Why not use waterless cleaners? (1 Viewer)

[Autowbars]

As the title suggests I am asking why it seems folk
tend to say that you should not use waterless cleaners.


I have used one (WOW) is the make, seems good, cleans, leaves a good shine with a little rub.
Water beads off it just fine, just dont use it on the windscreen
I did, and what a mess when it rained, had to give it a good scrubbing!

Looking forward to the answers, either pos or neg.

 

[Ber090]

My logic is that any dirty vehicle is covered in tiny pieces of " grit" or anything that could cause a miniscule scratch. If I then just spray and rub I will do a great job of scratching the surface. The more I do it the more the tiny scratches will get bigger. If you put a strong light on paintwork you will see scratches when brand new, so I do not want to keep adding to them. That is why there is plenty of people like me who become possibly obsessive (wife's words) about a cleaning regime. Look at the detailing section on here to see how to do it. Whenever I see anyone using waterless products I cringe. The alternative is get a pro valeter to machine polish the scratches out when you come to sell!
Cheers
Bernie

 

[hilldweller]

As the title suggests I am asking why it seems folk
tend to say that you should not use waterless cleaners.


I have used one (WOW) is the make, seems good, cleans, leaves a good shine with a little rub.
Water beads off it just fine, just dont use it on the windscreen
I did, and what a mess when it rained, had to give it a good scrubbing!

Looking forward to the answers, either pos or neg.

This was done to death a week or so ago.

I used one that worked surprisingly well, though I would not use on top of real dirt.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[maison]

As the title suggests I am asking why it seems folk
tend to say that you should not use waterless cleaners.


I have used one (WOW) is the make, seems good, cleans, leaves a good shine with a little rub.
Water beads off it just fine, just dont use it on the windscreen
I did, and what a mess when it rained, had to give it a good scrubbing!

Looking forward to the answers, either pos or neg.

If you check the thread" Motorhome detailing" you will find lots of advice. Some from professionals.

It's worth taking a look.

 

[Charlie]

There is a detailing section specially set up so people can read about this topic then come here in the wrong section and ask again.
The way the question is posed clearly suggests the OP has the opinion we don't like or support waterless products. So why ask again ?

 

[funflair]

I guess it goes against the grain to clean your van without copious amounts of water but when I am on the road given the choice between leaving it dirty till getting home or using a dry wash I will dry wash every time.
I use a rapid detailer spray it lifts the dirt and then I wipe it off with a microfibre cloth and buff with a clean cloth.

Martin

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Badknee]

If I was really that bothered about Mo being dirty while away I would use a foam spray to wash the heavy dirt off then the brush with a rinse to finish available at many garages.

 

[Charlie]

If I was really that bothered about Mo being dirty while away I would use a foam spray to wash the heavy dirt off then the brush with a rinse to finish available at many garages.

Good but only half way there.

Personally if I wanted to clean the van when we are away I would use a jet wash but not those brushes. The brushes no matter how soft they appear are capable of causing a lot of damage. Some users clean muddy and filthey vehicles with those brushes and a lot of debris and grit gets stuck in them. The next user then runs this over their vehicles .. Nuff said.

The biggest workload of a pro Detailer is the rectification of vehicles that have been damaged in just the way I've described above. That and poor washing techniques put scratches and swirls over vehicles that sometimes cost a blooming fortune. Motor homes are not exactly cheap are they ?

 

[Autowbars]

I always swill the mud etc off first with a LOW pressure hose.
And a bit of elbow grease if dried hard on, around front wings etc.
Then use the waterless stuff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Charlie]

I always swill the mud etc off first with a LOW pressure hose.
And a bit of elbow grease if dried hard on, around front wings etc.
Then use the waterless stuff

The claims made by the makers of these products indicate they can clean vehicles that are dirty....

But they then step back and limit liability in some cases by warning the vehicles should really be cleaned first before use or say they should be used only on clean vehicles. It's ambiguous to say the blooming least.

They are simply put not to be used on anything other than a clean vehicle. The answers why are above and at you the OP indicate when you tell us in your first post say we and many don't like them must know this and in order to know must surely of read the many threads on the subject ???

Rub these frankly bloody stupid products over s dirty vehicle and you categorically Will cause swirling or worse. Clean the vehicle first some may say.... So why buy the stuff ? Is it because it's cheap ? No... Is it because it does anything at all ? Well no. All it does is waste money.

As our friend Funflair says above a simple relatively inexpensive detailing spray will do the job not only better but far cheaper plus depending on the product will add wax as you apply.