# Ecover



## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/ecover/ecover-car-wash---wax/

Car Wash & Wax








£3.79
:thumb:

its not that hard to find the products, its more about going back to basics and starting all over again, with what we find, what do you recommend etc etc,

so iteam we will need

Wash
Clay
Wax
Glaze
APC
interior
wheels


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

http://www.carplan.co.uk/index.cfm?category=86










wheel cleaner £1.00
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_380925_langId_-1_categoryId_165682

seems the way forward to me....for £1.00 a shot


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

these hopefully fit the 'eco friendly' products category - I'd like to know how they perform, especially the wheel and glass cleaners, as thats an area where a lot of the products are pretty nasty.....

anyone tried them before - wonder how they get on...


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> these hopefully fit the 'eco friendly' products category - I'd like to know how they perform, especially the wheel and glass cleaners, as thats an area where a lot of the products are pretty nasty.....
> 
> anyone tried them before - wonder how they get on...


be the first fella...

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165682

seems the way forward to me....for £1.00 a shot


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

was going to pick some up next time I passed by


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

halfords

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...earch&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1

all under £2 each


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## Dingo2002 (Apr 4, 2007)

review for the Wheel cleaner from the Halfrauds site...

_"I teach sustainability and the environmental concerns in school so the idea of eco friendly products is great. Unfortunately this is rubbish and didn't dislodge dirt let alone brake dust. Sometimes you just need nasty chemicals!"_

Hmmmm


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

Dingo2002 said:


> review for the Wheel cleaner from the Halfrauds site...
> 
> _"I teach sustainability and the environmental concerns in school so the idea of eco friendly products is great. Unfortunately this is rubbish and didn't dislodge dirt let alone brake dust. Sometimes you just need nasty chemicals!"_
> 
> Hmmmm


yeah saw that too:detailer:


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## grant_evans (Mar 2, 2008)

i got some of the wheel cleaner for christmas, will give it a go tommorow and post up the results


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Halfords said:


> Halfords has a wide range of Car Cleaning products available t o buy. Carplan Eco Car Wheel Cleaner 500ml is made with fully biodegradable surfactants, natural alcohols (derived from corn) and extracts of lime. This natural wheel cleaner removes baked on brake dust, is suitable for all types of wheels (even chrome) and helps to *minimise your carbon footprint*.


:lol:
Wonder how using that lowers your CF? - might lower your cholesterol if you drink it, but that's about the only thing it'll minimise.
All in the name of greeness, manufacturers will spout any old drivel wrapped up in soundbite catchphrases!


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

cant wait to use this on the customers cars "sir, we can go with the menzerna 3.02 or the £1.99 eco-friendly polish"

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_380929_langId_-1_categoryId_165527


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2009)

I know someone who uses the car shampoo... It's quite good, actually, foams up well, nice cleaning power.

Not sure about its effect on wax.


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

G220 said:


> I know someone who uses the car shampoo... It's quite good, actually, foams up well, nice cleaning power.
> 
> Not sure about its effect on wax.


It contains carnauba wax and was up for £2.50 at asda a while back.


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## notsosmall (Sep 13, 2008)

I bought the lot except the polish for £1 a bottle a few weeks back, still to try them out but even if there cr4p still worth a punt for a £1 and the spray bottles will come in handy :thumb:


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Im no expert on the whole "Eco" thing but my im pretty sure that the trade products you buy from teh like of AS and AG etc are getting aot better in this area are they not? also its not the sunday car washer thats doing the damage using his halfords wash n wax, its the hand car wash's who use the chepest [email protected] they can get and 25% descailing acid to clean wheels (oooh nice) and the biggest offenders will be your PSV and HGV cleaners, as the TFR you use on them is just pure evil and they amount you use is unreal, when doing 5 yards of between 20-80 units ranging from 7.5 - 18 - and 26+ toners we used to get through over 200L a week :tumbleweed: and thats with out the bus washes cos they are run through a swirly whirly  i just see these products as a marketing ploy.

Ok i know im gona get shouted at now but thats my veiw 



PJS said:


> :lol:
> Wonder how using that lowers your CF? - might lower your cholesterol if you drink it, but that's about the only thing it'll minimise.
> All in the name of greeness, manufacturers will spout any old drivel wrapped up in soundbite catchphrases!


The man talks the truth, when i saw those products all i saw was a clever bit of marketing,


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

^^ very true James :thumb:

the regs apply to ALL trade vehicle washing, but clearly these BIG users are also the biggest offenders and the biggest opportunity.

