The best shampoo
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
It is often asked on detailing fora and social media: “what is the best shampoo”. Off course there is a difference between certain products and brands, but it is important to know what you are asking. In this guide I will try to explain what the problem is with this question unless it is asked more in-depth.
Contents
The general problem
When somebody asks what the best shampoo is, they are not letting other people know what they mean with “best”. A shampoo is developed with several characteristics in mind. It has to be slick, good soluble in water, good cleaning properties, wax/sealant-safe and several more. These properties can be very different between products and/or brands. In the question “What is the best shampoo”, it is nowhere specified if that person is looking for a shampoo that is very slick, if it just smells nice or if it is the least protection-affecting.
So it is almost impossible to give an answer.
What to keep in mind when you ask the question
Many detailers are searching for a certain product that offers good quality. This could mean that they are looking for a cheap product, one that smells good, etc. Before you ask the question which product is the best it is important to know what you are looking for. Are you looking for a wax that offers mainly gloss? Or is easy to buff off? Or one that offers as much gloss?
It is important to know what you are looking for, and to know that there will be cases in which 2 properties can not be combined. A shampoo that is really awesome at washing away stubborn grease can not be wax safe. Simply because you need a certain harshness to remove the grease, harshness that is more then the wax can handle. Even sealants are likely to be affected by this.
A list of things to consider
Here is a list of properties you might consider including in your question. These can be your own preferences, or just things you find important. This list is simply made to help you find out what you exactly want to ask, so you will get better answers that suit your search.
Shampoo
- Dilution rate
- Price
- Size of the bottle
- Smell and color
- Suds
- Cleans dirt
- Slick
- Water solubility
- Can be used as snowfoam
- Sheets easily
- Wax safe
- Sealant safe
- PH neutral
- Has gloss-enhancers
- Leaves a layer of protection
- Hydrophilic is the opposite of hydrophobic, which means that it is a property of a molecule that "attracts" water. No real attraction force is involved though. In general hydrophilic substances dissolve easily in water....
- A glaze is a product that hides very light surface imperfections. It is often used when somebody doesn't have the time to give the car a full polish, but wants to achieve a freshly polished look. There are certain positives and negatives with using a glaze. Knowing exactly when to use it will help you to get the most out of it....
- Many products are sold as "concentrates", this means that you need to dilute them yourself before use. However, the explanation of the dilution is often very short because there is limited space on the label. This guide will help you with a simple chart and also an easy way for you to calculate the dilution ratio. We'll also include a few easy tips....
- There are multiple ways of drying your car. The most common one is drying with Microfiber towels. However, you can also use a device that blows air for blow-drying off the water. This can especially be handy when you have to deal with small spaces, crevices or trims that can hide water....
- The one bucket method is the most used method of washing a car, but is also the least recommended way of washing the car. In this method the user only uses 1 bucket, which doesn't allow for much rinsing of the sponge/washmitt....
- The two-bucket method is possibly to most known and most used technique used by detailers and professionals, to wash a vehicle. It is one of 3 different types of washing a vehicle that are widely considered to be safe and correct ways of cleaning a surface....
Links to this article
There are no external links to this article. Yet.