate that conservation and commerce do not have to compete.
For Mthembu and Ndebele, the change begins with one vehicle, one customer and one less hose.
One car at a time, QuickIn is showing that saving water can be part of doing business — without taking the shine off the result.
QuickIn Car Wash
QuickIn Car Wash is a proudly South African waterless car wash founded by entrepreneurs Jerry Mthembu and Cyril Ndebele. Based at Parking Lot 6, Victoria Yards in Johannesburg, the business provides waterless vehicle-cleaning services using its locally manufactured, in-house waterless car cleanser alongside biodegradable car-care products.
Its business model is built around quality, convenience and sustainability.
