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Ultimate Waterless Wash & Wax - Tips & Tricks
Those who have tried our new Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere have given it rave reviews. In fact, at the recent Autogeek Detail Fest it was rated tops among all the waterless wash products tested during a demo on this product segment.
But some people are still a bit leery of the process, certain that picking up that much dirt is going to scratch their paint. The following process, and slight variations on it, should alleviate those fears and help you to maximize the results with this product.
Just a reminder: UWWA is not a quick detail spray but rather a true waterless wash. While QD sprays are great for removing light dust and fingerprints they quickly become overwhelmed by a seriously dirty car. UWWA can handle a car that is far dirtier than what you would ever consider using a typical QD on, but of course you don't want to try removing really heavy stuff, like if you've been off roading in your 4x4! Heavy road salt in winter should be knocked down at a coin operated wash bay, with the remainder safely removed with proper use of UWWA.
So, while the delivery system (spray on) is identical to a QD spray, since you're working on a much dirtier car it should not surprise you to learn that you should more product here. But you don't really need to flood the surface as UWWA contains some highly effective emulsifiers and will encapsulate the dirt and help the microfiber towel to pull it into the towel and away from the paint. Expect to get 3 to 5 real "washes" from a single bottle of UWWA. Compare that to 3 to 5 trips to the car wash and suddenly it looks downright frugal to go with this option!
At a recent Thursday Night Open Garage there was a lot of discussion surrounding UWWA so we took the opportunity to do a quick demo, and the pix we grabbed in the process should paint a pretty clear picture as to proper, and therefore safe, use.
To start, grab your bottle of UWWA and a few clean microfiber towels. You're going to need three or four, or maybe half a dozen or more.
Fold your first towel into quarters or, as we do here, into eighths, and spray UWWA onto the surface a bit heavier than you would a typical QD spray. We're going a bit heavier here just so you can more clearly see the product on the paint.
Work an area no more than maybe half the panel size to maintain control of the cleaning.
Starting with the towel flat to the paint, move it across the area you've sprayed down in a linear motion.
The leading edge of the towel will pick up the bulk of the dirt from the surface of the paint.
Now lift the leading edge of the towel as you move over the paint immediately next to your first swipe. This keeps the dirt you've just picked up away from the paint, allowing a clean portion of the towel to pick up the dirt in this path.
Two passes, two stripes of removed dirt.
With the towel rolled even further back, a third pass is made.....
.... and a third stripe of dirt is created. (the first one is on the part of the towel being held by the thumb here)
Once you've wiped down the area you sprayed with UWWA, using this method of lifting the leading edge of the towel, go back over the whole area with a second, clean and dry microfiber towel to fully dry the area. Now spray a new area with UWWA and repeat the process, unfolding the first towel to a clean portion. With the towel folded in eighths you'll have plenty of clean sides to turn to as you work around the car. Don't worry about the towel becoming fairly damp with product as you go; remember, you're using a second towel as final drying towel.
Now, as that first towel becomes soiled to the point where you're no longer able to reveal a fresh area to wipe over the paint (this is where your judgement comes in, so let common sense be your friend here) then it's time to stop using that first towel and toss it into the laundry. Upgrade your drying towel to cleaning towel status, and grab a third towel to use for drying subsequent areas. Continue cycling towels through this way, moving your drying towel to wash duty as the wash towel gets tossed into the laundry, and you'll end up with a completely clean car that has a slick, just waxed feel to it. With a clean drying towel you shouldn't worry about streaking at all, and if you use this method with some common sense you won't be inflicting any swirls in your paint, either.
There are a couple of options to the above method:
With any of these three slight tweaks to the process you'll always be wiping the paint with a clean portion of the towel, and since microfiber does such an excellent job of grabbing and holding on to small dirt particles, marring of the surface is really not a concern. Do this carefully and you can wash the entire car in a matter of minutes, without a hose and bucket.
Those who have tried our new Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere have given it rave reviews. In fact, at the recent Autogeek Detail Fest it was rated tops among all the waterless wash products tested during a demo on this product segment.
But some people are still a bit leery of the process, certain that picking up that much dirt is going to scratch their paint. The following process, and slight variations on it, should alleviate those fears and help you to maximize the results with this product.
