Anyone used 'Greased Lightening' to clean their van? (1 Viewer)

May 8, 2010
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I've just spent a couple of hours doing the van with Colonite, as recently recommended by @Charlie (still far from finished!), but it's looking good.
My very nice neighbour, (who doesn't object to the van on our drive), and who used to have a Jaguar dealership, came round and gave me a bottle of 'Greased Lightening.' He said it's what they always used on the Jags. It comes in a spray and claims to 'clean, shine and protect all in one without water.' The claim is that you can clean and wax a car in under 30 mins!
Does anyone know this product, and whether it's safe for motorhomes?
 
Nov 6, 2008
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I use it on our Honda and it is very good. But, I doubt the claim 'cleans without water' I couldn't bring myself to polish a dirty car, so mine is power washed with a foam lance, rinsed, dried, then polished. Give it a good shake first though.

Craig
 
T

Tackle man

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My limited knowledge tell me to be careful what you use to clean and polish the motorhome.
Car paintwork is different to motorhome GRP etc.
Personally I would only use recommended products to suit the motorhome finish.

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OP
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bellabee
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I use it on our Honda and it is very good. But, I doubt the claim 'cleans without water' I couldn't bring myself to polish a dirty car, so mine is power washed with a foam lance, rinsed, dried, then polished. Give it a good shake first though

I think you're right about using water. I can't imagine you'd do anything but grind the dirt in without it.
I'd noticed it was thick at the bottom of the bottle and clear at the top!
 
Jul 12, 2013
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I assume that it is similar to the several 'Dry Wash' products on the market. They all make a great fuss about it not scratching the surface, which you spray over first then leave a moment before polishing off.. I confess to being dubious about it not scratching but have tried it and must admit it does not seem to scratch and does clean off the dirt. I tried it out on the black runs that grow down the back of my van when parked up. It made a good job of cleaning and polishing but I do not have enough faith in the product yet, for it to replace the much harder to apply polish I normally use. Alan
 
OP
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bellabee
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My limited knowledge tell me to be careful what you use to clean and polish the motorhome.
Car paintwork is different to motorhome GRP etc.
Personally I would only use recommended products to suit the motorhome finish.

Yes, that's what was worrying me. There's no way I'd put it on the van until the OH gets back from work, anyway. Could land myself in trouble. I'm feeling tempted to just squirt a bit out and give it back to the neighbour and say 'Thank you very much for that, I'll go and buy some.' I don't want to appear rude and ungrateful.

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Nov 6, 2008
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I did use it on my 5th wheel trailer after a good wash and it came up good, but it was an aluminium sidewall.

Craig
 
Sep 24, 2013
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I've used this on cars but purely as a wax (it is supposed to contain Carbuba wax). I would not use it to clean a dirty car. For a quick shine up it is ok and it doesn't leave a residue.

I've also used it on my previous Autocruise MH which had GRP skin and was not particulary keen on the result. The "gloss" was a bit patchy. But try it on a small area first.
 

TerryL

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Been using it for several years and just this weekend cleaned both cars with this product. Neither car was particularly dirty, just basically rain shower residue, and both came up beautifully with no scratches, swirling or other detrimental effects. If there had been any proper dirt of course I would have given them a quick washdown first. It is important to use the correct application cloth - I use microfibre cloths and change them before they get too dirty. Took me about 25mins to do wifes Peugeot 206 and about 45 for my Peugeot 307SW (but I don't rush).

I also use it on the van (but it takes somewhat longer of course). It won't bring back a shine to dulled paintwork and I usually clean off any black streaks first with black streak remover - if you're starting from there you're going to need a lot more work. If I've got any observation, it doesn't seem to last as well as "proper" car wax but as it's so easy to use I don't mind doing it 3/4 times a year, when the raindrops don't "bead" anymore. At other times I tend to wash the vehicles with proper car wash, which helps.

It's also pretty good at getting dried "fly-squash" off.

It settles out when stored, as seen by the OP - just give the bottle a good shake first.

