P&S Absolute Review

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P&S Absolute Rinse-less Wash Review

Rinse-less washing was never on my radar until I became a member here. I kept seeing others using this wash method, so I began wondering if rinse-less would be a viable option to have in my tool chest. To me, a car was not CLEAN without the use of soap and lot and lots of water. As such, my first attempts at rinse-less included a bottle of ONR and a lot of trepidation. That all changed when I first tried P&S Absolute Rinse-less Wash!



Product Attributes -

While P&S were offering their Epic Water-less wash, they were missing from the rinse-less wash sector. In fact, they were once suggesting their Pearl shampoo would function as a rinse-less, which I don’t think got much traction, and rightfully so. This changed about two years ago when P&S joined the party with a ground-up new rinse-less wash.

Absolute was a co-development with The Rag Company, as such it follows TRC’s preference for polymer rather than surfactant-based rinse-less wash products. The concept here being that the polymers help encapsulate dirt for safe removal, rather than dissolving and emulsifying like a surfactant-based product would. And yes, Absolute will leave behind polymers after use, and no, this won’t alter the characteristic of an LSP.

The biggest advantage P&S Absolute has over the competition is slickness. Now, a product like Carpro ECH20, Gyeon EcoWash or Opti-Coat No Rinse (yellow ONR) would be slicker than Absolute, those products have Si02 and carnauba wax within the formula to provide that effect. On it’s own, Absolute is impressive for what it delivers without laying down some form of “protection” in the process.



Product Notes –

Dilution - P&S Absolute follows the industry standard 256:1 dilution ratio for rinse-less washing. It can also be used for interior cleaning, glass cleaning, clay lubricant, drying aid and as a quick detailer.

Rinse-less Washing – 256:1
Quick Detailer – 64:1
Drying Aid – 64:1
Glass – 256:1
Interior Cleaning – 256:1
Clay Lubricant – 128:1

Mixing – P&S Absolute has a thicker and somewhat gloppy consistency in concentrate form, which led to people shaking the bottle quite vigorously prior to mixing. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this makes it harder to mix into the bucket, the over agitation messing with the polymers. Instead, its recommended to lightly shake/sway the bottle prior to measuring out. I have also noticed warm water helps in this regard too.



One criticism of Absolute, for me at least, is that there is no colorant to help display the product in the mixed solution. As such, I tend to be more thorough than usual when mixing a batch, I also miss the visual confirmation that there is actually something in the water, a hang up from my soap and water method. On the flipside to this, the lack of colorant means you won’t stain your wash media.





Personal Usage Notes -

As mentioned earlier, P&S Absolute is the product that made me comfortable with rinse-less washing. The very first time I used it, I was impressed with the slickness it possessed, both during and after the wash. That and the intoxicating coconut-lime scent. For whatever reason, Absolute just felt “natural”, to the point where it gave me the confidence to try other rinse-less products and lean on the method more than I thought I would.

In my case, I use the multiple towel/Garry Dean method when it comes to rinse-less, but I have also used the foam sponge method as well. And while a drying aid is generally not needed, I do anyway. Speaking of which, the secret sauce when it comes to P&S Absolute is how well it plays with another P&S product, Bead Maker!





On its own, Absolute is slick. But when teamed with a few light sprays of Bead Maker during the drying process, you would be hard pressed to find a glossier, slicker end result. And while I understand that both products have been over-hyped in the past, you can’t argue with the results. Again, that slickness is like a psychological green light for me in trusting and enjoying rinse-less washing.







Final Thoughts -

P&S Absolute in the grand scheme of things is NOT a game changer as it was hyped during its launch. No doubt there are better cleaning rinse-less products, some are slicker, some are easier to mix. What I like about Absolute though is user experience. It starts with the scent, flows through to the slickness while you wash, then rewards with a glossy and slick finish at the end, something that is amplified when teamed up with Bead Maker.
 
Thank you for posting your very thorough review. I am also a big fan of Absolute. I also found that it cleaned well, provided a lot of lubrication, and smells amazing. In fact, one day while I was out washing my car with Absolute, my neighbor walking by made a comment about how good my car wash soap smelled. It was the first time ever that I got a compliment on the scent of my wash solution.

If you haven't done so already, I would recommend you give Armour Detail Supply Hero a try. Although I still like Absolute a lot, Hero has replaced it as my favorite rinseless wash. It is easier to dilute and isn't "clumpy" out of the bottle like Absolute. I think it cleans just as well if not better and also has an addictive scent. I know Hero has some SiO2 in it, but ADS says that the small amount of SiO2 helps with slickness and lubrication but will not leave any protection behind.

And the same way that you like Beadmaker as a drying aid, ADS's Amplify also works really well as a drying aid for Hero. Hero plus Amplify is an amazing combo. And Amplify will leave behind a bit more robust protection than Beadmaker.
 
In my case, I use the multiple towel/Garry Dean method when it comes to rinse-less, but I have also used the foam sponge method as well. And while a drying aid is generally not needed, I do anyway. Speaking of which, the secret sauce when it comes to P&S Absolute is how well it plays with another P&S product, Bead Maker!

I also use the multiple towel/Garry Dean method. In his original videos he would put the towels into a bucket; mix the rinse-less wash product with a gallon of distilled water, shake it up and pour it over the towels. This is how I've always done it, although I use different products. When using Absolute, would adding it to a gallon of water and shaking it up, allow it to mix more thoroughly, without clumping?
 
Thank you for posting your very thorough review. I am also a big fan of Absolute. I also found that it cleaned well, provided a lot of lubrication, and smells amazing. In fact, one day while I was out washing my car with Absolute, my neighbor walking by made a comment about how good my car wash soap smelled. It was the first time ever that I got a compliment on the scent of my wash solution.

