No Wet Waterless Carwash
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.19.06
No Wet is a product that was developed in the US over a decade ago. With Australia experiencing the worst drought since the arrival of white civilisation, it is no wonder that a Waterless Car Wash product should attract interest. Although licensed from the American manufacturer and repackaged in South Australia, there has been talk of securing the rights to make the product locally down under. Essentially it is made of 17 different elements, of which the main players are Carnaubra Wax and Kaolin Clay. Indeed all of the recipes ingredients are said to be natural. It is claimed not to contain petroleum distillates (kerosene), silicone, abrasives, or other harmful chemicals. Apparently it works because the wax acts as an emulisifier and encapsulater of dust and dirt particles. This lifts them off the surface paint, where they can be wiped away with a polishing cloth. The suggestion is that a 32oz (1 litre) bottle of the stuff will wax, wash, polish and seal well over a dozen cars, which normally might’ve used thousands of gallons of water to wash. And we’re told you end up a showroom sheen on your metal chariot. No Wet Australia has been establishing the business over the past few years. Given that many Australian metropolitan and rural cities have imposed water restrictions limiting the volume of water used to clean cars, their timing seems very opportune. Available both as a DIY or a fully serviced product. ::No Wet Australia
Not to be a Negative Nancy or anything, but I wonder how much water was used in its creation, when compared to the production of cleaning products that require water for usage?
Does it work on a bike? LOL
Works on all non-porous surfaces, including glass, according to the blurb. So if your two wheeler is in need of sprucing up, it should do the trick :-)
Oh wonderful. Ever hear of clear-coat micro-scratches? Ever look at a black car from an angle which shows all those swirl marks even though it is clean? Well saddle up to a finley sanded clear-coat with this crap. Encapsulates my patootie it does. Better to leave the car dirty for longer, then wash with water. As long as your not disturbing the dirt, it won't damage the clear-coat. Water takes it away, if you do it right, of course.
We have no idea if No Wet really works as claimed - we don't get to personally test the 8,000+ products and services listed here. But we did note that they said explicitly, "NO-WET will not scratch or haze the plexiglass." And folk in charge of Audi and Ferrari cars did provide happy testimonials. Plus when they say it will "... protect your vehicle, without scratching," we tend to think that such a claim would've been put through its paces in the past ten years or so.
"So if your two wheeler is in need of sprucing up, it should do the trick."
SWEET! Baltimore gets dirty. :^)
I wouldn't use it with any sort of dirt caked on the car. That definitely is asking for scratches.
There's a home cleaning product we've recently picked up called enjo, perhaps this uses similar technology.
I haven't used it yet but apparently enjo reduces the need for chemicals and water also... here's a decent review at choice.
Sound like a great product!
Or you could just go out with a large sponge when it's raining and get the dirt off your car that way...
Vincenze, Enjo cloths use a microfibre cloth to scoop up dirt particles, with a sort of capillary action. You then wash the cloth and the dirt is released into the laundry water. Seems to work well in many applications and yeh I think they do have a car cloth from memory. It's more the chemicals you avoid. Water is still required.
Jessica, that a great idea and one I've used before. I think the neighbours thought i was outta my tree, but it's quite fun. Problem is that in a drought it doesn't rain too much!
Here's how I wash my car. Take a bucket of warm water. Dip in a terry cloth rag and wring it out over the bucket. Wipe the car. When the rag gets dirty rinse it out in the bucket and wring it out again. Repeat until you've cleaned the entire car. The key is to wring the rag out as dry as possible. I'm emphasizing this.
I do not rinse off the car with a hose before I start. I do not dry the car. There's so little water on the car that it drys rapidly. On my light colored car it does not leave visible water spots or streaking. There is no beading so there are no water spots.
When you're done, look in the bucket, you will see that you've only used about a quart of water.
Pour the remaining water in the bucket on the lawn or on some plants.
That's my procedure in a nut shell.
Here's some fine points.
Windows - dry the windows with a really plush towel as soon as you've gone over them with the wet rag. I use a special microfibre car drying towel. If you do this you will not have to go back over them with widow cleaner. Always wash the windows first when the water in the bucket and the rag are cleanest.
Paint - Clean the paint in the order of cleanest to dirtiest. In other words, clean the cleanest parts of the car first, progress to the dirtier parts, and then dirtiest parts of the car.
