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Shampoo's Reviewed and Rated (in a Shootout)

981K views 498 replies 131 participants last post by  AD18 
#1 · (Edited)
I'll start this thread off with a caveat, I cannot test 100% of shampoo's on the market today so this test is in no way complete. However please keep in mind that these are MY thoughts on the shampoos after using them and hunting for (in my mind) the best value for money shampoo on the market that delivers the best user experience/result, and in no way reflects the opinions of any other member of Detailing World.

All the shampoo's tested managed to clean my car so they all work! Prior to using the shampoo the car was always snowfoamed. I have also attempted to make sure the car is in roughly the same condition (dirt wise) before I re-wash the car to ensure the results are as accurate as possible.

For the purpose of these reviews the car was washed with a Microfiber Madness Incredimitt, also FYI I live in a very soft water area, so your results may differ from my findings.

The history:
I have seen a lot of threads (one of mine included) asking for recommendations for the next shampoo. With this in mind I thought that I would try to review and rate some of mine. At this point I'll say to any supplier that if they would like to send me a sample I'll update this thread accordingly with the results.

So how will this be structured?
I will be rating the shampoo's on a few areas:
Slickness
Suds (and how long they last)
Cleaning Power (This will be simply marked as a score unless there is a reason to comment on it)
Economy (in use, i.e. how much do I need to use per wash?)
Cost (when Economy is taken into account)

The Shampoo's will be all marked out of 10 and the rating adjusted accordingly.

My criteria for a shampoo is...It must be PH neutral and contain no waxes etc. i.e. I want a pure shampoo. I also have a few shampoo's that I'm fairly confident not many people will have tried so hopefully it may highlight what's out there. Again if anyone would like to send me a sample i'll review, rate and update this thread accordingly.

Shampoo's tested thus far: .50.Cal Tracer Shampoo, Adam's Shampoo & Adams Wash and Wax, Alien Magic Wave, AM Bubbles, Ammo Paint Cleanser, Angelwax Shampoo, Autoglym Super Strength Shampoo, Auto Allure Bathe Shampoo, AutoGlanz Bubblicious, AVC Banana Lux, Bear Car Care Luminous, BH Auto-Wash, Bouncers Slick Mick, Britemax Cleanmax, Britemax PureMax, CarChem 1900:1 & Super Suds Shampoo, CarPro Reset, Chemical Guys Mr Pink, DetailedOnline Elite Shampoo, Detailers Passion Super Sudz, Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild, Dooka Wash, EZ Car Care Supercharged, Fictech Red and Black Bubble, Finish Kare #118 Shampoo, G3 Pro Body Prep Shampoo, Garry Deans The Perfect Soap (old and new versions), Gyeon Q2M Bathe+, GleemFreaks Super Suds, Gtechniq Gwash, Illuminate Car Care Shampoo, Lusso Auto Bathe, Killer Waxx Northern Lights Super Sudz Soap, Krystal Kleen Choccy Wash, Liquid Elements Pearl Rain Car Shampoo Unicorn Edition, Nanolex Pure Shampoo, Nasiol Cleanion, Obsession Wax Purify, ODK Jet, Optimum Car Wash, Orchard Autocare Bramley Bubble Bath, RaceGalce AquaGlide, Slick Monkey Slick Suds, Sonax Deep Gloss, Wolf's Chemicals White Satin, WoWo's Dry Shampoo, WoWo's Wax Shampoo, Zaino Z7.

