"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
11/26/2015 at 11:01 • Filed to: Car Care, Car Soap, Black Friday Deals, Dishwasher Soap
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"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
11/26/2015 at 11:01 • Filed to: Car Care, Car Soap, Black Friday Deals, Dishwasher Soap | 0
| 16 |
You’ve probably heard from various sources that using dishwashing soap on your car is a big no-no, that dishwashing soap contains anti-bacterial chemicals, grease-busting solvents and skin moisturizers that could reek absolute havoc on your automotive finish - or maybe you’ve heard that the soap from your kitchen sink’s A-OK and won’t do any harm to your clearcoat. Then again why take the risk in the first place? Oh, I know what you’re thinking, it’s just cheaper and more convienient to use what you already have, right? Why go down to the auto store and shell out big bucks for that fancy-schmancy auto finish wash advertising itself for Jackson-Barrett showcars when your wife’s Palmolive is probably just good enough for your daily driver? You’ve already been using the stuff for years problem free and pennies pinched, right? Right?
The truth is, you might be damaging your paint and your wallet in the process.
Back in high school I went from a promising chem-wiz prodigy freshman year to barely squeaking by with a C- in AP Senior Chem, which is another way of saying I’m not exactly a chemical expert with a graduate degree from Emory University and a six-figure consulting job with BASF. I passed Senior Math only with a heavy helping of paperwork signed off from multiple educational and parental parties, but I do know how to operate the calculator app on my Android phone! It’s just as easy to tell that the $2.48 dishwashing soap in the Kitchen and Household isle is a good bit cheaper than the $6.32 car wash soap all the way over in Automotive clear over the other side of the store, but that’s where dishwashing soap’s price advantage ends.
Let’s consider two specific products readily available at the Walmart online store:
First up we’ve got !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a moderately-priced gallon jug at $5.87. To be honest with you I can’t tell you if this is the best, the worst, or in the middle; for all I know it’s nothing more but rebottled Palmolive anyway. All I can tell you is that it’s priced competitively with other gallon car soap jugs and for better or worse it’s what I use to clean my own cars and motorcycles.
Next we have something called, uh, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Soap, the absolute cheapest regular-priced liquid dishwashing soap I can find on Walmart’s online store. I did them the courtesy of adding in “Soap” for them since Sun Citrus Energy Liquid Dishwashing seems !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (as well as sounding like a badly localized energy drink label). But at least the numbers are nice and round and simple - just two bucks for 40 ounces a pop.
That’s all fine and dandy until we look at actual unit price - that’s five cents per ounce, while the gallon (128 ounces) of Turtle Wax runs to just very slightly over four and a half cents per ounce - which might seem like literally a microscopic difference until you remember we’re running 128 of these ounces at once. Or in other words it’ll tale $6.40 worth of the Sun Citrus Marketing Buzzword Soup to equal the $5.87 of the Turtle Wax. Bothering to walk down to the other side of the store and buying the fancy-schmancy car soap is actually saving you a little over half a buck. And that’s just comparing a mid-priced car soap with the cheapest dishwashing soap. Some dishwashing soap brands are asking !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
And that’s not even factoring in how the product is actually used - I’ve never seen someone apply dishwashing soap to their car in any other way other than to squirt massive jets of neon-colored ooze directly onto the hood of their car. Turtle Wax, meanwhile, asks that you use just one ounce mixed per “bucket” of cold water (I figure they mean a gallon here too).
So while you’re out shopping this Black Friday you might as well just pick up some actual car wash soap while you’re at it. You’ll be saving pennies in the long run just with the upfront unit price math, and if it ends up actually harming your paint you have a better chance of recouping a settlement instead of being yelled at for using a dishwashing product incorrectly.
gin-san - shitpost specialist
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 11:10 |
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Whenever I’ve washed cars at home it has always been with dishwashing soap, but I pour it into a bucket and then fill with water like you’re supposed to do with this Turtle Wax soap. Seems to work fine.
crowmolly
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 11:12 |
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My understanding is that Dawn (brand specific) is to be used to strip off old wax and road grease before doing a full detail job. It’s not to be used as a regular car wash. This was recommended by a number of detailing product companies.
