Review: DP Ceramic Wash

[Mike Phillips]

Review: DP Ceramic Wash

DP Ceramic Wash





What is it?

A car wash that includes SiO2 or Silicone Dioxide.


What does it do?

While washing your car, this car wash leaves behind SiO2 on the exterior surfaces to create a hydrophobic or high water beading finish.


When do I use it?

Anytime you want to wash your car.


Why should I use it?

The hydrophobic finish created by the car wash makes water bead-up and roll off the car to give your car a self-cleaning effect anytime it rains. Also future washing and drying will be faster and easier. Plus - your car will tend to stay cleaner longer versus using any conventional car wash.




From the manufacturer

DP Ceramic Wash

Wash as often as you want for a quick SiO2 boost!

DP Ceramic Wash is the wash you are looking for if you want a highly hydrophobic maintenance wash. After removing contaminants, DP Ceramic Wash provides a boost to your ceramic coating each time it is used. Plus, the formula used for DP Ceramic Wash will make every wash easier than the one before it.

When you spend the time, effort and even money, to wash your vehicle you want to do it the right way. You don't want to waste the energy to do a weak wash with little protection and benefit. Not only that, but a doing a routine maintenance wash keeps you from having to do longer, more intense washes when you realize your vehicle is in despair. But with DP Ceramic Wash, you get the best of both worlds… a highly powerful wash, but also a maintenance wash.

First and foremost, DP Ceramic Wash removes dust, dirt, road grime and other surface contaminants from your vehicle. Wash your car either once or routinely, with DP Ceramic Wash so that you can leave behind a layer of SiO2 protection. This SiO2 quality will provide incredible water beading, also known as hydrophobicity, to keep water from collecting on the surface and thus preventing water spots from forming. This hydrophobic property will also add a slick, sleek, glossy shine.

Each time you use DP Ceramic Wash your vehicle will have a little bit more of an SiO2 boost each time you use it, so will help to extend your coatings overall protection. However, it will also make each wash even easier.

DP Ceramic Wash can be used as often as you like, so luckily it is easy-to-use, but still don't use it in direct sunlight. Mix 2 ounces of DP Ceramic Wash with three to five gallons of water and activate the product with a jet of water. Then get to work washing your car, top to bottom, rinsing frequently. It's important to not let DP Ceramic Wash dry on the surface.


DIRECTIONS

IMPORTANT: Do not wash vehicle in direct sunlight.

1. Mix approximately 2 oz. of DP Ceramic Wash with 3-5 gallons of water.
2. Activate suds with a strong jet of water.
3. Wash entirety of vehicle, starting at the top and working your way down.
4. Rinse frequently during the wash – do not allow DP Ceramic Wash to dry on the surface.

Love washing my own car!

Most of the time when I test out new products and write how-to articles and product reviews I'm using someone else's car. This means someone else gets a free Mike Phillips Detail Job. Good for them. But sometimes it works out that I can use my own car, such is the case for this new product. My Infinity QX30 is dirty and overdue for a thorough washing. This makes for a perfect demonstration for this really cool product.

Follow along and when it comes to the rinsing and drying step, you'll see what is so amazing about this product.


First - let me photo-document that the car is in fact dirty.

























Second - let's mix up the car wash. Instructions say to use 2 ounces for 3 to 5 gallons of water.

I have approximately 4 gallons in my 5-gallon bucket. My measuring cup holds approximately 1 ounce, so I'll fill it up twice and add to the water and then mix.













Next I'll blast the water/soap solution to create suds...












One thing I want to point out, ceramic car washes make suds initially, but from my experience - the suds don't last very long. It's a chemical-thing that has to do with the SiO2 as an ingredient in the car wash formula. The cleaning ingredients will still work but the suds will dissipate. I think it's important I forewarn you because I know people really like lots of suds... but this type of chemistry doesn't work like normal car washes.





Now that my car wash solution is mixed up, the next step is to blast off any loose dirt BEFORE actually washing the car. If you ever take the IDA Skills Validation Test - this is one of the questions you'll be asked to know about.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Best Practice

Before rubbing a wash mitt over scratch-sensitive clearcoat paint - first blast off any loose dirt.












Next, gather some soapy water into your wash mitt then wash your car starting at the top and working your way down until you've washed and rinsed all the body panel and glass.
