But you also know what they say, every little bit helps. I dont want the stream at the end of my street full of nasty foaming residue either


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

notsosmall said:


> I bought the lot except the polish for £1 a bottle a few weeks back, still to try them out but even if there cr4p still worth a punt for a £1 and the spray bottles will come in handy :thumb:


I don't know why you fear the products will be crap?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

True true, what i was trying to say is the products already avaliable off the shelf's for consumers are not the ones full of the worst [email protected] (with exeption of a few like wonder wheels, which is surprisingly made by the same people as that Eco range LOL) its the stuff used by traded to do a job fast so full of caustic and other types of acid because these do the job quick and in any trade time is money.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

james b said:


> True true, what i was trying to say is the products already avaliable off the shelf's for consumers are not the ones full of the worst [email protected] (with exeption of a few like wonder wheels, which is surprisingly made by the same people as that Eco range LOL) its the stuff used by traded to do a job fast so full of caustic and other types of acid because these do the job quick and in any trade time is money.


yep - sure you're right.

Personally the big wins for me are massive water use reductions and stopping litres of foam etc running down the drains....


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

My brother tried the Eco freindly wheel cleaner from tesco's he's not a detailing type, and his view was it was utter Cr4p. Didnt move any dirt at all.


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

mattsbmw said:


> My brother tried the Eco freindly wheel cleaner from tesco's he's not a detailing type, and his view was it was utter Cr4p. Didnt move any dirt at all.


I really do think many are misguided over certain products, I think next time there is a Detailing meet, there should be a product challenge.
I don't want to name names of certain talked about brands but somehow I have confidence that certain OTC products can equally if not out perform certain wheel cleaners and power washer shampoo's


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Bigpikle said:


> yep - sure you're right.
> 
> Personally the big wins for me are massive water use reductions and stopping litres of foam etc running down the drains....


ah well we have soakaways up the farm so its not going in to the drains 

Pressure washers are a good way to save water when washing a car, as they use less LPM than a running hose, and you only have water flow when you need it rather than the guys with the hose left running, that said how many (bar teh likes of detailing crowd and a few old school guys who weekend wash) clean there own cars? trust me its a tiny % and a massive % using hand car washes and most sites dont follow teh rules at all (well ones around us dont)


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## notsosmall (Sep 13, 2008)

Avanti said:


> I don't know why you fear the products will be crap?


I don't fear they will be cr4p at all 

All i was meaning was at £1 a bottle there was no harm in trying them and even IF they were cr4p then i still have the spray bottles so nothing lost :thumb:


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

notsosmall said:


> I don't fear they will be cr4p at all
> 
> All i was meaning was at £1 a bottle there was no harm in trying them and even IF they were cr4p then i still have the spray bottles so nothing lost :thumb:


Very true,


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## Lloyd71 (Aug 21, 2008)

The glass cleaner is brilliant stuff, I bought some last month for £1 and it works just as well as the more expensive products. I know it's only window cleaner so there's no real 'class leaders' as such but it definitely removes grime and build up easily. It smells very nice too.


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## mattyb95 (Apr 21, 2008)

Tesco's do an Eco range, only ever used the de-icer from it and that worked as good as any others I used from my pre-detailing days. Still use it now at times to just soften the windscreen ice before scraping it as it will just drip into the plastic gap between my windscreen and bonnet so not touch the panels and risk taking off the wax. Trouble is, think the range isn't all that cheap, that can be the trouble sometimes you pay to go ecologically friendly so people think why bother.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Lloyd71 said:


> The glass cleaner is brilliant stuff, I bought some last month for £1 and it works just as well as the more expensive products. I know it's only window cleaner so there's no real 'class leaders' as such but it definitely removes grime and build up easily. It smells very nice too.


I was going to grab some yesterday but ran out of time  Good to hear you like it so will grab a bottle while its £1


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

withing the ECO section, do you think we might be able to have a list of all eco products, and if they are good or bad?


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

bidderman1969 said:


> withing the ECO section, do you think we might be able to have a list of all eco products, and if they are good or bad?


Heh heh , the general 'rule' (but with some exception) is if you can buy it over the counter it is bad, if it is mail order only then it is good


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

bidderman1969 said:


> withing the ECO section, do you think we might be able to have a list of all eco products, and if they are good or bad?


sounds a good idea but 2 drawbacks:

1. we all have such different views on whats good and bad 

2. when it comes to products its hard to now whats in them and if they are really eco-friendly at all...

