Optimum Car Wash - Review

[PaulMys]

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier... Duh.

I’ll report back and turn this into a 2 birds 1 stone review.

Do you hear that music playing in the background?
It’s the Bud Light Real Men of Genius music.lol.

Lmao! Go wash a damn car right now with that, Ric!!

 

[spazzz]

OCW is very thick and gloppy. A real bear to pour it from the gallon to quart for convenience.

Do you mix your soap buckets that way all the time?

I fill bucket with 3-4 inches hot water, pour in soap and then turn both hot/cold on to mix, plus I am swirling the bucket and sticking my paws in it.
This stuff is thick.

Try it that way to make sure you didn't end up with 1 or 2 heavy soap mitts.

 

[PaulMys]

OCW is very thick and gloppy. A real bear to pour it from the gallon to quart for convenience.

This is what I have found as well.

I could be wrong, but I still say that the pics Ric posted look different than the OCW I have.

 

[expdetailing]

Sorry if it's been stated already, but if you bought the product from a retail shelf, ebay, or some other non-retailer, someone may have returned a diluted product. Probably not, but worth mentioning. Those tamper seals are easy to reseal. I had one reseal itself just from sitting with a tight cap.
Also, many of the expensive soaps that I've tried such as Dodo Supernatural, Pinnacle Body Wash, Wolfgang's soap, etc all were low foaming and I found myself initially disappointed by that characteristic but liked it in the end because I found those formulas easier to rinse.
I have yet to find a super sudsing formula that's easy to rinse.
My 2 cents...

 

[The Guz]

I thought OCW was decent but it doesn't hold a candle to Adams.

Agree with you on this.

 

[Eldorado2k]

OCW is very thick and gloppy. A real bear to pour it from the gallon to quart for convenience.

Do you mix your soap buckets that way all the time?

I fill bucket with 3-4 inches hot water, pour in soap and then turn both hot/cold on to mix, plus I am swirling the bucket and sticking my paws in it.
This stuff is thick.

Try it that way to make sure you didn't end up with 1 or 2 heavy soap mitts.

Yea I always mix my soap the same way. I don’t allow it to get caught up into 1 mitt, trust me that isn’t what happened.

I used to mix up the way you describe, but that method doesn’t work too good when you try to follow those suds up by dumping 14-15 wash mitts into a soapy bucket... That’s why I toss my mitts in 1st, fill with lower pressure from the hose till nearly 70% full, then add the soap and hit it with the jet and get a proper soap filled bucket for all the mitts.

Sorry if it's been stated already, but if you bought the product from a retail shelf, ebay, or some other non-retailer, someone may have returned a diluted product. Probably not, but worth mentioning. Those tamper seals are easy to reseal. I had one reseal itself just from sitting with a tight cap.
Also, many of the expensive soaps that I've tried such as Dodo Supernatural, Pinnacle Body Wash, Wolfgang's soap, etc all were low foaming and I found myself initially disappointed by that characteristic but liked it in the end because I found those formulas easier to rinse.
I have yet to find a super sudsing formula that's easy to rinse.
My 2 cents...

I bought it here on Autogeek. I never shop Amazon. I like Ebay but trying to buy detailing products on there is no bargain.. Pretty much all my detailing supplies are from are bought here on Autogeek.

 

[Klasse Act]

Quick question, is there a chance these dozen or so mitts are soaking up all the soap I was happy to buy that Gyeon Bathe+ off of you, I really like the product personally.

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[Eldorado2k]

Quick question, is there a chance these dozen or so mitts are soaking up all the soap I was happy to buy that Gyeon Bathe+ off of you, I really like the product personally.

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Mitts are supposed to soak up the soap.
But in regards to what you’re saying, no. Because I wrung them all out after the 1st bucket I made and this is the nearly non existent pile of suds that remained after squeezing the suds out of 14 incredimitts.

I read 1 of the reviews and the guy said that the suds on his driveway were still there and bubbly the following day... That’s a good 1! Lmao.

