Chemical Guys hose free ECOwash

[Yellow Dave]

as it says on the bottle 'No hose, no waste - just wash and dry.' this super concentrate utilises premium polmers and gloss enhancing additives (not what I originally read on there advert)

I have to say I have never not enjoyed washing my car so much as I just did now using HFE.

My car:
silver Mk4 Golf completely decontaminated and sealed with GTechniq C1.5 applied just over a week ago. Beading and sheeting extremely well. No correction apart from a small little square on the bonnet that I managed 75% as I wanted to play with GTechniq P1 by hand. I've never worked so hard by hand before!

My technique:
1l of water in a pressurised spray bottle to try and remove some of the mud splatter around the whole car.
0.5l of water with 1 cap (assumed 12ml?) of HFE in a pressurised spray bottle sprayed around the whole car and left to dwell.
bucket contained 4l of water and 1 cap (assumed 12ml?) of HFE. Correct me if I'm wrong but that's a dilution ratio of 1:333
after 5minutes to dwell each panel was washed using a DJ supernatural sponge, generally from top to bottom, 1 pass and the sponge was rinsed out so plenty of fresh solution onto the panel. then dried with a drying towel

considering the diltuion ratio, the bucket soon became very sudsy, to the point I was trying to scoop out the foam above the water line. It did feel quite slick to touch. Actual cleaning ability seemed pretty poor. The weather has been fairly good so there was only minimal mud splatter from driving on site plus the car has mud flaps. even with the pre spray the dirt wasn't lifting very well considering the suds in the bucket, more so considering my daily shampoo products have not had this problem

Drying was simple enough, apart from ideally needing to rinse to try and get the suds out from all the nooks and cranny's. next time I'll try a weaker dilution ratio to see if this helps at all.

But my biggest problem, what does it leave behind??????? The surface felt grabby, so much so I went and got a watering can to rinse the surface and dry again. Sheeting was no better than a non protected car. I was gutted putting it politely. I instantly went to rinse a panel that had only had the 2 pre sprays and that sheeted poorly, although considerably better than a panel that had been washed and dried.
The finish was also dull, flake pop slightly muted, leaving a look of almost greasy / streaky

I carried on washing the whole car, leaving some swirls behind on the small test patch on the bonnet. not an enjoyable process.

I have now gone and washed the car a 2nd time. 2bm using autofinesse lather, supernatural sponge and rinsing properly with a hose. wow, I have my car back to how it was, paint looking nice and shiney and sheeting as it should do.

1st impressions count for a lot, and this product will not be going anywhere near my other car. Maybe my technique was way out. I will try different dilution ratios next week and either a MF sponge / MF mitt or a sheepskin mitt.

The biggest sign of poor performance for me, my windscreen is treated with GTechniq G3 now renamed G5, and even that didn't sheet very well after the first wash

All I can hope is that when I get C1 on the car, I don't plan to wash it till the hose ban ends

 

[riz]

Have you tried OCW?

 

[Yellow Dave]

I'm guessing OCW is an optimum product, but can only find Optimum Car Wash? never used any waterless / hose less wash before. but reading into that it says 'traps dirt and grime and rinses with cold water'
the idea was not to rinse with the forthcoming hosepipe ban. Or have I missed interpreted OCW

 

[Cliotoby]

You dont want optimum with C1 or any nano sealant as the shampoo will "block the nano structure up" and youll lose the self cleaning ability and water behaviour.

Thought about using a drum of water with the hose pipe dropped into it?

 

[Owen]

I gave ONR a go at CSS last year, just out of interest more than anything. Tried to be fairly accurate with the dilution and quite enjoyed the experience tbh.

 

[Yellow Dave]

I don't have the space for any real water storage.

I did wonder about the nano monkeys and these shampoos, so I'm going to try and adapt gwash and lather to rinseless washing

 

[James28]

Pressure washer with the hose for sucking water out a couple of buckets?

 

[JD]

Again, I'm technically washing my car without a hose as I use a bucket of water and a watering can. I'll get a video next time.

 

[riz]

I'm guessing OCW is an optimum product, but can only find Optimum Car Wash? never used any waterless / hose less wash before. but reading into that it says 'traps dirt and grime and rinses with cold water'
the idea was not to rinse with the forthcoming hosepipe ban. Or have I missed interpreted OCW

Sorry i meant ONR. You will have to do some research to see if its safe over your LSP

 

[Yellow Dave]

My Nilfisk doesn't appear to have the option like the Karcher's do for a separate hose pick up to feed from a bucket, but as I said in another thread anglian water are trying to bring out a clause that bans pressure washers for domestic use also.

I could use a watering can, but with the ban, thought I'd go all out and try the full no rinse method etc.

I played with very diluted lather and Gwash yesterday, 2bm with a pre spray of citrus power. 1 panel washed at a time, and every panel would get a second pass after washing it were I would squeeze out the sponge as I did. clear water in a pressurised spray bottle to rinse the panel again, 1l used to do the whole car then dried and no smearing, still beading and sheeting. This was on or Focus that had Zymol Titanium applied almost 2weeks ago.

Doesn't look like there is a real need for fancy washing, just sensible useage. lol

 

[jimbo666]

Im sure the ban prevents water being drawn from a source through a hosepipe. I was planning a water butt in the garage and filling it up and drawing from that, but no can do.

Section 76 Water Industry Act 1971. Summary conviction so technically arrestable!