What kind of car wash soap do you use?

[Hank3]

Was just curious as to what y'all used for your car wash soap. I picked up two one-gallon bottles of this stuff called, Cherry Power Car Wash, at Advance Discount Auto during my lunch break. It was Buy One, Get One Free for $5.49 so I figure I'd try it. I usually get the cheap Blue Coral brand at Walmart, but this seemed like a good deal since it was only $2.25 a gallon.

I'm not as persnickety as the folks on autopia.org since my cars aren't show quality, but I do wash my car regularly (twice a month usually). I always figured it wasn't necessarily a cardinal sin to purchase cheaper car wash soaps - or are the more expensive ones worth it?

 

[Kain]

Caveat: I'm no detailer, nor do I really care to put that much time/effort into getting a showroom shine. That being said...

Turtle Wax Ice. I use the soap and the liquid polish. Both good products for your average Joe who just wants to get the obvious crap off the paint.

 

[Hank3]

That's pretty much my requirement - just want the car to look clean and not ready for a show

 

[nvmsp]

Dish washing soap or any soap I have.

 

[1991cc]

Simple Green!! Good for the trees :u)

 

[///M Compact]

I use either Meguiars or BMW car wash soap.

 

[stageup]

meguiars gold class or nxt whichever is on sale @ target

 

[bigdaddy]

meguiars gold class. its nice and sudsy

 

[bigdaddy]

Simple Green!! Good for the trees :u)

i dont think your supposed to use that on paint. its fairly harsh, even when diluted

 

[BoostedSpd6]

Poorboy's World Super Slick n Suds.. but i used to use Zaino Z-7 Car Wash till my g/f broke the bottle..

 

[Mz3Hatch]

I used to use blue coral as well but found i was using alot to get any suds! So i switched over to Meguiars Gold Class and love it. Use only a little bit because its concentrated. I wash 3 cars on a regular basis and have only used one bottle since April. Worth the 6 bucks IMO.

 

[vinkalmann]

Dish washing soap or any soap I have.

Dishwashing soap is designed to degrease dishes and will get your car very clean, problem is it will also take all the wax off your car at the same time.

The first step that people do when prepping their car for a ground up detailing is to wash it will Dawn soap to get all the wax off. If that's what you're going for, dishwashing soap is great, otherwise I would stay away from it.

The same can be said for using Simple Green to wash your car.

 

[khoney]

Dish washing soap or any soap I have.

I hope it's not degreasing soap like Dawn. That will strip every bit of wax off your car. In fact, it's the recommended first step of the Zaino treatment to get the car back down to base before claybarring.

 

[nvmsp]

I also use car soap, I was kinda joking but I have used dish soap before.

My car is mostly garage kept, and shows no sign at all of losing any of it's finish.
Plus lately I rarely wash the car anyway.

 

[BoostedSpd6]

Dishwashing soap is designed to degrease dishes and will get your car very clean, problem is it will also take all the wax off your car at the same time.

The first step that people do when prepping their car for a ground up detailing is to wash it will Dawn soap to get all the wax off. If that's what you're going for, dishwashing soap is great, otherwise I would stay away from it.

The same can be said for using Simple Green to wash your car.

I hope it's not degreasing soap like Dawn. That will strip every bit of wax off your car. In fact, it's the recommended first step of the Zaino treatment to get the car back down to base before claybarring.

unless u get a dish soap safe wax like collinite 845...even then dont use dish wash soap on ur car..unless ur doing the Zaino Steps for the first time like stated above..

 

[Saskatchewan17]

Yeah guys simple green and dish soap strip the wax off real easy leaving no protection behind. It's like washing your hands... you can clearly notice the difference when you wash them with antibacterial hand soap and dawn. Hand soap will leave them fairly moisutrized and slippery wheras dish soap will leave them "coarse" and even hard to get dry. Same applies to paint with car washing soaps and dawn.

Anywho... I use meguiar's deep crystal for now because I got a huge tub of it a long time ago for cheap. Next I will invest in some ONR. Awesome stuff. If you've never seen it before, look it up. Optimum No Rinse.

 

[Design]

I use ONR since my car is in an underground parking garage without access to a hose. Use it about once every 400 miles, and never have a problem with marring or scratching. One of the best wash products that I have ever used.

 

[coololddude]

I don't like to wash my car. It makes my hands clean.

 

[Nuffflavor]

Meguiars is good for me!

I WAS using dishwashing soap a year ago, but then again I waxed my car like every 2-3 months.

Simple Green? Yeeesssh!

 

[jay32m]

I just bought my 2nd bottle of Meguiars Gold Class. Does a good job and SMELLS good