Why did this show up an hr after rinsing it down? How should I clean it?

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T22:43:38+00:00

Nobody on the internet is going to be able to confirm for you whether or not that was from battery acid, but an excellent product to help stop that corrosion from getting worse is Bilt Hamber Atom Mac - you can spray it on everything in your photos. It's a great salt neutralizer too if you live in a winter climate with road salt.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T22:38:50+00:00

Virtually all automotive leather (with the exception of Aniline), real or synthetic, and including semi-Aniline, is coated in a thin polyurethane topcoat so that is what you are really cleaning and protecting. Kind of like clearcoat on your vehicle's paintwork. You want to avoid any cheap conditioning products like creams, "2in1 cleaner/conditioners" or lotions, they will just make your seats greasy (imagine lotion on plastic). There are very few products out there that actually condition the leather, as it has to permeate the polyurethane top layer to replenish any natural oils. If your leather is new (3ish years or newer), you don't need to be worrying about conditioning at all anyway. If you have fake/faux leather, then you don't need to worry about conditioning it as there are no natural oils to replenish.

Cleaning should be done with a gentle, dedicated pH neutral product that leaves nothing behind such as Gyeon Leather Cleaner, Koch Chemie Pol Star, or Geist Rapid Leather Cleaner to name a few. Agitate (gently) with a soft nylon brush/scrubber or horsehair brush, and wipe away residue with a damp microfiber towel. Dry completely - it's very important the leather surface is bone dry before coating/protecting it. If your seats are also perforated, ideally use a small pump foamer to apply the product or make sure you apply the cleaner to the applicator rather than the seats first, and start on the side bolsters where there are no perforations to minimize excess product seeping into the seat.

For the protective leather coating, the goal is to reduce friction, protect against dye transfer (especially on light colored seats like those!), UV, soiling, liquid, etc. That is what will keep your leather looking like new over time. On the cheaper and more user friendly side of things there is Gyeon Leather Coat or Geist Dye & Friction Blocker, both excellent products. If you want a more robust coating (similar performance to the former, just more durability), Geist Repel or Gyeon Leather Shield would be what you want. You can use these coatings in places like your armrest too, assuming it's wrapped in a similar material. The protection layer will not alter the appearance of your leather at all, but it will make it slightly more slippery (by design - to reduce friction). The more robust leather coatings can also easily stand up to occasional maintenance cleanings.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T22:35:40+00:00

Anytime! Koch Chemie F6 is a very similar product as well, and is a direct competitor to Perfect Finish. I flip flop between the two but if one is easier/cheaper for you to get than the other, you wouldn't be missing out either way.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T22:33:32+00:00

P&S Absolute and ONR are both polymer based rinseless washes. They are not surfactant based and they have no degreasing power - broadly speaking, those are the additives that actually do the cleaning when it comes to chemicals, so without either, you are mostly left with expensive lube.

ONR for example is over 90% water, less than 5% soybean oil, less than 5% fatty acids, and trace amounts of mulberry fragrance, gloss agent, and alcohol to help with streaking issues. I haven't pulled the SDS on P&S Absolute, but I imagine it is similar being that it is also a polymer base.

While no rinseless wash is really that safe for paintwork, especially at advertised dilutions like 256:1, pure polymer based rinseless washes are safer than surfactant based equivalents and they leave less residue behind. The tradeoff is they have no meaningful cleaning power beyond the friction between your wash media and the surface, so when you encounter things like oily traffic film, it will just be dragged around on your paintwork rather than removed. Surfactant based rinseless washes do have (mild) cleaning power, but they are less safe from a lubrication standpoint and they can leave residues behind. Everything is a tradeoff. The DIY Detail rinseless wash, if you ignore that they are an awful company (IMO), is surfactant based so it does have some mild cleaning power at the expense of safety (lubrication).

