Pressure Washer Shampoos Tested

Special cleaners for use with pressure washers will help keep your car’s paint in great condition. Which of our 12 blasts into top spot?

Auto Express Car Reviews

January 2012

When washing cars at this time of the year, you need all the help you can get – and that is why a specialist cleaner for your pressure washer is a good idea. Just spray on and leave to soak for a few minutes, then blast away that winter grime with your power washer, without having to get your hands wet. You’ll still need to use a mitt or sponge, but time spent with your hands in a bucket is minimised or avoided altogether.

There’s a wide product range on the market, from those meant to be applied before washing to others that replace a conventional shampoo. Some even leave a wax finish. However, they can all be used through a pressure washer and come in big economy packs.

So which is the one for you this winter? We fired 12 through our Kärcher K6.610 Beast to find out.

How we tested them

Cleaning power is key here, as we wanted as little grime as possible left to remove with a sponge. We masked off panels, and gave them a good coating with each cleaner through a lance reservoir attachment, looking for a thick foam that clung to the paint.

All were left for two minutes, unless the instructions specified otherwise, before blasting off with limited sweeps of the lance, which was held a measured distance from the car. We compared progress once the panel had dried.

Although all the products are designed for a pressure washer, they can be used up quickly, so price and the option to dilute were taken into account, too.

Verdict

We’ve found a clear winner – Bilt-Hamber’s remarkable Surfex HD, which shifts grime like no rival here. It’s cost-effective when diluted, too. Angelwax’s new Fast Foam takes the runner-up spot due to a keen price, big foam and good cleaning power. Swarfega comes third thanks to an excellent performance.

1 Bilt-Hamber Surfex HD

2 Angelwax Fast Foam

3 Swarfega Vehicle Cleaner

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4 Comments

Vist to Angel Wax Ltd

Dear Sir,
After your excellent review for the Angel Wax , I decided to order the product for my old snow foam lance. The website does not allow you to order the product , but a short call on the contact number to the Director confirmed I could order over the phone, and even better as I live only 20 miles from the factory, I was invited over to look at the other products they produce. hats off to the customer service given. All it requires now is some reasonable weather to really test the Fast Foam. Watch this space for my review.
Broadbean, Helensburgh, Scotland

By Broadbean on 18 January, 2012, 4:46pm

Car Cleaning

I would not recommend pressure washing any car. Wash off all loose dirt and grit with a hose then use a sponge and warm soapy water using car shampoo by the makers such as Triplewax and Carplan. These can be obtained cheaply in 5 ltr containers in most supermarkets. Not long back I read an article stating the pressure washing a car can damages the tyre walls.

By roverv6 on 19 January, 2012, 12:57pm

@roverv6

Using a pressure washer is absolutely fine to use when cleaning cars, just about every professional detailer uses a pressure washer. Professionals and enthusiasts also use these shampoos as a preparation stage to do a touch less pre-clean to help remove the majority of dirt and grit before you go rubbing it into the paintwork and cause light scratches and swirl marks so it is actually far better for your paintwork to use a pressure washer. With regard to the tyres, if you happen to have a very high powered industrial pressure washer then it’s best to not get too close but with most relatively low powered pressure washers you won’t do any damage at all no matter how close you get.

Using a sponge is also not the best thing to use for cleaning cars as the dirt & grit just sits on the surface and gets rubbed into the paintwork, anyone who knows anything about detailing would recommend using a sheepskin wash mitt.

By Bolg_of_the_North on 4 March, 2012, 5:01pm

WARNING!!!!!

WRONG again Auto Express!!
Using Bilt Hamber Surfex as a Pressure Washer Shampoo will strip off your wax/Sealer protection...Short answer DONT!!
Its all purpose cleaner/degreaser NOT a shampoo!!

By ChrisRs on 19 May, 2012, 6:18pm

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