# Optimum Car Shampoo - Review



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

I know the Optimum No Rinse is receiving rave reviews right now, but I thought I would sing a little praise of another Optimum product: the Optimum Car Shampoo 

Huge thanks to RosswithaOCD for sending the sample 

On with the review... take a Volvo in need of a bit of a wash after a few days out on the road, mainly dust, some water spots, little bit of mud from a small offroading excursion!



















First task was the foam and rinse... Now one thing of note here is I have stopped using specific Snow Foams, finding that car shampoos such as Hyper Wash, Shampoo Plus and 901 all work great through the lance, producing a nice but more importantly, _working_ foam. Only foam I keep now is Bilt Hamber for a little extra cleaning power. With that in mind, first thing was to use the Optimum through the foam lance. Mixing 5-10% (I just use a dollop, life's too short for measuring quantities to the last ml) in the lance bottle, and with a foam lance we get the following:




























Thick foam...










So the foam _looks_ good, but that means little in honesty for cleaning the car... Rinsing off the foam however after a few minutes dwell revealed the foam was active on the finish, all dust easily removed, a good effort at the water spots (surprising, as they are tough to shift especially in this weather where you get a shower and then intense sun to bake them onto the paint!), and general grime was removed very well for the foam and rinse stage... You could tell the paint was clean from the water sheeting, especially on lower (dirtiest) panels, which looked like freshly waxed panels pointing to effective cleaning... After the foam and rinse...



















Now, onto the two bucket wash, using a Sheepskin Shop lambswool mitt. Ready to go, with a nice slick wash solution and for those who like them, some nice foamy suds too 










Washing was a joy - the mitt glided over the paint, feeling very slick and slippy and very safe to the finish. Remaining waterspots were happily dealth with at this stage of the contact wash, the shampoo proving effective at cleaning here as well. Nice suds that lasted throughout the wash process as well...



















Rinsing the car was nice and easy, here I only gave the car a quick once over with the rose sprayer and sheeted the water off, the shampoo being very free rinsing with no evidence of streaking on the paintwork.

Dried off with Duragloss 951 Aquawax as a drying aid, and we are left with the following:





































One nice clean Volvo 

Overall impressions of the Optimum Shampoo are very good - it reminded me a lot of Zaino Z7, a shampoo I very much like but don't use owing to it not being cost economical compared to 901 from Duragloss. 901 being my favourite shampoo, the Optimum was just as enjoyable to use and just as effective which is praise indeed. I think I will buy some for myself now :thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

good review Dave - I agree with you on it being a cracking shampoo. I had suds sitting on the ground for about 5 hours after trying my sample from Ross. If I was using traditional shampoos these days it would be hard to look past the Optimum wash. Another great product from them IMHO. You just need to get it in gallons to get the full economy.


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Great review Dave, thanks for sharing :thumb:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Great review Its a fantastic shampoo.Glad you liked it Dave we have another Optimum shampoo convert now lol


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## Blue11 (Apr 17, 2009)

what's the cost and were to i buy some from?

Blue11


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

RosswithaOCD said:


> Great review Its a fantastic shampoo.Glad you liked it Dave we have another Optimum shampoo convert now lol


Oh please, can I be a convert too ?? Ross, this looks like the optimum shampoo appreciation society is growing

Nice one Dave :thumb:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Mr Face just buy some you will not be disapointed.


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## Blue11 (Apr 17, 2009)

RosswithaOCD said:


> Mr Face just buy some you will not be disapointed.


Were from we both want to know!


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Blue11 said:


> Were from we both want to know!


From here http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=212 Ron at www.motorgeek.co.uk is sold out ATM probaly my falut:lol:


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

Currently working my way through my bottle of DG 901, what's with the free samples Ross?


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

slim_boy_fat said:


> Currently working my way through my bottle of DG 901, what's with the free samples Ross?


I have kinda stoped it becuase it was a small PITA


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## supercharged (Feb 1, 2008)

Optimum is a very nice shampoo, so slick, you mitt literally glives over the paintwork. And the foam, if you use a foam gun instead of lance, I've seen it last for over 24 hours in my driveway...One thing I don't like about it though, is it takes much longer to rinse it out of my Z sponges then any other shampoo...


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Whilst I agree it seems a very capable shampoo, is it fair and reasonable to conduct test inside a unit when probably 99% have to wash/dry outside with sunlight, winds etc to contend with?

It's not a criticism by any means, but you understand where I'm coming from.

Gary


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## Chris_4536 (Sep 20, 2006)

It was just a review on the performance of the shampoo! If the elements are a problem, wait for a better day.
I know that where Dave actually _lives_ he has to wash his Volvo using watering cans as there is no access to a hose - let alone PW and foam!

