What is your current favorite waterless wash?

joebruin77

joebruin77

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I am about to run out of my Meguiars D115 Express Wash and Wax. It has been my go to favorite waterless wash but I am in the mood to try something different. We are a two car family. My car has PPF and my wife's does not. Neither car has a ceramic coating, but both do have a ceramic-infused spray sealant. I was thinking of Ultima Waterless Wash or Griot's Garage Waterless Spray on Car Wash. Or should I try one of the newer ceramic-infused waterless washes?

I am looking for one that cleans well, leaves behind a lot of gloss, and is a relatively good value, although it does not have to be the cheapest on the market. I'm willing to pay a bit more if the product is outstanding in how well it cleans without scratching and in how much gloss and shine it leaves behind.

I welcome your suggestions.

Thanks for your help,
joebruin77
 
I still use ONR and Wolfgang Uber rinseless wash. I've been happy with both of them.

Rick

Sent from my SHT-W09 using Tapatalk
 
Ech2O aligns with your LSPs. It’s not my favorite but is my favorite ceramic infused one.

As far as cleaning and gloss, my favorite is BF WW. As far as gloss alone, my favorite is Pinnacle WW w/ carnauba. Both may slightly mask your LSPs but probably not by much.

Slightly below those two for me are WG Uber (less gloss though, but amazing versatility and value and ease) and Ultima WW+ (lots of gloss, rivaling Pinnacle without any trace of carnauba).

Note: I’m not including RTU like WG SiO2 WW and PA Cosmic because there isn’t value there, but I use both happily as drying aids. If money was no object then they might be tops, but value of the previous mentioned choices is sooo much greater.
 
C5Longhorn said:
I still use ONR and Wolfgang Uber rinseless wash. I've been happy with both of them.

Rick

Sent from my SHT-W09 using Tapatalk
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Thanks, Rick. I appreciate your taking the time to reply. I agree with you on ONR for rinseless washes, which is my go to rinseless wash. But what do you use for waterless washes? I don't always have the time for a rinseless. If you have any suggestions for your favorite waterless wash, please lmk.

acuRAS82 said:
Ech2O aligns with your LSPs. It’s not my favorite but is my favorite ceramic infused one.

As far as cleaning and gloss, my favorite is BF WW. As far as gloss alone, my favorite is Pinnacle WW w/ carnauba. Both may slightly mask your LSPs but probably not by much.

Slightly below those two for me are WG Uber (less gloss though, but amazing versatility and value and ease) and Ultima WW+ (lots of gloss, rivaling Pinnacle without any trace of carnauba).

Note: I’m not including RTU like WG SiO2 WW and PA Cosmic because there isn’t value there, but I use both happily as drying aids. If money was no object then they might be tops, but value of the previous mentioned choices is sooo much greater.
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Thank you, acuRAS82 . I will check out those you suggested. Have you had any experience using a WW with carnauba in it on PPF? I like the idea of the Pinnacle WW, but I wasn't sure if carnauba should be used on PPF. Please lmk if you have any experience with a WW containing carnauba on PPF. Thx!
 
I currently use McKee's 37 N-914. I've used ONR and Uber before but N-914 is better than both of those. I have used Ech2o a couple of times and it was fine. Although I didn't see any streaking with Ech2o I know it can happen so I continue using N-914 as it's cheaper and does a great job.

BTW, I've only used those as rinseless wash. I've never done a full waterless wash, just spot treatment on bird bombs or something like that. I just can't trust to do a whole car with waterless.
 
joebruin77 said:
Thank you, acuRAS82 . I will check out those you suggested. Have you had any experience using a WW with carnauba in it on PPF? I like the idea of the Pinnacle WW, but I wasn't sure if carnauba should be used on PPF. Please lmk if you have any experience with a WW containing carnauba on PPF. Thx!
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Unfortunately I don’t have any experiences on PPF, carnauba or otherwise. Great question though. It only has very trace amounts obviously but definitely could be an impact.

Hopefully someone with experience can see this and give their thoughts shortly.
 
BSoares said:
I currently use McKee's 37 N-914. I've used ONR and Uber before but N-914 is better than both of those. I have used Ech2o a couple of times and it was fine. Although I didn't see any streaking with Ech2o I know it can happen so I continue using N-914 as it's cheaper and does a great job.

BTW, I've only used those as rinseless wash. I've never done a full waterless wash, just spot treatment on bird bombs or something like that. I just can't trust to do a whole car with waterless.
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Thanks for your reply and I get why you are concerned about using a WW. On my wife's car, which does not have any PPF, I only do a waterless wash if it has very light dust. Anything more than that, I do a rinseless wash. On my car, which has Xpel PPF over the entire car, I am a bit more aggressive in using a waterless wash. If the WW induces any swirls or scratches, the PPF will self heal and protect the paint as designed.
 
acuRAS82 said:
Unfortunately I don’t have any experiences on PPF, carnauba or otherwise. Great question though. It only has very trace amounts obviously but definitely could be an impact.