I do hope that a variety of products will get used and become accepted, so we can build up lots of views and ideas about them. No doubt we'll end up seeing lots of threads about product X and product Y etc, and over time some favourites will emerge.

The other idea is the DW Review section that has been suggested. Then each person can add their reviews on each product and it can serve as a reference section.


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> sounds a good idea but 2 drawbacks:
> 
> 1. we all have such different views on whats good and bad
> 
> ...


A review section would be excellent, it certainly beats a one liner comment that product X is crap or used it once and chucked it similarly we can see what the products alleged good or bad perform :thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Avanti said:


> A review section would be excellent, it certainly beats a one liner comment that product X is crap or used it once and chucked it similarly we can see what the products alleged good or bad perform :thumb:


agreed, but some poor sod needs to populate the list initially and then people need to add reviews. Autopia has a superb review section but nobody adds reviews any more, and there are many mainstream products even without 1 single comment. David is running a prize draw incentive right now to get people to add reviews


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> agreed, but some poor sod needs to populate the list initially and then people need to add reviews. Autopia has a superb review section but nobody adds reviews any more, and there are many mainstream products even without 1 single comment. David is running a prize draw incentive right now to get people to add reviews


I will gladly add reviews of the products I have and even include the £1 products too Astonish and Ca pride etc, the good thing with a review section is that it wont be trying to sell anybody anything, so there is nothing to lose. But lots to gain.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Avanti said:


> I will gladly add reviews of the products I have and even include the £1 products too Astonish and Ca pride etc, the good thing with a review section is that it wont be trying to sell anybody anything, so there is nothing to lose. But lots to gain.


I agree - keep an eye on this then...


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

maybe a "review section, in the Eco section?

then we are in the right place to start with?


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Halfords here have cleared it out and dont stock it any more, so couldnt get any to try....


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## JEC (Feb 28, 2008)

notsosmall said:


> I don't fear they will be cr4p at all
> 
> All i was meaning was at £1 a bottle there was no harm in trying them and even IF they were cr4p then i still have the spray bottles so nothing lost :thumb:


Now that's being ecologically friendly, nice use of recycling there!! I'm intrigued by all of this, around 12 months ago when I was working on my dissertation for my masters degree I contemplated formulating a concept polish that was ecologically friendly, reduce CO2 impact from car cleaning and that's how I ended up in this whole world of fanatical car cleaning. Just wished I pursued it now, could have made a fortune out of you lot just giving it a punt!!! :lol:

In all seriousness though it would be good to see some proper side by side DaveKG style reviews!


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

JEC said:


> Now that's being ecologically friendly, nice use of recycling there!! I'm intrigued by all of this, around 12 months ago when I was working on my dissertation for my masters degree I contemplated formulating a concept polish that was ecologically friendly, reduce CO2 impact from car cleaning and that's how I ended up in this whole world of fanatical car cleaning. Just wished I pursued it now, could have made a fortune out of you lot just giving it a punt!!! :lol:
> 
> In all seriousness though it would be good to see some proper side by side DaveKG style reviews!


thats funny, as I and Epoch were just testing several low-water washes side by side this evening


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## JEC (Feb 28, 2008)

Bigpikle said:


> thats funny, as I and Epoch were just testing several low-water washes side by side this evening


I take it you will be posting it up in due course!! Look forward to reading it, good luck


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

JEC said:


> I take it you will be posting it up in due course!! Look forward to reading it, good luck


yep - will do...

it wasnt a Dave KG level of test though, as it was more of a first play to see what we had, and for Jon and I to try some of the stuff each of has had gathered, and have a laugh as much as anything 

I have some Plexiglas on the way as suggested in another thread, as a way to test some of these products more rigorously, side by side with a wet wash. I just need to get a proper plan together first, and am waiting for at least 1 more product to try out as well.

There wont be an immediate answer though I'm sure


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

I bought several bottles of the Ecover £1 from Halfords wheel cleaner, and used it for the first time today, OK my wheels werent horrific dirt wise, but they certainly werent clean what with the road salt at the moment etc, a few good squirts and then left to soak for a few minutes, aggitated with my usual wheel brush, then a quick rinse and the job was a good one, worked quite well, then sealed them with a good wax and they look pretty good now, overall for a product that costs a quid I am very pleased, I woudl give it a thuimbs up, and with us lot cleaning our cars on a regular basis our wheels etc dont have really bad build ups of dirt so from that point of view it was an excellent buy!! 

Would buy again definately.

Hope this helps, James.


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