Waterless Carwash Product.

[Cuban8]

I do like to keep our cars clean as much as possible and since the year dot it's been the bucket of water, simple detergent and soft brush, leathering off  and  with a decent wax polish afterwards. Expensive and fancy cleaners I've never bothered with. 

The local car factor was doing a special on Simoniz waterless wash (half price £2.75) so I thought I'd give it a try, not expecting it to be any good at all.

Wrong, wrong wrong! Used it on the Mondeo yesterday and the results are amazing but with one or two caveats. I wouldn't use it on a heavily mud soiled vehicle and you do have to follow the instructions to get the product to work.

The Mondy was very dusty and dull looking so the process is to work on a panel at a time, apply an even spray of product and wipe away with a clean soft cloth turning all the time to a clean bit ( yellow polisher), this removes the dirt particles and then go over again with a second clean yellow polisher to get the surface completely dry.  Finally buff to a shine with a good quality thick microfibre cloth. Dead easy and I'd finished the Mondy's large bonnet lid in no more than a couple of minutes - twenty minutes tops to do the whole car. the product contains wax so I didn't use it on the windscreen. Chucked the cloths in the washing machine on a quick cycle with no detergent ready for next time - the dirt particles just rinse out.

If you view car cleaning as a bother or chore this will be of no interest, I find it enjoyable and worthwhile - if you are of a similar mind give waterless was a go - I'd still give the cars a conventional wet wash if they get very dirty or say every two or three dry washes though, especially in the winter.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Cuban8

[kc]

Whats wrong with real water?   We get some lovely stuff here straight out of the tap and some people even drink it!

[Cuban8]

Absolutely nothing of course wrong with washing with water and I'll continue to give the vehicles a conventional wash and leather when they get very dirty or to rinse way any crud that might get missed when washing 'dry'. I'm always open to new ideas if I can see that they might be worthwhile or useful to me - and in this case a product that I'd considered to be a gimmick  was in fact nothing of the sort and thought it might be something others could be interested in.

[kc]

I would be worried that the surface of the paint would be damaged.    Water softens the effect of , for example, wet or dry paper and reduces the sanding effect.   One would expect water being used to wash a car would reduce the chance of fine grit or dust scratching the paintwork.

[Don Fry]

My beloved always complains about the state of the car. I explain we’ve only had it eight years, so it’s not ready for a wash yet, merely a bit grubby.

[Frank Skilbeck]

Is it any good on exhaust residue from a glow engine?

[Don Fry]

15 minutes ago, Frank Skilbeck said:

Is it any good on exhaust residue from a glow engine?

Dragging post back to important matters

[Martin McIntosh]

I just go to one of the local Eastern European car washes which will make a far better job of it in a few minutes than I could possibly do in several hours for 10 quid inside and out. No brainer.

[Don Fry]

I had a “pointed” conversation with beloved over the state of the car today. I reiterated I’m not cleaning it, and rejected her suggestion I buy a new car. 
I suggested, if she wanted a clean car, take it to a valeter. Right, she stated, I’ll do that and have a stoll  round while it’s done. Stroll round, I said, all day, poor person got a days work on, lichen growing is a clue. Drop it off for the day.

We might get a clean car, or not.

[Trevor Crook]

I've used one of the waterless products on a mildly dirty car, and it worked pretty well. I am a bit worried about dirt abrading the paint though.

I confess I'm a bit of a keen car washer, I find it therapeutic. I like cars, they cost lots of money, so I like mine to look its best. A proper wash for me involves clearing off the worst of the dirt with a pressure washer. I then use a snowfoam lance on the pressure washer, followed by a hand wash using a microfibre mitt and the two bucket method. A final rinse with the pressure washer is followed by leathering the windows, and drying the bodywork with a large microfibre cloth and spray on shine. Oh, and I use wheel cleaner and a wheel brush on the alloys.

All this is more than most people do, and most will consider it a waste of time and effort, but I enjoy it! A quick look at YouTube shows that lots of people take things to a much higher level......

[Don Fry]

Trevor, as we are on a forum for builders and flyers of toy aircraft, I don’t think you are going to get muck kickback.

As it says in the book, “let him without…throw the first stone.”

[Colin Carpenter]

One more for the European chappies doing it’s for a fiver ✅??Colin

[Phil McCavity]

@trevor crook.

I follow the same cleaning regime as yourself with an occasional clay bar of the paintwork.

 

 

 

[Andrew Calcutt]

Clay bar,ultimate compound then carnuba wax,mirror finish.

[Trevor Crook]

Phew, glad I'm not the only one! Yes, I've used a clay bar too, worked wonders on an old MX-5 I bought, which had white paint speckles on it's dark blue paint. I haven't clayed my current car as that had paint protection applied when I bought it. I don't use any expensive products, just mist on Carplan "Demon Shine" when I dry it with my microfibre cloth. Water still beads really well after nearly 3 years.