ONR Scratch TEST

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PhaRO

New member
I have used ONR and similar no rinse washes for almost 2 years now. My initial uses in my mobile business were partial cleanings (top surfaces) with occasional full cleanings. I did this almost secretly for fear that someone would freak out. After a year or so I had total confidence in the product. Scott who has used no rinse products for many years was a big inspiration for me to start using it all of the time. About 7 months ago I came out of the closet so to speak. With no water restrictions or enforcement in my city my only reason to use ONR is that it works. It not only does it's job, I personally feel using ONR results in a better looking car and an overall cleaner car. I've cleaned over 20,000 cars using traditional methods which is more than enough to base my feeling on.



The two most often things I read that concern people about ONR is that it won't clean as well and it will causing scratches and marring. As for the cleaning on cars that are washed 1-4 weeks it does a fantastic job. Since there are no suds you can see exactly what you are cleaning. There are no missed spots that are discovered when you are rinsing or drying the car. Basically if you can see you can clean it. Today I wanted to come up with a test that you could use to see if ONR scratched. Several have posted pictures of panels they have been washed with ONR for months and have little or no marring. Truthfully I think it's impossible to clean a car repeatedly (especially commercially) and never mar the paint. The goal for me is to reduce the likelihood of marring or scratching the paint as much as I can within the parameters of time and money. Enough babbling and onto the test.



A new dvdr was used. The two black lines were for me to reference so I could go in the same direction. Some lint or fuzz shows on the dvdr.

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I filled a bowl with about 6 quarts of water and 2 caps of ONR (1oz)

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I wanted to create some gritty dirt so I ground some peppercorn and sprinkle salt on the wet cd.

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I used a corded MF wash mitt which has been used quiet a bit but was just washed. I wiped the dvdr twice. Once basically removed the grit and the second time moved the grit in the mitt across the dvdr. I rewet the dvdr in the ONR mix and repeated. I did this 3 times.



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I didn't get a mf towel when I grab the mitt from my truck so I blew off most of the remaining water to see the dvdr and no scratches were present. Some lint, fuzz or water shows on the dvdr.



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Thanks for sharing.



I didn't know that the ONR doesn't suds up at all. Does it really sheet clean well enough that you don't have to dry the car like you normally would?
 
mblgjr said:
Thanks for sharing.



I didn't know that the ONR doesn't suds up at all. Does it really sheet clean well enough that you don't have to dry the car like you normally would?
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It doesn't sud at all. You do have to dry the car with towels. It does dry very easily especially if you wring the excess water out of the wash mitt. I didn't dry the dvd during the test because my good towels were stored in my truck and I didn't feel like going out to get one.
 
mblgjr said:
Thanks for sharing.



I didn't know that the ONR doesn't suds up at all. Does it really sheet clean well enough that you don't have to dry the car like you normally would?
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Not sure where you got that bit of information. You have to dry the car as you go along. Wash a section, dry it and move on.
 
Nice test!



I agree with you, unless a car is caked in mud, I can do a better job washing with ONR than traditional car wash soap and a hose. Faster too.
 
Well, I know now that if my car somehow gets covered in freshly ground pepper on my way to work, ONR will clean it marr free! :confused:



Oh, and I use ONR and love it.......and I have cleaned off plenty of Lowry's seasoning salt, garlic powder, and freshly cut oregano off my car with great scratch free results. :getdown



Seriously....ONR does work great.
 
I have to agree I got done with my car in about an hour and I did a pretty careful job. If I did a typical job it would probably take 1.5 hour and I honestly feel that ONR helps me clean the car better than a convention soap and mitt where there's possible marring..
 
A more viable test would be to tape a CD on the side or top of your truck and allow "real" world grime and sun bonded material (sap) to attach itself to the CD. Then perform your test.

Actually your peppercorn test is a good example why "I" perform only full washes. Your dirt (peppercorn) is the stuff I prefer to "rinse off" prior to touching "my" vehicles with any cleaning solution and utensils.



The remaining washing steps are identical for both waterless and a full wash. The full wash adds another safety step by concluding with a full rinse. These 2 rinsing steps are important to me in alleviating the major causes of paint damaging when cleaning a finish.



This is not to say a waterless wash doesn't create a credible alternative and does a satisfactory job at cleaning exposed areas, but a full wash IMO has a larger margin of safety and performs the task better.



Call me old school and with 45 years of washing vehicles, I still see no reason to change to this type of method unless a situation calls for such (water restriction & commercially detailing with plans to polish after washing).



Call me crazy but I enjoy caring for my vehicles and occasional $$ details. A full wash is the only means that "I" receive full satisfaction as part of the car care session.



I have just not reached this stage as a hobbyist to short-cut this important step in detailing.
 
I think this test is great! It will definetly eliminate a lot of doubts that people have concerning thet scratching that it might do. Great test, Pharo!
 
blkZ28Conv, you bring up a lot of points that I agree with when it comes to ONR.



I like and use ONR, but I don't see myself ever switching completely unless we were placed on some kind of water restriction. Since SoCal hardly saw any rain this year, I wouldn't be surprised if this were to happen sooner than many of us would want.



Many of us (I hope) take showers daily. Imagine if all you could do was wipe yourself down at the end of the day with as many baby wipes as you needed. Sure, you might feel fresh for a little while, but eventually you'll want and need a real shower. That's basically what ONR is when compared to a conventional wash.



I know most are concerned more about marring from an ONR wash, but my problem with it is its lack of cleaning power against certain contamination such as bird bombs and pollen. I literally have to scrub, with more pressure than I'd like, to get contamination like this off, if it even comes off at all. It's not my process, it's not the wash media, it's ONR itself that's not doing the job that a regular wash would easily take care of. Unless you're claying and polishing a car afterwards all the time, I don't see how some of you can never encounter a problem with your ONR solution being much weaker than conventional soap.