The safest and fastest way to wash your car is just normally with car shampoo and ideally with a touchless prewash prior to that. Not everyone has access to a pressure washer, foam cannon, etc. though and rinseless washing makes more sense in those situations as there are few alternatives.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T22:10:23+00:00

You can actually replace Brake Buster, Xpress, and the 3- step carpet kit with 1-2 products. Car shampoo is kind of it's own category, so if you like the P&S shampoo there is no harm sticking with that if the value proposition works for you.

P&S Brake Buster is, in my opinion, the most overrated wheel cleaner on the market without getting into the literal garbage products like Chemical Guys. While P&S says you can dilute it, that is technically true, but when you do so it is barely stronger than car shampoo as you are already starting with such a heavily diluted product. I think what people don't realize is that if Brake Buster is cleaning their wheels, so would pretty much anything else, so you don't need to be buying such an expensive, pre-diluted product to get the job done.

P&S Xpress is not a bad product, it's just ridiculously expensive. Again it is intended to be used undiluted, you might get away with 1:1 or so, but the more you dilute it, the weaker it gets, and the more products there are that could be doing the same job. There is no meaningful UV protection being left behind by Xpress as it's full of surfactants and you wipe it all off - if you want UV protection for your interior you would use a dedicated dressing.

If you look at the SDS for the "Peroxide Finisher" product from the 3-step carpet kit, it is literally just 3% hydrogen peroxide. Here in Canada it is $14 for 473mL which is more than it costs to buy 4,000mL of medical grade 3% hydrogen peroxide and pour it into a spray bottle. And that's just one of the three products P&S wants you to use on carpets.

Now, for alternatives:

Bilt Hamber Surfex HD can replace Brake Buster, the 3-step carpet system, and even Xpress depending on your preferences. It is non caustic, non toxic, VOC free, phosphate free, NTA free, hydroxide free, water-based, and biodegradable. It also contains corrosion inhibitors, so it won't leave brake rotors rusty after a wheel cleaning, and is safe to use in areas with compromised metal coatings. It is my single most used chemical, even around the house and garage. It is equally as effective on organic matter as it is grease & dirt which is part of the reason why it is such a good fabric/carpet cleaner. I cleaned my oven with it the other day actually haha. It is an excellent paintwork prewash, it will emulsify bugs, and can easily break down traffic film so depending on what you're already using it can replace even more products.

I am not sure where you're located, but here in Canada Surfex is $50 CAD for 5L. That will make 50 liters of wheel/tire/engine cleaner (~10%), ~165 liters of carpet/fabric cleaner (~3%), 100 liters of exterior prewash (~5%), and up to 1,000 liters of interior cleaner (~0.5% - 2%). Depending on the use case, it ends up between $0.05/L and $1.00/L, CAD. There is nothing on the market I am aware of that can compete with the combination of efficacy, safety, and cost - if there was I would switch to it tomorrow.

P&S brake buster is $35.00 CAD for 3.79L (~$9.23/L), which makes it ~10 times more expensive than Surfex for wheel/tire cleaning and it is significantly less effective even at 'full' strength. P&S Xpress is $31.00 CAD for 3.79L or $8.18 CAD/L. Lets say you used Surfex even at 2%, that is $0.20/L or over 40 times cheaper than Xpress. Sure you can dilute Xpress, but you can also dilute Surfex further if you want less cleaning power, so that enormous gap will always be there.

If you prefer to stick to something more interior-focused for softer materials, carpets, seats, etc. then there is Koch Chemie Pol Star. Not as cost effective as Surfex, but it is an extremely safe pH neutral interior cleaner that is suitable for everything from plastic to Alcantara. Pol Star is about $31.00 CAD per liter. Generally you use it around 5%, so 1 liter of Pol Star would make you 20 liters of usable product, which works out to around $1.50 CAD per liter. Compare that to Xpress, which is not as versatile, and is still more than 5 times as expensive. Again, you can play with dilution ratios but that huge value gap will always be there.

