I've never liked the idea of using a sponge to wash a car. Especially with a rinseless wash. For rinseless washes I use the Gary Dean method and am pretty happy with it. Only downside is the wet, dirty towels that afterwards that need laundering. And maybe the cost of extra, decent quality MF towels.
Tried the Big Red Sponge today...
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HAMBO
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Also tried it for a while and wasn’t a fan. Would store it in ONR, and pre-soak, but still found the sponge to have more friction than I would like when going across the paint, and would leave lots of dirt leftover on my drying towel. Went back to using a bunch of MF towels.
Finick
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- Jul 31, 2017
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I’m still on the fence about it, and at first I just wanted to go back to using towels, but the more I use it the more I’m slowly leaning towards just preferring the sponge, I think.
It’s true that it can leave a bit of dirt leftover on the surface, but a quick second pass does seem to bring that down to just about 0 dirt. This is usually more of an issue on horizontal surfaces it seems.
That being said, the weather has been unusually warm the last week or so, and I’ve gone over my car a few times. With just regular dirt (not nasty salt and god knows what else) I haven’t really needed to go over anything twice, once has been enough. I also believe wringing it out properly may help leave some capacity for the sponge to actually suck up some dirt, but I have no way to prove that. I think at first I had way too much solution still in the sponge.
I don’t really care that it’s a sponge. I don’t have a bias against any wash media, really. I don’t want to back myself into a corner and ignore something because of a bias I have, so I’m giving it a fair chance. If it causes marring on my paint in the process.. oh well, it won’t be anything a quick polish wouldn’t be able to fix.
I generally trust optimum, and so far I haven’t noticed any marring from washing with this sponge. It’s also really nice to only use a couple towels per wash.
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It’s true that it can leave a bit of dirt leftover on the surface, but a quick second pass does seem to bring that down to just about 0 dirt. This is usually more of an issue on horizontal surfaces it seems.
That being said, the weather has been unusually warm the last week or so, and I’ve gone over my car a few times. With just regular dirt (not nasty salt and god knows what else) I haven’t really needed to go over anything twice, once has been enough. I also believe wringing it out properly may help leave some capacity for the sponge to actually suck up some dirt, but I have no way to prove that. I think at first I had way too much solution still in the sponge.
I don’t really care that it’s a sponge. I don’t have a bias against any wash media, really. I don’t want to back myself into a corner and ignore something because of a bias I have, so I’m giving it a fair chance. If it causes marring on my paint in the process.. oh well, it won’t be anything a quick polish wouldn’t be able to fix.
I generally trust optimum, and so far I haven’t noticed any marring from washing with this sponge. It’s also really nice to only use a couple towels per wash.
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WillSports3
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So you gotta remember with onr and the brs that when you wash with it, you're technically not washing the surface with sponge, you're applying onr to the surface of it. Your drying towel comes up and picks everything up that the sponge didn't get. That's why optimum states to dry the surface right after. The idea is the dirt is encapsulated by the polymers and the brs will trap whatever dirt it gets in between the squares and release the dirt while your drying towel picks anything else up.
Klasse Act
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- Feb 21, 2012
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Power Clean is basically an APC. As far as the sponge goes, well, I use it from time to time but the GD method is the usual method for me. I guess I used the Aqua sponge more when I first got into RW's and didn't have as many edgeless mf towels.
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Eldorado2k
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I did a google search, nothing comes up.
FrankS
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Pats300zx
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I was about to say the exact same thing
I have never been sold on the big red sponge either. I don't want to use sponges on cars. I use the Garry Dean method : (Pre-treat the pannel with a spray of detailer strenght ONR, use about 6 microfiber towels in the solution bucket and discard each towel after it gets dirty on all 4 sides). I think this method is pretty safe, never noticed major dirt in my drying towel.
I recently picked up the BRS and to be honest I am not sold on it. I love ONR don't get me wrong but I get better results and find it easier using your identical method above.
Klasse Act
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Maybe he meant Purple Power
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Eldorado2k
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Maybe he meant Purple Power
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Are you talking about yourself in the 3rd person?
Did you mean Optimum Power Clean, Purple Power, or Super Clean? And why won’t you use it?
Eldorado2k
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Pan the Orginizer used a BRS to rinseless wash a vehicle that hadn’t been washed since November + had gone through “harsh Canadian winter” and all he did was 1 quik continuous wipe with the BRS, followed by an equally quik drying towel pass [even on the hood]
Someone explain that. Lol.
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- #34
Must be magic cause it couldn’t handle one week of dirt on my car lol. I am just not comfortable with the part about the drying towel picking up more dirt than the sponge.
I really want to like this thing because i feel it can save me time and eventually some money on towels, but it seems like it keeps falling short on promises to almost everyone that uses it.
Mike Phillips
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- Dec 5, 2022
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Just to chime in...
I know some genuine pro detailers that love using sponges to clean cars. In fact I shared this story at least 14 years ago on this same topic.
One of my buddies in SoCal been detailing cars for decades, has regular clients that he details their cars (machine buffs paint and waxes), and then on a regular basis washes them on location. He told me once he did a 30 day test. After machine buffing and waxing black vehicles, he washed them with lambswool wash mitts and after 30 days they had swirls everywhere. Machine buffed and waxed the same cars again, then washed with grout sponges, after 30 days no or only minor swirls.
