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Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 3:42 pm
by 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. :lol:

Check out the link for more details:

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

Steve

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:59 pm
by 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.

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 8:24 pm
by 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 :shock:

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 8:55 am
by village eejit
Thanks for the recommendations. How long do these filters last?

Steve

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 1:23 pm
by PolarExpress
village eejit wrote: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?

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 2:07 pm
by RH944
I'd be interested in the result. :?:
I saw this thread the other week. :arrow:
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 :drunken: :bounce:

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:11 pm
by 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 :wink:

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:03 pm
by PolarExpress
NXI20 wrote: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 :wink:
Thanks Nick - it sounds like just the one may be enough then.
Cheers -

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:22 am
by demonfish
personally, i'd just buy a water magnet cloth... and hand dry...

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:35 pm
by PolarExpress
demonfish wrote: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 :?

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 10:53 am
by village eejit
RH944 wrote:I'd be interested in the result. :?:
I saw this thread the other week. :arrow:
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.
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 20488 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. :wink:
MG.jpg
MG.jpg (78.11 KiB) Viewed 20491 times

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:00 pm
by Pete917
wow - the results look good!

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:26 pm
by Siggy
In that case one would last me about 30 years :lol:

NXI20 wrote: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 :wink:

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:09 pm
by 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.

Re: Aqua Gleam Filters - Car washing made easy?

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:22 pm
by Pete917
I bought a 5ft square micro fibre towel. Dries the car off really quick!