 

[spazzz]

Okay, one more time.
This is mine, does the bottle you have react like this?
If it does,I guess you just don't like blue soap

When I use the foam cannon and OCW, the suds are in the driveway the next day. This is during late fall when I notice that.

 

[PaulMys]

Okay, one more time.
This is mine, does the bottle you have react like this?
If it does,I guess you just don't like blue soap

When I use the foam cannon and OCW, the suds are in the driveway the next day. This is during late fall when I notice that.

My bottle acts the same, and like I said before...... OCW isn't the sudsiest one I've ever used, but it never acted like what Ric posted.

I'm still of the opinion he might well have received a bad bottle/batch.

 

[Markymapo1]

Just some comments(too much caffeine today) :At my day job we add very thick detergent to about 50% of your total water volume ( so for a 5 gallon bucket add the detergent to 2.5 gallons water) then stir for a few minutes to mix before bringing to final volume. In this case it is better to mix with something that will not shed particles ( in our lab we use Teflon coated stir bars which is not practical for your wash bucket). Long story short: you are better off dispersing the detergent (solubilizing all of it) before blasting it a few seconds with water and before throwing your wash mitts in. Also do not contact the mixing utensil with the detergent sitting at the bottom as it will stick to that utensil and will require additional mixing. (We actually have Work instructions to follow which makes a homogeneous solution)

 

[Eldorado2k]

Okay, one more time.
This is mine, does the bottle you have react like this?
If it does,I guess you just don't like blue soap

When I use the foam cannon and OCW, the suds are in the driveway the next day. This is during late fall when I notice that.

Yea, it’s thick just like every other car shampoo. IMO They’re basically all the same consistency or at least extremely similar.

A good way to get car to get car shampoo from the gallon to your smaller dispenser bottle is to screw 1 of those self cleaning caps/spouts like they have on the 16oz. bottles of Megs D300. Once you have that cap on the gallon you can easily flip it upside down and squeeze the gallon and have it quikly pour into another bottle without spilling a drop.

 

[Sports Fan]

I’ll preface this by saying that my expectations were very high. I’ve heard so many good things from so many people, many of them who I consider very knowledgeable. I was about as excited as I could get to finally try Optimum Car Wash.

However, I can’t believe how underwhelming this Optimum Car Wash turned out just now...

I’m shocked. I was expecting so much more from this car soap. It turned out being in the conversation for least favorite soap I’ve ever used, next to Gyeon Bathe+. Very very similar actually.

My honest review of Optimum Car Wash? Most underwhelming car shampoo I’ve ever used. And that’s putting it nicely. I don’t think I’ll use it again.

Thank you for your honest review. Unfortunately, not every product delivers or measures up to our expectations. I recently experienced a very similar situation with Adam's Car Shampoo.

Speaking of which....

This is exactly how I felt about P&S Pearl, no suds / no lubricity. Went back to Adams blue.

I thought OCW was decent but it doesn't hold a candle to Adams.

Agree with you on this.

Funny thing about this is that I have, but haven't yet tried, the Optimum Car Wash. I have, however, tried Adam's...and was left underwhelmed. The lubrication was disappointing, and it actually left water spots once I was finished. I kept the entire car wet until I was ready to dry it off completely, and I dried it immediately and thoroughly after washing with Adam's....but I experienced more water spots than I ever did with something like Meguiar's Gold Class, for comparison sake. I have heard that Optimum and Adam's are pretty "similar", but I bought the Optimum because Brian from Apex Detail did a car shampoo comparison and he rated the Optimum higher and better than the Adam's. Still, after hearing Eldorado2k's experience with the Optimum, my expectations have now been lowered considerably.

 

[The Guz]

Thank you for your honest review. Unfortunately, not every product delivers or measures up to our expectations. I recently experienced a very similar situation with Adam's Car Shampoo.

Speaking of which....





