What is the best car shampoo?
April 17th, 2006 by Danny the web stig
There are various different types of car soap.. there are basic shampoos, there are ‘wash & wax’ soaps which clean and add a layer of wax, and there are other that contain conditioners to ‘feed’ your paintwork*. Others will add polymers to sealants or synthetic waxes.
There are also paint cleaners and citrus degreasers which can be used to strip off old layers of wax and remove contaminants from bare paintwork, others designed NOT to remove wax.
Some shampoos even claim to be detergent free, although I can’t for the life of me work out why this is a bonus, especially as non-detergent soaps tend to react badly to hard water and we are based in Essex.
All should be phosphate and sodium free, and be formulated to have the optimum PH level for cleaning efficiency without doing damage to your car.
All will do pretty much do what they say on the tin, although some people claim the branded ones do a far better job. When choosing a shampoo it is probably best to pick the one made by the manufacturer of your favorite wax and polish, as it will be designed to work in conjunction with those products. AutoGlym and Meguiar’s are probably the most popular brands among enthusiasts.
Some manufacturers of car care products may produce more than one kind of shampoo or car soap. If this is the case, read the description carefully and choose based on what you want the product for - some people will want to wax as they wash, others will want to apply a high quality wax after they wash.
Which product you choose is a matter of personal preference, and performance of a shampoo may be effected by the hardness of the water in your area depending on the different kinds of deteregent chemicals used. So try them and see which works best for you.
*Note - I have been told by an industry expert that modern paints have no need of feeding, and that they do not dry out or crack - and that any talk of ‘replenishing the paint’s natural oils’ is just a marketing gimmick which is used by some of the more expensive brands. Comments on this are welcome.
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i would say you need a ph balanced
shampoo, and to wax seperately.you are
correct that many experts claim that modern paints have no need for feeding,but in some ways i think that modern paints need more looking after.things like scratches and swirl marks never seemed to be as much of a problem
years ago. modern finishes don’t seem so robust and must be done wiyh a good polish sealant and regular intervals.
Duragloss 901 probably in top 3