Product Review: Onedrywash Waterless Car Wash

Disclosure: I received free review samples from Onedrywash for the purpose of this review. I received no payment and was not required to submit a positive review. Links marked with (eBay⇒) or (Amazon⇒) are affiliate links. This means I get paid a small commission if you buy something after clicking on the links. This money helps to pay for the running of the website.

Washing your car with a bucket of soapy water or at a car wash is all very well – but what if temperatures are below freezing, as they have been in my neck of the woods for a couple of weeks now? Pouring water down the road would be likely to get me some seriously dirty looks, given that the water would rapidly turn into a dangerous sheet of ice. Yet cars need washing at this time of year – all that salt is not good for your paintwork.

Waterless car wash products were developed to use in places where water use was either impossible or unacceptable – such as military bases in the desert. They all work in a fairly similar way – spray the liquid on, wipe it over, let it dry and then buff it off to a shine. The clever part is in the way that these products breakdown dirt and lift it off your paintwork, leaving a clean, shiny finish behind with no scratches.

One of the main brands in the waterless car wash market is Onedrywash, who recently sent me one of their car cleaning kits to try out.

We’ve just had the first dry, above-freezing day for ages, so I’ve just been out to put my Onedrywash kit to the test. Here’s what I found.

Onedrywash Car Cleaning Kit (£12.95)

The Car Cleaning Kit is made up of a 500ml spray bottle of Onedrywash, two microfibre cloths and two latex gloves to keep your hands clean.

Using Onedrywash is simplicity itself. Spray it on, then use one cloth to wipe lightly over the area you have sprayed, creating an even coverage. Once it has dried, which usually takes somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, you use the other cloth to buff the area to a shine.

The result is a smooth, shiny finish that is really impressive and has that ‘just-waxed’ feel when you run your hand over it. Onedrywash says that it can be used safely on paintwork, glass, chrome and plastic, and my experience backs this up. The results were good on all surfaces and cleaning a vehicle this way takes much less time than washing, drying and polishing separately.

Onedrywash claim that the product will remove black streaks as well, so I put this claim to the test, successfuly:

The only thing to remember with Onedrywash (and all other waterless wash products) is that your two cloths will need machine washing after each use. This can be a bit inefficient if you do not want to put them in with your clothes. On the other hand, you are saving a huge amount of water by using Onedrywash – at least 10-15 litres for a bucket was and 100+ litres for a hosepipe or jet wash.

Simple Motoring says: I liked Onedrywash and might start using it more often instead of a bucket and sponge. It is less messy, faster and gives a good, polished finish without any hassle.

Buy Onedrywash direct or on Amazon (Amazon⇒)