I purchased the Autodry product and here are my experiences.
1. First, you can buy it at many places – the best deal is at Costco, where you get the package that all other stores carry plus a couple of additional refills – Costco also carries refills (soap and filters) at extremely good prices.
2. Use is simple – peel the strip on filter, insert cartridge (I followed the picture, but there were no particular instructions as to which side to put the filter in…maybe it doesn’t matter) and then filled the soap dispenser with the supplied soap (which is much less viscous than ordinary car shampoo).
3. there are 4 spray settings – jet (hard narrow beam); spray of water (for rinse); spray with soap and final spray using the filtered water.
Observations.
1. the rinse spray is adequate – the pressure and spray pattern are not great, but get the job done.
2. the soap spray is very poor – little pressure – little sudsing.
3. jet spray is ok, but not sure what I would use it for
4. the final rinse WORKS (for the most part).
After rinsing, soaping and rinsing (all of which takes a few minutes – the gadget has an on/off switch, so no holding a trigger), I then washed with a mitt and the 2 bucket method using Meguiar’s Gold – this is necessary as I don’t think the soap spray will adequately clean the car. But all in all, this is a good prep for the hand wash and given that the filtered rinse at the end pays for the product, why not use the rest of it.
After soaping and keeping car wet (thanks Vlad) and rinsing, I then did the final filtered rinse. Here is what the filter does, according to Autodry:
“Filter Technology
Mr. Clean AutoDry features filter technology from the makers of ®. The Mr. Clean AutoDry Filter removes water impurities, which can cause spots. When you spray your car with filtered water, make sure to look for the microbeads that dance across your car, then evaporate without leaving spots.
The filter works together with the Mr. Clean AutoDry Soap to dry your car to a spot-free finish every time.
A Note to the Naysayers:
Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash does not strip wax. Mr. Clean AutoDry doesn't leave behind a film, just a thin, temporary layer of the Dry Rinse Polymer molecules, which are replenished each time the car gets washed. These do not strip the wax, or harm the paint or clearcoat in any way.”
Source: http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrcleanautodry/faq.shtml (I think this is the mfg website – I think it is Proctor Gamble, but not 100% sure).
The FAQ in the owner’s manual is more responsive, find it at:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrcleanautodry/proseries_manual.pdf
The results were really good – I parked in the garage overnight (per Vlad to let everything dry without new dirt blowing on) and the next morning the car was virtually spotless. For those areas with some spotting, I sprayed with Meguair’s Instant Detail (I couldn’t find the Final Inspection product Vlad cites, this seems to be close…it worked).
The one problem I have had is with the windshield – I am having a lot of trouble getting all of the spotting off – have tried Windex (with Ammonia), but in the right light, can still see outline of spots – suggestions??
From there followed Vlad’s other suggestions – glazed with 3M Imperial glaze (by hand) and waxed with Mother’s pure carnauba wax (by hand) – looks great.
When I took it out this morning in the sun, I notice spots where I didn’t buff the wax off enough – will that just wash off next weekend when I follow the above? I don’t plan on doing the glaze and wax next weekend, but rather once a month – I know you guys don’t know how dirty my individual car gets, but in general, is doing a full glaze wax 1/month with a weekly wash and dry enough?
1. First, you can buy it at many places – the best deal is at Costco, where you get the package that all other stores carry plus a couple of additional refills – Costco also carries refills (soap and filters) at extremely good prices.
2. Use is simple – peel the strip on filter, insert cartridge (I followed the picture, but there were no particular instructions as to which side to put the filter in…maybe it doesn’t matter) and then filled the soap dispenser with the supplied soap (which is much less viscous than ordinary car shampoo).
3. there are 4 spray settings – jet (hard narrow beam); spray of water (for rinse); spray with soap and final spray using the filtered water.
Observations.
1. the rinse spray is adequate – the pressure and spray pattern are not great, but get the job done.
2. the soap spray is very poor – little pressure – little sudsing.
3. jet spray is ok, but not sure what I would use it for
4. the final rinse WORKS (for the most part).
After rinsing, soaping and rinsing (all of which takes a few minutes – the gadget has an on/off switch, so no holding a trigger), I then washed with a mitt and the 2 bucket method using Meguiar’s Gold – this is necessary as I don’t think the soap spray will adequately clean the car. But all in all, this is a good prep for the hand wash and given that the filtered rinse at the end pays for the product, why not use the rest of it.
After soaping and keeping car wet (thanks Vlad) and rinsing, I then did the final filtered rinse. Here is what the filter does, according to Autodry:
“Filter Technology
Mr. Clean AutoDry features filter technology from the makers of ®. The Mr. Clean AutoDry Filter removes water impurities, which can cause spots. When you spray your car with filtered water, make sure to look for the microbeads that dance across your car, then evaporate without leaving spots.
The filter works together with the Mr. Clean AutoDry Soap to dry your car to a spot-free finish every time.
A Note to the Naysayers:
Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash does not strip wax. Mr. Clean AutoDry doesn't leave behind a film, just a thin, temporary layer of the Dry Rinse Polymer molecules, which are replenished each time the car gets washed. These do not strip the wax, or harm the paint or clearcoat in any way.”
Source: http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrcleanautodry/faq.shtml (I think this is the mfg website – I think it is Proctor Gamble, but not 100% sure).
The FAQ in the owner’s manual is more responsive, find it at:
http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrcleanautodry/proseries_manual.pdf
The results were really good – I parked in the garage overnight (per Vlad to let everything dry without new dirt blowing on) and the next morning the car was virtually spotless. For those areas with some spotting, I sprayed with Meguair’s Instant Detail (I couldn’t find the Final Inspection product Vlad cites, this seems to be close…it worked).
The one problem I have had is with the windshield – I am having a lot of trouble getting all of the spotting off – have tried Windex (with Ammonia), but in the right light, can still see outline of spots – suggestions??
From there followed Vlad’s other suggestions – glazed with 3M Imperial glaze (by hand) and waxed with Mother’s pure carnauba wax (by hand) – looks great.
When I took it out this morning in the sun, I notice spots where I didn’t buff the wax off enough – will that just wash off next weekend when I follow the above? I don’t plan on doing the glaze and wax next weekend, but rather once a month – I know you guys don’t know how dirty my individual car gets, but in general, is doing a full glaze wax 1/month with a weekly wash and dry enough?
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")