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Since purchasing my non-metallic black Lexus, I have been looking for the “holy grail” of products that can be used for both waterless and rinseless washing, as well as something that works well on glass, can be diluted and is the best bang for the buck. I’m not asking for too much am I??
To this point, I have tried Meguiars Rinse Free Express Wash (D114), Ultima Waterless Wash Plus (UWW+), Optimum No Rinse (ONR), Pinnacle Waterless wash with Caranuba, and Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere (UWWA). Pinnacle and UWWA were used in waterless washes only.
Living in the desert means dealing with extreme heat in the summer in excess of 115 degrees, limited rainfall, and excessive amounts of dust. My car is garaged at home and at work, so it only sees maybe 2-3 hours of exposure per weekday, and 4-5 hours on the weekends. When parked outside, I don’t park near trees, light poles, or sprinklers, so other than some dusting, the car doesn’t require a great deal of cleaning.
I have evaluated each of these products both as waterless and rinseless except as noted above and below are my findings. As a side note, my wife’s car is a Galaxy Gray Honda Element SC. Galaxy Gray is a few shades darker than silver, so many of the issues expressed in this thread are not relevant as the lighter color is much easier to work with and less finicky when it comes to product selection. In fact, many of the challenges I have faced are likely specifically due to the color of my car, as we all know non-metallic black shows everything.
A few photos for reference from a month back or so.
My primary points for judging the products are ease of use, streaking, value, appearance, slickness, and cleaning power. Having a well polished car, I can confidently say that these products do not cause any marring or scratching.
Ease of use and streaking are often interchangeable. At times I need to clean my car when the panels are warm to the touch (keep in mind my garage temps are usually 100+, so my car doesn’t cool down too quickly, and waking up at 3:00am to clean my car isn’t working…yes I have tried it). Although not optimal or recommended by the manufacturers, it is a must for me.
Slickness tests are conducted 2 fold. The finger drag test and the clean, dry towels wipe test.
Appearance tests are completely subjective, does the car look good, or does the product deter from the appearance?
Cleaning power tests are not really relevant as dust is hardly a challenge (I do pre-dust my car with a California Duster prior to cleaning), and rarely do we get too dirty when it rains. We do have to deal with bugs occasionally
Waterless ranked from best to worst: (all mixed with distilled water and 530gram MFs)
D114 ($40 per gallon) – I mixed this 1:128 for waterless as prescribed my Mike Stoops in previous D114 threads on MOL. D114 does not streak, a huge win in my book. I applied D114 to the hood of my car after returning from a 1 hour trip in 105 degree weather. D114 wiped right off without streaking, a first for me and an immediate win. I continued to work the rest of the car with no issues. The slickness tests are average using the finger test, but by far the best with the towel. The towel will actually fall right off the hood of the car, nothing I have tried even compares. Since D114 does not leave anything behind, it gives the car the freshly 2BM wash look behind. Should I want or need additional shine or protection, I can simply apply some D156 with confidence that it will cure since there are no polymers to interfere with adhesion. When cleaning bugs, a pre-treat a few minutes before wiping and the bugs just fall off, the only other product which seems to work as well here is Pinnacle. This is the best product I have found on glass other than a dedicated glass cleaner.
UWW+ ($18 for 16oz) – I mixed at 1:64 after some experimenting. It seems I have better luck with this at a slightly lower dilution. Since my car doesn’t need heavy duty cleaning, it works well, and causes less streaking. To this point I have used about 8oz of product so I have a good deal of experience with it. UWW leaves a great, short lived shine on the car. However, I find if diluted too strong that it leaves an oily look on the car which I cannot wipe off. It deters from the crisp reflections. I will get streaking with this product on a hot hood, but nowhere else. The streaking can easily be removed with some additional buffing. It is average on the slickness scale and works well on glass. A very versatile product.
