Optimum Big Red Sponge-Review

[Eldorado2k]

-1st off I’d like to thank Spazzz for sending me this, I really appreciate it.
Now here’s my review.

Ok upon unboxing it my 1st impression was that this sponge is alot softer than the Lake Country Rinseless Sponge. They’re completely different.

The 1st thing I did was mix up a bucket with about 2-2.5 gallons of water and 1oz. of Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash and let the BRS soak for a couple of hours.

After allowing it to soak for a couple of hours it was time to give it a go on my car.
This is how dirty the car was. Kind of dirty, but nothing crazy.

I started off by doing a pre spray w/WG Uber@3oz. per 1 gallon dilution.

The moment I did the 1st swipe across my roof, I immediately thought to myself “ok this is going to work”

This is how much dirt came off of half my roof. The other side was equally dirty from the other half...

When I went to rinse the sponge in my rinse bucket w/grit guard, I noticed that it didn’t come nearly as clean as I would’ve liked.

Here’s the rinse water after just that 1st rinse.

So I grabbed the hose with nozzle and cleaned the sponge myself...

As I continued, the sponge became dirtier and harder to rinse clean to the point where it started to feel unsafe to continue.

By the time I was done rinseless washing my car this is what the sponge looked like After I had attempted to rinse it clean with a strong jet from the hose nozzle.

1st conclusion: This sponge doesn’t pair well with Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Part 2. I was finally able to get the BRS clean using LATA and the hose nozzle...

My next step was to try it with a different rinseless wash solution. This time it was Megs D114 @1.5oz. per 2 gallons of water.

This time around, the sponge did a much better job of rinsing clean in the rinse bucket.

This is how both buckets looked after washing the entire car.

And here’s that same wash bucket with a different rinse bucket after washing another vehicle.

Final thoughts: This BRS works well. Do you see dirt on your drying towel? Yes & no, it depends on whether you decide to go over the panel a second time after rinsing the sponge, but either ways it feels safe when using a drying aid and using all sides of your drying towel.
Does this method induce swirls? I haven’t tried it on any black vehicles yet, but it doesn’t feel like it would.
Can I see myself switching from multiple towels to this sponge for my frequent maintenance rinseless washes? Yes.

The frequent dunking in the rinse bucket is a minor PITA, but in the end it beats having to deal with a stack of wet dirty towels. Just make sure it’s compatible with your favorite rinseless wash solution or else it may not easily rinse clean during use.

Overall I give it thumbs up.

 

[VISITOR]

i have used the blue version of this sponge when it first came out and wasn't a fan (just wasn't for me). it's too thick and would be better if it was half the thickness so there's more flexibility (pliable like a grout sponge) getting into tighter areas and would also soak up less solution (less heavy and on pressure) as well. nice review and if it works for you, keep using it...

 

[Bruno Soares]

Uber did leave the sponge with stains. N-914 not only cleaned those stains, now it gets no more stains each time I use it.

 

[mk9750]

Eldorado,

All good info, for sure. But wouldn't the most fair test be to use it with ONR, which I think is what it was developed to be used with?

 

[01GreyStangGT]

It’s a great sponge with ONR.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline

 

[Eldorado2k]

Eldorado,

All good info, for sure. But wouldn't the most fair test be to use it with ONR, which I think is what it was developed to be used with?

I’m not interested in ONR. I just ordered more McKee’s N-914.

 

[SWETM]

Great review Eldorado2K!

Don't know if it's an interesting thing to hear. But the most used wash media the average Joe and Jane uses here in Sweden is foam sponges in all different ways of how they are cut and the size of them. I will be digging a bit in my plastic boxes to find those that most detailing shops offers. It's like convoluted on the part that touching the paint. With the 2bm wash it feels kind of safe. It can be an environment thing that where I live it's gets more loose and bigger dirt particals if that makes sense. That's for me gets very concerned to do a safe waterless wash or rinseless wash without any kind of pre-rinse. But with a pre-rinse done I will test it out this season with Carpro EcH2O.

Is it faster to do a rinseless wash with the BRS vs mf towels? Or is it more the aftercare without needing to wash and dry the mf towels that you save time in the longrun?

It kind of shows that you live in a big city and get that high amount of black soot on the BRS and the mf towels I have seen before. How is it with acid rains where you live. As I understand it it's able to build up to acid rains where you have a lot of exhaust fumes that gets transformed to this. Just interested if it's something that is noticeble or if it's very rare to happens.

Very generous of you spaaaz to pass the BRS forward to Eldorado2K!

Nicely done with the review Eldo!

/ Tony

 

[Klasse Act]

FWIW, try your RW with The Aqua Sponge...very pores! I know the BRS is a forum favorite but I've had GREAT luck when using the Aqua Sponge, well before I used the GD method more often.

