Spray and wipe: in these times of water restrictions, are waterless car cleaners a reasonable alternative to washing your car?(Test: waterless car cleaners)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Australian Consumers' Association

Water is a very valuable resource in Australia, and in some areas water restrictions are currently limiting the methods you can use to wash your car. So a product that lets you wash it using no or only very little water sounds like a pretty good idea. Or does it? Do you rather cringe at the thought of what spraying your dusty car with less than 100 mL of liquid and wiping it off with a towel will do to the paintwork?

We wanted to find out what waterless car cleaners are about, and tested four products we found on the internet and/or in car accessory shops.

HOW THEY WORK

All the products claim to clean and polish moderately dirty cars in one step without scratching.

They're liquids, a fine mist of which you're supposed to spray on a dirty section of your car. The cleaning ingredients are then...

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