The Table
49/50 - Bilt Hamber Auto-Wash
48/50 - Garry Deans The Perfect Soap
47/50 - ODK Jet & CarChem Super Suds Shampoo
46/50 - CarChem 1900:1
45.5/50 - Nanolex Pure Shampoo, EZ Car Care Supercharged, Illuminate Car Care Shampoo & Dooka Wash
45/50 - Wolf's Chemicals White Satin, Bear Car Care Luminous, Optimum Car Wash & WoWo's Dry Shampoo
44.5/50 - Bitemax Cleanmax, Bouncers Slick Mick, Adam's Shampoo, Kyrstal Kleen Choccy Wash, AVC Banana Lux, Detailers Passion Super Sudz & AutoGlanz Bubblicious
44/50 - DetailedOnline Elite Shampoo
43.5/50 - CarPro Reset, GleemFreaks Super Suds, Alien Magic Wave, Adams Wash and wax, Autoglym Super Strength Shampoo & Britemax PureMax
43/50 - Nasiol Cleanion Pro Shampoo, Fictech Red (and Black) Bubble, Slick Monkey Slick Suds, RaceGlaze AquaGlide, Gyeon Q2M Bathe+ & Finish Kare #118 Shampoo
41/50 - .50.Cal Tracer Shampoo & Liquid Elements Pearl Rain Car Shampoo Unicorn Edition
40.5/50 - Zaino Z7
40/50 - Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild & Garry Deans The Perfect Soap (old version), G3 Pro Body Prep Shampoo & Auto Allure Bathe Shampoo
39/50 - Lusso Auto Bathe
38.5/50 - WoWo's Wax Shampoo
38/50 Angelwax Shampoo
35/50 - Gtechniq Gwash, Auto Finesse Lather & Ammo Paint Cleanser
34.5/50 - Chemical Guys Mr Pink
34/50 - AM Bubbles & Obsession Wax Purify
33/50 - Orchard Autocare Bramley Bubble Bath & Killer Waxx Northern Lights Super Sudz Soap
30/50 - Sonax Deep Gloss

On to the reviews:
First up is Ammo Foam Paint cleanser:


This is a very slick shampoo and gives very good suds which last, the appearance is slightly worrying as it looks a lot like fairy liquid!

Cost:
Priced at $18 or about £12 it's not too bad, the main issue with it is the shipping and import tax, if you bought this alone and had it shipped to the UK it would total close to $60 at a guess, so if you are planning to buy this shampoo it's best to group it with other items. For this review I have scored it as if you were buying it on its own.

Use:
The instructions say to use 3 squeezes and this equates to quite a lot of product. so it looses marks for economy.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ******** 8/10
Cleaning ********* 9/10
Economy ****** 6/10
Cost *** 3/10

Overall 34/50

Verdict:
A good shampoo, however the amount used and cost let this one down.

Next:
Car Chem 1900:1(Tailor Made) : http://car-chem.com


A great looking shampoo which is nice and slick, it also gives masses amounts of suds which last the whole wash.

Cost:
As this is the tailor made shampoo it costs a wee bit extra (£1 I think) and £4.99 for delivery, making the total around £17.

Use:
I added 2 capfuls to the bucket and it foamed up nicely, so scores good marks here.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********* 9/10
Cleaning ********* 10/10
Economy ********* 9/10
Cost ******** 9/10

Overall: 46/50

Verdict:
An extremely good shampoo, at a good price when considering how long the shampoo will last. The only slight let down for me is the fact that my blue shampoo has turned green and is a bit more fluid so I may have to speak to CarChem to see what they think and may end up getting a new one. Update CarChem replied to advise the shampoo is still good.

Next:
AM Bubbles:


This is a great smelling shampoo from AM Details, it smells of mangos :). It is also quite slick. The suds were good at the start, however I found that they didn't last as well as some of the others I've tested.

Cost:
£9 for 500ml which is ok, the main issue I had with it was the £6 p&p. I want to be clear with this one that the total cost was not the main issue, it was more a mental one of paying 2/3's the cost of the product in p&p.

Use:
The instruction say to add 2 capfuls to my wash bucket, however I found that I always needed to use 3 capfuls, not the end of the earth and depending on the size of your wash bucket you may find 2 caps are enough.

Scores
Slickness ******* 7/10
Suds ****** 6/10
Cleaning ******** 8/10
Economy ******* 7/10
Cost ****** 6/10

Overall: 34/50

Verdict:
A good shampoo with a great smell, for me the main sticking point is the p&p at the time of my last purchase.

Next:
Angelwax Shampoo:

This shampoo is quite slick and has a great smell, the bubbles were good and seemed to last for a good while.

Cost:
I picked this up in the Angelwax store for around £6, if you bought it online it would run you around £7.99 plus around £3 P&P.

Use:
I used 3 squeezes to get the suds I was happy with. So like some others it looses marks for economy, but gains some marks for the price when collecting in person.

Scores
Slickness ******** 8/10
Suds ******** 8/10
Cleaning ********* 9/10
Economy ****** 6/10
Cost ******* 7/10

Overall: 38/50

Verdict:
This is a good shampoo and very cheap if you're able to collect it from the store, I personally would have liked to use a bit less product but this may just be my set up. Update, upon using this shampoo again I have revised up the suds and slickness rating by 1 point.

