Mr Clean AutoDry
 

after reading a thread on a bmw forum which had some mr clean reps posting in it, i decided to get this. i washed my car and my dads car; a 99 camry and 97 camry. mine is dark green which makes it very easy to see spots and other crud.

the autodry definitely works. i cant see myself using any other method to clean a car. no bucket, no towels...all you need is the autodry unit and a sponge type thing which you should have anyway. both cars dried spotless and had a nice shine that they have never had after being washed (used to use meguiers soap). when my aunt gets home from work ill wash her 8 using it. it should look even better than the camrys. ill take some before and after pics for you guys.

Interesting......... I find it a bit tough to use a mr clean product on my car - just not what they are in the business of doing so it does not on the surface seem to fit. I wont knock it til I know more. I would be concerned that my coats of zaino/wax will be eroded quicker by a product that was not designed with the high end detailing products in mind. Anyone else use this?

if it makes you feel better about it, it was in development for 4 years by proctor and gamble

heres the bimmer thread about it if you want to learn more

http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showth...&threadid=3297

I believe it uses a deionizing / demineralizing filter made by Pur for the final spotless rinse. I'd try it if I could wash my own car in the apt complex I live

where are these pics jonny B

I've heard of that Mr Clean auto dry on tv, went to the site and what not, seems like its good stuff. no hassle, nuttin'

id like to see before and after pics

she didnt get home till nighttime. im gonna wash it now.

I've heard that it's SHIT!! :eek:

ok im finished. the pics are too big to attach so im gonna start uploading right now.

these first few pics are before i washed it. it was kind of hard to see the dirt when i took pics of the whole car...the pic of the trunk and rear windshield is basically what the whole car looked like. also notice the dirty rims, i used the autodry on them too.

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after pics

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no spots!!

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cardomain sized these pics down alot. if anyone wants to see the larger ones let me know and ill email them to you.

Which stores are carrying Mr. Clean Autodry?

I've seen it at both Wal-Mart and Target. I have been using it and haven't completely decided if I like it or not.

You can also get it at Pep Boys

just about any place that sells automotive accessories should have it

I tried it and had a strange experience. I use a boars hair brush (From Griot's Garage) designed for paint work to wash my wifes car. Figured it was best to start on hers in case it removed paint.
It did a good job, but I noticed that the brush bristles seemed to be covered with a dirty wax substance. As if the soap removed the wax from the car. Other than that it seemed to do well on both our Mazdas.

yeah i noticed that too. the dirtier the car was the black my previously white sponge got. here is what the autodry guy said about this in the bimmer thread

"AutoDry does not strip wax!
The greasy, dirty deposit on your mitt was probably stuff that the AutoDry soap washed off your car. Nothing in the AutoDry soap can do that.
Of course, rinse your mitt or sponge occasionally. But do it with the fresh, clean water that comes from the AutoDry sprayer's regular rinse setting. Don't use a bucket."

I washed the brush with hot water and what came off was this greasy grey scummy crap. Seemed kind of like wax. Although the same stuff seems to come off of me after a shower. Sorry if you were eating.

I used the damn thing once, and will NOT use it again. It hindered the beading action on my several coats of zaino for more than a week. It left the car dingy, and NOT clean. With time, and a couple of washings and hand drying, the nasty coating subsided. Since then I have applied 2 more coats of Zaino, and have returned to a state of happy beading & shine. I gave the thing to my friend, so he could use it on his old ass van. Good bye Mr. Clean.....you are not the man.:mad:

English:

That sounds like a conflict between the zaino and anything in the Mr. Clean wash...

I personally don't have the Mr. Clean wash, but I watched a demonstration first hand at an autoshow. I was convinced and I'm going to buy it in the spring.

There's no perfect replacement for a good hand polishing...

part of the car owning experience is shining up your car manually.. i dunno.. I'm wierd, but there's something about hand polishing that makes it all worthwhile.. kinda like buffing up a nice gold coin.. or washing your beloved pet.. in a way, the more the work, the greater the reward.... hmmm I guess ????

