In the TV drama Breaking Bad, Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher turned

meth kingpin, and he needs a business to launder his drug money, something that won't attract

attention, but still brings in large amounts of cash every day.

He considers a laser tag facility, a nail salon, but ultimately, he and his wife, Skyler,

settle on the most boring enterprise they can find.

You want to buy my car wash?

I do.

And I am prepared to talk numbers right now, if you'd like.

You think this is an easy job? You are willing to get down on your hands and knees and

scrub like a housemate? With all the chemicals, eating into your nice skin and stinging in your eyes.

There's nothing glamorous about a car wash.

Their scene is outdated and labor intensive.

Customers worry about scratchy bristles and harsh detergents.

But folks in the industry want you to know that car washes have entered a new era,

and business has never been better.

There's a lot of wind behind our sales right now. The carwash industry sort of quietly has to be rivaling almost any other industry in terms of its transformation and growth.

For the Freakonomics Radio Network, this is the economics of everyday things.

I'm Zachary Crackett.

Today, car washes.

That guy we just heard, his name is Eric Wolfe.

He's the CEO of the International Car Wash Association. It's an industry group that represents carwash owners and suppliers. Part of his job is to make car washes sound like

the greatest place on earth. Going to the car wash, it's kind of fun, right? I mean, you've got

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