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Jun 2, 2010
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You got a good neighbour there to give you a bottle, it's not a cheap preparation!!, does clean and shine well though with very little effort, can been seen demonstrated on the shopping TV channels and some times with 2 for 1 offers.
 

DBK

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@Charlie has commented on these before - don't touch with a barge pole was his recommendation. All you do is polish the car with any dirt on the paint surface. It will work after a fashion and give it a shine but look carefully and there will almost certainly be swirls on the paint caused by the grit on the cloth.
 
OP
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I'm coming to suspect that it might be OK for lightly-soiled Jags, but will stick to the Colonite and elbow-grease method on the van. We already washed it yesterday.
In any case, it's a good way of working-off the calories!

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zac

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I have some of this and have done for a couple of years, i now wont use it on my Motorhome as although it certainly does clean it i dont trust what it is taking off underneath so only now use it on the car (dont care about that :))
It is useful if you dont have any water to hand but not worth it on a massively expensive motorhome.
 

Charlie

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Do a job make a job....

These water less products no matter who makes them or what they claim are nothing short of disastrous !

I really doesn't matter if it's a cheap car an expensive car a cheap motor home or one costing 200K the same results will happen when you take any product and rub it over the surface unless that surface is clean and free from dust and any of the other crap that sticks to it.

Put these products onto a dirty vehicle and you effectively create s rubbing paste. Then run it in and inflict swirls light scratches and worse to the various surfaces in our case on our expensive motor homes .

This has been discussed at length in the detaling section .
 
OP
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All these posts about cleaning and polishing motorhomes (and cars) has made my head hurt.


JJ :cool:

Well, cleaning the van has made my arm hurt!

In the end, I gave the car a rub over with the 'Greased Lightening.' Maybe I shouldn't have, but it was months since the car had seen any polish, and cleaning it with the stuff was so easy.
I might not do it again though, having read some of the comments on here, and I certainly wouldn't use it on the van.
 

Charlie

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Well, cleaning the van has made my arm hurt!

In the end, I gave the car a rub over with the 'Greased Lightening.' Maybe I shouldn't have, but it was months since the car had seen any polish, and cleaning it with the stuff was so easy.
I might not do it again though, having read some of the comments on here, and I certainly wouldn't use it on the van.

I absolutely guarantee it will do the same damage to your car as your van .


Greased lightening is not a polish.
 

Tootles

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The wife cleans ours. She's certainly greasy, but hardly moves like lightning. :)
 
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Funnily enough @bellabee I too washed the M/H yesterday and started waxing today, trouble is I keep finding marks so go back and polish out before re applying Collanite. Anyway I was going to start a thread asking how long it took people to clean their M/H......7 hrs in and I've managed to do the back and one side (excluding the cab) I should have it finished in another 2 days:rolleyes:

Do you think I could make a living at it:whistle:
 

funflair

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I use a dry wash/clay bar lubricant to give ours a tart up after a journey as it not practical to do a soap and water job on site, use a good microfibres cloth one to wipe the muck off one dry to buff. I have been doing the van like this for about 3 years now and I don't see a problem. Again I was sceptical but it seems to work.

If you fancy a clean van on site just try it and see what you think, you won't rub all the paint off first time you use it, the proof of the pudding etc etc, I like to make up my own mind on these things.

Martin

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OP
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Funnily enough @bellabee I too washed the M/H yesterday and started waxing today, trouble is I keep finding marks so go back and polish out before re applying Collanite. Anyway I was going to start a thread asking how long it took people to clean their M/H......7 hrs in and I've managed to do the back and one side (excluding the cab) I should have it finished in another 2 days:rolleyes:

Do you think I could make a living at it:whistle:

Barsteward, that describes exactly my experience. I keep thinking it's clean and then another black streak appears. Maybe we could go into business together. I reckon we could clean a van between us in a week, if we worked 8 hours each per day! - (You'd have to do the roof, though. I don't like heights!)
 

Charlie

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Some people it seems don't recognise the damage these products can cause . Or simply don't care .
Ask any even half decent detailer if they would use such a product on anything other than a car that is clean .
I won't say it will go damage on a clean car cos that would be daft. But if the car is clean why use it because it is NOT. A polish.

