Review: McKee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash

[Marc08EX]

Review: McKee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash
McKee’s 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash




Description: (Taken from AG's website)

A 4-use-in-1, hyper-concentrated formula for a clean finish – without the water!

McKee’s 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash take some of the most often used formulas in the car detailing industry and combines them together in a hyper-concentrated blend for the ultimate in paint cleaning! McKee’s N-914 is more than just a rinseless wash; when diluted accordingly, N-914 can be used as a waterless wash, a clay lubricant, or a paint prep! This no-nonsense formula will not alter the look of your wax, coating, or sealant – McKee’s 37 N-914 simply leaves a clean surface behind!

When it comes to smart shopping, finding a product that gives you more bang for your buck is like winning the lottery. Imagine if you found a toothpaste that could also wash your hair, clean your face, and season your pasta – you’d never buy plain old toothpaste again! That’s the feeling you can expect to get when you try McKee’s N-914 Rinseless Wash for the first time.

McKee’s 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash owes its versatility to an advanced surfactant that creates a protective layer of lubrication and prevents marring, swirl marks, and scratches caused by dirt, grit, and synthetic clay being rubbed over the surface during cleaning.

Water restrictions caused by droughts, severe winter weather, or simply no access to an area for car washing all lead back to the use of a rinseless wash. These highly-useful formulas allow you to always have a clean finish (even without the water) and Mckee’s 37 N-914 is no exception. In fact, McKee’s has taken it a step further by turning their rinseless wash into a 4-in-1!

McKee’s 37 N-914 uses an advanced formula to clean paint of all surface debris – including oils found in polishes and compounds Yep, you read that right! You can use McKee’s 37 N-914 to prep your paint for application of a paint coating! Show me another rinseless and waterless wash/clay lubricant that can do that!

Use McKee’s 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash Formula as:
A Rinseless Wash – Dilute 1:256
A Waterless Wash – Dilute 1:128
A Clay Lubricant – Dilute 1:128
A Paint Prep – Dilute 1:8

When diluted accordingly, McKee’s 37 N-914 will not alter the look or feel of your paint coating, paint sealant or carnauba wax – this highly concentrated formula does not contain protective polymers or glossing agents and leaves you with only a purely cleaned surface.


Price:
$14.99 for 16oz
$42.99 for 128oz


Introduction:

Recent advances in detailing technology allowed us to have various options on how we wash and maintain our vehicles. Rinseless washing has become a popular option for people who live in apartments or condos where there's no access to any hose. Also, people who live where there's water restrictions. There are lots of good products available in the market right now but one product stood out in the past few years and that is the Meguiar's D114 - Rinse Free Express Wash. This product left nothing behind and cleaned dirty surfaces very effectively. Unfortunately, Meguiar's decided to discontinue this product due to low sales and this disappointed a lot of fans of this product.

McKee's 37 to the rescue! Nick @ McKee's 37 used his magic and developed this product to replace Meguiar's D114. Is it as good of a product as that? Let's find out!


Review:

I normally would do a how-to article when doing rinseless or waterless. But I've written a few how-to articles already with regards to that topic so I won't do that anymore. If you want to learn how to properly wash your car using rinseless or waterless, please check out the articles I've written in the past in the links below:
Review & How-To: Optimum No Rinse Wash & Wax
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...l-washing.html
Review & How-To: Meguiar's D115 Rinsefree Express Wash and Wax
Review & How-To: Ultima Waterless Wash Plus

Now let's continue on to the N-914 review.

Here's a picture of the product description and directions:



Upon opening the bottle cap, you are greeted with a great aroma - it smells like a very sweet candy. Can't pinpoint the exact flavor but I just want to eat the product up LOL! You also notice lots of bubbles inside the bottle:



The test subject for this review hasn't been washed in about a month. And we had a very huge rain storm last weekend where I drove through the rain for about 180 miles. Thankfully, the vehicle wasn't totally dirty because it's coated with Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating. Here are some before pictures showing how dirty the car was:











The grey color makes it harder to capture the crud that has built up on the paint surface.

To use the McKee’s 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash as a rinseless wash, the dilution ratio is 1:256. So you add an ounce of N914 to 2 gallons of water.

First, you pour the product on a measuring cup:


Measure approximately an ounce. Here you can see the product's color is green. Again, the bubbles are evident.


Add your rinseless wash to your bucket of water:



Here's the N-914 mixing in with the water:



Normally, you'd have the proper amount of water in your bucket before adding your rinseless wash solution. In this case, I only added 1 gallon of water first because I wanted to test how much suds the solution will produce when agitated. Here's a picture of me blasting the solution with the hose:



As you can see, there are lots of bubbles and suds being created (not that it's important). In fact, here's how much suds it created when I brought up the water level to 2 gallons:



Even though there are lots of suds, the suds quickly dissipate once you start washing the paint. Here's a video showing how this product is used and dried:



Here's a picture on how the N-914 rinseless solution looked moments after washing the panel:



As you can see, the rinseless wash solution beaded up. This is mainly because of the Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating I have on the car. You can also see in the video that drying the panel was effortless and a breeze.