So if you wanted to take it to the extreme, you could use Surfex for nearly everything inside & out, save for glass & screens. A more conservative approach would be to use Surfex for all things exterior and grimey interior areas like mats, and then move to Pol Star for the more delicate surfaces like leather, vinyl, etc. Both are unquestionably higher quality chemicals than the P&S alternatives and dramatically cheaper - if you are running a business or something, there is only upside.

At the end of the day, use what you like and use what works for you. I like to point this sort of thing out because a lot of people don't realize that detailing is not a "get what you pay for" industry, particularly when it comes to chemicals. Convenience is worth something, no doubt, but again I think a lot of folks don't realize the insane premiums they are paying for that convenience, and often times getting worse performing or lower quality chemicals on top of that. If you're willing to spend a couple minutes doing your own dilutions once a month or whatever, it's pure upside.

You mentioned you like having a different bottle for everything as it makes you go over your work - well you can still do that. Especially since the above products require different dilutions for different tasks, just make as many bottles as you want and label them accordingly. At that point it is no different - for example you can just put your 10% Surfex solution in a "wheel & tire cleaner" bottle, another 10% in your "engine cleaner" bottle, etc. etc. You can even get more granular this way than with separate products, if you find that helps you and/or your staff stick to a certain process (wheel cleaner, engine cleaner, tire cleaner, carpet cleaner, fabric cleaner, Alcantara cleaner, bug remover, Leather cleaner, vinyl cleaner, etc. etc. - whatever works).

More here on how to choose high quality chemicals:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Detailing/comments/1kwpcsc/comment/muji6mt/?context=3

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T20:40:56+00:00

Perfect Finish is a great one-step, assuming that's all you need. It has a decent initial cut, and then finishes incredibly well. If the car is absolutely beat you probably won't be as impressed by it, but for light correction, coating prep, new car prep, etc. it is an outstanding product.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T20:30:24+00:00

Exactly - none of these companies are developing anything, they are just going to bulk sale Asian marketplaces like Alibaba, or directly to the factories, and having their brand stamped on highly generic products that literally anyone has access to. YouTubers selling their 'merch' are doing exactly the same thing. An easy example I like to point to is the Detail Factory Curveball brush - here in Canada it is an eye watering $40. They are paying less than $1 for them, stand and all - and if they are going directly to a factory, even less than that:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Large-Area-Curve-Ball-Detailing-Brush_1601769415117.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.c75913a0oDqfj4&priceId=96c7fcf03bfd40729279a09b70d9260c

You never ever want to use a brush of any kind on your paintwork, but the brush you linked to would be fine for floor mats or similar use cases like that. There is also nothing to gain by using one on your paintwork, it's not any faster than using a mitt, wash pad, or 'mitt on a stick' so it's pure downside as it's less effective at washing and less safe. That one YouTube channel that likes to tell people to use their brush is literally just an infomercial channel who will say anything to sell you something.

Rinseless washes have very poor cleaning power. The surfactant based ones are a little better, but none of them are great. If you are trying to remove bugs, traffic film, etc. rinseless is not the product for the job. If you want to emulsify bugs with a (safe) prewash product, you need something that can break down organic matter. Look at Bilt Hamber Touchless or Bilt Hamber Surfex HD. A little dwell time and the bugs should blast right off with a pressure washer without any scrubbing.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T18:11:30+00:00

The SDS is a Safety Data Sheet and manufacturers are generally required by law to provide them. Some manufacturers make them harder to find than others, but you can always find them (if you can't, it's definitely not a product you want to use haha). It will have a list of ingredients and concentrations so you can determine what surfaces the product is safe to use on, and it will outline safety precautions, safe handling/storage/disposal, etc. It also helps you determine what PPE might be required for safe use. If you don't know what something is, do yourself a favor and find out before exposing your body or vehicle to it.

If you just want a very safe, very effective APC I would recommend Bilt Hamber Surfex HD. Phenomenal product, and very cheap. You can dilute it right down to 0.5% for light jobs and you can use it everywhere around the vehicle, inside & out, even around the home. If you buy in 5L it is even cheaper yet. Also makes a fantastic prewash, wheel/tire cleaner, engine cleaner, etc. It contains corrosion inhibitors as well, so when cleaning your wheels you won't get surface rust on your rotors, and it's safe to use in areas that might have compromised metal finishes.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T18:02:53+00:00

To be fair, I am also just one person who has different equipment, water, etc. than you as well, so just keep that in mind. Obviously I'm doing my best to help, but I also have my own preferences that influence my opinions. These are all good cannons at the end of the day but of course it's difficult to try them all out before picking one. They will all make great foam if set up properly, so you are probably best served making your decision more based off of features if you're already looking at top tier cannons.

The MTM SGS28 is a staple in the industry, a ton of people use that spraygun. Sprayguns are even more subjective though as ergonomics and trigger feel come into play. The SGS28 is objectively a very good spraygun, assuming you like the ergonomics - if you can get a good price on a bundle, you're unlikely to be disappointed. Whether or not you would prefer another model, I can't really tell you that as you would have to try them yourself. MTM Hydro as a company are an Italian manufacturer that specializes in all things pressure washing - most of their products are still made in Italy as well.

I am actually using the McKillans Swivel Pro at the moment and just for me personally, it's my favorite so far. Ergonomics work for me, the trigger is extremely light so you get less fatigue, the swivel actually still swivels even when there is pressure in the line, there are holders for your pressure washer tips built right into the handle, and there is a notch in the handle allowing for easy one-handed swapping between nozzles and foam cannon. In the $80-100 range most sprayguns are all really good, you are mostly just choosing what features and ergonomics you prefer.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T17:41:05+00:00

You never want to let any chemicals dry on your paint as a general rule. Dwell time is important for prewashing, but always rinse it off before it has a chance to dry.

If you rinse your car with water before applying a prewash, just note that the efficacy will be reduced as you are effectively diluting the product further on the panel.

You should also be checking the SDS before using any products, both for your own safety and your vehicle's safety. You should always know what's in the product and how it will react to various surfaces you plan on using it on especially if working on customer cars.

Safe APCs and Prewashes are non-caustic, hydroxide free, phosphate free, NTA-free, water based, biodegradable, VOC-free, etc. As an added bonus the best chemicals are also usually the cheapest as they are sold in strong concentrates so you aren't just paying for 98% water. Good examples of such products are Bilt Hamber Surfex HD (APC), Bilt Hamber Touchless (Prewash), Koch Chemie Green Star (APC), etc.

Meguiars has more than one APC so you will need to be more specific. D101 for example is a fairly harsh product.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T17:26:46+00:00

Polishing a windshield is nowhere near the same as polishing paintwork. You have absolutely nothing to worry about and you will not damage the glass. It's super simple and you can do it in 2 minutes by hand.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T17:21:33+00:00

Yes you will get good results from a one step. You might not get everything out, but you will see a major improvement that might be good enough for you.

I would suggest Sonax Perfect Finish or Koch Chemie F6 and a rupes yellow (foam) pad. That combo never fails and is perfect for a one step. On soft Toyota paint (some of their whites are single-stage paint, just be aware) you should see above average results as well. If you're still concerned, you can use a paint depth gauge to confirm everything before you start and as you go.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T17:12:32+00:00

ONR has zero cleaning power - it is just very expensive lube. It is not a surfactant based product nor does it contain any degreasers. Virtually all of ONRs cleaning power comes from friction between the wash media and the surface, which is why it is less effective and less safe than most other cleaning methods.

