Car cleaning products?

[911hillclimber]

I'm fed-up of buying bottles of this and that from Halfords and others to wash my cars that simply fail to do the job.

The last two promise everything on the labels, seem almost insoluble, do not foam and cover a whetted car surface and seem to remove less than 100% of grime.

Are there 'green issue' potions at play, are we unable to buy things that work using reasonable concentrations, or what?

On here, most must have a reasonably priced favorite product to wash our every day cars that they feel actually do a good job.

Anyone care to tell what they find actually works well please?

[Fuchs915]

I have used Zymol for a few years, does a pretty good job and is available from Halfords. I am currently trying Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild. Doesn't smell as nice as the Zymol but cleans reasonably well as far as I can tell so far. I am not a detailing freak, but a good wash, clay, cleanse and wax a couple of times a year really makes life easy. I have used Zymol wax (just the entry level one) again for a few years. Looks pricey but a tub lasts a looooong time. Doing a side by side test of Zymol and Dodo Juice waxes on the roof of the XC90 at the moment - got bored one day so thought, what the hey, let's do some science. Early indication has the Zymol in the lead, but have a holiday drive and some sea air coming up soon so I'll know more afterwards.

You could check out Detailing World forum and find which of the 15000 opinions of what is best with what, etc. you agree with

Good luck

Kevin

[saxon]

Yep look up chemical guys great products.

[PSut]

Did my BMW X5 with original Turtle Wax the other day. The stuff dries really quickly and goes white, serious elbow grease to get it off again especially on a large car!

Also did the wheels with Rimwax which seems good so far.

[DaveW]

Probably not what you want to hear however the better the prep and the more decent the wax, the easier it is to stay on top of or keep clean.

I used to use Zymol but have been a Swissvax fan for years now. It is expensive but lasts a long time (and if you clay the panels, cleanse (polish) them and use the basic wax it is really easy to clean - in fact stays clean longer because the surface is smoother).

For washing, my favourite is Meguiars Soft Gel wash. Suds up nicely and isn't that expensive. However as long as it has a cleansing agent in it, is pH neutral (no salt!) you can even use shower gels...I know of folks that use Lynx shower gels (ones without the 'bits') with decent results. It is pH neutral for your skin and so won't strip a wax off if you go to the bother of properly waxing the car.

[inaglasshouse]

Yep, detailing world is exactly the place to while away an afternoon on research. Or the rest of your life, if you prefer.

Personally, for everyday washing, (2-bucket method), I use:
Shampoo: Meguiars Gold Class or Bilt-Hamber auto wash. The latter allegedly has slight anti-corrosion benefits, so tends to get used on my older cars. Both are definitely wax safe (won't strip off the wax).
All purpose cleaner, in this case used for wheels: Bilt-Hamber Surfex HD, diluted to about 20% and sprayed on, then agitated using a Swisssvax wheel brush, and rinsed well. 20% is arguably a bit too concentrated - is probably stripping the wheel wax - but shifts the brake dust and is fine if you are re-applying wax fairly frequently anyway.

In the winter I've been known to use a snow foam lance to get the worst of the crud off before going near the car with a sponge / wash mit.
Also, because the water is quite hard where I live, I always use an inline de-ionising filter for the rinse water. This sort of thing:
http://www.daqua.co.uk/divessels.htm. Means you don't get hard water marks left on the paintwork even if you fail to dry the car or choose not to (since drying, even when done carefully, is a possible way of introducing small scratches).

... but it's not really about the washing. The wax is the main thing. Get the pre-wax prep and the wax right and washing is so much easier (in summer at least). As others have said, swissvax and Zymol are both good options for wax.

[911hillclimber]

That is great, thank you all.

I've waxed many of my cars with Zymol, easy to put on and buff and smells nice even if a bit 'dusty' after round the shut faces.

It is for the every week wash on the 3 cars i have that see road duty, esp the two black ones that bug me.

I had a 5 litre tub of Turtle Wax wash with a 'wax' that really was good, but can't find it now, and that did a really good job.

I'll search out the zymol product as it should compliment the wax i use.

Very soon I take delivery of a new Skoda that is having the Autoglm protection system applied from new.
I hope this makes the wash chore a lot better.

My 911's paint is quite rough and will waste a clay bar, so a good wash and a zymol today for Silverstone. It was washing the car yesterday with miserable results that prompted the question.

[richkaz]

I chucked out all my cleaning products after discovering
Finish Kare Products, Big White Hi Temp Paste Wax.
it's synthetic and a tin lasts forever. It simply won't allow dirt to
Settle on it and the rain cleans the car. It's applied to the paint and wheels once a year.
2 months of brake dust wipes off like wet fag ash.

[Bootsy]

I'm a big fan of Collinite - and can be bought from good old Norfolk! http://www.shipshapenorfolkltd.co.uk/

Developed for boats originally. Not going to give you a detailer's gloss finish but gives a good shine (if you clean and prep the body first) and is so durable it lasts for a very long time.

I bought a big tin - http://www.shipshapenorfolkltd.co.uk/pr ... x_18_fl_oz - years ago and still have only used half.

[squirejo]

Anyone care to tell what they find actually works well please?

Eastern european chap and a tenner?

I use Meguiars and proper lambswool mits and cloths and it works a treat.

[dogbower]

When I got the car I decided to get some Meguiars and have been very happy with the results.

One good clean each year with clay bar and wax, the just use gold class wash after that, always dry it off, wait five minutes for a bird to s**t on it.

Stuart.

[alastairp]

I'll need to ask my wife....

[johnM]

Like folk have said a clean car ie one that's been tared clay bared polished then waxed or sealed will be very easy to keep clean. I have just carried out that whole process on my Skoda and used a sealer instead of a wax to finish it. It's longer lasting than wax I'm told and dirt dosnt stick so a quick wash and it's back to its best.
I do use snow foam as a pre wash and swear by it. If you have a power washer I would recommend using it.
Since I have sealed the car I have not had to physically touch it. Snow foam power wash off and leaf blower to blow the water off.



Kind regards.

[Bootsy]

I'll need to ask my wife....

Bravo

[saxon]

get yourself some of this http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/ ... d_484.html really is great stuff.