To be honest, I wasn't really a big fan of rinseless washing. I much prefer waterless washing. When ONR first came out, everybody was going crazy over this product but I didn't like it as much. I'm sure one of the reasons back then was that rinseless washing was still new so I had a hard time convincing myself on how safe rinseless washing is when used with the proper technique. But the other main reason why I hated ONR was that it stained the wash media you're using. So of course, I had to test this with the N-914. Here's a photo of the dirt I accumulated from washing one panel:



Agitating the microfiber towel against the grit guard:



The results are GREAT! The microfiber towel released majority, if not all of the dirt that was on the microfiber towel:



Now let's try it on some nasty wheels:







Use a microfiber towel or your favorite wheel washing media to clean the surface with N-914:



After drying the wheels off:



Looks pretty clean to me!

Don't forget to dress your tires using your favorite tire product. For me, I love using the McKee's 37 Gloss Tire Gel.



Apply the tire dressing on the tire:



After. Very nice looking wheel and tire using McKee's 37 products:



After washing the entire car with N-914, I used one of my favorite spray waxes, McKee's 37 Fast Wax, on the entire vehicle. Spray the fast wax on:



Then spread it around and buff it off to reveal a high gloss shine:



Now enjoy the fruits of your labor. Here are some after shots:







Look at that shine!





The following pictures show how clean the car is:

[Marc08EX]

WAIT WAIT WAIT guys! Did you think that this review is done? What's a review without a proper comparison!?!? As you've guessed, I'm going to compare this product with Meguiar's D114. I also wanted to compare it against a rinseless wash that leaves some protection behind. For this, I elected to use the McKee's 37 Rinse Free Wash & Wax.



Here's me pouring the D114 into the bucket filled with water. Please keep in mind that the proper dilutions were used for both products.



Here's the D114 mixing with the water. Notice how it produces some suds and bubbles like N-914 as well?



Here's me pouring the McKee's 37 Rinse Free Wash & Wax (RFWW from now on) into the bucket filled with water:



Here's the RFWW mixing with the water.



The test subject for this review is my wife's vehicle. It hasn't been washed in about 2-3 months. We drove it 1000 miles out of state 2 weekends ago and drove through some heavy rain in Los Angeles. In addition, it's been a while since I last applied LSP on the car. Needless to say, it's filthy. Here are some before pictures showing how dirty the car was:













For this comparison, I wanted to show you guys how the rinseless solution reacts once it touches the paint and you start washing the car.

First up, the McKee's 37 N-914:

Washing:


Here's a picture showing the rinseless solution on the paint after washing:



As you can see in the video and picture above, the N-914 rinseless wash solution doesn't bead up on the paint but it "sticks". It has a few holes where paint is exposed. I didn't know how to describe it but forum member "The Guz" used a perfect adjective - "flat". The rinseless wash solution laid kind of "flat" on the paint but not entirely. You'll see later D114 is even flatter. I'm pretty sure that having a fresh coat of LSP or a coating on the paint will help the N-914 bead up as evidenced in my very first video above of the grey car.

Drying:


Here are some pictures on how clean the paint looks after washing it with N-914:



Next is the Meguiar's D114:

Washing:


Here's a picture showing the rinseless solution on the paint after washing:



As you can see in the video and picture above, the D114 rinseless wash solution is even more "flat" than the N-914. I know a lot of people love D114 but this was one of the reasons why I wasn't fond of D114. Don't get me wrong, I think D114 is a great product but it's just so hard to dry for me. The microfiber drying towels get saturated so fast and as a result, I get so much streaking. I'm sure this is a consequence on how much product is left behind on the paint because on how "flat" it is.

Drying:


Here are some pictures on how clean the paint looks after washing it with D114:



Last but not least, the McKee's 37 RFWW:

Washing:


Here's a picture showing the rinseless solution on the paint after washing:



As you can see in the video and picture above, the RFWW was a lot less "flat" on the surface. I wouldn't call it beading but it left a lot of holes where paint is exposed. I like it a lot when a rinseless product does this because it's less solution to dry off.

Drying:


Here are some after shots showing how clean the car is:











Again, let's try it on some nasty wheels. These wheels and tires haven't been cleaned for at least 6 months.







Use a microfiber towel or your favorite wheel washing media to clean the surface with N-914:



Look at how much dirt is being lifted off and released:



Afters:







Again, it works pretty well on some nasty baked up brake dust.


Opinions and Observations:

The N-914 has a great aroma - it smells like a very sweet candy. Can't pinpoint the exact flavor but the smell makes me want to eat the product. A great fragrance like this makes it a pleasure to work with.

