Strongest car wash soap to remove grease, dirt, contaminants? (2 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Threads
194
Messages
1,158
Location
Memphis, TN
Can someone recommend a strong car wash soap or spray that is really good at removing grease, dirt, grime and all other contaminants?

I've used some armor all cleaning wipes and spray cleaner, but I don't want to continue using it since I don't believe its designed for painted surfaces.

Thanks
 
If you have a pressure washer everyone seems to believe that investing in a Foam Canon attachment is one of the best things to help remove all the garbage. From there, I have heard that plain ole Simple Green is great for getting everything off. I have not yet tried it though.
 
Dawn will strip almost all grease and waxes. I wouldn't use as a regular maintenance wash. I use chemical guys citrus wash. If u have stubborn grease and brake dust etc in paint finish I would use Car pro Iron x followed by a good clay to pull all the junk out of paint then a wax of your choice.
 
X2 on Dawn...not for regular use. I use Zaino Bros. show car polish products and they instruct you to strip all old wax, grease, grime, etc with Dawn as well. They have the same caveat about not using Dawn for an every day car wash too.

Edit - I've also used a Turtle Wax tree sap type remover on a brand new car! :eek: Car had been sitting under a tree at the dealer and despite dealer attempts still had a mild rough feel to the paint. Got more than a HE!! of a deal so I wasn't worried. After Dawn, the Turtle Wax product and a good clay job the finish was perfect.
 
Last edited:
Ok so has anyone tried Dawn in one of those Foam Blaster/Canon things? I plan on painting my FJ60 in a few months here and will need something that can get all the dirt/grime/etc. off thoroughly before I throw down the paint. Had originally thought of using full strength Simple Green (the actual green stuff) in the foam canon, doing a couple washes with that and letting it air dry. But then I have heard awesome things about Super Clean Degreaser (simple purple bottle with simple writing on it that I think I have passed over in the LAPS multiple times because it was just the "simple" looking) and was thinking of throwing some of that into a foam canon for a good, thorough cleaning.
 
Dawn, Simple Green, APC's will all work well to clean and decrease it , but will not work well for prepping it for paint. Many of these have perfumes, or some sort of other additive that gives it a scent or some sort of "softness". That characteristic is bad prior to paint. You can use these to clean your 60 to get all the gunk off of it, but once you scuff/sand the surface you will want to use a proper surface prep cleaner prior to priming or painting. If all you do is use one of these cleaners and let it dry you will get fisheyes.
 
Yep, even the Dawn "pure essentials" states that it has "essential oils" in it. Wait… Clean off all the grease, but then put oils back on? Yep…

Use it to strip the grease, wax, and dirt off, but then wipe it all down with a pre-paint prep solution of some sort.
 
Purple power or power clean degreasers and dawn afterwards will clean ANYTHING!!!! Let the degreaser set a minute or so and agitate... then wash with dawn! Rinse... wax soon

Repeat if necessary but that should get it with a good body firm brush or scrubber that’s paint safe
 
I own a company that does heavy industrial cleaning. We clean everything from restaurant exhausts, hydraulic oil leaks that run into the thousands of gallons to carbon removal from industrial process production to fire damage.
If you want to get grease off of metal go buy a gallon of purple power from walmart and a pump up sprayer and shoot it on and take a brush that is appropriate for the surface ( harder for bare metal or soft for painted) and work it in then wash it off. If you can use a hot water pressure washer at LOW pressure use it. Heat will exponentially multiply the cleaning effectiveness. Mix some straight dawn detergent into a mix at or immediately after it. it has a very high concentration of surfactants that will keep grease in suspension and will allow it to run off the surface.
 
Simple Green is a good product, but don't use it on bare aluminum as it can speed up the corrosion process.
 
Try this, I used it and I’m totally impressed cleaned up my engine compartment, removed all grease and contaminants. I like it much better than simple green.
F9F8E2D4-644B-4960-84A3-D99A69DF1597.png
 
Try this, I used it and I’m totally impressed cleaned up my engine compartment, removed all grease and contaminants. I like it much better than simple green.View attachment 1858117
yeah that stuff works wonders in a carpet shampoo'r. Never tried it for degreasing anything as I have found that the ghetto looking purple bottle of "Super Clean" does a pretty impressive job. Wish it would foam up a little better in the foam cannon on my pressure washer but regardless still works great. The foaming tire cleaner is stupid awesome... and doesn't give the tires that plasticy funky look.
 
There is a good soap by Purple Power called Vehicle and Boat Wash. You can get a gallon from Wal Mart for $8 and it is very good. I use it to strip waxes, traffic film, road grime, etc.. when I am going to do a clay bar and paint correction. Super clean is awesome for cleaning inside fenders, tires and also the interior.
 
Can someone recommend a strong car wash soap or spray that is really good at removing grease, dirt, grime and all other contaminants?

I've used some armor all cleaning wipes and spray cleaner, but I don't want to continue using it since I don't believe its designed for painted surfaces.

Thanks
Commercially? That I don't know. In the Air Force we use the soap to extract carbon off the side of our aircraft. The downside it will get in your eyes I will cause blindness.
 
If you could somehow gain access to a subscription to iatn.net ask in there they might know they're not body men they're all master mechanics
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom