Optimum No Rinse (ONR) New 2012 Formula (v3) - Photo & Video Review!

[walletless]

Few weeks ago, Optimum Polymer Technologies (OPT) released a new version of their popular Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine Car Wash Formula - popularly known as ONR. Some people call this new iteration v3, while some call it v4 - so to save the confusion, I will just call this the ONR 2012 Formula.


I have never used a rinse-less car wash system before, so I do not have much in terms of comparison - but this will serve as a stand-alone review of this car wash system. I live in an apartment, so I could not use any of the shampoos that require a hose pipe with several gallons of water. The drive-by car washes make me very uncomfortable since I do not know what detergent and brushes are used, and whether they could marr the paint. While I reside in North California and do not have to worry about snow & cold temperatures, a rinseless wash could be used in such conditions too.


The Rinse-less car washes are perfect for these kind of situations - you need very little water - under 2 gallons to wash a typical sedan. These systems are not suitable for very filthy dirty cars, but they are perfect if your car has some dirt and you want to wash it regularly. Additionally, the polymers in ONR adds shine to the car.


Without further ado, here is the review of ONR 2012 Formula on a dirty black Nissan Altima.


MY SETUP:
2 Buckets (1 with clear fresh water, 1 with 1 oz ONR solution mixed in 2 gallons of water), pre-mixed ONR solution for pre-rinsing (1 oz mixed in 32 oz of water), Grout Sponge (bought from Home Depot), and Microfiber Towels.

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BEFORE PICTURES
Several water marks, bird bombs, pollen, dust, etc on this 2012 Nissan Altima

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DURING WASHING
ONR feels quite slick on the surface. I pre-rinse the panel that I am about to wash by spraying some ONR+water solution, then use the grout sponge to wash in straight lines. Once done, I rinse the sponge, and go over the panel a second time using the other side of the sponge. Finally, I use a Microfiber towel to dry the panel. If there is some water left behind, I use another microfiber towel to go dry again. You can see the process in the video below.


It's always best to go from the top-most part and work your way lower as you clean the car. I divided the car into several "panels" to effectively wash it. First, I did one half of the top, then the other half. Then I finished all the windows, followed by the hood, front bumper, trunk, door panels, and the remaining lower panels. Finally, I finished with the door jams. I did not do the tires - will leave that for next week.

Youtube Video: [video=youtube_share;jNRdfS0O1Ew"]Optimum No Rinse (ONR) Wash & Shine v3 2012 Formula Review - YouTube[/video]

The sponge did have some dirt it picked up, but that did not affect the slickness, nor caused any marring.







AFTER PICTURES

ONR cleans really well. In fact, the car as clean as when I bought it new, if not more.



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[Rsurfer]

Thank you for sharing. May I make a couple of suggestions..first, would it not be better to spray the pre soak solution for a wider coverage rather than using a stream? Secondly, I would fold your mf towel. By doing this you will have 8 clean sides to dry with. Use 2 towels if necessary.

 

[walletless]

thanks Rsurfer. Yes - a wide coverage nozzle would be better. I did not have one lying around at home, so I decided to use the cheap home depot ones. That served the purpose for now.

For the towels - I tried folding it, but it was very difficult to move the towel around. I have ordered some more plush towels which might work better when folded, but the ones I had (I bought it from Amazon) worked better when used as a "blob" rather than folded.

 

[Rsurfer]

Those spray bottles should have an adjustable spray tip. Try priming the towel with a spray or two of ONR, this might help the towel to glide rather than grab. Another option is to blot dry.

thanks Rsurfer. Yes - a wide coverage nozzle would be better. I did not have one lying around at home, so I decided to use the cheap home depot ones. That served the purpose for now.

For the towels - I tried folding it, but it was very difficult to move the towel around. I have ordered some more plush towels which might work better when folded, but the ones I had (I bought it from Amazon) worked better when used as a "blob" rather than folded.

 

[walletless]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that next time.

 

[BobbyG]

A very nice review with both photos and video!! rops:

Ron's made a couple of nice suggestions that will help you the next time.

I'm glad you use the pre-soak method and I feel this is an important step to begin dissolving surface contaminates before you hit the surface with a sponge.

All in all a very nice review and a very clean Nissan Ultima!! rops:

 

[Eandras]

Walletless nice review and video. You should be commended for a great effort. I also find that using the microfibers that I need quite a few to dry the vehicle. I like to lightly pull the flat towel across the body panel to dry.

Again great job on the review and video. I may now try the ONR system.

 

[CEE DOG]

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this! Nicely done!!

Personally I won't use a rinsless on a car that dirty. Well, I would if the car wasn't perfectly polished but if it had no swirls I wouldn't. I hope my Dad and Dr. G don't shoot me! :bowdown:
:bolt:

 

[c5z06camaro]

well done review! Nice to see a fellow san jose member post this.

 

[walletless]

A very nice review with both photos and video!! rops:

Ron's made a couple of nice suggestions that will help you the next time.

I'm glad you use the pre-soak method and I feel this is an important step to begin dissolving surface contaminates before you hit the surface with a sponge.

All in all a very nice review and a very clean Nissan Ultima!! rops:

Thanks! On flat/horizontal surface such as hood, trunk, top, etc - I just squeeze the sponge once to pre-soak it. For vertical surfaces like doors, bumpers, etc - a wide mouth spray like Ron suggested would work great. For the video, I just used a spray since it is easier to use while holding the camera (don't have a tripod )

Walletless nice review and video. You should be commended for a great effort. I also find that using the microfibers that I need quite a few to dry the vehicle. I like to lightly pull the flat towel across the body panel to dry.