Just a reminder: UWWA is not a quick detail spray but rather a true waterless wash. While QD sprays are great for removing light dust and fingerprints they quickly become overwhelmed by a seriously dirty car. UWWA can handle a car that is far dirtier than what you would ever consider using a typical QD on, but of course you don't want to try removing really heavy stuff, like if you've been off roading in your 4x4! Heavy road salt in winter should be knocked down at a coin operated wash bay, with the remainder safely removed with proper use of UWWA.
So, while the delivery system (spray on) is identical to a QD spray, since you're working on a much dirtier car it should not surprise you to learn that you should more product here. But you don't really need to flood the surface as UWWA contains some highly effective emulsifiers and will encapsulate the dirt and help the microfiber towel to pull it into the towel and away from the paint. Expect to get 3 to 5 real "washes" from a single bottle of UWWA. Compare that to 3 to 5 trips to the car wash and suddenly it looks downright frugal to go with this option!
At a recent Thursday Night Open Garage there was a lot of discussion surrounding UWWA so we took the opportunity to do a quick demo, and the pix we grabbed in the process should paint a pretty clear picture as to proper, and therefore safe, use.
To start, grab your bottle of UWWA and a few clean microfiber towels. You're going to need three or four, or maybe half a dozen or more.
Fold your first towel into quarters or, as we do here, into eighths, and spray UWWA onto the surface a bit heavier than you would a typical QD spray. We're going a bit heavier here just so you can more clearly see the product on the paint.
Work an area no more than maybe half the panel size to maintain control of the cleaning.
Starting with the towel flat to the paint, move it across the area you've sprayed down in a linear motion.
The leading edge of the towel will pick up the bulk of the dirt from the surface of the paint.
Now lift the leading edge of the towel as you move over the paint immediately next to your first swipe. This keeps the dirt you've just picked up away from the paint, allowing a clean portion of the towel to pick up the dirt in this path.
Two passes, two stripes of removed dirt.
With the towel rolled even further back, a third pass is made.....
.... and a third stripe of dirt is created. (the first one is on the part of the towel being held by the thumb here)
Once you've wiped down the area you sprayed with UWWA, using this method of lifting the leading edge of the towel, go back over the whole area with a second, clean and dry microfiber towel to fully dry the area. Now spray a new area with UWWA and repeat the process, unfolding the first towel to a clean portion. With the towel folded in eighths you'll have plenty of clean sides to turn to as you work around the car. Don't worry about the towel becoming fairly damp with product as you go; remember, you're using a second towel as final drying towel.
Now, as that first towel becomes soiled to the point where you're no longer able to reveal a fresh area to wipe over the paint (this is where your judgement comes in, so let common sense be your friend here) then it's time to stop using that first towel and toss it into the laundry. Upgrade your drying towel to cleaning towel status, and grab a third towel to use for drying subsequent areas. Continue cycling towels through this way, moving your drying towel to wash duty as the wash towel gets tossed into the laundry, and you'll end up with a completely clean car that has a slick, just waxed feel to it. With a clean drying towel you shouldn't worry about streaking at all, and if you use this method with some common sense you won't be inflicting any swirls in your paint, either.
There are a couple of options to the above method:
- On your initial cleaning wipe, start with the towel flat against the paint and pull the leading edge up and away from the paint as you wipe. This sort of rolling up of the leading edge as you go will prevent the build up of dirt in a line on the towel and may require you to flip to a fresh side of the towel more often. If this works better for you, great, go with it. Piece of mind plays a big role here, and if this fits your comfort level better, that's fine with us.
- This one is a bit more complicated but we found it interesting nonetheless: fold your cleaning towel in half, then roll it up into a long "bar". Wipe across the area you've wetted with UWWA and then slighly unroll the "bar" a little bit for each subsequent wipe. This can be a bit fiddly, but again, if it works for you then by all means have at it.
With any of these three slight tweaks to the process you'll always be wiping the paint with a clean portion of the towel, and since microfiber does such an excellent job of grabbing and holding on to small dirt particles, marring of the surface is really not a concern. Do this carefully and you can wash the entire car in a matter of minutes, without a hose and bucket.
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