Next:
Garry Deans The Perfect Soap:


This shampoo actually annoyed me a bit, calling it the Perfect Soap seems quite ballsy, so I thought I would give it a test.

The shampoo is extremely slick (even more so than the previous best), there are a tonne of suds which lasted 2 full cars (note, I did have to add additional water for the 2nd car, which generated more suds, but what was left at the end of the first wash would have lasted). To top it off is smells of bubblegum.

Cost:
At £22 this is the dearest shampoo i've tested, plus the P&P took it up to around £26, what swung it for me was that 1oz makes 3 gallons!

Use:
I put 1 capful into my wash bucket and foamed up. On reflection 1 capful was far too much product to use! Next time it will be 1 teaspoon. This ratio actually works it out to be the cheapest shampoo in the long run, which surprised the heck out of me.

Scores
Slickness ********** 10/10
Suds ********** 10/10
Cleaning ********** 10/10
Economy ********** 10/10
Cost N/A 0/10

Overall: 40/50

Verdict:
Calling the perfect shampoo was ballsy, but on reflection is it extremely close to the perfect shampoo for me! The only blip on the score was the initial outlay of almost £30. However given that it should last at least 4 times a long as its nearest competitor I think this price is justified.
UPDATE Garry Dean has confirmed that this is no longer for sale in the UK, his site does not appear to ship to the UK either. Therefore as it is not available, short of going to the USA, I have updated the cost from 9 to 0. Incredibly this doesn't make it at the bottom of the list!

Next:
.50.Cal Tracer Hi Gloss Shampoo http://www.50caldetailing.co.uk


A fantastic smelling shampoo, probably one of the nicest I've used/tested, the smell was of (fizzy) cola bottles - or at least to me it was :)

The shampoo was very slick and the washmitt was gliding over the panels with ease, the suds were also very good and lasted the complete wash (I am never in a rush washing cars :) )

Cost: At £8.99 (for 500ml) plus £4.99 P&P it is quite reasonably priced as a mid range shampoo.

Use: The instructions say to dilute 50:1 for heavy soiling and 500:1 for light soiling. My personal opinion is that I would prefer it to be detailed in capfuls in order to use the same amount each wash, I went for approximately 70:1 based on the size of my wash bucket and the size of the sample, at a best guess.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********* 9/10
Cleaning ********** 10/10
Economy ****** 6/10
Cost ******* 7/10

Overall: 41/50

Verdict:
A fantastic smelling shampoo at a reasonable price, I'm not 100% sure if it was a "pure" shampoo but it was enjoyable to use. My only gripe would be the usage, I prefer instructions by the number of caps to be added, as I felt it was very easy to use more product than was necessary.

Next:
Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild http://www.dodojuice.com


I had high hopes for this shampoo as it has been on my list of shampoos to try for a while now. It is extremely slick and gives tonnes of suds which last the whole wash. The sent is that of Raspberry (I think).

Cost: At approximately £17 for 500ml (CYC, and prior to discount) plus P&P which takes it to approximately £20, it's up there with the most expensive shampoos.

Use: The instructions say it can be diluted up to 800:1 as necessary, as with the .50.Cal shampoo my personal opinion is that I would prefer it to be detailed in capfuls in order to use the same amount each wash, I ended up using about 35ml for my tests and this gave the desired results.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********** 10/10
Cleaning ********* 9/10
Economy ****** 7/10
Cost ***** 5/10

Overall: 40/50

Verdict:
A great smelling shampoo with plenty of suds, however the high cost combined with amount of product (800:1 is quite a low dilution ratio compared to some of the other shampoo's on test) used let this one down for me and stops this from being higher up the table.

Next:
Gtechniq Gwash http://gtechniq.com


A nice smelling shampoo from Gtechniq (Cherry) which was quite slick on the panels. It gave a reasonable amount of suds however they did not last as long as some of the others tested.

Cost: At almost £13 for 500ml (prior to discount) plus P&P it's on the higher side of the mid priced shampoos. If you were going to go for this shampoo it would be more cost effective to go for the 5ltr at £45.

Use: The Instructions say to add 2 capfuls for light soiling and 4 for heavy, I went for the middle ground at 3 capfuls, however on reflection and to get the suds I was after I think I would be using 4 capfuls for a regular wash.

