Washing with a sponge? A long term test

Lambswool wash mitts, microfiber wash mitts, cotton chenille wash mitts, there are many types of wash mitts available in the market today and are becoming a widely used wash media for washing the car with.

However, this poses a question of extinction to another wash media.

Are sponges irrelevant?



This posts describes why I am testing sponges instead of wash mitt and how they will be tested.

Click to read the whole process after the jump!



Most people would normally wash down their cars with a bucket of soapy water and a cheap sponge. However, the sponge has created a bad rep in the auto detailing industry, being known to cause the majority of swirl marks.

The argument for it is that a wash mitt creates a buffer zone between itself and the paint’s surface, allowing grit to be safely trapped in the plush wash mitt, so there is a lesser chance of causing car wash abrasions.



A sponge however has a flat surface and does not have any space between it and the paint, causing the grit to ‘grind’ against the car as you wash. Read Dave KG's car washing guide to get a better illustration.

The wash mitt is undoubtly a very good wash media, regardless of its type, a wash mitt, carries more soapy water, acts as a buffer zone, and is gentle to the paint.

So are sponges going to face extinction as a choice of a washing media?

Probably not.

The first argument for this is washing technique is more important than the choice of wash media. You may be using the world’s plushest lambswool mitt(wookie's fist?) but there is still the chance of scratching the paint of you do not rinse the mitt often, or washing across many panels at one time without gathering more soap solution.

Detailing enthusiasts tend to agree that sponges are the cause of swirl marks, but I have a theory to disagree with them. When car owners start to learn proper washing techniques, they also purchase proper tools. As they learn to wash their cars with the proper method, they notice that swirl marks do not appear at such a rapid rate. I think you know where I am going here.

Swirl marks do not appear could be due to a combination of using proper washing techniques and using a wash mitt

or

solely due to proper washing method.

The second argument in favour of sponges relate to the online detailing community. On Autopia, a US detailing forum, many people have switched to using a grout sponge as many agree that it does not cause swirl marks and is cheap! (A grout sponge costs USD1.87 wheres a Meguiar’s wash mitt costs USD5.99). There are also new wash medias that utilize foam, those that I am aware of is the EDGE Shmitt, Lake Country Big Blue, LC Ultimitt and the Zymol sponge(this one isn’t very new).
Speaking of the Zymol sponge, I have noticed that world-reknowned celebrity detailer Paul Dalton, have been using it for a while now. You can watch him using it in the videos below.

Miracle Detail's new HD film trailer
Fifth Gear Paul Dalton feature
Miracle Detail - RTL - Formel Exclusiv - £5000 Car Wash

Another point to note is that the Zymol sponge has a flat surface, no grid-channels or egg crate shape to prevent grit from grinding into the surface. Maybe a buffer zone isn’t important after all, maybe washing technique is much more important in maintaining a swirl free finish.

This is what I’m about to find out. Four wash medias will be tested:



- The edge Schmitt
- LC big blue
- A generic sponge
- Cotton polishing cloth

I will wash each door with one wash media. They have been polished with Meguiar’s SwirlX to remove previous light swirling.

Here are the condition of the panels after polishing.


















Shampoo of choice will be Turtle Wax ICE Shampoo, a basic shampoo with lubricants.



Allow me to comment on the wash medias I will be testing. The EDGE Schmitt features a very smooth foam with an egg-crate pattern, I’m assuming this is the same foam as their white polishing pad.



The big blue however feels a little more rough and the pores are bigger and inconsistent.



The generic sponge is a flat surfaced sponge but actually feels soft. I guess I purchased a ‘premium’ generic sponge.



And taking it to the 'extreme', I’ll be washing with a cotton polishing cloth. This cloth is virtually flat as it has no nap, unlike a terry cloth.



The method of washing would be to firstly rinse down the panel with a garden hose.





Then the panel being washed is drenched with soapy water carried by the wash media.





Wash media is reloaded with more soapy water and the panel is washed in a left to right sweeping motion.







The panel is rinsed off before washing the next panel.





Washing with the generic sponge







Washing with Big Blue





Dreching the panel first,



Reload with more soapy water and wash,



After washing the four doors, they will be rinsed with filtered water to prevent water spotting. Dried using an Autoglym Aqua dry synthetic chamois with the blot dry technique.