Well, I just hand-detailed my RX-8 again and I can assure you that it sucks.
I spent a total of 10 hours over 3 days to get all the scratches, swirls and blemishes that the winter has so far provided, followed by glaze and wax.
I'm going back to using the rotary and orbital next time as there is no visible benefit (other than my bulging triceps) from hand detailing. I could have done the same job in 3 hours with the air tools. I just wanted to see if there is a real difference on a fresh finish.
I use a combination of Meguire's and 3M. 3M is by far the best professional stuff out there (P31 and Zaino included).

BTW - to the "beading water" crowd:
A perfectly waxed surface won't bead, it will sheet.
Beading is from an uneven wax coat.
If your wax coat is good, you can rinse the car down with the open hose and almost all of the water will slide off of the car in a sheet.

OK. I tried it, I like it, it seems to do what they say it'll do, namely dry spot-free (though rinsing seems to take just about as long for me as drying the car with a chamois). I understand that the soap does leave a polymer coating that washes off in two or three rains (or hosings).

My question: If I'm just washing the car, that's fine. But if I'm washing it with the intent of applying Zaino or Meguiars wax, that polymer is going to be in the way, yes? So I'm thinking for pre-wax washes, I'll need to use Zaino (or Dawn) and wash the car the old-fashioned way. I guess I answered my own question, but no one has really addressed the appropriateness of the Mr Clean gadget for a pre-wax wash. Thoughts?

ok i tried it on my Protege and it works as advertised, with couple caveats:

1. you have to MAKE SURE you wash every square inch of the body with your mitt/sponge, otherwise after it dries any unwashed sections will have waterspot/dirt residue

2. doesn't clean the really tough road grimes on the alloy wheels all that well, those will probably require much stronger cleaning agents like Simple Green or something.

other than that, i'm quite impressed with the AutoDry with what it does. I think with more practice a 20-minute PERFECT wash is definitely doable.

I'm still wondering whether it's OK to use this Auto Dry stuff before waxing, as it leaves some sort of polymer on the car. Actually, that polymer (or whatever it is) is beginning to bug me - the car looks great after it dries, but the paint feels slightly dirty/sticky. Anyone else notice this?

yeah it doesn't feel glass smooth like after a traditional wash 'n wax.

but meh, that polymer is fine by me, since it'll act like a protectant against other crap on the road.

but the car looks shiny!

I just don't like how quickly I go through the soap & filters. 3 washes? What's up w/ that? I use mine on our daily drivers & my 8 gets hand washed.

The filter and soap that come with the Auto Dry are just starters (the filter is only good for three washes). The replacement filters are supposed to last for ten washes. Found them cheapish at Home Depot, btw - $6-$7 for a filter, and the shampoo was somewhere in that range as well.

Thanks for the info, I'll go there to get my refills.

hey, I Claudius... You coming out to the GTG today @ Buck's Landing @ 12:30?

Right now they are offering a $1 off of the soap and filter, and $5 off of the kit. These are all in the form of rebates.

Hey spdspappy - I'm a little late on the uptake. Didn't make it, but I'm gonna try to do better and get out to some of these area wingdings and meet some Texas 8's. Hope to see you soon.

Nope-bad experience here.

Used it last night and it seemed to dry OK. When I drove to work today getting it out in natural light, the first thing I notied how spoted the rear glass was. Just a little on other glass. So i though perhapse it just spoted the glass surfaces. Nope, not he case for me. My hood, top and trunk were all spoted. Sides looked good. Then it rained today and the beading was terrible as other have noted here.

For me, it will be retunred, or mailed back via guarentee. I don't have any intention of using it again. It was definitly less work, but the results suffed as well in my experience. For the record, I use Griot's garage carnumba was on mine to seperate this a littel from thos describing similar issues using Zanio.

Is the griots speedshine similar to zaino? Trying to decide what to buy...Right now I use Armorall car wash and then have to take it to a self wash place with a pressure hose for the wax. Armorall wipes however do a very good job on the inside of the car. Their glass wipes are perfect for the glassy black finish on part of the door and center stack.