The cleaning rag - A terry cloth rag works just fine but I actually use a microfiber wash mitt. It's blue with loops like a carpet. It's softer than a terry cloth so it's easier on your paint and on your hands. It's more absorbant than terry cloth so it works quicker and better. It's expressly made for the job of cleaning cars.
Time - I can clean my car in twenty minutes flat by this method. The windows and paint work are sparkling clean.
Wheels - Clean the wheels after you're done with the windows and paint. It takes another ten minutes for me to clean the aluminum wheels on my car but I don't clean them every time I wash my car. I don't use the wash mitt on the wheels, I use the terry cloth rag. It's rough on the wash mitt and the terry cloth rag gets in the nooks and crannies better.
For the squeamish - You can use a car duster before you wash the car. The one that I have is called a California Duster.
Really dirty car - Use two buckets of water. Get off the excessive dirt with the first bucket then pour it on the lawn or flowers. Use the second bucket to finish to job.
Really, really dirty car - You might have to use the hose but resist if at all possible.
Dark colored cars - I have never owned a dark colored car so I don't know the results. If you own a dark colored car try drying the car with the plush towel as soon as you've gone over it with the wet rag or mitt.
This technique works on windows so it might work on dark paint. I always buy light colored car because dark cars show dirt more and they need cleaning more. Also, dark cars are hotter than light cars and so you need to use the air conditioning more which, of course, uses more energy. Also, dark cars show the dreaded "micro-scratches" much more easily. No fear and loathing of micro-scratches for me.
Wax - This method does not use soap so it does not strip off wax.
Ease - This method is so easy, so fast, and so gratifying that I find that I clean my car more frequently.
The grunge never builds up.
Hose method - I like the results of this method better that the hose method. I think the car looks better. There are absolutely no water spots or streaks. I think the hose method is harder on the paint. Think about it. With the hose method you blast the car off with water, wash it with the soapy water, blast it off again, and then dry it. Sounds like it's much rougher on the paint to me. Water is a powerful solvent. The Grand Canyon is evidence of this.
Now, I am intrest in this product and i never try it. but i believe No water car washing products or service will be a trend.
Okay so I just got some of this stuff and it does contain petroleum distillates (aliphatic hydrocarbons)...what's up with that?
Hello everyone, just last month (March1-3) Fuel Freedom International opened up in Australia and this company has a product called eco-sheen worth looking into. It can be bought through the web site or you can join FFI and become an Independent Distributer
Sounds like a UK product called No more water
As a local detailer I have used a couple different products like this and was surprised to find they are actually quite good and save lots of time and money.
I think anyone could argue that scratches even micro scratches could come from the way most people and many detailers I have seen wash their car incorrectly of course even with water. If anyone thinks they can keep their cars paint perfect maybe it sould be left in the garage and not driven, because that's about the only way your not going to get some scratches on it.
Hannah and Simone think that carwashes do not waste water they have big water tanks that is filled with recycled water, and then they keep on recycling. If someone gets there car washeds everyday you could say they waste water but if you just do it when your car is dirty i think that is alright. Because that is what car washe are for!!
Hannah & Simone.
Hannah and Simone think that carwashes do not waste water they have big water tanks that is filled with recycled water, and then they keep on recycling. If someone gets there car washeds everyday you could say they waste water but if you just do it when your car is dirty i think that is alright. Because that is what car washe are for!!
Hannah & Simone.
Automatic car washes do not only use recycles water, they still use anywhere from 15-40 gallons of fresh water per car.
My company uses waterless car wash and it works great. Its non-toxic, biodegradable and is silicon free. No water runoff obviously and no evaporation issues. I think I average anywhere from 5 to 10 cars for a 32 oz. bottle. So obviously it uses less water then anything else.
As far as mud, use your head. Obviously you can't use waterless wash on it without it causing heavy scratches.
When done properly, I have seen very little to no micro marring from waterless washing. Not to mention that using high pressure water on your car a lot can have adverse effects. Blasting water on your dirty car can also easily leave scratches itself.
Why not just go to www.eurochem.co.uk and cut out any middle men, I understand that Eurochem make most of this stuff and own brand it for many worldwide companies. I used their waterless wash and I can say it worked very well indeed.