To maintain protection and water repellency, the panels will be sealed with Mad Detailer’s Enviroshield using an MF applicator in an up-down sweeping motion. This way, I avoid any unnecessary rubbing during applying and removing wax/sealant.





I’m doing all this to eliminate as many variables as possible, if I were to see scratches in a horizontal pattern, then I’ll know it is from the washing process, not from the drying or waxing. Oh, I also have to be stringent with friends who try to lean on the car, haha!

Well this test is going to be long term as it will take some time for any wash marks to accumulate. The paint is also heavy with metallic flakes, which hides light scratches.

Oh, remember when a mitt is supposed to trap grit and release them into rinse bucket during a wash?

This is what I saw in my bucket after washing the whole car down with the four wash medias. Besides the four doors, the rest of the car was washed with LC Big Blue.





You may also be wondering, why would I want to create swirl marks by washing with the cotton cloth??

This is so that I could play with some new toys...



I purchased them after being shown the effects of orange peel removal by hand sanding with only 3000 grit!

Before,


After,


Well, stay tuned for the results of this sponge test. Do subscribe via e-mail to be notified of new posts, your e-mail will remain anonymous to me and anyone else.

EDIT: After I posted the link to this post on Autoworld Detailing forum, a forummer named dschia from http://www.shinecars.sg/ made a great comment regarding wash method vs wash media.

"Just wanna add that it may not be practical to use the best possible wash method such as foaming, pressure washer hose down, then 2 bucket method etc. Of course, it will work much better since much lesser grit is left behind leaving wash medium minimal role to play, but we need to factor in time and limitations(water issue in SG & US). Sometimes we need to compromise in our wash method. This is where wash medium will be increasingly important depending on how we do it." (dschia, 2010)

Next post will probably to test whether Wash and Wax shampoos will actually leave something on the surface, or are they just a term to help market their shampoos.

Thanks for looking as always, and feel free to leave a comment below!

^^V


Read more!

My perspective on current paint protectants

Let’s talk car wax. To the average joe, waxing a car is equivalent to making a car shiny.

“ Hey Joe! Let’s toss the ‘ol pigskin around the park”
“I can’t man, I gotta wax the car. Got a hot date tonight!”

*Sorry for the non-halal dialogue, pigskin refers to American football*

I guess this is also the reason that many OTC(Over-The-Counter) car waxes have some form of cleaners in them, this makes life easier for the average joe.

Let’s take Meguair’s NXT2.0 for example, what is technically a synthetic sealant is named Tech Wax and contains cleaners strong enough to remove ingrained dirt from the paint.

This is just my own hypothesis but I’m guessing that Meguiar’s realize that most people do not know the difference between a wax and a polish. Hence, NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is the go-to product to making a car shiny.

Let’s say I have a product that will outlast and give far better protection than NXT 2.0 but it has to be applied on a perfectly clean surface, i.e. free of bonded contaminants, ingrained dirt and polishing oils. I then put this product up for sale at any auto parts/hardware store. I will also give this super durable product ultra-fancy packaging boasting claims of extreme durability and protection. With big bold statements such as “Will outlast Meguiar’s NXT 2.0!”

And just to get people to buy it, I name it something-something-wax. Chances are, people will buy it if it is competitively priced against NXT 2.0. However, they were expecting it to shine up the car as well as protect the paint. So they give their own cars a good hose down, wash with a bucket and sponge, dry with an old chamois lying around and apply my super-out-of-this-universe-product. I will expect them to face difficulties buffing off the product because of over-application or because the paint wasn’t prepped. Even if they did manage to buff it off, it wouldn’t last because it doesn’t have a clean paint to bond to. So, it will not live up to its claims of outlasting NXT 2.0. The product doesn’t sell well after a while and it eventually passes its shelf life and is thrown into the garbage bin.

I’m just trying to illustrate the term wax from an average Joe’s point of view.

Now let’s talk about paint protectants. I started my detailing hobby mostly using Meguair’s products, the original NXT Tech Wax blew me away at that time, as I slowly researched into it, I too found that its durability is not really up there. So I bought and tried several different paint protectants 'till today and here is my current perspective on today’s car waxes and sealants.

