Combination car/dog wash planned for East Dundee

For those times when your car is as dirty as your dog and there's only time to clean one, head to East Dundee. By next spring, East Dundee Express Car Wash will be able to do both.

A three-minute express car wash paired with stainless steel bathtubs for pet washing makes for an interesting combination.

"I've never seen anything like it," East Dundee Village Administrator Frank Koehler said.

The village board this week approve the site plans and a special use permit for the business.

The wash will be in the same parking lot as Thornton's, at the corner of Routes 25 and 68. Co-owner Dan Gunsteen III said he hopes to break ground by mid-October and open by spring.

The car wash will have four packages ranging in price from $3 to $12, takes three minutes and ends in a heated drying chamber that eliminates the need for a final towel dry.

The grand opening will include a week of free car washes - the deluxe version, Gunsteen said.

The pet wash will be $7 for 10 minutes with access to four different types of soap, an odor eliminator, a conditioner and a tub sanitizer. The sink is raised with a walk-up ramp for dogs or cats, allowing customers to avoid a backache.

Trustee Mike Ruffulo is looking forward to the new business for his own personal use - to give his pet sheltie a scrubbing. But he also looks forward to the business' benefit to the village.

"It's going to bring people to that corner, and they're going to use water," Ruffulo said. "Our main sources of revenue are collecting taxes and selling water."