Yes, that's right...
Anytime I find myself in the position of saying anything potentially negative about Zaino, it makes me nervous. Zainoites can be some of the most fanatical, um, "enthusiastic" people I've ever discussed anything with on the internet. So in an attempt to keep them appeased, I do like to point out the positives of the product first. Zaino is one of the best *looking* sealants on the market. It *looks* great, and it *lasts a long time*. But that is all it does. When it comes to protecting your car from dirt, water spots, etc. it falls flat. I used Zaino for years, and in fact I do still use it. Some of their products are still my go-to's even.
And I'm not saying that Zaino won't come clean when you wash it, I'm saying that it requires more mechanical energy (more mechanical energy than a pressure washer is capable of applying) in order to get dirt off of Zaino than other, easier-to-clean sealants. A wash mitt will clean up a Zaino'd car toot sweet, but I'd rather eat lint than use a wash mitt to wash a car on a regular basis.
Most people that have problems getting good touch free results give up way too soon; it just takes some experimentation with what LSP is going to work for you. The soap is pretty much already decided: grab some CG's Citrus Wash N Gloss. It has some of the best chemical cleaning abilities around in a car soap that is still gentle enough to leave your LSP intact. (Although I am experimenting with this quite a bit right now... I'm formulating my own car soap that will hopefully boost the cleaning power of CWNG without stripping the LSP.)
It really is fun to experiment around with stuff to find a combination that works well for your touch free washes.
Some other stuff to think about, regarding all these touch free shenanigans...
Even if you aren't able to get your car completely clean by using your touch free method, you *are* removing * a lot* of abrasives by first using a touch free method, then following up with whatever other method you want to get your car completely clean. All those abrasives that were previously on your car are now gone for your later, touch-based wash, and can't swirl your paint. So preceding your regular wash process with a touch free wash will certainly lower the amount of wash based marring you're going to get with your regular regimen.
I try to go in increasing levels of aggressiveness, to get the least amount of marring for each bit of contamination removed:
1. Touch free, then stop if I'm satisfied. If not, then:
2. Layer of foam, BHB in soap bucket, gently use BHB on entire car. Stop if clean. If not, then:
3. ONR wash with Eurow Shag MF's. Whatever is left on the paint by this time is very, very small, and when combined with ONR's voodoo powers, you'll get little (if any) marring.
Using the above three steps, I'm usually able to take a car that has zero LSP on it and go from filthy dirty to completely clean with *very little* marring. Lot's of guys would just skip steps one and two and go straight to the ONR, and that's cool, too. Lot's of different ways to do stuff, for sure. But IMO, you are least likely to get any marring by taking the time to do the three steps.
The LSP you have on your car is a very, very important choice. It determines exactly how much kinetic energy is going to be required to remove every single molecule of dirt that gets on your car. And it is this amount of kinetic energy that is going to determine how much marring that molecule of dirt is going to cause to your car when it is removed. If you can get an LSP that will let go of dirt with nothing more than an HP spray of water, you're in great shape. Next best would be an LSP that comes completely clean with the flick of a BHB bristle. Last, would be one that requires you smash that dirt particle against the clear coat with a wash mitt and scrub it like a piece of sand paper.
LPS's vary *greatly* in their abilities to release contamination. IMO, it's worth investing good, solid amounts of cash in finding some that work for you.
Well, so much for Supe's caffeinated rant of the day.
I'm off to detail some cars.....