Scores
Slickness ******** 8/10
Suds ******* 7/10
Cleaning ******** 8/10
Economy ******* 6/10
Cost ****** 6/10

Overall: 35/50

Verdict:
A good shampoo from Gtechniq, however for me it misses the mark on suds and the cost is slightly high when taking into account that I would use more product than some of the others on test. Update, upon further consideration I have revised the cost and economy down by 1 point.

Next:
Adams Shampoo http://www.prestigecarcareshop.com


For some reason Adam's products always seemed to slip under my radar until it was suggested I give this shampoo a try, and I'm glad I did. This shampoo was very slick under my mitt and the scent was pleasant but not too strong, it generated a tonne of suds which lasted well.

Cost:
At £9.99 (Prestige Car care) plus £3.99 P&P it is pretty much bang in the middle price wise of the shampoo's tested so far.

Use:
Instructions for use on the website were hard to find and the sample which was sent by BTS (thanks :) ) didn't list it, however a quick PM to Prestige Car Care and I had my answer, 2oz - 3oz, I went for the lower side to see the results, on reflection 2oz was just about the right amount, I probably used slightly less that 2oz as it was hard to judge however at best guest 1.75oz.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********* 9/10
Cleaning ********** 10/10
Economy ******* 7.5/10
Cost ********* 9/10

Overall: 45/50

Verdict:
An extremely good shampoo, which sailed under my radar for too long! The only reason it's beaten into a close 3rd place at the time of writing is that I used slightly more product than the second place shampoo but the difference was pretty small.

Next
Auto Finesse Lather http://www.autofinesse.co.uk


A very pleasant smelling shampoo from Auto Finesse (AF), I've no idea what the scent is however it reminds me of being on holiday :)
Given the quality of other products from AF I was keen to try this shampoo which Aaron very kindly sent on to me. This shampoo has a reasonable amount of slickness however from a personal viewpoint I would have preferred it to feel a tad slicker. It also didn't generate a tonne of suds, however what it did generate seemed to last a reasonable time.

Cost:
At £11.95 plus £4.75 P&P (Auto Finesse Store) for 500ml is towards the higher end of the mid priced shampoo's which are on test.

Use:
From the 100ml sample I used approximately 30 - 35ml, my personal feeling is that to get the mix I would like I would need to use a bit more. However this is not that excessive.

Scores
Slickness ******* 7/10
Suds ****** 6/10
Cleaning ********* 9/10
Economy ******* 7/10
Cost ****** 6/10

Overall: 35/50

Verdict:
A difficult one to score, the quality of other AF products is hard to deny, however I feel that Lather while it still cleaned the car well and had a nice scent, missed the mark for me in terms of slickness, suds and the amount of product required to get my desired results.

Next:
Nanolex Pure Shampoo http://www.nanolex.de/en


Firstly a thank you to Nanolex for very generously sending me a 500ml bottle to test and review. This shampoo was a bit of an enigma to me, when I looked at it I thought it was far to watery to give the results I was after. The scent was almost impossible to place, without sounding obvious it smelt clean, almost clinically clean. However that being said I'm glad it tried it, the slickness was up there with the best of them. As for the suds, I had to stop filling my wash bucket a bit early due the the amount of suds being generated.

Cost:
At £13 and free delivery (polishedbliss.co.uk) it is well placed in the middle of the price range.

Use:
After working out the dilution rate to remove a medium soiling I ending up using approximately 40ml for the wash, for a light or standard wash I would use less than half that amount, this makes it an economicalish shampoo.However as noted previously my personal opinion is that I would prefer the instructions to be in capfuls, this is probably my OCD kicking in though.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********* 10/10
Cleaning ********* 10/10
Economy ******** 8/10
Cost ********* 8.5/10

Overall: 45.5/50

Verdict:
Simply put, a great shampoo at a great price. I forget who actually suggested trying this shampoo but it was a great suggestion. Update/edited After using the shampoo a few more times (the neighbours must think I'm nuts) and comparing the amount used to other shampoos, only the economy lets this one down slightly, however the cost is hard to ignore for a top quality shampoo.

Next:
Chemical Guys Mr Pink: http://www.chemicalguysuk.com/default.asp


A great smelling shampoo from Chemical Guys which is quite slick, it gave an average amount of suds which just lasted the wash, however if I was taking my time I am not sure they would have lasted the complete wash without some additional water being added.

Cost:
At £7.95 plus P&P (CYC, and prior to discount) for 500ml it is quite well priced and shouldn't break the bank.

