Do rim protectors affect a car wash?
A car wash can be a rinse at home, a hand wash, or a tunnel with brushes and a rail. The makers don't give one answer for every kind, and they don't all talk about the same product.
How long before an automatic wash?
RimBlades says the strips need at least 3 days to cure after you install them. After that, they say you can take them through car washes, winter storms, and monsoons. All-Fit says to wait at least 24 hours before you wash the car or drive it. Those waits are for their own adhesive strips. AlloyGator doesn't state either wait.
Cleaning the lip before a stick-on strip goes on is a different step. That's in prep a wheel for a stick-on rim protector. Driving through salt and storms, once the strip is already on, is in do rim protectors work in winter?.
What about a guide-rail wash?
RimBlades says damage may occur in a car wash that uses a guide rail. They say the strip can protect the rim and still be damaged itself. They advise you not to use a guide-rail wash if the tires are low-profile.
That note is about the tire the rail can catch, not about whether the strip fits. Do rim protectors work on low-profile tires? covers the tire. RimBlades doesn't say a brush tunnel without a rail carries the same risk.
Which cleaner do they name?
AlloyGator says to clean the wheels and the rings with normal car shampoo, or with a general wheel cleaner suitable for a delicate finish such as chrome. They say to avoid harsh acid-based cleaners, and the thick brush-on tire shines some hand car washes use. Their aftercare sheet says to wash with a basic car-wash soap and no harsh chemicals.
The advice above is about the wheel and the piece on the lip. If the ring or the strip is torn after a wash, see know when to replace a rim protector.