OCWC as a replacement for my favorite car soap...


SuperBee364

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Hey Chris,

 

Over on "that other detailing board", I kinda have a rep for my incredibly OCD "touchless car wash" method. In a nutshell, when my car is really dirty:

 

High pressure rinse. (John Deere gas powered pressure washer)

 

Foam cannon using Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss

 

High pressure rinse. (using a CRSpotless so I don't have to touch the paint to dry it)

 

Normally, the above steps are all that's necessary to get my car completely clean. That is, until the LSP starts to fade a bit. If that happens, I follow up with another round of foam, brushed off gently with a long hair boar's hair brush. If stuff still remains on the paint after that, I ONR it.

 

My car seldom gets that dirty nowadays, so most of the time I just ONR it. But on the occasions that it gets too dirty for me (in my mind, anyway) to just ONR it, I use the above technique. The reason I have been dedicated to the CG CW&G is that it has a fairly high concentration of detergents, and not just lubrication agents. It seems that most of the car soaps on the market now days are nothing more than lubrication in a bottle. I need the chemical cleaning, since there just isn't any mechanical agitation in this process.

 

So this all (finally!) leads up the question: Does Optimum Car Wash have much in the way of detergent action, or is it pretty much just lubrication for a wash mitt? I know it's a fine line to walk; too much detergent in a car wash = removing the LSP, while not enough leads to dirty cars. And since the majority of car washers use some sort of wash mitt, lubrication becomes the focus point of most car soap makers.

 

I've literally spent hundreds of dollars on different car soaps, trying to find one that has a decent amount of detergent that can be diluted down to where you still get detergent action without stripping the LSP off. Unfortunately, I never gave OCW a try. CG's quality control has gone down hill *a lot*. The last several gallon jugs of CW&G I've bought have been terribly inconsistent. So I'm looking for a replacement.

 

I've been using the above car wash method (and variations on it) for years now. I've been able to keep my two cars *completely* swirl free with this technique. On my own cars, polishing is a thing of the past, although I still can't help but see if I can't amp the gloss "just a bit more" quite frequently by using various finishing polishes, but this is simply to enhance gloss, never to remove swirls.

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Supe,

 

Optimum Car Wash does a great job when agitated, but I don't think it will do what you want (not enough detergent). My suggestion would be a presoak with Power Clean mixed 8:1-5:1. This dilution, without agitation will loosen most weekly grime for the power washer. You can play with the dilutions to dial it in. On wheels it probably needs some agitation or it will leave some grime behind...and you will love how clean it gets tires at 3:1. You should consider getting Opti-Coat applied. They you can just rinse and blow dry from the sound of how clean you keep your car.

 

Chris

 

That sounds like a fantastic suggestion, Chris, thanks! Definitely gonna order up some Power Clean and give it a go.

 

I'm definitely going to go the Opti-Coat route on my wife's SUV, but not on my car.. I enjoy pushing the gloss level on my car too much. Every new finishing polish that hits the market finds it's way to my car eventually.

 

The wife's car is going to be my test bed for learning how to spray on Opti-Coat with an airbrush. Probably not til next spring, though.

 

Thanks again for the very helpful and prompt reply! :o

 

--Supe

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