If you haven't done so already, I would recommend you give Armour Detail Supply Hero a try. Although I still like Absolute a lot, Hero has replaced it as my favorite rinseless wash. It is easier to dilute and isn't "clumpy" out of the bottle like Absolute. I think it cleans just as well if not better and also has an addictive scent. I know Hero has some SiO2 in it, but ADS says that the small amount of SiO2 helps with slickness and lubrication but will not leave any protection behind.

And the same way that you like Beadmaker as a drying aid, ADS's Amplify also works really well as a drying aid for Hero. Hero plus Amplify is an amazing combo. And Amplify will leave behind a bit more robust protection than Beadmaker.

At the moment, only the ADS coatings have made to trip to Australia, but I'm told the rest of the lineup will arrive at some point in the near future. I have my eye on several ADS products, Amplify and Hero are most certainly on my hit list when they finally arrive.
 
I also use the multiple towel/Garry Dean method. In his original videos he would put the towels into a bucket; mix the rinse-less wash product with a gallon of distilled water, shake it up and pour it over the towels. This is how I've always done it, although I use different products. When using Absolute, would adding it to a gallon of water and shaking it up, allow it to mix more thoroughly, without clumping?

I haven't had the issues since mixing Absolute with warm water. Prior to that, the product seemed to separate and sit on the surface of the water. As mentioned earlier, vigorus agitation when mixing Absolute can work against you.
 
I enjoyed my 32 oz bottle of P&S Absolut, no doubt about it but with so many current great products in my collection I don't know if I'll be a repeat customer. For some reason the products I've been a repeat customer of are:

-Carpro Ech2o
-Griot's Garage Brillant Shine rinseless wash
-DIY Detail rinseless wash

Going forward Gyeon ECO wash will be repurchased but in the larger size. I'm thinking I'll always have 2 pure cleaners and 2 Gloss enhancing products, always room to "try" something new that comes along

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
Excellent and super thorough review. I’ve enjoyed using it but I really don’t know if I’d purchase it again. My only real complaint is it seems I spend a bit more time making sure that it’s thoroughly mixed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for posting the review. I'm sure Absolute is a good product, but I have stayed away from it due to reading a lot of people say that they have had issues mixing it with water. Apparently, it tends to stay in globs.
 
I've always mixed Absolute in warm water and it's worked well for me that way. A few stirs with my hand in the bucket seemed to be enough to thoroughly mix it.
 
I was underwhelmed with Absolute and bought into the hype. I feel there are so many other good rinseless washes on the market. I still always find myself going back to Wolfgang Uber Rinseless. I have yet to find a rinseless that beats it in the slickness department. I just did an "old school" rinseless wash this past weekend by breaking out old products. I was shocked at the gloss and slickness. Here is what I used.

If you are a hardcore old school detailer you know these products.

Duragloss Rinseless Wash with Aqua Wax
Duragloss Aquawax 951
QD mix topper (Duragloss Fast Clean and Shine and AW 75/25).

The car was a white 2012 Jeep Sahara. The gloss on the white was so impressive and matched results I got with newer products.

Morale of the story. Don't buy into the hype all the time and dig deep into that detailing cabinet and break out some older products :)
 
I was underwhelmed with Absolute and bought into the hype. I feel there are so many other good rinseless washes on the market. I still always find myself going back to Wolfgang Uber Rinseless. I have yet to find a rinseless that beats it in the slickness department. I just did an "old school" rinseless wash this past weekend by breaking out old products. I was shocked at the gloss and slickness. Here is what I used.

If you are a hardcore old school detailer you know these products.

Duragloss Rinseless Wash with Aqua Wax
Duragloss Aquawax 951
QD mix topper (Duragloss Fast Clean and Shine and AW 75/25).

The car was a white 2012 Jeep Sahara. The gloss on the white was so impressive and matched results I got with newer products.

Morale of the story. Don't buy into the hype all the time and dig deep into that detailing cabinet and break out some older products :)
Those are all tried and tested, WGU was the base for my original "FrankenDetailer" and I still have WGU on the top shelf and I'm using it next time around, just hope it'd still good

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
I definitely think it was one of the most overhyped products when it came out. TRC was in on it. Not as bad though as "Industry Disruptor" though.

:rolleyes:

View attachment 77318
 
Failing after the first wash...

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Cerakote sent me a sample of v2 but I still won’t put it on a paying customer’s car. It has to be applied at a temp higher than 65 degrees which really isn’t a problem, most of the time. But, this isn’t an issue with other coatings that I’ve applied in the middle of winter. I have a heater in my garage but I doubt it ever got to 65 degrees and all of the other coatings had no issues in application. It seems that Cerakote has overpromised and underdelivered. They claim that you can get all of the gloss, slickness, hydrophobicity and durability of a professional coating in a $30 bottle and that doesn’t seem to be the case.
 
I saw one video that reported that the globbing when mixing Absolute is normal per the company and working as designed. "Working as designed" is what us engineers say when there is some quirk in the product that detracts but truly may be harmless.

I still liked the Meg's detailer line rinseless that was discontinued.
 
I saw one video that reported that the globbing when mixing Absolute is normal per the company and working as designed. "Working as designed" is what us engineers say when there is some quirk in the product that detracts but truly may be harmless.

I'm sure they were inspired to create it while in the pool at the Playboy mansion
 
I'm sure they were inspired to create it while in the pool at the Playboy mansion
OMG that's gross, next thing you'll be talking about black lights and ropes

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
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