Cleaning products used at hand car washers

[paterson12]

Hello.
Bit of a strange question I suppose but I went to a hand car wash today and I have noticed that they spray some funny chemical on the car and the dirty just falls off once it has been sprayed with the jet wash.
It does a fantastic job on the diamond cut alloys and I would like to get hold of some for myself.

Does anybody know what this chemical is? or where I could get some?

Sure its terrible for the paint work by never mind

Cheers

 

[Ian_Mac]

Hello.
Bit of a strange question I suppose but I went to a hand car wash today and I have noticed that they spray some funny chemical on the car and the dirty just falls off once it has been sprayed with the jet wash.
It does a fantastic job on the diamond cut alloys and I would like to get hold of some for myself.

Does anybody know what this chemical is? or where I could get some?

Sure its terrible for the paint work by never mind

Cheers

Probably some kind of Traffic Film Remover.

 

[Howard]

Strips wax off paintwork a treat !

 

[paterson12]

Strips wax off paintwork a treat !

Didn't think it would be long before somebody said that.

 

[Howard]

It does !

We use it on boats to strip the wax off the hull before repairing gel coat , I've used it to clean the inside of cooker hoods too ..... Evil stuff !

Ask them to spray a bit on your finger , it will feel very slippery , that is the alkali in it reacting with your skin oils , it's basically dilute sodium hydroxide

 

[Mr.CAP]

Well it depends on what kind of dirt you want it to dissolve. A reputable wash station should know when and what to use depending on what are needed in a specific case. If you have tar spots you need to use some kind of petroleum based product since an alkali product doesn't work at all on that. As a general rule you could say you mostly use the alkali based in the summer and the petroleum based one in the winter. I personally always use the petroleum based from the bottom and up to the door handles, and the alkali from the handles and up.
But as stated previously it does strip of the wax in most cases. But if your car has been treated with any kind of quality sealant you don't have to worry since it has no use for wax and the sealant should have no problem with it either.

 

[Luke_C]

It depends what you're looking for, if you want something for the wheels you can get some acid free wheel cleaners which, after dwelling for a few minutes bring up the wheels rather well (nothing compared to giving them a good scrub, or sealing them properly in the first place)
If you want something for the paintwork you can get some LSP (last stage protection, ie. wax/sealant) safe pre washes, a brilliant one is Auto Finesse Citrus Power, just spray on and leave for 10 min or so then jet wash off with brilliant results, I must stress though, that it is only a pre wash and not a replacement for a good hand wash...

 

[Mr.CAP]

I just remembered to you all that use both alkali and petroleum pre sprays with a bit of caution. Some are very aggressive and can leave marks on chrome and plastic details. Even less aggressive products can leave marks if used on hot surfaces, which is something to keep in mind for all of you that wash your cars outside in the sun.