[DUCeditor]

Some of us enjoy detailing our Ducs. I like mine clean and shiny but prefer riding to the wash and shine process so I'm always open to new, faster, and/or better methods. Just came across one that I thought I'd share: The Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash System.

I don't know how long this has been available or how successful it has been finding a place among motoheads cleaning arsenals. Probably not very 'cause I found it on Woot.com at an enormous discount. OTOH this may have been a smart marketing strategy - getting folks to buy into the system so they'd purchase the typically more profitable (and necessary) refill kits. Any how, Amazon sells it here ( www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-AutoDry-System-Starter/dp/B0006M56CE ) and at a good, if not Woot level, discount.

What the Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash System is is a unit that connects to a hose with three settings. 1) Is a straight-through spray of water, 2) is a special cleaner, and 3) is a deionized flow of water created by a special (replaceable) filter that rinses off the vehicle while allowing very quick, spot free drying. No chamois needed.

Here is how it is used: You put the gizmo on your garden hose, hold it in one hand, and hold a sponge (or better yet, a wash mitt) in the other. Set it for straight rinse and hose off the vehicle. The set the unit for the special cleaner, spray that on and wipe the vehicle with the mitt as you would if washing with a traditional bucket and sponge. The you set the gizmo to spray the deionized water and rinse the vehicle off. The combination of whats in the cleaner and the deionized water just flows off with no beading. In literally minutes the vehicle is clean, dry and spot free.

I tried it first on my quite dirty commuter car - a 2009 Nissan Versa. When done the car was clean and spot free with the exception of around and behind the wheel wells. This because I have been driving every day on long stretches of newly asphalted roads. It'd take a strong solvent to remove the black goopey spray that put on the car.

Just got back from a morning ride and did the bike. In this case I started off by misting Simple Green onto the wheels. (My Sport Classic has chrome spoke wheels - cleaning them is a bitch) That soaked in and softened the wheel filth for about 3 minutes while I set up the gizmo and hose. Then I hosed off the Simple Green, quick rinsed the rest of the bike, turned on the special cleaner spray and wiped the bike quickly with the mitt (I didn't go near the wheels with the mitt to avoid brake dust scratches), flipped the control for the special deionized rinse, and in minutes the bike was mostly dry, clean and shiny.

No, it is not a miracle worker. To get concourse clean the spokes and rims would need some additional attention. But for every day riding the bike looks great.

Worth checking out!



-don

 

[J9Fred]

A detailer here in town was using this thing on his show bike. I've been meaning to get one myself. Wallymart has discounted them pretty low. I'll now pick one up with plenty of refills. They may be on the way out.

 

[DUCeditor]

A detailer here in town was using this thing on his show bike. I've been meaning to get one myself. Wallymart has discounted them pretty low. I'll now pick one up with plely costnty of refills. They may be on the way out.

I'd wished I'd known how good they were when Woot featured them so I could have spread the word. But I ordered three for myself at $2.99 each plus $5 for shipping all three. What a deal! The refills alone would probably cost several times as much!

-don

 

[SuicideHz]

thanks for the review and tha's a bargain! didn't know you could get them that cheap! I use zaino on my bike so normal water just falls off and normal dust comes off nice with their detail spray and a tshirt. i never wash it. just simple green the wheels and wipe those off with rags.

 

[L4V]

I'll look for it.
Thanks.

 

[mooner]

Look here:http://www.buy.com/prod/mr-clean-au...mble-mcc0aa-2-pack/q/loc/66357/211466550.html

 

[oalvarez]

i'm going to buy one myself. it's the water spots in places you can't reach (or the blower doesn't disperse) or control that bother me most.

thanks for this

 

[DMCTRUBY]

Have been using it for several years now. I keep a stock of the water filters , but I cheat on the soap. If I have a greasy area to wash on the jeep or under belly of the bike I use dawn dish soap, it cuts the grease (and wax) so you do need to rewax. For normal wash I use a high quality car soap and that seems to work as good as the Mr clean soap. When combined with the other marvel product of the year, the Mr Clean magic eraser sponge (for spot cleaning not as a bucket sponge)...you can get anything clean.

 

[ZDM]

The only things I use to clean my 999 are:

several sized paint brushes or detail brushes
if there's metal on the brushes I tape over it to prevent scratches

Paper towels,cotton swabs, bath towels

Shop rags

WD-40, Armour All, Meguiars scratch X and caranuaba wax

I have only washed my 999 once in over 2 years. Too much water can go too many places on a Ducati tahnks to all the exposed wires. I can of WD 40 and some rags cleans up everything grungy. The painted surfaces get wiped down w/ a damp terry towel and waxed. Armour All as needed.

 

[L4V]

The only things I use to clean my 999 are:
The painted surfaces get wiped down w/ a damp terry towel and waxed.

I agree...I rarely "wash" my street bikes.
Now & then, you might want to polish your paint surfaces (not wax).

 

[ZDM]

I agree...I rarely "wash" my street bikes.
Now & then, you might want to polish your paint surfaces (not wax).

Yep...got a cool little buffer kit from John here on the website. Alittle Meguairs Scratch "X" on the buffing pad-follow up w/ pure wax and you can't get that paint any brighter!

 

[DUCeditor]

For those who speak favorably of taking a minimalist approach to bike cleaning/detailing I say you have a point. Too vigorous an approach can do as much harm as good. Modern paints and metal finishes require much less polishing and protection than did the organic enamels of the past, and since all enamels - organic or acrylic - depend on surface gloss for their shine avoiding the damage caused by over-cleaning is important.

But for those of us who ride in a world of rain showers, suicidal black flies, newly resurfaced roadways etc. some post-ride cleanup is frequently necessary. And in such circumstances a low-pressure water-based approach is less likely to do harm than a solvent or friction based one.

For such uses the Mr. Clean Auto-Dry System is a useful tool.

-don

 

[DMCTRUBY]

I use the tool, but I rarely "spray" the bike directly. I use the filtered water setting to fill the bucket with the "sponge & soap" water I use to sponge it down with. The I use a bucket of filter water only to sponge off the soap/water. The fully filtered setting is such a fine low pressure mist that if I have an area I do need to directly wash off running the bilke afterwards and use a compressed air hose off does a good job of removing any "excess" water.