There are many different types of paint protectants out there, even a spray detailer will add some form of protection to the paint.

Several properties differentiate a paint protectant from another.

These are:
-Ease of use
-Durability
-Protection
-Filling ability/shine/gloss
- Cleaning ability

I will be focusing on the first three properties, which are ease of use, durability and protection. It seems that there is a trend of compromise between these three properties.

I shall call it the Triangle Dilemma.

Allow me to illustrate with my poor Microsoft paint skills, we have a triangle scale; on each end is the three aforementioned properties.



After using certain products and listening to experiences from other detailers, I came to my own conclusion below.



The first triangle shows most OTC car waxes/sealants. Think Meguiar’s NXT2.0, its ease of use is simply great. If you applied a bit too thickly, it still comes off with ease. If applied properly, comes off like butter.
However durability is not really there, and by durability I mean water repellency after a few weeks/months.
Protection is mediocre to good. This product category is suitable for the average Joe as they can easily use these products to shine up their ride and have some decent protection on the paint. No fuss, no mess, no hard rubbing, simple and easy.



The second triangle actually illustrates a specific product I have been using, Duragloss #105 Total Performance Polish.

Its ease of use is lacking a little compared to NXT 2.0 because if you applied DG105 the same as you did with NXT 2.0, you might have difficulty buffing off. It has to be applied so thin that it is almost invisible. Once you know this, then application and removal is a breeze.

Its durability is simply great, putting Zaino Z2 aside; this baby outlasts many liquid sealants on the market(EDIT: I may have drawn the durability line a little bit too far >.<). Here comes the compromise, the protection factor. Although it will still repel water strongly, you will notice that water spots can still accumulate and etch into the paint surface. High surface tension is not an absolute indicator of protection. Even so, I use this product most often now because of those two properties that it excels in, ease of use and durability.

The third triangle illustrates many paste waxes on the market.



Think Meguiar’s M16 professional paste wax. Its user-friendliness is definitely incomparable to many liquid waxes out there, but it is easy to use once you get the hang of it. I assume that protection is better than sealants because there is a thicker physical layer on the paint surface. That means any contaminants have to etch through a thicker layer of protection before reaching the clearcoat.

However, the compromise is in its durability. A paste wax does not bond to the paint like a sealant does. It basically just ‘sits’ on top of the paint, instead of grabbing on to the clearcoat with razor sharp claws like a sealant does(cross-linking?). I must remind you that these are just my ASSUMPTIONS, there may be truth in them, but I cannot guarantee them, so do read what I say with some critical-ism.

Now the last triangle is what interests me the most and is uncharted territory for me.



This triangle illustrate paint coatings. You’ve probably heard of stuff like Nano Coating, Glass Coating, Quartz Coating, etc. etc.
These stuff are finicky to use and application has to be done right to achieve maximum product performance.

An example is Pompanazzi Real Quartz Coating. A detailer once showed me a tiny bottle that was used to store the coating, the product inside has dried up and I was shocked when I saw what was inside the bottle. The liquid coating has actually solidified and creates a rattling sound when the bottle is shaken. Your normal liquid sealant will probably dry up into a dry paste or turn powdery. But this stuff was solid, I didn’t feel it, but I could see it was as solid as plastic.

Now I am only speculating the durability and protection factor on the triangle but I am pretty sure it is not like your average paint sealant. Its ease of use however is terrible, it is very oily during application and takes days to cure and harden! Thanks to DrayFX from http://www.drayfx.blogspot.com/ for this information. You can view his write-up about the Pompanazzi HERE. This is why I rated it very low on the ease of use scale.

Other paint coatings that I’m aware of include G’Zox Real Glass Coating, Hi-Mohs Coat, Nanolex and G|Techniq.

That pretty much sums up about what I think about current paint protectants. As a product increases its ease of use, it will have to compromise in either durability and/or protection and vice versa.

I wonder how soon it will be until we can have a paint protectant that ignores the Triangle Dilemma and excels in ease of use, durability and protection.

What do you think about the waxes and sealants that you are using at the moment?

p.s. Thanks to vx55 for his ideas and input on this topic! Read more!