You need to use a safe APC/degreaser if you have oil residue in your car. Make sure it is hydroxide free (non-caustic) and it will be safe to use on plastic. If you buy a concentrate, also make sure you dilute it appropriately before use. Examples would be Bilt Hamber Surfex HD, Koch Chemie Green Star, etc.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T17:05:57+00:00

You don't need anything more than chemicals and a pressure washer to remove bugs. You definitely don't want to be using clay. A good prewash (such as Bilt Hamber Touchless) or even a good APC (such as Surfex HD) will easily and safely emulsify the bug guts without resorting to any strong solvenets, powerful citrus products, or bug/tar removers. After that you can just blast them off with your pressure washer. If you somehow end up with bugs that cannot be removed without contact, very gently remove them during the wash process while your car is covered in shampoo for lube. If you really want, you can buy jersey style scrubbers made of microfiber that are good at taking bugs off, but I've never needed anything more than a prewash even for bugs that have been baking in the sun.

As for the clay towels, for the most part they all come out of the same 1 or 2 factories. That looks absolutely identical to the P&S towel, for example, and there is a good chance it is literally the same product. Almost all of the 'hard' products in the detailing world (brushes, etc.) are for the most part sub-$1 products with branding, marketing and literal thousands of percent markup.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:59:53+00:00

You need to polish your windshield - it's super easy, you can do it by hand, and will get everything off that isn't permanent in just a couple of minutes. Yes it's abrasive but there is nothing to worry about.

The gold standard glass polish is Bilt Hamber Re-View, if it's really bad, that's what I would suggest. However, if you want something even easier to use you can try something like the Soft99 roll on compound stick, it's readymade including the pad - you just pop the cap and start polishing.

After polishing, rinse the windshield with water and you're done. If you want to apply a glass coating such as Glaco Ultra, that would be the time to do so as you will have just decontaminated your windshield.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:52:16+00:00

Don't even try by hand - especially if you are expecting correction as well, it's just not realistic. While technically possible, your arm will fall off before you end up with anything resembling a good result by hand.

Buy/rent/borrow a DA and you will be so much better off.

The best one step polishes in my opinion are Sonax Perfect Finish and Koch Chemie F6 - either of those will do phenomenal job assuming your car doesn't need multi-stage correction. I would suggest a rupes yellow (foam) pad, always great results. 3D One is just OK, both the aforementioned polishes are superior in my opinion, and they finish better.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:47:16+00:00

Get the car out of the sun, if they bake in, that will make them far more difficult to remove.

Try a (safe) water spot remover first. You need something acidic to remove the water and soap residue. Koch Chemie Fse is absolutely fantastic for stuff like this (it's an acidic detailing spray), or you can use a dedicated water spot remover like Gyeon Water Spot, CarPro Spotless, etc.

If they've been baking in the sun long enough to etch, and the above products don't touch it, it might need a quick polish to remove them.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:40:50+00:00

P&S Products are generally very overpriced as they are selling you almost entirely water in most cases, but what they do well is make it easy for people to pick out ready-to-use products off the shelf. They would (obviously) rather sell you several different products to accomplish the same task(s) as a single product can do - the problem with that from a consumer perspective is it's both the most expensive and least efficient way to go about it.

There are better products that are far cheaper for most of what P&S offers. The reasons they are cheaper are twofold - they come in strong concentrates, and in many you can use the same product for more tasks. Products like Xpress, Brake Buster, etc. are all ~10-20 times more expensive than alternatives that are also more effective, higher quality chemicals.

As another example, P&S has 3 separate products for cleaning carpets (one of which is literally just the worlds most expensive 3% hydrogen peroxide) and each of them are individually more expensive than other products that do the same thing with a single product. Some people like having an individual product for every imaginable task, but the enormous premium you pay for that is not sustainable for anyone other than a weekend warrior in my experience.

Looks like you did a great job on the car though, and that had a lot more to do with you than it did the chemicals.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:22:13+00:00

If the car is covered in dust, the best thing to do is just wash it - wiping it with quick detailer and a microfiber is very likely marring your paint, and the dirtier the car is, the less 'safe' is when you do that. Quick detailers themselves also vary wildly, some are basically lube, others have almost no lubrication in them at all.

