HELP! What happens if you don't fully dilute car wash soap?

[spencers94]

The other day, I used an open hose to dilute some car soap and mixed it with my hand in a bucket. It didn't foam up like normal but turned the water milky white and created minimal suds. It seemed okay when washing, just not super sudsy like it usually is when i use a nozzle.

I'm wondering if doing that provided enough lubrication to safely wash the car?

Or does it absolutely have to be diluted to where it foams all the way, such as using a nozzle to dilute the soap?

[skyebandit]

Re: HELP! What happens if you don't fully dilute car wash soap?

Hi Spencers94... Read your post and noticed no replies. I've been detailing since the 1980s, though a bit rusty with an overwhelming amount of new products on the market, the basics haven't changed much for car wash soaps. The big question to ask you is what brand car wash soap are you using and how old is the product? Car wash soaps are designed to be pH neutral to clean/lubricate the car's paintwork and exterior surfaces. Though known to the detailing world, using dish soap is a big no-no as it will strip any protection upon the paint...remember it cleans gunk and grease from your dishes...

Message back to the forum as to what car wash soap you're using. Some DO NOT have heaving foaming suds, but STILL have the pH neutral cleaners to remove surface dirt. It's fun to see the suds build when agitated by the high pressure water in the bucket. Since you mentioned you stirred the water/soap by hand, if you felt a slick soapy texture (even withOUT) the suds, your product is STILL doing its job. Unless you bought a large amount of this car wash soap product, use it up on your next wash and consider moving to a new bottle. ANY of Meguiar's paintwork cleansers/soaps will do good by you. THEN, you're off to the next step of your detailing process, (i.e. decontamination, clay, polish, etc). Cheers and hope I was able to shed some light on your forum post.

[spencers94]

Re: HELP! What happens if you don't fully dilute car wash soap?

Hi Spencers94... Read your post and noticed no replies. I've been detailing since the 1980s, though a bit rusty with an overwhelming amount of new products on the market, the basics haven't changed much for car wash soaps. The big question to ask you is what brand car wash soap are you using and how old is the product? Car wash soaps are designed to be pH neutral to clean/lubricate the car's paintwork and exterior surfaces. Though known to the detailing world, using dish soap is a big no-no as it will strip any protection upon the paint...remember it cleans gunk and grease from your dishes...

Message back to the forum as to what car wash soap you're using. Some DO NOT have heaving foaming suds, but STILL have the pH neutral cleaners to remove surface dirt. It's fun to see the suds build when agitated by the high pressure water in the bucket. Since you mentioned you stirred the water/soap by hand, if you felt a slick soapy texture (even withOUT) the suds, your product is STILL doing its job. Unless you bought a large amount of this car wash soap product, use it up on your next wash and consider moving to a new bottle. ANY of Meguiar's paintwork cleansers/soaps will do good by you. THEN, you're off to the next step of your detailing process, (i.e. decontamination, clay, polish, etc). Cheers and hope I was able to shed some light on your forum post.

Hi! Thanks for the reply. I was using the Gold Class soap and it was brand new from earlier this week. I've used it many times before and know that it creates a lot of suds when sprayed with a nozzle. It's just that this time there wasn't a nozzle on the hose i was using. My main concern with this was that if the soap wasn't diluted correctly, then perhaps it wouldn't have worked the way it's supposed to and allow for scratching/marring to occur more easily.

It did feel slick though, so based on what you mentioned, it sounds like it did it's thing, which is great. Cheers!