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**I originally wrote this for my usual forum in the UK, i adjusted prices using USA websites, not straight conversions. Thought it might be interesting to some of you guys**
Hi Guys,
I recently got hold of Zymol Clear (again, after not using it for a few yrs) and Swissvax Autobathe (which i have never used). The cars were not to dirty so i mixed up the over priced potions and cracked on with a clean, or not. The car i washed had about 50mi over the last week on, i did one side of the car Zymol, one Swissvax. The car was wearing Zymol Destiny and then more recently topped with PS spray wax as it wasn’t going to last me until March.
Here are the guys in question:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...axandzymol.jpg
So here it is, two expensive shampoos that i have put head to head to see if either are any good, if either is matched by cheaper rivals and if so which is one is best!
So twenty of your hard earned pounds will get you Zymol Clear ($26.95 @ autobarn.net), this bottle has around 200ml in it. You only need one capful in a 3oz bucket, but Zymol talk of squeezes which is confusing and inaccurate. Surely the more you have the bottle the more you will squeeze out!? Ok! Put in two capfuls if you have a 5 gallon bucket. I put mine in when the warm water is half way filled up the bucket. In essence although this isn’t cheap, you are not actually using a lot of product, the bottle in the picture is what is left after one wash.
You will be instantly hit with the feeling that you just made a huge bucket load of Lemsip (lemon falvoured cold/flu drink). The product is fairly lubie, i slip on the my marigolds (yellow rubber gloves) and my gloved hands slide across each other nice and easily. Suds are a few inches deep, nothing amazing.
I pop in a fresh lambs wool mitt to avoid contamination from previous soaps and get to cleaning. The first thing you notice with this shampoo is that the suds do not transfer to the car, they are in the bucket to the end of the wash but really what you have on your car is just a watery liquid. It isn’t overly powerful and cleans nothing like Mothers California Gold or Duragloss 901. This really is a maintenance shampoo for cars that do not see a lot of dirt. Luckily my car has seen less then 50mi over the last few weeks and wasn’t dirty at all. I just gave a pre wash with the hose and cracked on with the wash.
This certainly isn’t something you could use on a daily driver but wasn’t that bad of shampoo if you want something to spoil yourself with.
Its all natural ingredients, which rinse pretty easily (nothing like Autoglym Shampoo though). The car was left looking pretty glossy by the end, I sparingly qd’d the car stood back to admire the looks.
At £20/$26.95 your almost on your way to buying a gallon of quality shampoo that will work well on dirty or clean cars.
On next to the Swissvax autobathe, this retails at about £13/35USD on sale @ Pakshake for $29.95 for 250ml. The bottle looks like it probably contains some gents cologne, and as soon as you mix the one capful with 5 gallons of water you are again reminded of the mens aftershave flavour; some where between coconut and alcohol. Same procedure as before, new washmitt and a clean bucket, shampoo mixed in half way though the fill. This really wasn’t a lubie shampoo, less so then the Zymol. Suds were again minimal, and what was there stayed in the bucket and were not transferred to the car. Mixing one ounce of your favourite aftershave with 5 gallons of water will probably give the same cleaning power of this Swissvax Autobathe, which is nothing! In fact, you can recreate the Swissvax AutoBathe experience by waiting for it to rain or setting up your sprinkler and then misting the air with your bottle of Armani Code. Rinse and you will see that just about nothing has happened to any dirt on your car.
Swissvax Autobathe did not rinse all that great, but i have to say it did leave the paintwork, esp. The glass looking very clear and shiny. I would probably re name this shampoo as a glossing agent that you dilute with water and wipe on your car with a mitt.
Going in to this i knew it was going to be expensive for the washes, i wasn’t prepared to be as disappointed by the Swissvax as i was. Maybe it will make a nice wash for a garaged car in the summer months. I really think they should put in there descriptions how mild these shampoos are b/c if you were thinking of getting one and using it as a regular shampoo are would be pretty disappointed. I got the Zymol as part of the Japon kit on Ebay for £48. Swissvax have cut there distribution network and are only selling from there UK importer in the UK so some places have been selling the Swissvax off cheap. I got mine for £12 inc. delivery from Ebay.
Any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise keep your wallets closed and get some Z7
Zaino wash if you want a great premium shampoo!
Geoff :brit
As a quick comparison between a few other shampoos on the market:
Zymol Clear:
Cleaning: 5
Lube: 6
Rinse: 6
Shine: 8
Swissvax Autobathe:
Cleaning: 3
Lube: 4
Rinse: 5
Shine: 7
Duragloss 901
Cleaning: 9
Lube: 9
Rinse: 8
Shine: 8
Mothers California Gold
Cleaning 8
Lube 8
Rinse 8
Shine 8.
Meguiars Gold Class
Cleaning: 7
Lube: 7
Rinse: 6
Shine: 6
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Ahh my old Mother`s standby. I knew it was a good wash. I`ve used that wash for years. I love it; I`m gonna order some more!! Thanks for the review. The megs is decent too!
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:chuckle: The Mothers is my to go wash! I love Showtime too.
I wish they would reformulate there stage 3 wax though, it would make a really good easily avalible nuba product.
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Have to admit to ya on that one; I was once a veteren of that wax too. Since my travels and exploits with zymol, I`ve realized that the Mothers and Megs and similar waxes otc, although good products, are very weak in carnauba content. I would love mother`s and megs (gliptone too if they`re still making their liquid carnaubas) to step up the quality on their nubas to the level of P21s or even Natty`s.
