5 exterior shampoos - my observations

[gewb]

This winter I have used five exterior wash products on my daily driver. I drive about 1,000 miles a week in northern Coloradao and southern Wyoming. This winter hasn't been too bad as far as snow but we have had a few good storms and CDOT brought out the mag chloride. The wind (and thus the dust) has been brutal. When the weather was nice the road crews were doing crack and pothole repairs – as in tar/asphalt and sealants that can't be avoided.

> In all cases I used the two bucket method.
> Shampoos were applied with a Lowe's grout sponge and the DP was used with medium weight MF towels.
> Drying was with a ww mf towel.
> My Nelly is wearing a coat of Meguiar's NXT applied Dec. 7, '08.

Products:
> Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo
> Wolfgang Auto Bathe
> Meguiar's Deep Crystal
> Blue Coral High Foam
> DP 4 in 1


These are my cleaning observations.

Pinnacle: had a very silky luxurious feel, a pleasure to use. Did a very good job of cleaning general road film, not so good on mag chloride streaks and hardly touched the road tar “whiskers”. Left a nice shine when done.

Wolfgang: smooth feel but not as luxurious as the Pinnacle. It too did a very good job of cleaning general road film, not so good on mag chloride streaks and hardly touched the road tar “whiskers”. Also left a nice shine when done.

Meguiar's: general soapy feel, no where near as pleasurable as the Pinnacle. Did a good job of cleaning general road film, a so-so job on the mag chloride streaks and fairly good on the road tar “whiskers”. Left an ok shine when done.

Blue Coral: again a general soapy feel, no where near as pleasurable as the Pinnacle. Did a good job of cleaning general road film but was the best on the mag chloride streaks and fairly good on the road tar “whiskers”. Left an ok shine when done.

DP: has a feel of it's own. Did a very good job of cleaning general road film, a good job on mag chloride streaks and was the ONLY one to remove the road tar “whiskers” with little effort...I was impressed! Left a nice shine when done.


The first pic shows an example of the tar whiskers AFTER washing with Wolfgang Auto Bathe (sorry, no pics after the Pinnacle, Meg's or BC but it looked similar to the first pic).

The second pic is after using DP 4 in 1 after washing with the Wolfgang.

I think I'll change my usual product and technique...to DP 4 in 1.


Regards,
GEWB

[loudog2]

Try the DP auto bath $15.99 for 32oz. I like it!
DP Auto Bath Shampoo - car wash (http://www.autogeek.net/dp300.html)

[CharlesW]

Just to be sure I understand correctly.
You did use the DP 4 in 1 as a rinseless wash and the other four products for a conventional bucket wash, right?

[gewb]

Just to be sure I understand correctly.
You did use the DP 4 in 1 as a rinseless wash and the other four products for a conventional bucket wash, right?

Correct with one modification - I also use two buckets with the DP 4 in 1.

I mix DP in distilled water in one bucket and have rinse water in the second. After wiping an area down I'll rinse out the mf in the second bucket, squeeze out the water then back into the DP for the next section. After a couple rounds like that I get another mf - repeat until the car is done. I typically need two or three washing towels and one or two drying towels.

Regards,
GEWB

[CharlesW]

Thank you.
That's pretty close to my rinseless wash procedure.
I do use the 4 in 1 or ONR in both buckets so I don't dilute my wash solution with plain water.
I also only use one wash media in most cases except for the wheels and wheel wells.

[Speed-Dude]

how would you guys compare dp 4 in 1 to onr? im stuck in between which one to get because ive heard onr leaves some protection but i dont really know lol.

[CharlesW]

how would you guys compare dp 4 in 1 to onr? im stuck in between which one to get because ive heard onr leaves some protection but i dont really know lol.I have and use both and I don't really see any difference in the performance as a rinseless wash. I don't use either of them for any other use.

Just a heads up. If you aren't a member of the AG VIP Club, this would be a very good time to check it out. :)

[Dsoto87]

how would you guys compare dp 4 in 1 to onr
I never tried DP 4in1 but onr is cheaper. Check out the vip special. You can get it for the same price right now as ONR per ounce. Ive been debating on putting in another order so I can try this and some other things but I dont know whats more important, my product addiction or my mortgage................

[ScottB]

I would suggest using a couple of my favs when possible, Optimum, Zaino, Poorboys, and Duragloss all make fine soaps too.

[MoBenzOwner]

When the weather was nice the road crews were doing crack

I sometimes think our road crews here in MIssouri also do the above when the weather is nice..................:D

[supercharged]

Megs Deep Crystal...Please dude, that's not a soap, that's more of a soapy mixture leftover...
Some of the very best soaps for your money would be Optimum, and Duragloss.

[CharlesW]

Megs Deep Crystal...Please dude, that's not a soap, that's more of a soapy mixture leftover...
Some of the very best soaps for your money would be Optimum, and Duragloss.
Seemed to do an OK job for gewb. :)
As did the Blue Coral which is not exactly a boutique product, either.

[DiPaoro]

I am considering buying this stuff for the VIP special but I have a few questions.

My understanding is this stuff is good for removing tar and how about bugs? Do you use full strength or mix with water? My wife's white car gets lots of this stuff.

Lastly, has anyone tried this stuff on a black car? I would be afraid to use it to wash but how about for a quick detail?

[dublifecrisis]

Deep Crystal is what I use in my dedicated wheel bucket. mostly to drop my brushes in.

I LOVE the Wolfgang Auto bathe, Pinnacle and DG901.

[gewb]

Seemed to do an OK job for gewb. :)
As did the Blue Coral which is not exactly a boutique product, either.

I found the Blue Coral worked better on mag chloride than other OTC washes or boutiques, not great but better. The end results don't lie. However, I don't use BC any other time, only when there is mag chloride on the finish.

As for the Meg's I got it free with my NXT 2 so I tried it and found it to be an ok OTC wash. What I found interesting was the Meg's did a better job of removing the tar whiskers than the boutiques. Again the end results told me the story.

Regards,
GEWB