I ues the speedshine as a waterless car wash. So when I used to show, I would take it along to "touch up" the exterior. I use Ultra Coat 2 for interior cleaning. Also can use it to detail the engine bay. Most often stuff I have ever seen. But you have to buy it by the case. Typically only dealers have it. Plus the pledge Grab-it to remove those sunligh only dust particles.

you should give it another try, maybe you didnt rinse it good enough.

Actually, that's my main complaint about the Mr Clean gadget: It takes an awfully long time to rinse the car thoroughly. I wind up putting as much effort and time into the rinse stage as I would if I had just dried the car by hand. If you're not careful to rinse the heck out of it, then you'll get spots.

I'm also not happy with the feel of the surface after a Mr Clean wash - the soap leaves some sort of polymer on the paint, and it feels slightly tacky. (I think that's what kills the beading, WHealy.)

So - after messing around with it for a couple of weeks, I'm less impressed than I was initially. It's fine for quick washes, but when it comes to prepping for waxing or a more careful wash job, I'll stick to Meguiars or Zaino, a bucket, and towels.

I like the Autodry car wash gadget, but not because of the "don't have to dry it" thing. It's because where I live, the water is very hard, (the Edwards aquifer is like a giant mineral deposit). I had gotten to where I wouldn't even wash my car at home because of the rampant spotting, no matter how fast I tried to dry it. The Autodry lets me wash in my driveway again, instead of going to a car wash with de-ionized water.

While I could have dried the car much faster by hand than what it took to air-dry (it was a cloudy day), the result was fantastic-- no spots at all. For the poster above who said he saw spots, I'm 100% certain that you simply didn't rinse properly. Yes, it takes more effort to wash it this way, I won't dispute that. You have rinse with tap, then soap, then scrub, then rinse with tap again, then rinse with de-ionized water. Then do another section, and another, and then spray the whole car down afterwards with de-ionized water to displace all the mineral-laden water. The result, however, is a spot-free car. Believe me, if it will work with water as heavy as where I live, it will work anywhere. You just have to use it properly.

If water-spotting is a concern for you but you don't trust the "polymer soap" that comes with the kit, I suggest you just buy the device and use the "Rinse" and "De-ionized rinse" settings and ignore the soap part. Keep you bucket and soap of your choice.

If, on the other hand, you currently have no problems with water-spotting, this device would probably not satisfy you. The "autodry" thing they emphasize in advertising is the wrong direction to go, in my opinion. They should emphasize the "no-spotting" aspect more. Hell, drying the car is the easiest part for me, anyway. I spend far, far more time on the washing, polishing, and waxing stages individually than I do on drying.

But no spots-- that makes me happy. :)

jeez youre doing way too much work. what i do is rinse with tap, spray soap and scrub in sections, rinse all of the soap off, then rinse with the filtered water.

You have to understand that the water where I live is so hard, once a drop dries on the car, (which it can do VERY quickly here), the spot is more-or-less permanent. It takes major effort (claying, polishing, waxing) to get rid of those spots. And I won't even talk about the water drying on hot windshields. Yikes. (Yeah, yeah; you're supposed to wash in the shade. I know this. But the trees in my front yard aren't in the right place to shade the driveway, and my HOA forbids carports in my neighborhood.)

If I have to rinse obsessively with the deionized water to prevent spotting, then that's exactly what I'll do.

I bought an Autodry and when I tried to open the door to install the filter, the opening tab broke. I called a Mr. Clean rep and they are sending a coupon for a free replacement and they want me to mail the unit back for examination.

Be carful with the tab that locks the filter door, too much pressure will crack it and leave you without enough tension to lock it closed.

I hope the system works as advertized. I'm one of the laziest people in the world and anything that reduces the workload of washing my RX-8 increase the chances of me washing it more often. I don't expect it to replace periodic waxing though.