Again great job on the review and video. I may now try the ONR system.

Thanks Eandras.

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this! Nicely done!!

Personally I won't use a rinsless on a car that dirty. Well, I would if the car wasn't perfectly polished but if it had no swirls I wouldn't. I hope my Dad and Dr. G don't shoot me! :bowdown:
:bolt:

My car is parked 5 days a week at my workplace which has lots of construction work going on. The dirt you see has accumulated over just 2 weeks, so it was loose enough for rinseless to pick up. I checked the car in sun, and there was no new marring introduced, so seems like ONR does not mind a car as dirty as the mine.

well done review! Nice to see a fellow san jose member post this.

Thanks!

 

[bl3ujay07]

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this! Nicely done!!

Personally I won't use a rinsless on a car that dirty. Well, I would if the car wasn't perfectly polished but if it had no swirls I wouldn't. I hope my Dad and Dr. G don't shoot me! :bowdown:
:bolt:

I agree. In the pictures, it looks like the car got wet within your two weeks with dust accumulating and possible clinging a lot more to the paint as appose to just dust/dirt without getting wet.

That is just my observation, but if you say it worked great than it works great! However, i would be too scared to do so on my car. I would rather hit the coin op, spray everything down, and then ONR wash.

Thanks for the review though. I am still waiting on a comparison between v2 and v3 as my wash media gets pretty damn dirty after onr washing.

 

[Rsurfer]

The OP did a pre-soak and then a ONR wash which looks safe enough. V3 is slicker, glossier and all around improvement over V2..this is from a good source (Old Tiger) as I have not tried it yet. http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...6775-new-formula-onr-best-rinseless-ever.html Your washing media will still get dirty and the stains will not rinse out.

I agree. In the pictures, it looks like the car got wet within your two weeks with dust accumulating and possible clinging a lot more to the paint as appose to just dust/dirt without getting wet.

That is just my observation, but if you say it worked great than it works great! However, i would be too scared to do so on my car. I would rather hit the coin op, spray everything down, and then ONR wash.

Thanks for the review though. I am still waiting on a comparison between v2 and v3 as my wash media gets pretty damn dirty after onr washing.

 

[bl3ujay07]

The OP did a pre-soak and then a ONR wash which looks safe enough. V3 is slicker, glossier and all around improvement over V2..this is from a good source (Old Tiger) as I have not tried it yet. http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...6775-new-formula-onr-best-rinseless-ever.html Your washing media will still get dirty and the stains will not rinse out.

I didn't look through the you tube video, my bad. But in honesty, i would still be scared. I coin op spray my car, pre soak, and then onr. Maybe a little overkill, but it keeps me more comfortable.

 

[Rsurfer]

If it works for you by all means continue what you are doing. The old saying, don't fix what is not broken.

I didn't look through the you tube video, my bad. But in honesty, i would still be scared. I coin op spray my car, pre soak, and then onr. Maybe a little overkill, but it keeps me more comfortable.

 

[bl3ujay07]

If it works for you by all means continue what you are doing. The old saying, don't fix what is not broken.

True, but you still have to do maintenance.:xyxthumbs:.

 

[HotWhipT/A]

The after picture of the door and the other one of the LF fender look really streaky. Much cleaner, but it looks like it needs to be QD'd.

 

[opie_7afe]

rinseless's save me so much time on my own car since i keep it pretty clean anyways. love em. those grout sponges are great for rinseless also, with mine i cut 1/2" cubes 1/2 way through the sponge and it really helps grab the dirt better and allows the dirt to rinse out way easier. just use a sharp razor blade and a metal ruler. or look at the LC blue wash sponge for inspiration.

 

[Sick03stang]

The after picture of the door and the other one of the LF fender look really streaky. Much cleaner, but it looks like it needs to be QD'd.

:iagree:Use a ww towel next time to dry your car if you didnt do so.

 

[SRTSean]

Nice job on the review and thanks for taking the time to be so thorough.

It's a bit of a disappointment to see that ONR still stains wash media. That will probably keep my away from trying ONR V3 and push me towards using Megs D114 on the rare occassion when I use a rinseless wash.

 

[walletless]

The after picture of the door and the other one of the LF fender look really streaky. Much cleaner, but it looks like it needs to be QD'd.

:iagree:Use a ww towel next time to dry your car if you didnt do so.

Thanks. I'll try QD next week along with the WW suggestion.

rinseless's save me so much time on my own car since i keep it pretty clean anyways. love em. those grout sponges are great for rinseless also, with mine i cut 1/2" cubes 1/2 way through the sponge and it really helps grab the dirt better and allows the dirt to rinse out way easier. just use a sharp razor blade and a metal ruler. or look at the LC blue wash sponge for inspiration.

Grout sponge worked surprisingly very well. The MF mitt may be better, but given the media staining, I am not inclined to keep buying the more expensive MF mitts frequently.. I will stick to grout sponge unless I find reasons no to.. like they say, don't fix what is not broken
I'll take a look at the LC sponge.. I believe I had seen something similar in a ONR video too..

Nice job on the review and thanks for taking the time to be so thorough.

It's a bit of a disappointment to see that ONR still stains wash media. That will probably keep my away from trying ONR V3 and push me towards using Megs D114 on the rare occassion when I use a rinseless wash.

The wash media stains made me nervous initially, but it really does not cause any marring or reduce slickness. After several panels, I don't think that is a big enough negative to not use ONR.. but I would definitely not use any expensive wash media with ONR because of this.