Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 6
Review: Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash
If you like keeping your car clean all the time and thus you're a fan of waterless washes, (I am), then you're going to love this product. Not only does it clean well but it feels super slippery during application and wipe-off and most waterless washes are not like this.
VERY IMPORTANT - See the two stacks of towels in the above picture? I didn't place all those towels in the picture to simply SELL you towels. I'm using the picture to reinforce this message. What message?
YOU NEED A LOT OF TOWELS
I've been teaching people how to use waterless washes and using them myself ever since this category of product was introduced. There a LOTS of reviews and how-to articles/videos on how to use a waterless wash I know because I've written plenty and have numerous videos on this type of product and technique and in all my articles and videos I stress the key to using a waterless wash and NOT scratch your car's paint is to,
A: Use a quality product.
B: Use the right volume of product in context to how much road film and dirt accumulation there is on the car.
C: USE A LOT OF TOWELS
Not only is using a lot of clean, inspected towels the key to safely cleaning your car without a hose and bucket but it's super important with they type of waterless wash, an SiO2 type waterless wash because you need a clean dry towel for the final wipe of a section to avoid any streaks or smears. The product cleans well and makes the paint feel super slick and slippery, but I noticed when I used it on Yancy's car, which was fairly dirty with road film, that in order to get a perfect finish I really needed to use a dry towel for the final wipe. I think the reason for this is due to the SiO2 solids content in this products. The SiO2 is the KEY ingredient that separates this waterless wash from other waterless washes and it is the characteristics of SiO2 that makes people like these types of product, that is,
The above reasons are what people tend to like about SiO2 products and what delivers these characteristics is the solid SiO2 components in any formula that uses SiO2 as a key ingredient. In this product however, the characteristic I discovered when using it for the first time was it's not as forgiving during wipe-off as the traditional waterless washes that tend to use either some form of wax or synthetic polymers. That's the trade-off for all the other features and benefits. It's not a deal-breaker in my opinion because you should ALREADY be using lots of microfiber towels when using ANY waterless wash.
I'm stressing this in this review to help you by reinforcing the best practice of using lots of towels. And "yes", of course we sell microfiber towels but this is not why I'm telling you to use lots of towels, I'm a detailer at heart and empathetic to others who love to detail their own car and/or anyone that details professionally.
Now onto my testing of this new product
I was given this product this afternoon, so this is the first time I've ever used this product specifically. I've used a LOT of waterless washes, so I'm no stranger to correct technique for using a waterless wash. My co-worker Tommy came out and took a few pictures just to document that "yes", I truly did use this product on a dirty car.
First the dirty car
This is Yancy's 2018 Dodge Challenger. This is a daily driver and thus exposed to not only the evil Sun that tortures all cars in South Florida, but also frequent rain.
It rains a lot here in South Florida, we're lucky that it's often short lived during spring and summer and at least it's WARM rain.
But with rain comes road film. If you have never read my article on road film or you're not sure what it is and where it comes from, then take a moment to read my article and look at the pictures and then it will all make sense.
Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film
This is accumulated air-borne dirt, kitty paw prints and oily road film. These pictures were taken with my Canon and sometimes it can be hard to get pictures of dirt on car with the Canon.
The below pictures were taken with my phone, that's why the color looks different. The entire car looks like the pictures above and below and I mostly like to document that the car I'm using in a review is the real-deal and in this case this car is really dirty.
More kitty paw prints on the roof.
The hood doesn't look dirty in the picture but it's just as dirty as the road film you see on the upper left hand corner of the windshiled where the wipers don't reach. (think about it)
And yes, this is real bird droppings....
See the road film on the upper corner of the windshield?
This same film is on the hood and the sides of the car....
Washing Yancy's car with the Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash
Usually we try to capture that live action spray shot with the product coming out in a glorious spray pattern, but this was my first time working with Tommy and we need to practice our timing to get these shots.
This one is better, you can see the spray coming out of the nozzle. I look a tick crazy so we have to practice getting "people" shots too.
So I'm spraying down the passenger side of the roof with an ample amount of product. The dirtier the car the more product you use as you want LOTS of lubrication to avoid scratching the paint. Towels are key but wetness is also key.
