Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash?

[RobHook]

Has anyone else tried the new Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash product? I picked one up the other day but haven't tried it yet. It's basically a large nozzle that you hook up to a hose and it filters the water used in the final rinse of your car. Supposedly this eliminates water spots and the need to towel-try the car. It also comes with a special soap but I'm going to try it in conjunction with Zaino's car wash and see how it works out. I would think this would greatly reduce the risk of getting swirl marks since you'd no longer have to make sure you're using "Only made in USA 100% cotton towels". Thoughts?

--Rob

 

[BIRD]

Funny you should ask. I just washed my Viper with it and it does work. It's a slow process and you don't really suds the car up as I like to do. I found the car does not get as clean as it would with a normal wash and blow dry. All and all I'll use it on my black work truck, but not the Viper.

 

[nickdiaz]

I spent 20 hours this past weekend working on my paint with a combination of claybar, Megiuars abrasives and a rotary, and the full Zaino line. Following the initial wash with Dawn, the claybar and the abrasives, I thought I'd do a rinse wash with the Mr. Clean AutoDry system. At the same time, I was also working on a black Mercedes, an Integra and a Camaro.

The Mr. Clean AutoDry system had quite different results on all four cars, but all of them were bad. I ended up with horrible water spots on the red Viper. The Mercedes had a very gritty feel, and was far from clean. The Integra and Camaro took twice as much effort to get clean as normal.

I'm particularly disappointed in the Mr. Clean AutoDry system, and won't be using it again. Happy to elaborate on the specifics of my tests.

 

[Mopar Steve]

What an incredible waste of time! any time saved drying is wasted rinsing with that little dribble of a spray rinse. It also left spots and "smears". I called and complained and they are sending me a refund. Anyone that wants to try it can have mine.

 

[ChrisGTS]

Do a search and you'll see some other posts, including mine. I have had good results with it and plan to keep using it.

 

[GaryA]

I haven't used it on my Viper yet, but it does a great job on my ********* dually. I can wash it in the full sun and it dries with absolutely no spots which is difficult on black paint.

---------------
2000 Black RT/10
Heffner 1000SCi 843 rwhp 792 rwtq 10.20 ET @ 141 MPH
Heffner Performance - Home of the World's First 9-second supercharged Viper!

 

[DG Viper]

What about wax on a car....since it causes the water to sheet off, doesn't that pull some of the wax off and take away the beading effect??

 

[Achilles99]

I've used it, and love it. So do two of my other car buddies (including ChrisGTS).

http://vca2.viperclub.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=383325&Forum=UBB14&Words=mr.%20clean&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=383325&Search=true#Post383325

 

[fuelman]

I have used it on all my cars including the Viper, I have had good results. I use a little of the soap in a bucket with a sponge. I rinse the car with the regular water (high power spray,) soap it, and then use the sponge with soap from the bucket, then I rinse it with the regular (high power spray) water, then I finally rinse the car with the filtered water. I can do the car in about 15 minutes and although it is not the same as a full detail the car comes off very clean without spots or drying with a towel, I have even rinsed it and driven it wet and still comes off without spots, the water in Florida is hard with sediments. The product seems to work for me.

 

[GCHDEALER]

I have used it on all my cars including the Viper, I have had good results. I use a little of the soap in a bucket with a sponge. I rinse the car with the regular water (high power spray,) soap it, and then use the sponge with soap from the bucket, then I rinse it with the regular (high power spray) water, then I finally rinse the car with the filtered water. I can do the car in about 15 minutes and although it is not the same as a full detail the car comes off very clean without spots or drying with a towel, I have even rinsed it and driven it wet and still comes off without spots, the water in Florida is hard with sediments. The product seems to work for me.

I agree with the above mentioned use of the product. I really like mine.
C~

 

[GaryA]

What an incredible waste of time! any time saved drying is wasted rinsing with that little dribble of a spray rinse. It also left spots and "smears". I called and complained and they are sending me a refund. Anyone that wants to try it can have mine.