Nice to see you review a product and post your experience with it's especially since you were initially not too sure about it IIRC

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Eldorado2k]

Great review Eldorado2K!

Don't know if it's an interesting thing to hear. But the most used wash media the average Joe and Jane uses here in Sweden is foam sponges in all different ways of how they are cut and the size of them. I will be digging a bit in my plastic boxes to find those that most detailing shops offers. It's like convoluted on the part that touching the paint. With the 2bm wash it feels kind of safe. It can be an environment thing that where I live it's gets more loose and bigger dirt particals if that makes sense. That's for me gets very concerned to do a safe waterless wash or rinseless wash without any kind of pre-rinse. But with a pre-rinse done I will test it out this season with Carpro EcH2O.

Is it faster to do a rinseless wash with the BRS vs mf towels? Or is it more the aftercare without needing to wash and dry the mf towels that you save time in the longrun?

It kind of shows that you live in a big city and get that high amount of black soot on the BRS and the mf towels I have seen before. How is it with acid rains where you live. As I understand it it's able to build up to acid rains where you have a lot of exhaust fumes that gets transformed to this. Just interested if it's something that is noticeble or if it's very rare to happens.

Very generous of you spaaaz to pass the BRS forward to Eldorado2K!

Nicely done with the review Eldo!

/ Tony

I never used to do rinseless wash, I was strictly waterless wash. Time wise it’s about the same, however doing this rinseless with the sponge the 1st thing I noticed was that it can be a bit of a mess due to more water everywhere. I normally get by with 1 small PFM for drying via waterless, but the 1st time I did a rinseless with the sponge my PFM was soaking wet and could no longer effectively dry the last panel.

I’ve come to the realization that doing a pre soak with rinseless solution is completely unnecessary. These last 2 rinseless washes I went straight at it with the sponge and I think things went much better that way.

I don’t think acid rain is much of an issue here. It rarely rains though..

 

[Klasse Act]

Why wouldn't you wanna pre-treat and break down and bring the dirt & grit to the surface

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[PaulMys]

Ric, how do you "stack" wet towels?

Lol. J/K man.

Nice real world info here. Good honest review.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Why wouldn't you wanna pre-treat and break down and bring the dirt & grit to the surface

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

The dirt glides off with ease regardless. As long as the lsp is good there’s really no need to pre soak. The BRS is nearly soaking wet when it’s going across the paint. Pre soak feels like overkill. I’m also doing this about every 4 days, so the vehicle isn’t crazy dirty. Also keep in mind the color of the vehicles I’ve been rinseless washing are bronzemist & white. But either ways, unless the vehicle is full on dirty it really does feel unnecessary.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Ric, how do you "stack" wet towels?

Lol. J/K man.

Nice real world info here. Good honest review.

I lay them on top of spray bottles until I run out of space and then improvise until the table in the backyard is a complete mess.

 

[PaulMys]

I lay them on top of spray bottles until I run out of space and then improvise until the table in the backyard is a complete mess.

YOU? Ok, man..... hard to picture from the guy who categorized his tree branches.

But... detailing gets your blood flowing more..... Lol

 

[Klasse Act]

The dirt glides off with ease regardless. As long as the lsp is good there’s really no need to pre soak. The BRS is nearly soaking wet when it’s going across the paint. Pre soak feels like overkill. I’m also doing this about every 4 days, so the vehicle isn’t crazy dirty. Also keep in mind the color of the vehicles I’ve been rinseless washing are bronzemist & white. But either ways, unless the vehicle is full on dirty it really does feel unnecessary.

Let me try it like this...wet sponge on dry paint or wet sponge on wet paint....

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Eldorado2k]

Let me try it like this...wet sponge on dry paint or wet sponge on wet paint....

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Well normally I do dry towel on wet paint... So it’s not so far fetched. A Kirkland at that.

My paint stays protected. It’s so smooth that it’s close to wet at all times.

 

[Eldorado2k]

YOU? Ok, man..... hard to picture from the guy who categorized his tree branches.

But... detailing gets your blood flowing more..... Lol

I know dude, it makes me cringe. I just haven’t been able to figure out a hamper setup for dirty towels. I tried using buckets with grit guards but then they get musty if you cover the buckets, and if you don’t cover them they get dirty. It’s a good thing microfibers are resilient and come back to life after a wash & dry.

 

[Caraman]

FWIW, try your RW with The Aqua Sponge...very pores! I know the BRS is a forum favorite but I've had GREAT luck when using the Aqua Sponge, well before I used the GD method more often.

Nice to see you review a product and post your experience with it's especially since you were initially not too sure about it IIRC

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Is there a particular Aqua Sponge in the line you recommend or prefer?

 

[Klasse Act]

Is there a particular Aqua Sponge in the line you recommend or prefer?

I looked it up on Ebay and paid like $10-15.00 for it, maybe post it here or PM with it, its been years since I bought one.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk