News & Reviews

Magic Valley Times News, Julie A. Ferraro

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

This old saying may be sometimes attributed to the Greek philosopher Plato, but it holds true today.

In a quiet neighborhood on the south side of Twin Falls, Todd Kirkendall saw a need and invented a solution.

It started with a car.

Kirkendall led me into his garage where I recognized a Corvette beneath a car cover.

What a Corvette, though!

A 2005 model, the previous owner had modifications made, Kirkendall explained. Initially, the car was converted to a 2007 Z06 model, then shipped to Connecticut where a full certified Callaway package was installed on the engine.

“It’s a signature edition,” Kirkendall said, showing me under the hood. “It’s the only one of its kind in the world that I’m aware of.”

Kirkendall bought his first Corvette when he was 17 years old, after falling in love with them at 14. He’s owned Corvettes ever since, and when the opportunity to buy this unique model arose, he grabbed it.

Having acquired such a treasure, Kirkendall wanted to keep it clean, but the water in Twin Falls is really hard.

“I washed my truck once at the house,” he said. “I had to buff out all the spots.”

So, with a background building chemical treatment plants, Kirkendall set out to invent a means to wash cars without the dreaded spots.

“I looked at everything out there, and nothing was viable,” he said.

Commercial “spot free” equipment for sale is usually only meant for rinsing the car, he found. Some of those purify the water to such a high quality, it is actually corrosive to aluminum. With others, the process is not cost effective, averaging $50 per wash.

The equipment he invented and now markets under the company name KC Car Washes, removes the contaminants and minerals in the water, and is used for the entire car wash process: wetting it down, filling the soap bucket, and rinsing.

I experienced the benefits of the system during a car wash fundraiser for a Girl Scout troop a few weeks ago. Kirkendall ran the machine, while the scouts used their sponges to scrub off the bugs and dust.

When I pulled away, “Big Red” — my Mustang — was still wet, but within blocks, it had dried without a spot.

It even stayed clean after a light rain, which usually creates a nasty coat of mud spots. Instead, the dust simply blew off.

He demonstrated how the system works, giving Big Red a bath during our interview.

As he used the pressure washer to start, Kirkendall warned me against using dish soap, my usual go-to, to wash my car.

“Dish soap strips off the wax,” he said.

Better to use a commercial product designed especially for cars, he said.

Diane Kirkendall, Todd’s wife, helped out with the Girl Scout fundraiser and even washes the family cars despite wearing a cast on her left arm from a recent injury. Using the system takes less time, doesn’t get you all wet, and costs about 50 cents per wash.

Around 120 car washes can be done before the need to replace the filter arises. That filter averages between $60 and $80.

“I’m excited for him,” Diane Kirkendall said. “This is not his first invention.”

It’s the closest he’s been, though, to taking an invention to market.

With a patent pending on the device after making tweaks to 15 or 16 prototypes, Kirkendall is working toward the future. He plans to build a manufacturing plant, which will take resources and capital. “I’m looking for business partners and investors,” he said.

Having a personal car wash system at home, without the need to use towels to dry the residue or buff away spots, could be the solution for anyone who takes pride in keeping vehicles sparkling clean.

“We have fun washing the cars now,” Todd Kirkendall said.

A need met through a creative invention, and fun, to boot!