Next I'm wiping the Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash off this side of the roof using Gold Plush Jr 16" by 16" towels.
If you look closely you can see the the side I washed is clean and shiny and the driver's side still has road film and dirt on it.
Yancy and shot a video showing the product in use and then together we finished washing his car with the new Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash. Afterwards I took these pictures to show the car is now clean and the paint looks glassy.
Review
Nice product. In fact, I think this is now my favorite waterless wash. I love how it makes the paint feel slick and slippery not just after wipe-off but while I'm spreading it around. The dirt level on Yancy car is at my upper limits for how dirty of a car I like to use a waterless wash on. Any dirtier and I would have preferred to wash it with a foam gun or a bucket wash.
Spreading
This product spreads easy and seems to really soak into the dirt film. You can also easily feel the slippery feel to the paint when moving this product over the surface. I can't remember ever feeling this with any other waterless wash.
Cleaning
Oily road film is not the easiest substance to break-down and emulsify with a spray-on product but I think this SiO2 waterless wash handled very well.
Wiping off
Wipe off was easy and just like spreading the product out, it made the paint and glass fill slick and slippery. Most people I know and meet like their car's paint to feel slick and slippery. I don't remember ever meeting anyone that likes their paint to feel rubbery or grabby.
This is a fairly complex simple product. It's complex because it's an SiO2 product, I'm not a chemist but there is truly something to SiO2 for use in car care products and I"m sure there's some science that goes behind it. It's simple because it's a waterless wash. It's not that complicated to figure out. The key to using a waterless wash include the three things I listed at the beginning of this review.
A: Use a quality product.
B: Use the right volume of product in context to how much road film and dirt accumulation there is on the car.
C: USE A LOT OF TOWELS
If you do the above you can get great results with ANY waterless wash. If you're like me and thousands of other car detailing enthusiasts and you like SiO2 products then this will be you new favorite waterless wash.
On Autogeek.com
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash - 16 ounce bottle
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash - 1 gallon jug
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash
If you like keeping your car clean all the time and thus you're a fan of waterless washes, (I am), then you're going to love this product. Not only does it clean well but it feels super slippery during application and wipe-off and most waterless washes are not like this.
VERY IMPORTANT - See the two stacks of towels in the above picture? I didn't place all those towels in the picture to simply SELL you towels. I'm using the picture to reinforce this message. What message?
YOU NEED A LOT OF TOWELS
I've been teaching people how to use waterless washes and using them myself ever since this category of product was introduced. There a LOTS of reviews and how-to articles/videos on how to use a waterless wash I know because I've written plenty and have numerous videos on this type of product and technique and in all my articles and videos I stress the key to using a waterless wash and NOT scratch your car's paint is to,
A: Use a quality product.
B: Use the right volume of product in context to how much road film and dirt accumulation there is on the car.
C: USE A LOT OF TOWELS
Not only is using a lot of clean, inspected towels the key to safely cleaning your car without a hose and bucket but it's super important with they type of waterless wash, an SiO2 type waterless wash because you need a clean dry towel for the final wipe of a section to avoid any streaks or smears. The product cleans well and makes the paint feel super slick and slippery, but I noticed when I used it on Yancy's car, which was fairly dirty with road film, that in order to get a perfect finish I really needed to use a dry towel for the final wipe. I think the reason for this is due to the SiO2 solids content in this products. The SiO2 is the KEY ingredient that separates this waterless wash from other waterless washes and it is the characteristics of SiO2 that makes people like these types of product, that is,
- SiO2 creates a Hydrophobic surface
- SiO2 creates a self-cleaning effect
- SiO2 makes normal washing and drying faster
- SiO2 creates a glassy appearance to paint
- SiO2 lasts longer than traditional waxes and synthetic sealants
The above reasons are what people tend to like about SiO2 products and what delivers these characteristics is the solid SiO2 components in any formula that uses SiO2 as a key ingredient. In this product however, the characteristic I discovered when using it for the first time was it's not as forgiving during wipe-off as the traditional waterless washes that tend to use either some form of wax or synthetic polymers. That's the trade-off for all the other features and benefits. It's not a deal-breaker in my opinion because you should ALREADY be using lots of microfiber towels when using ANY waterless wash.