Pinnacle ($24 for 16oz) – I mixed at 1:64 per directions. This is an excellent cleaner, but streaks easily and needs to be buffed due to the caranuba content. This is the won the looks category, though it causes ghosting on my car in the summer so it is a no go. It is nice and slick to both the touch and towel, though D114 is better with the towel test.
ONR ($40 per gallon) – I have tried several different dilutions and just can’t seem to find the magical dilution for the product as a waterless wash. In any dilution, the product streaks, and streaks cannot be simply buffed off. More product must be applied to remove the streaks. It leaves average slickness, average appearance, though it does work well on glass in light dilution forms. It has limited cleaning ability, but scores high on value.
Rinseless ranked from best to worst: (all mixed with 1 gallon of distilled water, using the Gary Dean method and 530gram MFs)
D114 – Again, much like the waterless, this product can be diluted 1:256, though I prefer 1:128 as I feel more comfortable with a bit more product. Uniquely this product does suds a bit when agitated. This cleans very well, dries streak free and leaves the surface ready for some D156 if desired. I feel more comfortable doing a traditional wax after D114 since the surface is clean and polymer free. Interestingly, the water solution feels really slick when I put my hand in it, though there is some drag when wiping the surface with a saturated towel. However it is exceptionally slick when doing the final dry and buff.
ONR/UWW+ - This is a tie to me as they seem to offer their own advantages. ONR can be had for $40 per gallon and picked up nearly anywhere and UWW+ is $120 per gallon and has limited availability as far as I can tell. Unlike the waterless attempts, ONR works very well as a rinseless and all of the issues I experienced with it a waterless are not noticed here. It leaves a nice shine after the wash, dries streak free and is easy to use. UWW+ seems to clean a bit better, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference otherwise.
Being a Meguiars fan, and almost exclusively using their products, I feel D114 is a huge winner here. It wins in the value department, is an exceptional cleaner with leaves the freshly washed look to your car. It can be used both as waterless and rinseless, does an exceptional job on glass, and leaves a nicely prepped surface for waxing. Mixing it at 1:15 it can be used to chemically strip paint of previous LSPs, and compound/polishing residue. I’ve been wanting to try this product for a long time and glad I pulled the trigger.
To this point, I have tried Meguiars Rinse Free Express Wash (D114), Ultima Waterless Wash Plus (UWW+), Optimum No Rinse (ONR), Pinnacle Waterless wash with Caranuba, and Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere (UWWA). Pinnacle and UWWA were used in waterless washes only.
Living in the desert means dealing with extreme heat in the summer in excess of 115 degrees, limited rainfall, and excessive amounts of dust. My car is garaged at home and at work, so it only sees maybe 2-3 hours of exposure per weekday, and 4-5 hours on the weekends. When parked outside, I don’t park near trees, light poles, or sprinklers, so other than some dusting, the car doesn’t require a great deal of cleaning.
I have evaluated each of these products both as waterless and rinseless except as noted above and below are my findings. As a side note, my wife’s car is a Galaxy Gray Honda Element SC. Galaxy Gray is a few shades darker than silver, so many of the issues expressed in this thread are not relevant as the lighter color is much easier to work with and less finicky when it comes to product selection. In fact, many of the challenges I have faced are likely specifically due to the color of my car, as we all know non-metallic black shows everything.
A few photos for reference from a month back or so.
My primary points for judging the products are ease of use, streaking, value, appearance, slickness, and cleaning power. Having a well polished car, I can confidently say that these products do not cause any marring or scratching.
Ease of use and streaking are often interchangeable. At times I need to clean my car when the panels are warm to the touch (keep in mind my garage temps are usually 100+, so my car doesn’t cool down too quickly, and waking up at 3:00am to clean my car isn’t working…yes I have tried it). Although not optimal or recommended by the manufacturers, it is a must for me.
Slickness tests are conducted 2 fold. The finger drag test and the clean, dry towels wipe test.
Appearance tests are completely subjective, does the car look good, or does the product deter from the appearance?
