Foaming Car Wash is one of three shampoos offered by Autoglym, with the other two being Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner and Ultra HD Shampoo. It was previously known as Pure Shampoo, but is the exact same formula, the only difference is the name.
Foaming Car Wash sits in the middle of the three shampoos with respect to pricing. The largest size it is available in is is 1 litre, and I’ve seen it in 500ml bottles, but not for quite some time.
Smell
The smell of a shampoo is something that can be a real selling point for detailers, especially if it smells bad! Thankfully, it smells great. It smells like a cherry bakewell which in my opinion is definitely a good thing.
Cleaning Power
The first thing that is instantly noticeable is the amount of suds produced with Autoglym Foaming Car Wash. Whilst Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner is a really slick shampoo, the suds generated from it could be a bit lacklustre, which does put off some detailers.
This isn’t the case with this shampoo. It produces excellent, foamy suds which really do help to encapsulate the dirt and safely remove it from the paint. For dirt that has been left on the paint for too long, I did notice that it meant that several passes were needed to effectively remove the dirt. By and large though, it removed the dirt with ease.
One thing I did notice is that if the bucket was left for too long i.e. over a half hour, the amount of suds did diminish. I also found at this point that the shampoo became a little grabby with the washmitt. I was never concerned about it causing any marring or scratching to the paint, but it is something which I felt was worth pointing out.
I’ve also found it to be an extremely effective way to clean alloy wheels. It should be noted that this is in the case of regularly maintained wheels. If the alloys have been neglected than a dedicated wheel cleaner and iron fallout remover will be required.
As an added bonus, I put Autoglym Foaming Car Wash into my IK Foam Pro 2. I was blown away by how well the product foamed up inside the foamer. Given that the shampoo was never designed to put used in such a manner, it was a real surprise to see how well it worked. I used 5 ml of product in the 1.5l tank and it pulled a lot of dirt off of the body work of the car.
For those that don’t have access to a pressure washer, this could be a great alternative.
Impact on Last Stage Of Protection
A worry for a lot of detailers is if a shampoo will cause any damage to the last stage of protection on the car, be it wax, sealant or ceramic coating. The benefit of Autoglym Foaming Car Wash is that it is pH neutral. As such, it will not cause any damage to the protective coatings at all. It’s also important to note as well that it will not add any further protection to any coatings that are already on the paint.
Regardless of the form of LSP that I’ve got on my car, I always make it a point to use pH neutral shampoo to help ensure that I’m not prematurely killing off the protection.
It is often the case that as time goes on with an LSP, the dirt and debris on the body and make it look as though the panel is no longer protected. The reason for this is that it is no longer beading or sheeting water. Generally speaking, it can take quite a few passes with a washmitt to ‘unclog’ the protection. When I used Autoglym Foaming Car Wash to unclog the protection, it only needed two passes. As mentioned above, there are no wax additives in Autoglym Foaming Car Wash, so the resurgence of the beading can only be due to the cleaning power of the shampoo and nothing else.
Value for money
As mentioned above, the recommendation is 2 cap fulls (20ml) for every ten litres of water. With that in mind, from the 1 litre bottle, you’ll get 50 washes out of the bottle presuming that you measure out the shampoo properly. If you only wash your car once a week, you should easily get to near enough a year with this product. Of course, if you also use it to clean your wheels then you’ll burn through it quicker.
- Autoglym Foaming Car Wash is a high foam pH neutral shampoo safe for all bodyworks.
Last update on 2023-05-26 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Value For Money
- Cleaning Power
Summary
Autoglym Foaming Car Wash is a great shampoo for any detailer. It’s a cost effective shampoo and is a great way to clean a properly maintained car.
Overall
4.8Pros
Great value for money
pH neutral- safe for coated vehicles
Cons
Can be a bit grabby if not used quickly enough