# Epic CG Hose Free ECOwash Fail! Help Please...



## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

...  I'll talk you through this from start to finish because I don't know where I've gone wrong, bear with me...

I read through the directions on the label, 1 fl oz per 2-3 gallons, I assumed these were US measurements and converted as follows:

2 gal (US) = 7.56 litres
1 fl oz (US) = 29.57ml

According to the CG website my new bucket has a 16.5 litre capacity, give or take. Therefore 7.65 x 2 = 15.2 litres so if I didn't brim the bucket, I assumed 2 fl oz or 60ml of shampoo concentrate would provide the correct dilution.

I rinsed out my new bucket and put 60ml of concentrate in the bottom, and then filled the bucket with warm water. The first thing I noticed was a lot of foam being produced, more than I normally get from BTBM, this puzzled me because I thought these types of products made a slick, oily liquid with little to no foam. The liquid in my bucket felt just like water, not very slick at all.

My car wasn't very dirty at all, only having done about 60 miles this week so I wasn't too worried about being able to do any significant damage, and it's in the bodyshop next week so doubtless will need a full correction shortly, so I pressed on.

I had a new 1 litre hozelock pressure sprayer which I filled from the bucket and used as a pre-wash, and new B&Q grout sponges, everything new had been cleaned/soaked before hand as appropriate.

I started with the roof and gave it a spray with the pre-wash, nothing particularly unusual. Dunked the sponge in the bucket and wrung it out slightly and washed the panel and it foamed up just like a normal shampoo, bubbles everywhere, which is particularly unusual as we live in a very hard water area 

Regardless, I followed the steps I had seen in Big Pikle's video and dabbed the panel dry with my towel, leaving it slightly damp, then sprayed on some Megs LT and finished drying. The majority of the paint looked ok but there was loads of foam left in all the nooks and crannies 

At this point, I would have abandoned and got out the snow foam but my Karcher has broken for the 3rd time 

So I continued round the car, pre-washing and then carefully cleaning with the sponge and rinsing each panel afterwards with the hose. In the end, it left a nice finish, but something was definately not right, here's a few pics...

Selection of tools









Foam in the bucket









and on the panels









Dirt that wasn't picked up by the solution








This is why I was rinsing the panels afterwards, I didn't want to be rubbing this in with a drying towel

Beading on the car diminished after washing









Sorry for the essay, but where did I do wrong?


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## Chris_4536 (Sep 20, 2006)

Urrghh, that looks like Maxi Suds!!!


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## david g (Dec 14, 2005)

First of all you need to have a rinse bucket with around 10 litres of water ,after applying the product via your grout sponge you really need to rinse the sponge before reapplying to the bucket with the Hose Free Rinse 

Afterwards simply walk round with a drying towel and hey presto :thumb:


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## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

So the suds etc is normal? And the dilution was correct?


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## david g (Dec 14, 2005)

The suds contain the protection element so im told by CG ,your dillution ratios are correct ,have a look at Caledonia on our You Tube video playing about with


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## Lump (Nov 6, 2008)

ive been getting good results with this product. stick with it :thumb:


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## warrenlord51 (Jun 1, 2008)

that video still makes me shiver with all that dirt on the car


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## ross-1888 (Feb 22, 2009)

try filling the bucket with water then adding your solution. it will help minimise the suds


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## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

Personally I didn't get on with this product either. I found it foamed up too much regardless of how it was put in bucket etc. I am used to using ONR which is IMO a much better product in this regard. I have a bottle of no hose for sale if anyone is looking to try it out. 

CG's have some great products but this is certainly not my favourite.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

ross-1888 said:


> try filling the bucket with water then adding your solution. it will help minimise the swirls.


you mean help minimise suds?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

With these types of products i personally feel the two bucket method is even more important, your sponge/mit will get dirtier and as such if using one bucket by the end of it you will be rubbing dirty water on your car, sorry but that youtube video really is not the best/safest method to wash a car using a "rinseless" solution.


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

No hose surprised me also the first time I used it.
I also did not expect bubbles. But after using it for sometime and speaking to the people who developed it I can now understand there logic.

The bubble or foam is not made up with soap. As my first thought was on it drying on sunny day. CG have added this foam for 2 main reasons.
First is user appeal. People have got used to using shampoo with lots of bubble although these are not the important factor in shampoo. It is the cleaners and feel of the product.

Secondly the bubble disappear when the water get saturated and can hold the dirty in suspension any longer. So in short a safe guard.

The only advice I can give you is do not follow the guideline so strictly. Use you senses and feel for the slickness in the wash solution. People have difference grades of hardness all over the UK and it is hard for any manufacturer to tell exactly how much shampoo to add to your wash solution. So feel the water till it feels slick between fingers and thumb.

But like anything else its getting to know the product and how it works. This is the main key. The polymers it the wash solution will keep the grime in the bucket and not return this to the car as you could have seen if the video was not stopped when it was. The main reason for this video was not to show how to use but demonstrate how good a cleaner it is. As was pointed out in the main post. As was the fact that the whole car did not reserve a complete wash. Due to time restraints.

If you per sever and learn to work with the product and again understand them. You should over come your first thought. Unfortunately some can and some can. But this is detailing and we all have lovers and haters.

Many be James can benefit us all and do a video show the right techniques and ways.
But then again many be not as he still seams to use a mitt with these types of wash. And anyone that has used one would know they do not self clean and still contain all the grime that is removed from the surface of the car.
Gordon.


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## Lowiepete (Mar 29, 2009)

This product seems to be often compared to ONR, and certainly when I first
bought it, I was under the same illusion. I too was taken aback by the amount
of suds, however, what really surprised me was that you needed to leave an 
absolute overkill amount of suds before it left an unsightly residue.

So, HFE is not a direct replacement for ONR, and it doesn't displace it here
either. However, as a method of washing wheels it does do a far better job 
than ONR and makes it very much easier. Hitherto, I'd been using ONR and MF
cloths on wheels in exactly the same way as the bucketless wash on the 
bodywork. The result being several really grotty cloths to get clean with a 
fairly high temp wash.

I use just a capful of HFE in a half-filled bucket (all that I can safely carry) 
and an MF hedgehog mitt and it's the work of moments to clean a wheel. The 
half bucket will do for 2 wheels. They were sealed with FK1000P last Sept and
even when filthy and caked with salt, they came up brilliantly.

Link to my extended review...

Regards,
Steve


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