Hopefully someone with experience can see this and give their thoughts shortly.
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My concern about carnauba on PPF may be outdated. When PPF first came out many years ago, I think there was a concern that carnauba would cause premature yellowing of the PPF. But I am hoping and guessing that the latest and more advanced PPF's are not harmed or damaged by carnauba. I still avoid applying any waxes with naphtha or kerosene on my PPF, but I am ok with carnauba. But if anyone else reading this has direct knowledge or experience in using carnauba-infused WW's on PPF, please post a reply.
 
McKees 37 N-914. I've used all of the major players in the RW and WW world. ONR, Uber, Ech2o and N-914 is definitely the best.

I don't do a lot of WW because I was never a big fan of them but N-914 works really great as a WW.

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Ech2O is my favorite these days all thought I did try the new one from Pinnacle Black Label and found it to be really good too. I did a review over in the product review area.
 
3D Waterless Wash has been incredible. I use it on my Outlander that's topped with Opti-seal 1-2 times a week. And once a month get's foamed with Griots Foaming surface wash and poly gloss. It also works well as a drying agent I found after blowing the car off. It's 10 year old paint, so lots of road wear, but still looks good at 3 feet away with a polish from Menzerna Superfinish, and all the above
 
Wolfgang SI02 WW would be choice number one for me. Cleans well, pretty easy to buff off (considering the SI02) and leaves great gloss and protection. Currently on sale.

Runner up would be Meguiar's UWWA. Extremely easy to use and can be found anywhere. The new UQW on top gives an incredible look in my eyes.
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Wolfgang SI02 WW would be choice number one for me. Cleans well, pretty easy to buff off (considering the SI02) and leaves great gloss and protection. Currently on sale.

Runner up would be Meguiar's UWWA. Extremely easy to use and can be found anywhere. The new UQW on top gives an incredible look in my eyes.
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Price being no object, WG SiO2 is probably my favorite too. My fingers are crossed that maybe they make a concentrated version in the near future.
 
C5Longhorn said:
I still use ONR and Wolfgang Uber rinseless wash. I've been happy with both of them.

Rick

Sent from my SHT-W09 using Tapatalk
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Sorry, I'm another one that mostly does rinseless washes. I do use the WG Uber as a detail spray which is similar to WW and have been very pleased with it.

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acuRAS82 said:
Price being no object, WG SiO2 is probably my favorite too. My fingers are crossed that maybe they make a concentrated version in the near future.
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I did check out WG SiO2 WW. It looks like a great product, but I took a look at the cost per wash. I usually use about 750 ml of WW solution for my car. Based on the cost for 128 oz on Autogeek, the cost per wash for WG SiO2 is about $13.85 a wash. By comparison, the cost for my old Meguiars D-115 is about $3.60 a wash. I am not sure if the WG is worth an extra $10 per wash.

I think I will limit my search to waterless wash solutions available in concentrate.
 
joebruin77 said:
I did check out WG SiO2 WW. It looks like a great product, but I took a look at the cost per wash. I usually use about 750 ml of WW solution for my car. Based on the cost for 128 oz on Autogeek, the cost per wash for WG SiO2 is about $13.85 a wash. By comparison, the cost for my old Meguiars D-115 is about $3.60 a wash. I am not sure if the WG is worth an extra $10 per wash.

I think I will limit my search to waterless wash solutions available in concentrate.
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I agree. I have a gallon but only use it as a QD for touch ups or drying aids. Too costly for me to use 20+ oz per wash even by the gallon price (granted you can get the gallon a lot cheaper on sale).
 
acuRAS82 said:
I agree. I have a gallon but only use it as a QD for touch ups or drying aids. Too costly for me to use 20+ oz per wash even by the gallon price (granted you can get the gallon a lot cheaper on sale).
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I find it interesting and helpful to calculate the cost per wash at the recommended dilution rations across these waterless washes. For example, if I assume each wash uses 750 ml of solution, Optimum's Opticlean concentrate costs about $3.17 per wash, Meguiar's D-115 costs $3.60 a wash, and Ultima Waterless Wash costs about 70 cents per wash. Ultima is the winner in terms of value, but I wonder if given that only 1/2 an ounce of concentrate is in the Ultima wash solution, is there a higher risk of inducing scratches with Ultima compared to say Opticlean or D115, which have much higher percentages of concentrate?
 
joebruin77 said:
Ultima is the winner in terms of value, but I wonder if given that only 1/2 an ounce of concentrate is in the Ultima wash solution, is there a higher risk of inducing scratches with Ultima compared to say Opticlean or D115, which have much higher percentages of concentrate?
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This should not be the case. Trust the manufacturer’s dilution ratios and determine which product is a better lubricant as a completely separate metric than what the cost is. I’ve seen WWs that are 1:16 which aren’t as lubricating as a 1:48 (BF WW). I’ve seen WWs that are quite lubricating at 1:128.

So only use the dilution scale for calculating value (and for guesstimating shelf space needed). The scientists for each brand determine what amount of a concentrate should be providing the best combination of cleaning, lubrications, and gloss (if applicable).
 
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