Water behaves inside just as it does outside.
If Dave says it is very free rinsing, you will have less chance of water spotting.

If you do have to battle water spots, get some ONR :thumb:


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## Bunky (Feb 1, 2008)

That is a lot of suds....How much soap did you end up using? I would have to guess at least 4 ounces or more.

As for free rinsing, your water source may affect rinsing (hard water, dissolved minerals in water, etc).


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Bunky said:


> That is a lot of suds....How much soap did you end up using? I would have to guess at least 4 ounces or more.
> 
> As for free rinsing, your water source may affect rinsing (hard water, dissolved minerals in water, etc).


30 ml per 10 liters is plenty


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## Bunky (Feb 1, 2008)

RosswithaOCD said:


> 30 ml per 10 liters is plenty


Very Concentrated then.

So how much (total amount of car soap) was actually using the foam gun in the pics in this thread?


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

I dont know you will have to ask Dave


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

As Ross has said, it's extremely concentrated, and the kind of suds Dave produced in his bucket wouldn't have required anything like four ounces. That would mean only 8 washes to a bottle! I've been used a bottle twice a week for months and it's still half full - you really don't need much at all, only a small amount. It starts sudding like crazy as soon as you start adding water into the bucket.

Gareth


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

I see you have the new polishes in stock Gareth...


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

Yep, they've been in a while  It just takes me time to test everything, do the photos and write ups etc. There's quite a few other new things too, but that's enough uploading for today!

Gareth


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Oh no Gareth has some new Optimum stuff bang goes my wages:lol:


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2009)

Gary-360 said:


> Whilst I agree it seems a very capable shampoo, is it fair and reasonable to conduct test inside a unit when probably 99% have to wash/dry outside with sunlight, winds etc to contend with?
> 
> It's not a criticism by any means, but you understand where I'm coming from.
> 
> Gary


I don't see what difference that could make to do with the performance of the shampoo though?


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Sounds promising Dave as the 901 is the shampoo I usually reach for and looks like I may have to try some of this when current shampoo is exhausted.

Car looks immaculate btw :thumb:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Neil_S said:


> Sounds promising Dave as the 901 is the shampoo I usually reach for and looks like I may have to try some of this when current shampoo is exhausted.
> 
> Car looks immaculate btw :thumb:


Neil I cant decide which is better Optimum or 901 IMO there both to close to call both is as good as each other


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

RosswithaOCD said:


> Oh no Gareth has some new Optimum stuff bang goes my wages:lol:


Time to get your money out Ross :lol:

Gareth


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

G220 said:


> I don't see what difference that could make to do with the performance of the shampoo though?


Dont get me wrong, I'm not disputing the product or the method, but you know what it's like on a sunny day doing this, the suds are drying in before you manage to rinse it off. How would this compare to other shampoos in similar condtitions?

Gary


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## Guest (Jun 6, 2009)

I see your point but I think there are so many variables the inside or outside wouldn't really make a difference. It'd be very subjective to measure how well a product copes with intense sunlight i'd imagine too. I do suppose though had it been done outside in intense sunlight you could say how bad the water spotting is :thumb:


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

Gary - my drive is in sunlight throughout the day, and i live in a hard water area, but the Optimum Shampoo doesn't water spot. I was doing the missus's car yesterday and the ice cream van came round mid wash, so whilst i was 'distracted' the sun dried the wash solution completely onto the paint. I re-washed it afterwards and everything was perfect :thumb:

Gareth


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## Bunky (Feb 1, 2008)

I am still looking for a good "rinsing" soap that helps reduce water spots. Suds are not as important as just pure non-LSP stripping cleaning and rinsing. 

After you have used ONR you wonder why there is so much discussion about lubricity when ONR does not feel slick at all in the wash bucket but then I plan to add some ONR or DP Rinseless Wash and Gloss to my next bucket to improve rinsing and give it a more detailed look when dry.


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Detailed Obsession said:


> Gary - my drive is in sunlight throughout the day, and i live in a hard water area, but the Optimum Shampoo doesn't water spot. I was doing the missus's car yesterday and the ice cream van came round mid wash, so whilst i was 'distracted' the sun dried the wash solution completely onto the paint. I re-washed it afterwards and everything was perfect :thumb:
> 
> Gareth


Well that's put me straight then :thumb:

Thanks for the info Gareth; was it a 99 or a double chocolate wafer then?


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

I always have: large 99, two flakes, and chocolate sauce  I have a quite a large sweet tooth 

Gareth


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Choice of champions that Gareth!


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

It's even better as my ice cream man is actually Italian, so it's like being served on holiday :lol:

Gareth


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