ChrisGTS
Enthusiast
Those of you who watch Speedvision will probably have seen advertisements for the new "Mr. Clean Autodry" car washing system. Basically, it is a system which uses allegedly "special" detergent, plus a spray nozzle with a water filter. The concept is that, by removing minerals from the rinse water, you can let the car air-dry and no water spots will form. I was really interested in this because I feel that a substantial part of the scratch/swirl mark damage that occurs comes from drying, either with a water blade or a more conventional method. So, my friend Achilles99 ('00 RT/10) and I each ordered one of these and tried it for the first time yesterday.
First, the great thing is that the system actually does work. We washed my Viper and his BMW and let both air dry -- I can't find a single water spot on my car. Excellent!
Second, we suspect there is some sort of coating or other kind of residue from the soap. My car is unbelievably shiny -- so much so that there has got to be some kind of coating or something left on the car. I don't know whether this is harmful to the car at all, but it looks really nice.
Third, we noticed that our wash mitts got EXTREMELY dirty washing both cars -- more than I have ever seen. In addition, it was impossible to fully clean them in between washing sections of the car. This leads us to believe that the soap is doing something to cause the dirt to stain the wash mitts or otherwise making the dirt stick to the mitt. This causes us some concern, as it may promote scratch/swirl marks to wash the car with a dirty mitt.
Finally, I don't think the time savings is that great. Sure, you don't have to dry the car, but you DO have to meticulously spray it with deionized water. The filter does not flow very rapidly, so you have to be quite patient rinsing the car. It doesn't take more time than hand-drying, but doesn't save that much time, either.
The bottom line is that I plan to continue using it for further evalulation, but I really like it. It is supposed to be in stores starting this spring; meantime, you can order it online.
First, the great thing is that the system actually does work. We washed my Viper and his BMW and let both air dry -- I can't find a single water spot on my car. Excellent!
Second, we suspect there is some sort of coating or other kind of residue from the soap. My car is unbelievably shiny -- so much so that there has got to be some kind of coating or something left on the car. I don't know whether this is harmful to the car at all, but it looks really nice.
Third, we noticed that our wash mitts got EXTREMELY dirty washing both cars -- more than I have ever seen. In addition, it was impossible to fully clean them in between washing sections of the car. This leads us to believe that the soap is doing something to cause the dirt to stain the wash mitts or otherwise making the dirt stick to the mitt. This causes us some concern, as it may promote scratch/swirl marks to wash the car with a dirty mitt.
Finally, I don't think the time savings is that great. Sure, you don't have to dry the car, but you DO have to meticulously spray it with deionized water. The filter does not flow very rapidly, so you have to be quite patient rinsing the car. It doesn't take more time than hand-drying, but doesn't save that much time, either.
The bottom line is that I plan to continue using it for further evalulation, but I really like it. It is supposed to be in stores starting this spring; meantime, you can order it online.