Also, I'd like to point out that 6 quarts of water = 1.5 gallons. Based on the pic, that bowl does not look anywhere near 1.5 gallons of water. If you added 1 fl oz to this bowl, your ONR wash in this test is many times more concentrated than what a normal ONR wash would be. Plus, if your substitute dirt particles in this case was salt and peppercorn, you wouldn't even need a wash media. All you'd have to do is dip the CD in the solution, and most, if not all of it would fall off.
 
BLkZ28 Conv, You always bring up excellent points. I have to admit that I have been using ONR and ONE. I had the ONR when I ordered all the Optimum products to try. I had the bottle of ONR around for a few months before I had the nerve to try it. I did my usual ,I used it on my Wifes van and then my truck. I was still reluctant to try it on my car and was a worried if Zaino would bond with it. Since my car is only driven on nice days and to work sometimes it never really gets that dirty. I thought let me give the ONR a try on my car, still a little hessitant I used a Calf duster first then did the ONR. I really thought it worked great, I did some ZAIO then CS and was good to go. I didn't notice any marring or scratches. I then did the same thing with CG's ONE and saved even more time.



I think if one of my vehicles were really muddy or salty it my change my process. Like with my wifes van I would run it through a touchless car wash first then use ONE or ONR.



As far as its cleaning power ,I feel it's quite good. The only drawback is door jams and fender wells. Rims and tires are no problem



I was against this type of process, but it really does save time and I can see why volume detailers would love this.
 
blkZ28Conv said:
I have just not reached this stage as a hobbyist to short-cut this important step in detailing.
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Yeah, but wouldn't saving time washing allow you to apply more layers of Zaino? ;)
 
Scottwax said:
Yeah, but wouldn't saving time washing allow you to apply more layers of Zaino? ;)
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Happy 4th Scott.:bounce



Actually I found little time saving when I have used the waterless washing technique. Rolling up the hose takes about 2 minutes and filling up the buckets and drying is the same for both methods.



Fortunately we had zero accumulating snow and very few extremely cold days here the last few winters. Outdoor washing is not a problem here lately.



Layering Zaino has too become a thing of the past. Wash and Z8 or CS and "BAM" done until the urge hits me again. :)
 
BlackElantraGT said:
\

I know most are concerned more about marring from an ONR wash, but my problem with it is its lack of cleaning power against certain contamination such as bird bombs and pollen. I literally have to scrub, with more pressure than I'd like, to get contamination like this off, if it even comes off at all. It's not my process, it's not the wash media, it's ONR itself that's not doing the job that a regular wash would easily take care of. Unless you're claying and polishing a car afterwards all the time, I don't see how some of you can never encounter a problem with your ONR solution being much weaker than conventional soap.
Click to expand...



I use a small chemical pump sprayer to prespray panels and I have found it just as effective as conventional washing to remove bird bombs, tar, sap, and grime. When I conventional wash I still use the sprayer only I use DG 903 as soap. IME, the ONR is just as effective in disolving or loosening contaminants, including bug guts.



ONR doesn't cause anymore marring for me than does a conventional wash. No matter what I do, I still end up with some marring after 30 or so washes, albeit very light marring.



All points raised are credible and further highlight the differences between the two wash methods. However, waterless washes, CG ONE/Freedom/etc. I still cannot grasp how that works, and I am still skeptical....maybe one day.



:usa Happy 4th :usa
 
dogma said:
BLkZ28 Conv, You always bring up excellent points. I have to admit that I have been using ONR and ONE. I had the ONR when I ordered all the Optimum products to try. I had the bottle of ONR around for a few months before I had the nerve to try it. I did my usual ,I used it on my Wifes van and then my truck. I was still reluctant to try it on my car and was a worried if Zaino would bond with it. Since my car is only driven on nice days and to work sometimes it never really gets that dirty. I thought let me give the ONR a try on my car, still a little hessitant I used a Calf duster first then did the ONR. I really thought it worked great, I did some ZAIO then CS and was good to go. I didn't notice any marring or scratches. I then did the same thing with CG's ONE and saved even more time.



I think if one of my vehicles were really muddy or salty it my change my process. Like with my wifes van I would run it through a touchless car wash first then use ONE or ONR.



As far as its cleaning power ,I feel it's quite good. The only drawback is door jams and fender wells. Rims and tires are no problem



I was against this type of process, but it really does save time and I can see why volume detailers would love this.
Click to expand...



Hi Dogma. Happy 4th to you also.



I am sure the waterless wash work quite well and can be very safe in the right conditions like the one you mentioned. I have not found any problem with QEW, used as a QD, and Zaino bonding at all.

I agree with washing the garage queen that is only driven on nice days. I believe this marriage (garage queen and waterless washes) will work excellently.
 
Also said:
It looked about right to me. Looked like a Wal Mart 2 gallon bucket - I use several of them. Normal concentration is the same amount of ONR in two gallons. I think there is little difference.



I like ONR as a wash on my small cars. Fast and easy. I also wash the "old fashioned" way and then use ONR in detail spray concentration to wipe down the car. Works great and leaves streak free windows and a nice shine. I like the stuff and it is pretty cheap to boot.
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Great thread! I use ONR or a similar product to wash my car in the garage during the winter. It's a great product and is just as safe as regular car wash soap IMO.



The only reason I still use a regular car wash soap is that I like to use a stream of water to blast away dirt in hard to reach areas. Otherwise, I would probably switch.
 
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