Droves of Burning Man attendees return to city with dirty cars

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- You can go for the basic car wash, the "ultra" or "the works" -- but in San Francisco, the most expensive thing on the menu this week is the "Burning Man special" -- a service typically costing upwards of a hundred dollars.

As "burners" return from Black Rock City, their cars coated in the fine beige particulate known as "playa dust," there's an art and a science to removing the caked-on remnants of ten days in the desert.

Car washes are ready to clean away the sand and debris. Dusty cars were lined up at Tower Car Wash in San Francisco.

The top tier wash is $350 because it takes a lot of work to track down and remove every grain of sand.

"All the dust goes inside every part of the car -- the seats, the dashboard, the middle console. So everything has to be wiped off, dusted off. We have to do it one more time to make sure everything is done right," said George Villatoro of Tower Car Wash.

Divisadero Touchless Wash was closed Monday, but starting Tuesday, they expect 500 vehicles -- each costing $120 to clean.