Review: GTechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover & W4 Citrus Foam - Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

Review: GTechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover & W4 Citrus Foam - Mike Phillips






Loaner car = test victim
We had a white Mercedes-Benz rental car here at Autogeek which worked out perfect for me to test out these two new products from Gtechniq, the W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover & W4 Citrus Foam. This is a 2016 C300 and while dealerships are not always known for high quality car washing and/or car detailing, the paint on this car was actually very swirl-free.

Knowing it was a dealership loaner car, I figured it's washed often but probably not much more than that, for example it's probably not clayed, polished or waxed, just washed.




Gtechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover

First up is to test out the new iron and fallout remover.






Most products in this category are labeled simply iron remover. This product also includes the words general fallout in the name. Now I don't know if that means this product includes more chemicals in the formula than those needed to remove iron particles or if the same chemicals that remover iron particles also remove other forms of contamination. What I do know is this product worked to remove iron contamination as you can see by the color-changing effect on the white paint.


BEFORE
Below are shots of the hood and trunk lid on the car before spraying it down with the W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover.




Before






Time to spray down the body panels and see what happens....





The red color showing up on the white paint is a sign that the paint is in fact contaminated. In the pictures below this first picture of the hood I'll zoom in to give you a better view of what's taking place at the surface level.
















White residue?
If you look at the aluminum trim, the W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover is turning white and kind of gooey. At first this kind of freaked me out because it looks like it's staining the trim. But when I went to wash the car the white residue liquefied and washed right off.



















Thoughts and impressions....
The car appears to be contaminated and the new Gtechniq iron and fallout remover works as advertised. These pictures also make the case for my analogy comparing the use of an iron remover on your car's paint to having car insurance for your car. The point being is that you won't know if your car's paint is contaminated unless you get and use an iron remover like the Gtechniq iron and fallout remover. Like in the way you want to have car insurance but you don't actually want to use it, (that means you were in an accident), you want to have an iron remover and use it at least once but it's actually better to NOT see it working as that would mean your paint was contaminated.

If you use an iron remover and see the bleeding-effect this means your paint is or was contaminated and contamination means deterioration and that's never a good thing considering how thin factory paint is and how important it is to have the paint intact to last over the service life of the car.


Fragrance?
On the odor topic, like most iron remover this was smells just as bad similar product in this category. The big pictures if this step only takes minutes to do and after the initial spray of the product onto a panel the odor goes away so I wouldn't use the odor issue as a deal breaker.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Gtechniq W4 Citrus Foam

First of all - this is not technically a foam gun soap. It's a foam cannon soap or pre-wash traffic film remover. What's the difference? A foam cannon is hooked up to a pressure washer while a foam gun is hooked up to a water hose. The practical difference when using these two different types of foam generators is that because a pressure washer pressurizes a foam cannon it will easily create mountains of rich, thick foam. The chemist making the formula for a foam cannon soap will take advantage of this pressurization feature when selecting the ingredients. This same soap when used without pressure will still work but it will never generate the type of rich, thick lather that the foam cannon or foam lance will create.

That said... I'm going to use it in a foam gun.



I love foam guns
It's the only way I wash my own vehicles. We have a pressure washer here at Autogeek but by the time I drag it out, hook it up and then wrestle with the stiff pressurized line that feeds the foam cannon I can be done drying my vehicles off.

I mixed added 2 ounces of W4 Citrus Foam to the 1/2 gallon foam gun you see in the picture below. The directions on the label are given for a foam cannon at 1 part soap to 400 parts water or as a traffic film pre-wash soak, 1 part soap to 25 parts water. There are no directions for using it in a foam gun so I just guessed and if anything, used it on the weak dilution side of the equation for this test. Normally I would add at least 4 ounces to a 1/2 gallon foam gun reservoir.





What is it exactly?

This is a pre-wash snow foam which means it's a soap for removing tough and stubborn road film. Across the paint they call road grime traffic film but both road grime and traffic film are the same thing, it's an oily, dirty build-up on the outside of your car caused by the rain spatter thrown on your car by the cars driving in front of you in wet weather. I have an article that explains what road film is here,

Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film





According to the label
W4 Citrus Foam is pH neutral that removes hard to shift grime. In American English this means it removes stubborn oily road film. W4 Citrus Foam combines an effective citrus degreaser with a strong foaming agent to make it effective at breaking down and removing stubborn road film while still being safe for car waxes, synthetic sealants and paint coatings. It's also non-caustic and 100% biodegradable.



Let's foam a car!
Here's the Mercedes-Benz I just treated with the Gtechniq Iron and General Fallout Remover. The iron and fallout remover have been on the car since testing it out and taking the pictures you see above. So "yes" the product has started to dry in some areas of the car. That's okay though because this is a "loaner car". It's kind of like a rental car in that it makes for a great test car since I'm not to worried about any potential damage. The GOOD NEWS is there was no damage caused by the product drying.


Laying down some foam
Even at 2 ounce per 1/2 gallon of water the foam is coming out very frothy and thick.


Scent
The W4 Citrus Foam has a nice fresh fragrance. I can't pinpoint what it is but perhaps a lemon or citrus scent which makes sense considering it's a citrus soap.













Washing experience
The soap feels like it clean really well. It's not slippery like a maintenance wash but feels a little more grabby under the wash mitt like it's doing a great job of cleaning the paint, which is what it's supposed to do. I'd also point out that the paint on this car doesn't feel like it has any wax on it as it's rubbery feeling and there's zero water repelling taking place anywhere on the car. The glass and plastic section also feel rubbery, that is they feel the opposite of slippery.






My take...
If you're prepping a car for any type of paint polishing, be it correction work with a compound, polishing work with a polish or using a one-step cleaner/wax or AIO, then this is a great soap for getting the car squeaky clean. I'd say even if it's safe for waxes, sealants or coatings, there are less aggressive soaps for doing regular maintenance washes. This is a product I would use on neglected cars and daily drivers.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued.....


Results...

The paint is visibly brighter after using the iron and fallout remover and the citrus foam to wash the car. There's actually a noticeable difference in the after appearance of this loaner car after simply chemically decontaminating the paint and washing off any road film.






The paint is bright and shiny and this is after only the washing step.







Final thoughts...
Gtechniq makes great products. I've always been impressed with their chemistry and formulas. Not only would I use both of these products on my own cars when need these types of products but I would also recommend them to others.


W6 Iron and Fallout Remover
There are lots of iron removers on the market but if your a Gtechniq fan then keep it in the family and go with the W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover.


W4 Citrus Foam
This soap seem to really do a good job of cleaning the paint squeaky clean. For anyone looking for a strong but safe cleaning car wash, this product is for you.




On Autogeek.com


GTechniq W4 Citrus Foam
http://www.autogeek.net/gtechniq-citrus-foam.html

GTechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover 250 ml
http://www.autogeek.net/gtechniq-w6-iron-250.html


GTechniq W6 Iron and General Fallout Remover 500 ml
http://www.autogeek.net/gtechniq-w6-iron-500.html

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***


Now available on the Autogeek Store

[The Guz]

Nice review Mike. I was always intrigued with this citrus wash. May have to get some in the future to try out.