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Old 11-10-2011
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Jim D. Jim D. is offline
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Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1hot281 View Post
I'd hardly say they're the newest technology. I've had a couple chances to check out Croftgate's line. The Aquanil and Quick-N-Slick... It's cool they're a green company and all... but I can't say I've been impressed. Especially for those prices.

Next time i get my hands on a few of their products, I'll write up a review/comparison.
It might be nice to hear of your experiences.

I get that everyone has their favorite products.

While I can't speak for other major players in the car care business, I can say that every company has to be compliant with Federal EPA rules on chemicals and VOCs, and most companies choose to be compliant with the more stringent California rules since they want to do business here. I know Mothers also uses recycled or recycleable plastics whenever we can.

I will say that any company (such as the "eco-friendly") or any association (such as the automated car wash associations) who states that it takes 140 gallons to wash a car and thus their bottle of magic solution or their service saves water is using fear tactics, pulling the wool over consumers eyes, and at the same time lobbying government administrators who have the power of outlawing wash-at-home privileges in an effort to pad their own pocketbook.

I've done extensive testing on this, and a quickie wash at home can use as little as 8 gallons of water. If you do a thorough wash with wheel wells and wheels, maybe 18-24 gallons -- that's nothing in the scheme of water usage. If you're using 140 gallons a wash (7 washes equating to the 980 gallons saved as stated on the Croftgate), you're letting the water run during the process, and that's absurd and idiotic. And that's why municipalities with water restrictions and administrators who have their heads on straight will allow home washing if you have a positive shut-off valve at the nozzle -- which most everyone has anyways.

Washing at home is, in my opinion, more eco-friendly than using an automated car wash that recycles water uses 8-10 gallons or more of fresh water per wash. When done right, home washing with a concentrate that costs about 15 cents per gallon of suds is much safer for your paint as well as your pocket book -- and it's often therapeutic.

And if you want to take it one more step further, any soil that runs off the vehicle during a wash would run off during the next rain anyway, so washing at home is as eco-friendly as not washing your car. Car wash soaps are generally biodegradable, so that really wouldn't be an issue either.

If one really wants to be really eco-friendly, get out of the car hobby, sell your Saleen and get a bicycle.
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