Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

[village eejit]

Has anyone ever used one of these filters? They are supposed to de-ioninse water so when you rinse your car after washing, it dries to a spot free finish. As they cost £46.00, I'd appreciate reviews or suggestions of other products, but please no advice to move house to a soft water area as this is a bit extreme.

Check out the link for more details:

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/Store/Product/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=117

Steve

[NXI20]

They do exactly what it says on the tin - I've tried the 0ppm & 30ppm and the only difference I could see was that the 0ppm doesn't last as long. The real test of this thing is to wash the car in blazing sunshine and see that there are no horrible water marks when you dry the car.

I suppose that I should also mention that my water is really hard here (thanks, Thames Water!), so all the water in the house goes though a softener unit. I suspect that the life of the filter would be even shorter without the softener but have no real way to tell.

[Clive993]

I use one and it works ! Prolong the life of them by keeping them in the shade when not in use. Dont ask why - it says in the instructions

[village eejit]

Thanks for the recommendations. How long do these filters last?

Steve

[PolarExpress]

Thanks for the recommendations. How long do these filters last?

Steve

I'd be interested to know too: summer's here and drying the car before Thames Water's Finest etches itself into the bodywork is a small challenge.

Anyone?

[RH944]

I'd be interested in the result.
I saw this thread the other week.
http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f ... a&start=15

The suggestion at the end was to put a few drops of dishwasher rinse aid and finish the car using a watering can.
I am going to give it a go next time round but that won't be for a couple of weeks. Off to enjy the sun

[NXI20]

I get through 2 a year, but I do have 3 cars & they all get washed very regularly - at least once a week each.

YMMV

[PolarExpress]

I get through 2 a year, but I do have 3 cars & they all get washed very regularly - at least once a week each.

YMMV

Thanks Nick - it sounds like just the one may be enough then.
Cheers -

[demonfish]

personally, i'd just buy a water magnet cloth... and hand dry...

[PolarExpress]

personally, i'd just buy a water magnet cloth... and hand dry...

I've got a few oversized MF towels I use for drying (actually just one is more than big enough), but in the heat/sunshine the water dries too quickly by the time I've finished washing one end the other is already drying and etching in. It's worse if I get distracted by a phone call or even a neighbour saying hello

[village eejit]

I'd be interested in the result.
I saw this thread the other week.
http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f ... a&start=15

The suggestion at the end was to put a few drops of dishwasher rinse aid and finish the car using a watering can.
:

Being as I'm a complete cheapskate, I thought I'd give the dishwasher rinse aid trick a try first.

Developing the idea a bit, I used a Miracle Grow feeder (£6.99 from Homebase) attachment for a hose pipe instead of a watering can. Dilute a squirt of rinse aid with water in the feeder reservoir (see pic below) and rinse the car with this solution after washing. The feeder allows you to switch between using just water or the diluted rinse aid, so you can choose when you want to use it.

My Saab was the guinea pig for this and the results where superb. No water marks using Anglian Water 2008 vintage rock hard water on a black car! After a quick dry with a combination of a silicon blade and a micro fibre towel here's what it looked like:

The car got rained on overnight and the rainwater has beaded just like when it's been waxed.

SP_A0332.jpg (83.26 KiB) Viewed 20487 times

This is the Miracle Grow feeder. Maybe if I put some Miracle Grow in it and use it on the Boxster, it might just grow into a 911.

MG.jpg (78.11 KiB) Viewed 20490 times

[Pete917]

wow - the results look good!

[Siggy]

In that case one would last me about 30 years

I get through 2 a year, but I do have 3 cars & they all get washed very regularly - at least once a week each.

YMMV

[Sean Smallman]

Some of the car shampoos contain water softeners.

Water softeners seem a bit faddy to me. If you take the spray attachment off the end of the hose and sheet rinse the car in sections, drying takes 5 minutes anyway.

You do need a good large towel as well.

[Pete917]

I bought a 5ft square micro fibre towel. Dries the car off really quick!