No Rinse vrs Conventional Soaps

[Swanicyouth]

I am not sure why you are so focused on soap since polymer based washes such as No Rinse are much better in terms of cleaning and protecting paint from marring. Furthermore, No Rinse washes do not remove lsp but add additional protection.

David,


Dr G,

I use Optimum products and think Optimum is an industry leader. Some of my staples are the polishes (lotions), car wash, and OptiCoat.

I was wondering if you could comment on the quote above you made from another thread. Conventional detailing "wisdom" tells us "regular soaps" and traditional washing methods tend to be safer than rinseless washes. By "safer", I mean less chance of marring the paint. The perceived benefit of rinseless washes to most (I believe) is their convenience and ease of use.

However, it seems your saying rinseless washes are actually more paint safe? The way I see it, a 2 bucket method wash is safer just due to the fact the car is rinsed/hosed down prior to touching it - where a rinseless wash skips this step.

All factors being equal (car being pre-rinsed) are rinseless washes actually safer than using a regular wash solution in you opinion?

[Dr. G]

I appreciate your comments and thank you for using the Optimum range. As I mentioned before, soap is based on surfactants that are designed to emulsify oils or waxes and it is a fairly old technology. No Rinse, however, is based on substantive polymers that bond and trap dirt and therefore act as a barrier to protect paint from marring. The dirt particles trapped by the polymers will flocculate and drop to the bottom of the bucket. Additionally these polymers provide greater lubrication than any soap without any foam. You can pre-rinse before using No Rinse but it is not necessary. You can also use two buckets if you like, however, it is much less needed with No Rinse than soap.

In the past 8 years, over 5 million washes have been done with No Rinse and we constantly get emails from customers who have eliminated their marring issues after switching to No Rinse. If you like a just waxed look, you can use No Rinse Wash & Wax instead! Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

David,


Dr G,

I use Optimum products and think Optimum is an industry leader. Some of my staples are the polishes (lotions), car wash, and OptiCoat.

I was wondering if you could comment on the quote above you made from another thread. Conventional detailing "wisdom" tells us "regular soaps" and traditional washing methods tend to be safer than rinseless washes. By "safer", I mean less chance of marring the paint. The perceived benefit of rinseless washes to most (I believe) is their convenience and ease of use.

However, it seems your saying rinseless washes are actually more paint safe? The way I see it, a 2 bucket method wash is safer just due to the fact the car is rinsed/hosed down prior to touching it - where a rinseless wash skips this step.

All factors being equal (car being pre-rinsed) are rinseless washes actually safer than using a regular wash solution in you opinion?

[Bunky]

I believe the majority of informed detailers accept the no rinse type wash process as safe and effective except for a few less receptive to new idea ones. The question seems to be that it may not be safe for any wash situation but then I do not see anything wrong with pre-rinsing a soiled vehicles prior to a pre-wash.

[RaskyR1]

When it comes to prepping cars for polishing or washing poorly maintained vehicles, I still like using traditional soaps as I feel they do a better job of cleaning the surface and breaking down the dirt and grime.

I love ONR for maintenance washes, but still see some grime occasionally (behind wheels down low) that doesn`t come off without the help of an APC or excess pressure when washing my coated, white car.

[chet31]

I don`t think there is much difference between a traditional wash and ONR. If you do either with a ham-handed approach, you can swirl the finish. If you do either with a careful approach, you are fine. I like ONR because it is fast, easy, and eliminates my hard water problem.

[silverfox]

If you want the best of both add 1/2 oz ONR to your soap bucket. It reduces the foam but increases the cleaning ability and lubricity while reducing hard water issues.

[Pats300zx]

If you want the best of both add 1/2 oz ONR to your soap bucket. It reduces the foam but increases the cleaning ability and lubricity while reducing hard water issues.

I have been doing this recently since I have pretty hard water. Makes a big difference.

[Swanicyouth]

Thanks Dr G. This is great to have you as a resource here.