To be honest I don't give a monkeys if people use it it makes no odds to me. All I can say is I would never use it end of....
 

Diesel

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I am new here and new tomotorhomes but I do detail my car ....i got given a couple of bottles of Greased lightening too. It's not bad ....on my upvc windows, plastic storage chest in the garden and i think i might have given the bbq a wipe over with it once- all were cleaned 1st before applying it though

As charlie said it will damage paint if used on a dirty car.

Deffo Don't ditch the Collinite for shopping channel stuff

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Diesel

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Hhm it might be good for the new wheelie bins we have had delivered ...ill get rid of it eventually
 

funflair

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Has anybody tried these waterless products and found that they have actually done damage or is it just that we are all convinced it can not work as its too easy, after all they do offer the only viable option for cleaning the van while on site and who wants to spend hours and hours applying waxes and then sit in a dirty van on site.

Martin
 

Charlie

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I am new here and new tomotorhomes but I do detail my car ....i got given a couple of bottles of Greased lightening too. It's not bad ....on my upvc windows, plastic storage chest in the garden and i think i might have given the bbq a wipe over with it once- all were cleaned 1st before applying it though

As charlie said it will damage paint if used on a dirty car.

Deffo Don't ditch the Collinite for shopping channel stuff
Has anybody tried these waterless products and found that they have actually done damage or is it just that we are all convinced it can not work as its too easy, after all they do offer the only viable option for cleaning the van while on site and who wants to spend hours and hours applying waxes and then sit in a dirty van on site.

Martin

I have seen first hand the damage these products can do.
It's not really hard to see how spraying any product onto a dusty or dirty car will damage the surface when the combination is the rubbed over it.

I struggle to see how it can't be patently obvious what the end results will be.

As I said above it makes not the slightest jot to me if people use them. But having polished more than a few cars that have been heavily swirled and the owners informing me of the products they have used just underlines the obvious .

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funflair

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I have seen first hand the damage these products can do.
It's not really hard to see how spraying any product onto a dusty or dirty car will damage the surface when the combination is the rubbed over it.

I struggle to see how it can't be patently obvious what the end results will be.

As I said above it makes not the slightest jot to me if people use them. But having polished more than a few cars that have been heavily swirled and the owners informing me of the products they have used just underlines the obvious .

That's the point, it's like gassing, has anybody tried it and said used as per the instructions it has ruined their vehicle finish.

Out of interest Charlie do you clean your van while you are out and about or just leave it dirty.

Martin
 

Charlie

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That's the point, it's like gassing, has anybody tried it and said used as per the instructions it has ruined their vehicle finish.

Out of interest Charlie do you clean your van while you are out and about or just leave it dirty.

Martin

Martin these products are supposed to be water-less or at least used alone. So therefore they are designed to clean a vehicle that is dirty. Least that's how I read it....

So why wash a vehicle in the normal way and then use them ? Surely there would be no purpose ?

We accept (I think) or at least I do spraying them onto a dirty vehicle then rubbing the stuff in is not going to end happy..

No I wont clean a vehicle unless I have access to right kit while I'm away. That said it is possible to visit a jet wash at a garage then set up on site and finish the task there. But I would be using very soft micofibres and a good lubricating detailing spray. No way would I be spraying anything on a surface that was not free from dust and grime.
 

Charlie

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I am new here and new tomotorhomes but I do detail my car ....i got given a couple of bottles of Greased lightening too. It's not bad ....on my upvc windows, plastic storage chest in the garden and i think i might have given the bbq a wipe over with it once- all were cleaned 1st before applying it though

As charlie said it will damage paint if used on a dirty car.

Deffo Don't ditch the Collinite for shopping channel stuff

Please do Not use waterless products on your plastic/acrylic windows ! No matter whether you have plastic/acrylic or glass you will definitely inflict the same damage to them as you will to paint !

I could write a thread about how to polish glass and Plastic / acrylic but these threads just end up so contentious is just not worth doing !

I take Extreme car over windows as swirling can be put up with if that way inclined but on windows we have to look through them !

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