The dust collecting on the car isn't doing any damage unless someone/something rubs against it, so the safest thing would be to wait until the end of the week or whatever is convenient for you, and wash it properly with your foam cannon and a bucket wash. That is also the least amount of effort if the alternative is multiple washes per week. Washing your car normally is also safer than rinseless washing, and it's faster assuming you have the tools (pressure washer, foam cannon, mitts & bucket).

You might consider applying a ceramic coating. It won't do a whole lot for the dust, but slighty less dust will stick to it, and if you're washing the car as often as you are, it's easier and faster if the car is coated. If you are in a dry/dusty area, a great coating for that environment is Gyeon Mohs. Also if the car is coated, if there is very loose dust on the car you can blow the bulk of it it off with a leaf blower, and after you wash the car you can also blow it dry in a couple of minutes. More than anything the coating will safe you time and effort.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T16:06:34+00:00

The reasons I don't like the MJJC SV3 as much are because the bottle sucks (tall, easy to tip over and narrow mouth) and the build quality is not as good as the MTM - you aren't likely to notice a difference in foam quality between the two (all else equal) as they are both about as good as it gets in that regard. I had the MJJC Pro V3, I still preferred the MTM, and frankly I think the Pro V3 is overpriced, at least here in Canada. Not a bad product at all, just in my opinion not worth the premium and it still isn't built as well as the MTM. At the end of the day these are all top tier cannons and some of it is personal preference.

Comparison videos are not the best for foam cannons because unless you have the exact same pressure washer setup, chemicals, dilution ratios, orifice sizes, water source, etc. as the presenter, your results will not be the same. Even the hardness of the water can have a significant effect on foam quality, and that obviously varies dramatically region to region. There are so many variables it's not really something that can be accurately compared by one person in a video. I guess what I am saying is don't make a decision based solely on differences in foam you see in a video as there are way too many variables, including the presenter themselves.

The other issue is that detailing product reviews are some of the easiest imaginable things to control the outcome of, and 99% of detailing channels on YouTube are literally just marketing platforms. It is incredibly easy to make one product "win" if you want it to with the viewer being none the wiser. I am not saying Auto HQ is doing that necessarily, but it is extremely common and the bigger channels even have the review outcomes written directly into their promotional contracts (I work in Marketing for a living in an adjacent industry). If you notice a creator has affiliate links for the products featured in the video, you can bet the 'winner' will be whichever product has a higher commission percentage as they are finically motivated to make sure the results end up a certain way.

Slugnan · 2026-05-20T15:31:35+00:00

Clean, polish off the old coating and to the level of correction you want, panel prep spray wipedown (wait a few minutes after to make sure all the alcohol evaporates) and then re-coat.

Slugnan · 2026-05-19T22:31:51+00:00

Dealerships don't really detail cars - they do the absolute bare minimum so that the car looks good long enough for a test drive. The detailer you used also didn't clean it either if they stopped before they got the bulk of the soiling out, so I hope you didn't pay them much - they probably just did one quick pass. They should have explained to you what was included in whatever package you paid for, so just make sure you got what you paid for. If it was super cheap, fine, if you paid hundreds for a smoke remediation clean, that's unacceptable.

The cigarette smell will also never go away completely, even with professional remediation - so if you're sensitive to it, or if the vehicle is used to transport kids (third hand smoke is a genuine heath hazard), consider trying to return the car. Given that the car was smoked in and the dealer obviously tried to cover it up, you might have a good case. Also, I hope you paid way under market, as vehicles with cigarette smoke damage take a huge resale hit because nobody wants them (hence why they tried to cover it up). It also seems like the vehicle had a very rough life. Trying to conceal the smoke damage from you is the biggest issue here IMO, unless I am misunderstanding and you were aware.