I'm stressing this in this review to help you by reinforcing the best practice of using lots of towels. And "yes", of course we sell microfiber towels but this is not why I'm telling you to use lots of towels, I'm a detailer at heart and empathetic to others who love to detail their own car and/or anyone that details professionally.
Now onto my testing of this new product
I was given this product this afternoon, so this is the first time I've ever used this product specifically. I've used a LOT of waterless washes, so I'm no stranger to correct technique for using a waterless wash. My co-worker Tommy came out and took a few pictures just to document that "yes", I truly did use this product on a dirty car.
First the dirty car
This is Yancy's 2018 Dodge Challenger. This is a daily driver and thus exposed to not only the evil Sun that tortures all cars in South Florida, but also frequent rain.
It rains a lot here in South Florida, we're lucky that it's often short lived during spring and summer and at least it's WARM rain.
But with rain comes road film. If you have never read my article on road film or you're not sure what it is and where it comes from, then take a moment to read my article and look at the pictures and then it will all make sense.
Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film
This is accumulated air-borne dirt, kitty paw prints and oily road film. These pictures were taken with my Canon and sometimes it can be hard to get pictures of dirt on car with the Canon.
The below pictures were taken with my phone, that's why the color looks different. The entire car looks like the pictures above and below and I mostly like to document that the car I'm using in a review is the real-deal and in this case this car is really dirty.
More kitty paw prints on the roof.
The hood doesn't look dirty in the picture but it's just as dirty as the road film you see on the upper left hand corner of the windshiled where the wipers don't reach. (think about it)
And yes, this is real bird droppings....
See the road film on the upper corner of the windshield?
This same film is on the hood and the sides of the car....
Washing Yancy's car with the Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash
Usually we try to capture that live action spray shot with the product coming out in a glorious spray pattern, but this was my first time working with Tommy and we need to practice our timing to get these shots.
This one is better, you can see the spray coming out of the nozzle. I look a tick crazy so we have to practice getting "people" shots too.
So I'm spraying down the passenger side of the roof with an ample amount of product. The dirtier the car the more product you use as you want LOTS of lubrication to avoid scratching the paint. Towels are key but wetness is also key.
Next I'm wiping the Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash off this side of the roof using Gold Plush Jr 16" by 16" towels.
If you look closely you can see the the side I washed is clean and shiny and the driver's side still has road film and dirt on it.
Yancy and shot a video showing the product in use and then together we finished washing his car with the new Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash. Afterwards I took these pictures to show the car is now clean and the paint looks glassy.
Review
Nice product. In fact, I think this is now my favorite waterless wash. I love how it makes the paint feel slick and slippery not just after wipe-off but while I'm spreading it around. The dirt level on Yancy car is at my upper limits for how dirty of a car I like to use a waterless wash on. Any dirtier and I would have preferred to wash it with a foam gun or a bucket wash.
Spreading
This product spreads easy and seems to really soak into the dirt film. You can also easily feel the slippery feel to the paint when moving this product over the surface. I can't remember ever feeling this with any other waterless wash.
Cleaning
Oily road film is not the easiest substance to break-down and emulsify with a spray-on product but I think this SiO2 waterless wash handled very well.
Wiping off
Wipe off was easy and just like spreading the product out, it made the paint and glass fill slick and slippery. Most people I know and meet like their car's paint to feel slick and slippery. I don't remember ever meeting anyone that likes their paint to feel rubbery or grabby.
This is a fairly complex simple product. It's complex because it's an SiO2 product, I'm not a chemist but there is truly something to SiO2 for use in car care products and I"m sure there's some science that goes behind it. It's simple because it's a waterless wash. It's not that complicated to figure out. The key to using a waterless wash include the three things I listed at the beginning of this review.
A: Use a quality product.
B: Use the right volume of product in context to how much road film and dirt accumulation there is on the car.
C: USE A LOT OF TOWELS
If you do the above you can get great results with ANY waterless wash. If you're like me and thousands of other car detailing enthusiasts and you like SiO2 products then this will be you new favorite waterless wash.
On Autogeek.com
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash - 16 ounce bottle
Wolfgang SiO2 Waterless Wash - 1 gallon jug