You can't be more lazy than me. I had open heart surgery about 10 months ago and still only have about 70% that pumps. Saturday I washed my 8 very carefully with MF cloths and yesterday I polished it with Zymoil. (Nothing against the Zaino, I just couldn't find a local supply for it and had to get it clean. I did a small section at a time starting with the top surfaces and then down to the bottom of the windows. Then I got out an old office chair with no back and proceded to poilsh the bottom half of the car as I rolled around it.

Now the washing forced me to take a break about halfway through to catch my breath, but the polishing was a pure joy.

I looked at the photos of the before and after the Mr. Clean product and the side shots of the after appear to be very hazy. With that and the film others are talking about, I will pass on the supposidly easier Mr. Clean product. I'll just take my time and enjoy the mirror finish I have.

BTW, I agree with whomever it was that said that a good wax finish will sheet and not just bead up. Taking a hose with the faucet turned on halfway, the water sheets completely off my 8 leaving only a few traces of water that I blot up with a MF towel and then blow the trapped water off with compressed air (only 40 PSI).

Excuse the messy garage.

If you think that is messy I am sorry but I can never invite you over to my place. :)

Look organized to me and the car looks great.

I have used auto dry 2 times. The first time i used it i drove my car around to dry it off..worked really well i dunno why they say not to. But the next day when i got up my car was literally covered in dust and dirt. Either it took off the wax or it made it like static to the dirt it was weird. But the last time i used it it was okay...maybe it's just the first time?

I got an email to go to their site for $5 off coupon for me and a friend. Here is the link to get your coupons.

Has more information on what it does and how it works, too.

Saw them at Wal-Mart the other day. Haven't got it yet. Considering trying it on the RX-7 then deciding if I want to use it on the RX-8. The coupons have already arrived in mail.

FWIW I bought the system and tried it over the weekend...

Before using it, I washed down my wheels with my normal carwash stuff, just because I use a different sponge for the wheels and wells than I do for the body of the car. Anyhow, I ended up having to rinse the thing twice because I didn't read the directions that said, "rinse within a foot of the car's surface, and rinse all other rinse away" (OK, instructions aren't that ambiguous, but those of you who have used it will get the point). Anyhow, I thought that it worked fairly well for a quick wash.

I don't care for my vehicles as I used to. I wax them when they need it, and wash them when their dirty, but I don't detail the crap out of them every weekend like I did before I was married and had kids, and a dog, and a bunch of other pestering things that drove me to drink... Uh... Enough about that though.

I found that after plenty of time (like a couple hours, but that was probably my fault as I pulled my car into the garage, shut the door, and grabbed some brew) the car was pretty much dry. I even drove it later that day. It looked good. It even felt OK to the touch. It didn't seem to affect the Mother's Carnuba I just put on it a couple weeks ago.

If I was really washing my car, however, I'd probably just do it the old fashioned way. It would take to long for the thing to dry before I could wax it, so I'd probably be drunk after waiting for it to dry... then I couldn't wax it... beer... hmmm... Scotch. Ever try the Balvenie? Heaven.

Oh. Sorry, like I said, for a quick wash, I like it. I wouldn't rely on it if I was going to wax my car right afterward though.

I bought it the other day and washed my Rx-8 yesterday..... mr clean auto dry sucks. it doesnt work. i dunno if the cold weather had anything to do with it but i have TONS of watermarks still on my car.... i want my 20$ back :) lol


did i do it wrong? rinse, suds, wipe with sponge, rinse again ?

the proper steps are:

rinse with normal water
sud and wash with mitt/sponge using mr clean's car wash soap
rinse with normal water to remove suds
use filtered water to do a final rinse

the key is to get a thorough rinse in the last 2 steps

it's really easy and works as advertised if used properly.

okay I just tried out this Mr. Clean Auto Dry product.

Impressions:
1. soap-- it was good, and it has very good sheeting action. I think there may be soaps out there that are cheaper by volume that does the same job. The dispenser uses alot of soap. The starter kit came with a small bottle, 8 oz I think. I filled the dispenser completely which is plenty of soap needed to wash the car properly. It was warm weather, so I had to switched to soak mode to keep the car wet the whole time, but had to add soap when I needed more. In the end I used about 85% of the soap in the dispenser.

