Car Shampoo

shortspark said:
I like CGs Citrus shampoo because it can be formulated by ratio to do two jobs - lower ratio of soap to water for maintenance washes and higher ratios to help in paint prep prior to putting down an LSP. It may not totally strip your prior LSP at the higher ratio recommended for this but it certainly degrades it. Citrus Clear is also pretty good in foam guns as it produces lots of suds.

Once the LSP is down you can also use CGs Extreme Body Wash and Wax shampoo now and then. It does an excellent job of cleaning plus it leaves a very nice gloss which saves having to put a "booster" spray wax on the car every time you wash it. I`ll use the Extreme Body Wash and Wax maybe every third or fourth wash and that virtually eliminates the need of a spray wax or other "booster" product.
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Sorry - LSP?
 
One BIG factor that everyone seems to forget in using a soap to wash a vehicle with a conventional two-bucket wash is how hard your water is that you will be using. Regardless of its source, whether municipal or private well, if is has a lot of water-soluble minerals or suspended particulants it will cause water-spot problems if it is not filtered or "softened". If it is minimally hard and used untreated from its source, some wash soaps work better at "conditioning" (softening) this water for vehicle washing. I know some have added Optimum Polymer Technology`s No-Rinse (ONR) to their wash soap water bucket because of its encapsulating properties to help condition the wash water.

I currently use Meguiar`s Professional No. 62 Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner for this very reason, living in Green Bay, WI where the municipal water source is "treated" Lake Michigan water that has a higher limestone content due to the runoff from the Niagara Escarpment (limestone formations and bedrock). It cleans well and rinses well. It`s big drawback is the price per gallon; about $35.00 before shipping. I do not wash in the sun if I can and if I had to I would probably use ONR in a rinse-less method. I just think that the 2-bucket method is a "better" (more thorough) way of cleaning a vehicle when one includes spray rinsing a vehicle, even if it utilizes municipal water pressure.
 
Lonnie- Ah, M62! That`s what I used before switching to GG + 3D, still using up my last gallon of it on wheels/wells. Good stuff all right! I used that for *so* long that it`ll be weird to wash without smelling it; even before I wised up and quit using [cheap stuff], I used M62 on my good cars since forever.
 
Billy Jack- I appreciate that you mentioned the grape scent in your Britemax review (deal-breaker for me, but others probably like it).
 
I am currently going thru a gallon of 3D PINK CAR WASH SOAP. I really can`t fault this soap at all. For the price point it`s great. Nothing in it to enhance your LSP. Just pure soap. I use 2-pumps (2oz) in the foam gun. A little more in the buckets. My go to is Megs Hyperwash. Another great soap. Where Megs shine is has a better (lower dilution rate). Only 1oz in the gun is plenty.

3D Pink Car Soap
 
Accumulator said:
Lonnie- Ah, M62! That`s what I used before switching to GG + 3D, still using up my last gallon of it on wheels/wells. Good stuff all right! I used that for *so* long that it`ll be weird to wash without smelling it; even before I wised up and quit using [cheap stuff], I used M62 on my good cars since forever.
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Ok,maybe dumb question, but do you you use both together or just switch between the two? Which GG product?
 
bob m said:
Ok,maybe dumb question, but do you you use both together or just switch between the two? Which GG product?
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No, no...not dumb at all. Heh heh, I do enough weird [stuff] that it always pays to ask about something that`s not clear ;)

I mix 3D Pink Car Soap and Griot`s Garage Car Wash (pn 11103) together at an even 1:1 ratio. 3.5oz of each (total of 7oz shampoo) plus enough water to make a gallon (~121oz) of concentrate. I fill the foamguns (and the spraybottle for wheels/wells/undercarriage) with that.

I use a weaker mix that`s still 1:1 of each shampoo in my Wash Bucket, which is really just a "wash media repository" since I`m all about using the foamgun if a mitt/BHB is touching my paint. Just do that by eye since all it`s doing is keeping the rest of my wash media soaking while I`m using whatever is actually in my hand.

(And note that I`ll be pretty surprised if all of the above is clear!)
 
Ah right, didn`t think about water hardness at all. My house have very2 hard water, not just calcium but i think it is almost salt water. Now, my problem did take one level ahead : Water Marks.

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ariezhai5 said:
Ah right, didn`t think about water hardness at all. My house have very2 hard water, not just calcium but i think it is almost salt water.
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I dunno if you`re likely to have both "hard" (minerals like calcium) and "salt water" (sodium). Softening really hard water can maybe do something like that as it replaces the calcium ions with sodium ones (IME softened hard water is murder on certain, but not all, plants).
 
3D pink is a very nice soap. Decently priced, good lubricity, foams well (if your into that, I am), and it leaves nothing behind. I`ve used a lot of different soaps but always seem to come back to 3D pink. Poorboys SS&S is a very close second for me. Just my .02
 
Accumulator said:
I dunno if you`re likely to have both "hard" (minerals like calcium) and "salt water" (sodium). Softening really hard water can maybe do something like that as it replaces the calcium ions with sodium ones (IME softened hard water is murder on certain, but not all, plants).
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We are getting off-topic somewhat, since this thread IS about car soaps , BUT:
Just to be clear; "softened" water is much "different" than de-ionized water.
Which is WHY discriminating Autopians use a CR-Spotless De-ionizer Water System rather than using "Hey Culligan Man" home water softener.
Also, for the "more-than-I-really-needed-to-know" Autopian, please see: http://www.autopia.org/forums/car-d...s-distilled-water.html?highlight=#post2095938
 
Lonnie- I don`t use my CRS all that often, but it`s great for pressure-rinsing vehicles that aren`t too dirty. Without the softeners I`d have some real hard-water headaches, so the garage and house each have dedicated softener (and filtration) systems. Even with the CRS, I mix my IUDJ with distilled. And man do I hate recharging the CRS, just one of those chores that`s no biggie to others but bugs me something awful. Did just replace the batteries in its meter though, so I guess I use it a bit for them to need that.
 
I haven`t used mine and with the release of PFM towels I think I`m never going to use it again. It`s a hassle and an unwanted expense for me.
 
Last week used Gyeon plus worked great not a ton of suds but very good lubricity, this week broke out my old trusty Adams car wash soap worked just as great!


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