Cleaning power tests are not really relevant as dust is hardly a challenge (I do pre-dust my car with a California Duster prior to cleaning), and rarely do we get too dirty when it rains. We do have to deal with bugs occasionally
Waterless ranked from best to worst: (all mixed with distilled water and 530gram MFs)
D114 ($40 per gallon) – I mixed this 1:128 for waterless as prescribed my Mike Stoops in previous D114 threads on MOL. D114 does not streak, a huge win in my book. I applied D114 to the hood of my car after returning from a 1 hour trip in 105 degree weather. D114 wiped right off without streaking, a first for me and an immediate win. I continued to work the rest of the car with no issues. The slickness tests are average using the finger test, but by far the best with the towel. The towel will actually fall right off the hood of the car, nothing I have tried even compares. Since D114 does not leave anything behind, it gives the car the freshly 2BM wash look behind. Should I want or need additional shine or protection, I can simply apply some D156 with confidence that it will cure since there are no polymers to interfere with adhesion. When cleaning bugs, a pre-treat a few minutes before wiping and the bugs just fall off, the only other product which seems to work as well here is Pinnacle. This is the best product I have found on glass other than a dedicated glass cleaner.
UWW+ ($18 for 16oz) – I mixed at 1:64 after some experimenting. It seems I have better luck with this at a slightly lower dilution. Since my car doesn’t need heavy duty cleaning, it works well, and causes less streaking. To this point I have used about 8oz of product so I have a good deal of experience with it. UWW leaves a great, short lived shine on the car. However, I find if diluted too strong that it leaves an oily look on the car which I cannot wipe off. It deters from the crisp reflections. I will get streaking with this product on a hot hood, but nowhere else. The streaking can easily be removed with some additional buffing. It is average on the slickness scale and works well on glass. A very versatile product.
Pinnacle ($24 for 16oz) – I mixed at 1:64 per directions. This is an excellent cleaner, but streaks easily and needs to be buffed due to the caranuba content. This is the won the looks category, though it causes ghosting on my car in the summer so it is a no go. It is nice and slick to both the touch and towel, though D114 is better with the towel test.
ONR ($40 per gallon) – I have tried several different dilutions and just can’t seem to find the magical dilution for the product as a waterless wash. In any dilution, the product streaks, and streaks cannot be simply buffed off. More product must be applied to remove the streaks. It leaves average slickness, average appearance, though it does work well on glass in light dilution forms. It has limited cleaning ability, but scores high on value.
Rinseless ranked from best to worst: (all mixed with 1 gallon of distilled water, using the Gary Dean method and 530gram MFs)
D114 – Again, much like the waterless, this product can be diluted 1:256, though I prefer 1:128 as I feel more comfortable with a bit more product. Uniquely this product does suds a bit when agitated. This cleans very well, dries streak free and leaves the surface ready for some D156 if desired. I feel more comfortable doing a traditional wax after D114 since the surface is clean and polymer free. Interestingly, the water solution feels really slick when I put my hand in it, though there is some drag when wiping the surface with a saturated towel. However it is exceptionally slick when doing the final dry and buff.
ONR/UWW+ - This is a tie to me as they seem to offer their own advantages. ONR can be had for $40 per gallon and picked up nearly anywhere and UWW+ is $120 per gallon and has limited availability as far as I can tell. Unlike the waterless attempts, ONR works very well as a rinseless and all of the issues I experienced with it a waterless are not noticed here. It leaves a nice shine after the wash, dries streak free and is easy to use. UWW+ seems to clean a bit better, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference otherwise.
Being a Meguiars fan, and almost exclusively using their products, I feel D114 is a huge winner here. It wins in the value department, is an exceptional cleaner with leaves the freshly washed look to your car. It can be used both as waterless and rinseless, does an exceptional job on glass, and leaves a nicely prepped surface for waxing. Mixing it at 1:15 it can be used to chemically strip paint of previous LSPs, and compound/polishing residue. I’ve been wanting to try this product for a long time and glad I pulled the trigger.
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