2. The spray was very weak on the final rinse mode. The water was a fine mist that took about 7-10 minutes to thoroughly soak the car, washing out the regular water. This is a disappointment, because I can dry the car in about the same amount of time with better results, using a combination of the california water blade and a couple of large microfiber towel. After the car dried, I saw some slight water spots were the water accumulated at the bottom of the front windshield. I hadn't soaked the winshield enough and I thought. Everywhere else, there was no water spots. Or so I thought. Upon closer inspection, there was some slightly translucent dried spots on my rear windshield. It wasn't white, so I couldn't see it from afar, but looking closer I can see it reflect the sunlight.

Overall the product does what it was supposed to do, but how well depends on how you rinse the car down with the deionized water it produces. And with the current flow rate, it will take a while if you want good results (5-10 minutes). Deionized water and hard water look the same. You have to keep close track of which areas you've soaked. Miss or undersoak even a small area and you'll get those nasty waterspots.

The entire job, including wheels, took about 30 minutes.

I usually spend about an hour doing it the old way but it's also more thorough, since I also use a spray wax detailer (Wax-As-U-Dry) after drying the car. That means I wipe the car down three times, once to dry, once to apply was as you dry, and once for the final buffing. Alot of work, yes, but the best results, absolutely no spots and its smooth to the touch.

Still, I think Mr. Clean Auto Dry is a good product because it achieves 90% of my "regular job" in half the time.

I'll post a long-term review after a few months of using this thing...

Okay I previously gave Auto Dry a decent review, but after driving my car in the bright sunlight, I noticed ALOT of faint waterspots all over my windshield and side glass, as well as mirrors and sunroof.

At first, the car *appears* to be spotless from a normal distance, but don't let this product fool you. It will leave waterspots on your car if you look closely through your windshield from the inside. I would assume these spots are all over the car, not just on my glass.

For all you "true believers" out there, why don't you look closely through your windshield in the bright sunlight. Tell me it is perfectly clear. It certainly wasn't the case for me---this after HEAVY rinsing with the filter mode.

To the average person, for all intents and purposes the car appears spotless. But for the super-anal car lover (who this product targetted in their commercials), this product will definitely disappoint.

The filter isn't as effective as I had hoped. Oh well.. $15 test at least satisfied my curiousity if anything.

Quite interesting reading. After hearing from everyone who has posted so far, it sounds like the product is good enough for a "good" shine and leaves your car reasonably spot-free; it's not a whole lot less trouble than doing the dry by-hand; and it's not as good (as effective against spotting) as the dry by-hand method. The sticky residue part is enough to scare me off. That and the couple of mentions about it possibly screwing up Zaino.

I live in Houston too, almost always have, and yes we have hard water but I find that on a Zaino'd surface, in the shade that I can avoid water-spots altogether by hand-drying. I generally squirt a little Z-6 on each section before I towel dry. It makes the towel slide easier and tends to impart some shine. The change in the wetting-properties of the surface that the Z-6 causes may help explain the lack of trouble with spotting as well.

I'm not sure who alleged that a perfectly waxed surface will not cause water to bead but that's simply not true. The wax or polymer in part serves as a water-repelant and because it does so, it has to be relatively insoluble in water. Generally, liquid chemicals which are insoluble in water (and these items are pretty much a liquid when applied) have a surface tension that is high enough to cause water to bead. It's similar to liquid beading up on a Scotch-guarded surface. You'd rather have it bead than penetrate. While the beading in and of itself does nothing, it is indicative of a surface that's coated with a water-repelant. If this isn't convincing, then explain to me why water would (will) bead on the surface of a freshly opened cake of wax. You have no "unwaxed" spots there, yet water beads up like mercury if you drizzle some on the surface of the wax. Beading is not a sign that your wax-coat has imperfections; it's simply a sign that you've got a coat of "something" on the paint that doesn't like water....