I am not personally a fan of using any type of sponge to wash a car, that's just me, each person has to find their own way an their own comfort level. I have known about this test this guy did for 14 years and while I believe what he told me I still don't like using sponges to wash cars. So maybe somewhere there's a brain malfunction?
What I like are the Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts, the mitts I use when I wash my own cars and when I teach my big 2-day and 3-day car detailing classes. I have rules for the mitts so it' not just a grab a mitt and wash a car.
And what I always find ironic is in the past - people would complain about not enough options... (just a few years ago we only had the rotary buffer, the GEM orbital polisher and the Cyclo, now look where we are?).
Now days... people complain because we have TOO many options.
:laughing:
Can't win.
As far as people going negative on YouTube or any social media touch point, it's good to be honest and share your opinion but there's always a way to do it like a professional. Everything you/we do on social media is building you some type of reputation, could be good... could be bad.... it's all up to you.
That's concludes my input on the BRS. Except to say, Dr. David Ghodoussi is a top notch chemist. I'd trust anything he creates in a laboratory.
Dr. David Ghodoussi - PhD Organic chemist
The above is taken from this article I wrote back in 2010 - cool thing about a forum is you can actually write an article that educates people and then down the road say.... 8 years you can find it and share it even more. Can't do that on Facebook, it's just like a vapor... here for a moment and then gone.
Beginning Clearcoat Failure
I know some genuine pro detailers that love using sponges to clean cars. In fact I shared this story at least 14 years ago on this same topic.
One of my buddies in SoCal been detailing cars for decades, has regular clients that he details their cars (machine buffs paint and waxes), and then on a regular basis washes them on location. He told me once he did a 30 day test. After machine buffing and waxing black vehicles, he washed them with lambswool wash mitts and after 30 days they had swirls everywhere. Machine buffed and waxed the same cars again, then washed with grout sponges, after 30 days no or only minor swirls.
I am not personally a fan of using any type of sponge to wash a car, that's just me, each person has to find their own way an their own comfort level. I have known about this test this guy did for 14 years and while I believe what he told me I still don't like using sponges to wash cars. So maybe somewhere there's a brain malfunction?
What I like are the Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts, the mitts I use when I wash my own cars and when I teach my big 2-day and 3-day car detailing classes. I have rules for the mitts so it' not just a grab a mitt and wash a car.
And what I always find ironic is in the past - people would complain about not enough options... (just a few years ago we only had the rotary buffer, the GEM orbital polisher and the Cyclo, now look where we are?).
Now days... people complain because we have TOO many options.
:laughing:
Can't win.
As far as people going negative on YouTube or any social media touch point, it's good to be honest and share your opinion but there's always a way to do it like a professional. Everything you/we do on social media is building you some type of reputation, could be good... could be bad.... it's all up to you.
That's concludes my input on the BRS. Except to say, Dr. David Ghodoussi is a top notch chemist. I'd trust anything he creates in a laboratory.
Dr. David Ghodoussi - PhD Organic chemist
The above is taken from this article I wrote back in 2010 - cool thing about a forum is you can actually write an article that educates people and then down the road say.... 8 years you can find it and share it even more. Can't do that on Facebook, it's just like a vapor... here for a moment and then gone.
Beginning Clearcoat Failure
Klasse Act
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- Feb 21, 2012
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A drying towel should only be drying a clean surface, BIG PROBLEM if dirt is coming up afterwards.
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Klasse Act
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- Feb 21, 2012
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Talking about Scott from Dallas Auto Detailing. Why would any of us use an APC prior to a carwash? I've never done it and see NO reason to do so.
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Eldorado2k
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- Nov 9, 2015
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I never said or thought you would or should use an APC prior to a car wash...
I was simply wondering what caused you to make this statement with such passion.^ I didn’t understand what provoked it, nor had I read this entire thread thoroughly enough [I still haven’t] to know Scott from youtube was even being discussed.
I honestly thought you were talking about cleaning your interior and wanted to know what exactly was so wrong with Super Clean [even though you said Power Clean, I assumed you meant Super Clean]
Eldorado2k
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Do you know that a quality microfiber waffle weave towel is totally capable of lifting off encapsulated dirt from a properly lubricated paint surface without inflicting any scratches? That’s the great thing about them and it was their main claim to fame when they were 1st introduced as a safer alternative to the traditional and synthetic chamois. The chamois can’t safely wipe away dirt from the paint, but a waffle weave can.
You could actually do a complete waterless wash with a quality waffle weave [both wash & dry] and be totally fine. [not inflict any swirls] People have given waffle weaves an unnecessary bad rep for some reason. It’s like they forgot they’re made of microfiber just like the other good towels.
It only becomes a “BIG PROBLEM” if you take that dirty part of the towel and continue wiping the next panel off with it. Just like with anything else. IMO the only real big problem is I don’t like getting my good drying towels dirty if I can help it because I’d like to use some of them more than once before having to wash them. [I have some drying towels that live a pampered life, and others that do more of the grunt work]
Klasse Act
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- Feb 21, 2012
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But...if you clean a panel properly why would there be dirt, LOL
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