A question of suds

[Gio G]

Recently I have been using Zaino's showroom shampoo. Have to say very impressed with it, however now run out and need to order more online. Before the Zaino, I used to use the Meg's ultimate shampoo, which is good, however never seem to get the suds action I get from the Zaino product. Overall the Zaino was better IMO.

Anyways, I was at a car event this week and noticed a Meg's tent selling product. I asked the guys behind the counter, is there anything else in their range I could use, that is similar to Zaino, as I liked the way it created lots suds and had the ability to leave a good shine.

They looked at me like I was a complete plank.... Suggesting the suds and foaming action are only cosmetic attributes of a product, and do not really help. I was under the impression that the foaming suds helped with the cleaning action, rather than having a product that did not foam well and you were left with just water in a bucket.

Any thoughts? Thanks G

[struttob]

I only use Megs Gold Class shampoo these days - excellent cleaning and as importantly good rinse off properties.

I should add that I usually snow foam the whole car before washing, for this I use Valet Pro advanced pH neutral snow foam.

Bob

[domster]

Suds don't clean cars, soap does.

A shampoo needs a mix of:
- cleaning ability (typically from anionic and non-anionic surfactants)
- lubrication, to lubricate dirt particles (but not too much as it can impede a clean rinse and cleaning power)
- foaming in moderation (to lift/suspend dirt; too much foam will impede clean rinsing)

Manufacturers also throw in:
- glossing agents (to give a short term shine to the finish so you're more impressed after using the product... typically silicone oils, these may cause smearing of the finish if allowed to dry on in hot conditions and not 'buffed'/dried properly)
- thickeners (bulking agents) to make the shampoo APPEAR more concentrated than it really is
- lots of water... nice and cheap and most customers can't tell a 1:150 conc product from a 1:1500 product with some cunning formulation
- other ingredients like limescale inhibitors, rinsing agents, sealants etc.; depends on the product

You want a little foaming/suds, but the soap is more important. Check the dilution ratio recommended on the label. This is only just a guide but manufacturers tend to play a sensible game here as if it is too weak a stated dilution the car won't be cleaned and they will get complaints, and if it is too strong a stated dilution people will use too much of it and it may appear uneconomical.

To give a rough indication as to soap content, a product I know very well contains 75% soap content and you will find shampoos with as little as 5% soap content on supermarket shelves.

[kds keltec]

here is link to the winners of 2012 detailing products as voted by those detailing folk

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

note the shampoo winner

kelly

[mneame]

Dodo Born to Be Mild, or the Wolfs Chemicals one for me.

[Roadru77er]

kds keltec said:

here is link to the winners of 2012 detailing products as voted by those detailing folk

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

note the shampoo winner

kelly

Ah yes Kelly I use BTBM on your recommendation.Great stuff thanks to Dom in the post above yours for blessing us with such a product