The color of the product is green.

The product has a lot of bubbles compared with other rinseless washes on the market and produces even more bubbles when agitated with water. However, these bubbles quickly dissipate the moment you start washing so it doesn't affect any performance.

The N-914 definitely cleans very effectively. In fact, I think it leaves the surface even cleaner than other rinseless washes. It just feels that way. Maybe it's just placebo effect. I also felt that it had a lot of lubrication making your wash media glide over dirt very easily. This is very important IMO because it will help reduce the chance of scratching your paint.

It releases dirt very easily from the wash media, unlike ONR. So this is a huge plus in my book. I hated ONR for this specific reason and that's why I only used it a handful of times.

So let's compare it to D114. N-914 lays down "flat" like D114 but not as flat. I would say it's about 80-90% of D114's flatness. The flatness will be reduced on how strong your LSP protection is on the car. As you saw in my review above, N-914 beaded up and didn't lay "flat" on a vehicle that has a ceramic coating on it. I also feel that N-914 is easier to dry and leaves less streaking (trails from the MF towel as you dry) to evaporate. This is a huge advantage for me. I also felt that N-914 was slicker causing the wash media to glide over the dirt easier. All of these reasons make N-914 a better product than D114 IMHO. I would pick the N-914 over my D114 any day.

I'm amazed on how versatile and economical this product is. Not only is it a rinseless wash but also a waterless wash and a panel wipe. As mentioned earlier, I'm not really a rinseless wash person but more of a waterless wash junkie. The N-914 mainly attracted me on how economical it is for a waterless wash. 1:128 dilution ratio! That's amazing! And this product can also be used to prep the surface for a coating or LSP application.


Conclusion:

Nick's 914, I mean the N-914 is a definite homerun. It works amazingly well and will not disappoint. If you like D114, then you will love this product. I think this product made all good aspects of D114 even better. I haven't really done much rinseless washing lately but this product may bring me back over the fence. I can see myself using this product as a rinseless more and more. Its effectiveness, versatility, uniqueness and being economical makes it a hard product to beat. If you haven't tried this product yet, please do yourself a favor and order it now. Be prepared to get your socks blown off.

Great job on this product Nick! Thanks for your hard work in bringing this to us!

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this review. Comments are appreciated.

[umana2482]

Wow, amazing review! Plenty of pictures to show how great N-914 is.
I may need to order some later.
Thank you for the review.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Autogeekonline mobile app

[fly07sti]

Damn you Marc! I don't need to buy anymore. I still have a nice inventory of D114 amongst others. All seriousness, killer review buddy. Miata looks awesome.

[Opti]

Amazing read with lots of usefull information. This is what a good review should be like. I also liked your other "How to" articles.

Great job

[Legumes]

That was a very thorough review, thanks.

If N-914 really is easier to dry than D114, that's a nice benefit. I don't find D114 that hard to work with at 1:256 or 1:192 usually. At 1:128 I do get areas that can be difficult to dry, especially when it's cool or cold. It's almost always humid here, so that probably makes a difference in my case. I have experimented with leaving the marginal amount of material on the surface that was hard to completely dry. It had completely flashed off within a few minutes leaving no streaks behind on the paint. I *do* like to 100% dry the car though, so I'm not really a fan of leaving that stuff behind, even if it doesn't streak as I found with the one car I've tested that on so far. I plan to add some N-914 to my next order here. I'm a big fan of the leave nothing behind rinseless washes as of late. The slickness of them has me sold even though I know the encapsulation type is perfectly safe after using those for a few years now. I just prefer the feel of a super slick solution as I'm wiping soiling away from the paint.

[Hammer77]

Marc,

Another stellar review, the bonus comparison was a nice extra. Thank you for taking the time to put it together to share with us. Also, Thank You for spending my money, now I got to try it, and will pick up a bottle on my next order!

[oneheadlite]

Marc,

Another stellar review, the bonus comparison was a nice extra. Thank you for taking the time to put it together to share with us. Also, Thank You for spending my money, now I got to try it, and will pick up a bottle on my next order!

Totally agree - another top shelf review! Definitely appreciate everything that goes into it with pictures while you go, a well thought out/written review, and getting all the photos loaded in to go with it.

Just put a bottle of N-914 in my cart during the sale yesterday, excited to give it a go.

[AZ Mike]

Thanks for another great review. After all of the positive reviews of this product, N-914 is going to be my replacement for Meguiar's D114.

[FUNX650]

Hi Marc...

I want to take this opportunity to
congratulate you on your spectacular
presentation in this assessment of
McKee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash.

Your descriptive approach, using multi-
photo visuals, was very effective. I espe-
cially appreciated your attention to details.

Again...Thank you for the preparation you
put into this effort: It is one of your best!



Bob