Technique Tip

Whenever you're washing car, be sure to also wash the rubber blades on the wiper arms. Rubber oxidizes and gets oily road film on it just like your car's body panels. It's also a good idea when drying the car to inspect the rubber blades to see if they need to be replaced.






Tool Recommendation

If don't already have one or two of the Wheel Woolies Boar's Hair Wheel Brushes then GET ONE - or two.

These are not only my favorite brush for cleaning the face of wheels but also for getting grills clean on the front of cars.










When all done washing the car, give the entire car a final rinse to ensure all loose dirt particles are flushed off.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued.....

Here's what's so cool about the DP Ceramic Wash - it creates a hydrophobic finish on the exterior of your car that beads-up water like crazy! And there's an accumulative effect, the more you use it the better the water beading gets. This helps to keep your car clean, longer in-between normal washing plus makes future washing and drying faster and easier. And anytime your car is in a hard rain - the rain will actually flush a lot of the dirt off your car. It's like Mother Nature wants you to have a clean car.


Look how tight, tall and small the water beading is on the paint but also the glass and trim.
























In the below two pictures you see 4 different materials, glass, metal, plastic and paint and the water beading is uniform on all 4 different surfaces.






Pretty cool huh?

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


But water beading and self-cleaning isn't the only feature, drying is faster too.

Check this out...

Because of the high surface tension created by the SiO2 - water wants to GET AWAY from the surface.








It's much happier to move into your drying towel versus remain on the surface.







This is why drying your car is faster....






Drying all of your car is faster and easier...














And of course, dry all of the body panels...














This is called STRETCHING!

After drying the outside of the car, open all the doors, trunk lid, hatchback and hood and then using one of the Guzzler Drying towels that is already damp with rinse water, wipe down all the jambs to not only dry them but to clean them.
















The QX30 is now totally dry.






I started out with around 4 gallons and I'm left with about 2 gallons and the water looks pretty gross now...

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Here's the final results...



















Now this is how a car should look after a quality wash job!






Review

This product does what it claims it will do, it will clean your car and leave SiO2 behind on all exterior surfaces. And as I shared above, this creates a self-cleaning effect if the car is in a hard rain, which keeps your car cleaner longer in-between normal washing. It also makes future washing and drying faster and easier. These three benefits are all pluses in my opinion.

While the car wash cleaned what I documented to be a very dirty car, at least by my standards, the suds don't last long so just be aware of that going into this type of product. I've used a number of these types of car washes and its the same characteristic for each that I've used. It has to do with the Silicone Dioxide in the formula that simply makes it so the suds, which are tiny bubbles, pop or dissipate faster than car wash products without the SiO2. It's not a negative, it's just a characteristic. Also - these types of car wash soaps won't work well in foam guns for this same reason. So save this car wash for the normal bucket method for washing a car.

In my opinion and experience, SiO2 car washes make great washes for cars that are regularly maintained, thus this is a great maintenance wash, but also for neglected cars. Why? Hey if your car is neglected, this means you don't have tome to detail it yourself or it's not a priority. Regardless, if you can at least wash your car using a product like this it will provide protection and it will create a shiny finish that beads water to keep your car cleaner longer and again, make future washing and drying faster and easier.

My one important tip is to always make sure your wash mitts and drying towels are clean and uncontaminated as these two things directly touch the paint.




On Autogeek.com


DP Ceramic Wash

Cobra Super Plush Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt

Cobra 3-Pack The Supreme Guzzler Waffle Weave Towels, 20 x 40 inches

Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush

[Mike Phillips]

Now available!

[Hermes1]

Nice review Mike thanks for sharing what looks like a good product. One question, can this be mixed to use as a water less wash and if so what dilution?

[Dr Oldz]

Another great review/how to!

I’m a big fan of the Wolfgang version.(I buy it by the gallon)

This looks equally as good!

[TonesGTO]

Mike how would you say this compares to the Wolfgang version?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike how would you say this compares to the Wolfgang version?

Just going by memory - I don't think there's a "wow" difference.

The only way to gauge something like this would be to do a side-by-side test keeping ALL factors controlled except the products. And ideally, use a flat surface like the hood of a car for the test.