View Full Version : OCW Really Impressed Me
Desertnate
11-30-2017, 04:44 PM
A couple unusually warm day allowed me to give the family fleet one last hand wash before winter sets in for good.
I just finished off a bottle of Sonax car shampoo, so I broke out the Optimum Car Wash if figured wouldn`t debut until Spring. Bottom line: I was very impressed.
I`ve been on a bit of a car shampoo journey lately as I hunt down a shampoo that leaves little behind and won`t change the properties of my coatings. Recently this hunt consisted of Poorboys Super Slick with Suds and the Sonax. While both of the others seemed to have things I liked about them, the Optimum seemed to have it all. Despite using it at half the recommended dilution ratio, it out-sudsed and has more lubrication than the Poorboys, yet dissolved and cleaned better than the Sonax.
I could match a car shampoo to the coating on our vehicles, but I`m attempting to simplify things by finding one quality shampoo that works on everything in the event I start trying multiple coatings. At this point, I`m very happy with OCW and wonder why it took so long to try it out.
Loach
11-30-2017, 07:39 PM
I`m a fan of it as well, love that blueberry scent!
Fwiw, OCW=Optimum Car Wax.
The car wash is decent stuff.
sixsix
11-30-2017, 09:30 PM
I`m a fan of it as well, love that blueberry scent!
I thought it was grape?? Did they change it recently or is my smeller broken?
I use it on my wife`s coated car and I like it a lot. I plan on going with the gallon when I run out.
Stokdgs
12-01-2017, 01:07 AM
I used Optimum Car Wash on my Optimum coated vehicles and I didn`t like it as much as I like CarPro Reset..
For sure, this Optimum product produces great suds and lubrication, but to me it wasn`t as good at removing contaminants in the coating as the CarPro product..
Glad to hear that it works great for you ! I use it on all other vehicles that are not coated, etc., and it works great for me in those scenarios..
Dan F
WaxManRonnie
12-01-2017, 07:35 AM
Fwiw, OCW=Optimum Car Wax.
The car wash is decent stuff.
Its a little more than just decent. From my perspective.
SWETM
12-01-2017, 07:44 AM
Test carpro reset and see how you like it. I use it on my uncoated car aswell since I like the sealant to work on it`s own. If you have gyeon coatings you have their bathe schampo which leaves nothing behind and once a while use bathe+ to ad some sio2.
Leaves Optimum car wash anything behind? It seems to be a great car schampo and I will test it out if it doesnt do that.
Its a little more than just decent. From my perspective.
To be honest, the smell probably killed it for me more than anything. Use wise I found it to be on par with the Duragloss wash, maybe slightly less slick. One of my big things is a nice strong soap that cuts through road film and bugs/tar, and I never got that from it. Maybe if I mixed a strong version but then it isn`t a good value.
Accumulator
12-01-2017, 01:26 PM
Glad you guys mentioned (i.e., warned me about) the grape/blueberry scent.
Lonnie
12-02-2017, 09:01 AM
I found that Optimum Car Wash left some residue behind when used with the harder (IE, limestone mineral content) Green Bay`s WI municipal water supply (from Lake Michigan). Sometimes I would add Optimum No-Rinse to "soften" the water-soap mix. Did it help? Depended on the time of day and humidity levels, which affect drying time of the soap-water mix. With a 2-bucket method, I found that my washing was limited to early morning or late evening on warmer, dry days, which would tend to be more about the ambient drying conditions that the soap-and-water itself.
I went back to using Meg`s Professional No.62 Wash/Shampoo and Conditioner because it just "seems" (my perception) to rinse cleaner with harder water and the smell is heavenly, but No.62 is expensive compared to Optimum Car Wash. I still limit my washing times to early morning or late evening in the summer, but now in the late fall or early winter, it HAS to be done in the middle of the afternoon when ambient temperatures are above 32°F.
LEDetailng
12-02-2017, 09:24 AM
I’m a fan of Optimum’s car wash. That and Hyperwash are my two favorites.
I just tried Bilt Hamber’s Auto Wash and used 7ml of shampoo in my 5 gallon bucket. Auto wash worked well. My cars had no real dirt on them, just dust so it was not testing the 7 ml dilution. I literally will use a pipette next time to measure out the wash. Too hard to pour out just 7ml’s.
LEDetailng
12-02-2017, 09:34 AM
Lonnie,
Getting a water softener has made a huge difference in our house. My skin is much less dry in winter. Clothes are softer, to the paint we don’t even need dryer sheets or fabric softener. I had them pipe the softened water to the outdoor spigots too. It is great having soft water to wash with.
Worth $40 a month? I say yes.
Bob
Glad you guys mentioned (i.e., warned me about) the grape/blueberry scent.
If Optimum has a shortcoming in the brand, it is in the smell department. Nothing of theirs smells really good to me except OID. I really dislike the smell of ONR and even more so the car wash.
Accumulator
12-02-2017, 02:56 PM
Dan- Fruity/food-like scents are seldom to my liking. I don`t really mind the scent of ONR as it`s "merely chemically"-smelling to me and that`s almost always OK.
LEDetailing- Yes indeed, when you need a softener you need a softener. Seems to help my CRS deionizer resin last a long time too.
Lonnie- I`m still using up the last of my M62 and I`ll miss it so much that I might just buy more. Now *that* stuff has a scent I do like.
Dan- Fruity/food-like scents are seldom to my liking. I don`t really mind the scent of ONR as it`s "merely chemically"-smelling to me and that`s almost always OK.
I don`t mind chemical smells, but Optimum seems like it has a fragrance added to it. The newer versions are slightly better, but the original version smelled like a bathroom cleaner to me, yuck.