Funny thing about this is that I have, but haven't yet tried, the Optimum Car Wash. I have, however, tried Adam's...and was left underwhelmed. The lubrication was disappointing, and it actually left water spots once I was finished. I kept the entire car wet until I was ready to dry it off completely, and I dried it immediately and thoroughly after washing with Adam's....but I experienced more water spots than I ever did with something like Meguiar's Gold Class, for comparison sake. I have heard that Optimum and Adam's are pretty "similar", but I bought the Optimum because Brian from Apex Detail did a car shampoo comparison and he rated the Optimum higher and better than the Adam's. Still, after hearing Eldorado2k's experience with the Optimum, my expectations have now been lowered considerably.

Did you leave it wet with the soap on the paint or you rinsed if the soap and kept the surface wet.

Optimum is good but nothing spectacular from my experience. Once I used it it I never bought it again. I actually prefer Hyper Wash over Optimum.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Thank you for your honest review. Unfortunately, not every product delivers or measures up to our expectations. I recently experienced a very similar situation with Adam's Car Shampoo.

Speaking of which....





Funny thing about this is that I have, but haven't yet tried, the Optimum Car Wash. I have, however, tried Adam's...and was left underwhelmed. The lubrication was disappointing, and it actually left water spots once I was finished. I kept the entire car wet until I was ready to dry it off completely, and I dried it immediately and thoroughly after washing with Adam's....but I experienced more water spots than I ever did with something like Meguiar's Gold Class, for comparison sake. I have heard that Optimum and Adam's are pretty "similar", but I bought the Optimum because Brian from Apex Detail did a car shampoo comparison and he rated the Optimum higher and better than the Adam's. Still, after hearing Eldorado2k's experience with the Optimum, my expectations have now been lowered considerably.

I’m not sure if you’ve tried Carpro Reset, but when it comes to car soaps and there being any significant difference that sets any of them apart from the rest it’s probably the only 1 I’d actually put in that category.
It checks every box.
Lubricity [completely blows this soap out of the water]
Suds [again, it’s almost like comparing a rinseless to an actual car shampoo] Even when compared to car soaps with great suds, Reset manages to have even better suds.
Scent [good enough to be considered great scent]
Dilution ratio [1oz per wash bucket]
It’s clear [if that matters. I’m sure there’s people out there who like the fact that it’s colorless]
If you haven’t tried it yet I’ll go out on a limb and guarantee you won’t be disappointed with it.

Megs Hyper Wash is also nice but I’ve become bored... I think it’s because of the scent. It’s not bad, but it’s so subtle that I can’t even bring myself to remember it right now if I tried. Extremely good value. But if you’re just taking care of your own nice rides and are looking for the best car soap that actually stands out from the rest and hasn’t forgot about the fact that we actually love our car shampoo to create great suds, then just get yourself some Reset soap.

 

[MattPersman]

One of the other soaps that actually intrigues me is the Mckees 37 sio2 soap

The alleged no water spots, and our dear Ron tested it in Florida in the sun and it worked well. It’s a bit pricey compared to a sea of cheap soaps but for one or a few vehicles not that bad like reset.

Had you tried that yet Ric?


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[Eldorado2k]

One of the other soaps that actually intrigues me is the Mckees 37 sio2 soap

The alleged no water spots, and our dear Ron tested it in Florida in the sun and it worked well. It’s a bit pricey compared to a sea of cheap soaps but for one or a few vehicles not that bad like reset.

Had you tried that yet Ric?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No I haven’t. I do recall hearing something about it being able to resist water spotting, but I don’t remember the details on how it’s able to achieve that. If someone could chime in maybe?

This Optimum soap was leaving visual water “streaks” on my glass that looked alarming at 1st sight. And this was just seconds after washing the surface. Maybe it just looked real bad because this time there weren’t any suds covering it the way there usually is with other soaps? I can only imagine what this must look like while trying to wash a black vehicle in direct sun with this soap. No suds in direct sunlight? Add hard water to the equation and Cringe.

 

[DetailZeus]

It's refreshing to read a review that's honest about why someone didn't like something. I'm not a suds guy myself so this wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. I wonder if some of the same "polymers" that are in ONR (which obviously doesn't foam) are in the shampoo acting like a defoamer.

 

[minerigger]

Not the first person who I’ve heard didn’t like it


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[spazzz]

I like OCW, some people don't

Reset and OCW are my soaps, all is good in these parts.