Almost every swirl mark on a car was put there during a wash. A coating does not change that. It means the marks are now sealed under something hard and clear.
Two things matter and nothing else does much: a shampoo with no cutting agents in it, and a method that keeps grit off the paint once it is off the paint.
Our pick A pH-neutral shampoo with no gloss additives or wax in it.
Out of stock right now. The alternatives below are available.
Gtechniq built its business on professional coatings, and this is the shampoo written to go over them: it cleans and leaves nothing behind that could mask the coating underneath.
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It will not make the car shine on its own, which is the point and disappoints people expecting a wax shampoo.
Same job, different trade-offs.
A long-pile microfiber mitt.
Out of stock right now.
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Deep pile carries grit up away from the paint instead of dragging it along the surface, which is the entire job of a mitt and the one thing a sponge cannot do.
Wash it separately from everything else and never with fabric softener, which kills it.
A grid that sits in the bottom of a wash bucket.
Out of stock right now.
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The highest-value thing on this site for the money. It traps grit under the grid so the mitt cannot pick it back up, and it prevents more paint damage than any product here.
Needs a bucket wide enough to take it. Two buckets means two guards.
A German trade shampoo with a slickness additive.
Out of stock right now.
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This turns up on professional price lists rather than in consumer marketing, which is usually a good sign. Very slick, so the mitt drags less across the panel.
Priced for a business buying by the liter. For one car a year it is more than you need.
A neutral maintenance shampoo from a coating manufacturer.
Out of stock right now.
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A company that also sells the coating has no reason to put anything in the shampoo that shortens it. High foam, which makes it easier to see where you have been.
Dilution matters more than with supermarket shampoo. Guessing wastes it.
A high-foam neutral shampoo sold for use with a foam cannon.
Out of stock right now.
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Built for the pre-wash foam step rather than the bucket, so it is the one to pair with a cannon.
Foam is not cleaning. It looks impressive and still needs a mitt afterwards.
A widely stocked neutral shampoo.
Out of stock right now.
Buy on Amazon
Available in any parts store, which matters more than it sounds when you have run out on a Saturday. Neutral enough not to strip a coating.
Contains conditioners that add their own gloss. Harmless, but it is doing something on top of your coating rather than just cleaning it.
Prices come from Amazon and update hourly. We earn a commission on anything bought through these links, at no extra cost to you, and no brand paid to be here.
The full aftercare routineGtechniq GWash Shampoo. A pH-neutral shampoo with no gloss additives or wax in it. Gtechniq built its business on professional coatings, and this is the shampoo written to go over them: it cleans and leaves nothing behind that could mask the coating underneath.
No. Dish soap is built to strip grease and it takes the sacrificial top layer of the coating with it. One wash will not destroy anything, but a routine of it is the most common reason a coating stops beading a year early. Any shampoo labeled pH-neutral costs about the same and does not do that.
Every two weeks is a reasonable default, more often where roads are salted. A coating makes washing faster rather than less necessary: contamination still lands on it, and bird droppings or hard water left to bake on will etch the coating the same way they would etch paint.
No, but a pre-rinse of some kind matters more than which shampoo you buy. The point is to move loose grit off the panel before a mitt touches it. A hose does that. A pressure washer with a foam cannon does it better.
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