Opposite Locksmith
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 11:20 |
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I usually pour a whole under the sink sized jug all over car without water for a day, let it cure so to speak, then I set up a cycling sprinkler next to my car and I gradually wash off the soap as it gets wet. I make sure the oscillation cycle of the sprinkler isn’t too fast, if so I move the sprinkler another 5 feet away. After all off the soap is washed off I let it air dry, then I preserve the clear coat by lathering the car down with brake fluid (I know, I know, expensive + environment ) for four hours. While I wait I scour off any tar or asphalt off the bumper with Brillo LIGHTLY then hard
JGrabowMSt
> crowmolly
11/26/2015 at 11:30 |
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I only use dish soap to remove bird excrement from the car or on interior trim pieces, but I have heard similar.
Svend
> crowmolly
11/26/2015 at 11:36 |
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Ye’, your wanting the degreasing abilities of the dishwashing soap to strip the wax and traffic film (benzene deposits and atmospheric debris) from the vehicle.
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Svend
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 11:39 |
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Regular car shampoo is also good if you run out of regular hair shampoo.
Also microfibre car drying towels are superabsorbent and better for drying if your a rather hairy individual over a standard bath towel.
Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
> Opposite Locksmith
11/26/2015 at 11:42 |
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Nothing wrong with using dawn, as long as you realize it’s going to take off any wax you have on. once you have a clean start so to speak you stay away from non-automotive soap.
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Opposite Locksmith
> Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
11/26/2015 at 11:46 |
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Okay I'll only use the BF once it's clean
Nick Has an Exocet
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 11:47 |
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This is what I use if I’m going to wax it. Just a free drips in a bucket works wonders.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00…
Birddog
> Opposite Locksmith
11/26/2015 at 11:50 |
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Ken M? Is that you?
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> Opposite Locksmith
11/26/2015 at 12:08 |
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You use brake fluid? Hmm, I’ll have to try that, as my clear coat is getting a bit worn. I’ve been using Coca Cola for the past few years, right after i get done burning off any tar with gentle applications of lighter fluid & a match. The Coke works well after I let it sit overnight after spraying it thoroughly over the entire car. It usually takes just a 2 liter to cover the whole thing, as I drive a Focus. Thanks for the ideas.
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Opposite Locksmith
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
11/26/2015 at 12:37 |
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Any powder detergent can serve as a polish if you replace the shot in a shotgun shell with the detergent and fire at the unsightly areas/into the throttle body/turbo if you have one/them
Master Cylinder
> crowmolly
11/26/2015 at 15:09 |
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That’s what I use it for. In between full wash/clay/polish/wax jobs, I use car “shampoo” to avoid stripping the wax from the paint.
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/26/2015 at 20:48 |
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I’ve only ever used dish soap - partially because that’s what I have handy, and partially because I’m washing a car that is 14 years old, and it isn’t in mint condition. A few drops in a bucket is enough to do it. No squirting it around the car.
Although now that you’ve priced it out, perhaps that’s a potential Christmas present.
jjansen
> crowmolly
11/27/2015 at 15:32 |
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If it’s good enough for crude-soaked waterfowl, it’s good enough for handwashing and dishes.
DMCVegas
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
11/27/2015 at 17:50 |
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Yeah, hell no am I using dish washing soap on any of my cars (including my DeLorean). I’ve seen WAY too many vehicles that have had their finishes wrecked, resulting in color fading out in the harsh UV of the Mojave. And we’re not just talking clear coat here. Nope. Don’t forget you’ve got to have consideration for everything else such as rub stripes, wiper arms, antenna, gratuitous body cladding, and worst of all rubber gaskets/trim for glass. Particularly on late 90’s to mid 2000’s GM SUVs where they will quickly crack and dry rot (I’m looking at you Blazer & Jimmy!).
Use some cheap-ass car soap without any liquid wax additives a couple of times to wash off the grime and the old wax. Once that’s done, apply some fresh wax and polish and you’re good to go.
The point of car shampoo isn’t just for the paint and the clear coat. There are many, MANY other surfaces on your car that you don’t even consider. And if you don’t care because you already drive a beater, well, there is a reason your car looks like crap.