Steve,

Are you rinsing the soap off with the filtered water? If so, I can see how it would take forever. I rinse the soap off with the sprayer in the high-flow position and then go back over it with the filtered water. It works perfectly that way and the results are surprisingly good. Just thought I'd ask.

----------------
2000 Black RT/10
Heffner 1000SCi 843 rwhp 792 rwtq 10.20 ET @ 141 MPH
Heffner Performance - Home of the World's First 9-second supercharged Viper!

 

[MAXIMAX]

I've used the product and gotten good results .You must remember to rinse the suds off with the unfultered setting and then use the (low pressure) filtered setting last. After drying one time I was taking pictres, got caught in a light misty rain before I could get it in the garage and that too redried without spots!! I am defintely keeping the product. Remember that the filter cartridge that comes with the product is only good for 3 washings while the replacemnt
cartridge is good for 10....MAXIMAX - I've got to learn how to get a picture of my 03 srt-10 on this forum so I can show you my new HRE wheels - 6 spoke polished aluminum to red outer rims and rivets..... not bad for a new owner who doesn't know how to drive yet!

 

[Mopar Steve]

A couple people have asked me to ship it to them. Any one that wants it can have it FREE, but you gotta come by my house and pick it up. Pepboys sell it for under $20. so it's hardly worth the time packing it up and paying the shipping on it especially being used.

I did use it properly. I used it on my H2. The fine rinse spray all over the truck took longer than wiping it down with a towel. If you take the hose end off your garden hose and let the water sheet across the vehicle after washing this leaves very little water to dry with a towel...no spots.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

If I get to busy to dry my car, I am doing something wrong in my life.

AC

 

[jrkermode]

Andrew,

I agree with you that spending time with the Viper, even doing something boring like drying the car, is not a bad thing. However, drying the car can damage the paint by rubbing grit around on the surface. The damage can be avoided if you blot the car instead of wiping it, but most people wipe.

Another way to look at it is if you spend 2 minutes instead of 10 minutes drying, that's 8 more minutes of driving!

 

[RobHook]

Well, I finally got around to using this thing. I will say that there are NO spots on the Viper now, not even on the glass! On the other hand, I'll second the opinion that using the Mr. Clean soap didn't seem to get the car as clean as other methods. As a matter of fact, the brand new sponge I was using with the soap turned VERY black. Much blacker than it should have been given the amount of dirt on my already fairly clean car. What I think is happening is that there's somthing in this soap that reacts with dirt or perhaps pollen, (which my car was covered with) turning it black. It's that bad. Some spots (areas where bugs had hit) seemed to absorb this black color and then had to be scrubbed even harder to completely remove them. I also noticed that this soap seemed to react to the brake dust on my wheels and turned it into a gooey paste-like substance which was hard to remove.

Overall though, I'd say it's a good product. I'm still amazed that there are no spots anywhere on the car. With this highly treated water we have here in Northern Virginia, water spots were always a problem with my car, even when using towels to dry it.

So, I think the best method may be to use the regular Zaino soap in a bucket and use the filter piece of the Mr. Clean system for rinsing as it really does eliminate the need to dry the car, hence lessening the chance of getting swirl marks. That's worth the price, in my opinion.

Oh, and for whoever said it took forever to rinse the car with the filtered water, I didn't find that to be the case. Just make sure you're rinsing the soap off with the regular water FIRST. The filtered water is then used to rinse off the non-filtered water, not soap.

--Rob

 

[ohiodoc]

I got spots on my car, but I love the gun they give you. So what did I do wrong?

 

[426Hemi]

Just used it yesterday and if you have spots the problem may be that you are not rinsing with the filtered water good enough. Anywhere that the regular (unfiltered) water is left, you will have spots. I went over the car 2 or 3 times with the filtered water and I did not have a single spot. I do have worries about the soap though. Might just be my imagination but it seemed like it was harder to apply the wax (S100 aka PS21) after I used the Mr. Clean soap. Might try it with regular car wash next time to see if there is a difference.