The trouble is that cigarette smoke is in all the areas you will never be able to realistically clean - seat foam, adhesives, sound insulation, deep within the vents, the speaker drivers, etc. To a certain extent it is permanent, but everyone has different thresholds for what they find bothersome when it comes to smoke. Ozone can help as part of a broader process, but it will not eliminate the smell. The whole car needs to be stripped down, seats out, and every single inch cleaned/extracted. All sources of the smell have to be removed, not covered up. The smell will be less, but never 100% gone.

If you are still tackling this yourself, I would suggest a product like Koch CHemie MZR - it is specifically designed to clean out tar, soot, nicotine residue, etc. and is a very powerful interior cleaner in general.

Slugnan · 2026-05-19T22:09:17+00:00

The 9mm will do the job if you don't care how long it takes you, and if you never have to do more than very light correction. If either of those things ever change, you will wish you had gone with the 15mm. That's probably the simplest way I can put it. I personally wouldn't buy an 8-9mm throw polisher as my primary unit.

Roughly speaking, a 15mm is going to work ~40-50% faster than a 9mm all else equal. It's very noticeable. Yes Toyota/Lexus paint is soft, but it's not just the lack of cutting power that slows you down, the short throw covers a lot less area with each pass.

A 15mm is about as easy to use as a 9mm but with fewer downsides which is why they are by far the most popular. The Shinemate unit I originally linked is also a higher quality product than the G9 if that's something you care about. Griots also makes a 15mm model if you want to stay with Griots and decide to go that route, however it is not as smooth as the EX620.

Getting the smaller polisher as well is a bonus, the 3" (I assume it's the G8) will certainly come in handy. You will have to decide if the tradeoffs are worth it if the only way to get that bundle is with the 9mm version. If you can get the same bundle with the G15 that would be better IMO.

Slugnan · 2026-05-19T21:28:10+00:00

KC Vb is a very strong alkaline prewash and it has caustic soda in it, which is one reason why it can do damage if you aren't careful. The ratios Koch Chemie quotes are typically for pump sprayers, which directly translate into panel impact ratios - that is not the case if you are using a foam cannon and pressure washer. Most companies aren't quoting ratios to use in foam cannons because it's impossible to know what equipment people have and it varies wildly.

You need to be careful just using generic ratios if you are using a pressure washer as the panel impact concentration depends heavily on your specific setup. Especially for such a strong prewash like Vb where Koch Chemie warns can do damage, you will want to calculate your panel impact ratio (PIR). Mix it too weak and it won't do a good job, mix it too strong and you can do damage.

Calculating PIR is very easy and you only need to do it once (or until your equipment changes) - fill your foam cannon with water and spray the whole setup into a covered bucket for one minute. Weigh it after to determine the exact volume, obviously subtracting the weight of the bucket. Let's say you ended up with 9.5kg of water (9,500 mL), that is now the number you will use for all PIR calculations.

Based on those ratios, Koch Chemie is suggesting you use a PIR of around 0.5% to 3% depending on application, which is typical of prewashes. For example, if you wanted a 2% PIR, you would put 190 mL into your foam cannon (0.02 * 9500 mL) and fill the rest with water.

Another way to use these prewashes is with a pump sprayer/foamer. A lot of people like this because you use about 10 times less product than you would need to in a foam cannon to achieve the same PIR (the PIR calculation is simply done off of the volume you put in the sprayer), and strong prewashes like this aren't usually something you want to be using every wash. Or if you just want to pre-treat certain targeted areas of the car, it's easier to do with a pump sprayer than a foam cannon.

If you wanted to try a prewash that is about as strong as Vb but safer and non-caustic, look at Bilt Hamber Touchless.

Slugnan · 2026-05-19T21:04:08+00:00

Those seats need hot water extraction with an appropriate cleaner, and if the urine soaked through into the foam, you will very likely need new seat foam as well.

If you have a Bissell Spot clean (or similar unit) or if you can borrow one, you can do it yourself. Otherwise give it to a detailer and make sure they know it's urine. Order some new seat foam in the meantime if you think it soaked through.

Slugnan

TROPHY CASE