Use:
Following the instructions and working out how many capfuls to add I settled on 4.5 caps for my standard wash, this is over double some of the other shampoo's on test here and if I was to use this shampoo in the future I would be adding further caps to the wash bucket, so it looses marks for economy.

Scores
Slickness ******* 7/10
Suds ****** 6.5/10
Cleaning ********* 8/10
Economy ****** 6/10
Cost ******* 7/10

Overall: 34.5/50

Verdict:
An OK shampoo at a good price, however it didn't really blow me away when I used it, I did have reasonable hopes for it after watching the CG demonstration but they appeared to use a lot of product to make it react the way that it did. That being said, it's still not a "bad" shampoo as the car is now clean.

Next
Wolf's Chemical White Satin: http://www.wolfschemicals.com/en


A nice shampoo from Wolf's Chemicals, it doesn't really have a strong scent to it and It gave a good amount of suds which did last the whole wash. It was quite slick and the wash mitt didn't feel like it was dragging on the panels.

Cost:
At £9.95 plus P&P (CYC and prior to discount) for 1L makes it great value for money as most of the shampoo's on test are at least that for 500ml.

Use: I added 2 caps to the wash bucket and it foamed up nicely. On reflection I wouldn't really change the amount used for any other washes save for perhaps if I was using it in mid winter.

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********* 8/10
Cleaning ********* 10/10
Economy ********* 9/10
Cost ********* 9/10

Overall: 45/50

Verdict:
An excellently priced shampoo when considering the price is for 1ltr, and quite economical too. It narrowly misses out on the top 3 (at the time of writing) by 0.5 points, however it's not a shampoo to be overlooked if you like value for money. Another overlooked factor with any purchase is storage, this 1ltr bottle takes up less space than some of the 500ml bottles I have.

Next:
CarPro Reset: http://www.carpro.uk.com


Thanks goes to Craig at CarPro UK for the samples which were sent. This shampoo is nice and slick and gives plenty of suds which easily lasted the full wash. The shampoo has a pleasant scent to it when it was mixed with water, in the bottle it's not that appealing, however the scent doesn't get scored for obvious reasons...it has nothing to do with washing.

Cost:
At £10 for 500ml (CarPro UK and prior to any discount) plus P&P it's very well placed in the middle of the price range of shampoo's tested.

Use:
There are plenty of straight forward instructions on the website which give dilution ratios and ml's to be used. It was recommended to use 30-40ml, which is inline with some of the others tested, I opted for 35ml, although I think that 25ml would be fine too (I'll report back on next use).

Scores
Slickness ********* 9/10
Suds ********** 10/10
Cleaning ********** 10/10
Economy ******* 7/10
Cost ******* 7.5/10

Overall: 43.5/50

Verdict:
I was very impressed with this shampoo, it had a great feel when using it on the car, it also didn't seem to dry on the car when I was testing it (the wind was picking up), the price is also hard to ignore. The only areas it loses marks for me would be the amount used, which also ties in to the cost aspect. On the next use I will be lowering the amount used to almost half, so additional points could be gained.

The reviews continue on thread #2.
 
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#51 · (Edited)
I'm not up on Duragloss, but I think 901 is a smaller size of 902, you can get it at serious performance, I haven't used it yet but after looking it says it "enhances the shine" which makes me think it's not a pure shampoo. So it's unlikely to make the testing list for now until I look into it further but it is very well priced if it's the same.
 
#69 ·
Sorry for the lack of updates, combination of a newborn and not so great weather is hampering my washing :(

Tomorrow I hope to use a few samples, AF Lather and Nanolex.

After that a slight change to my planned order, it will be:

CarPro and Zaino (if it arrives before then)
CG Mr Pink and Wolf's White Satin.
Madcow Amber Nectar and Obsession Wax Purify
Frost Pure and Detailers Passion SuperSudz

More to follow after these.
 
#74 ·
You used 40ml of Nanolex and gave it 9,5/10 cost ratio??
40ml was at a guess, I'll check the bottle and get you a 100% accurate figure tomorrow-I suspect it will be less, however it was hard to see with the bubble and me having to clear everything up. It was also for medium soiling (had to squeeze in a few washes in my working day).
For a standard wash half that would be sufficient which takes it in line with some of the top ones. As for the cost rating, Nanolex is £13 delivered which is cheaper than BTBM.
 
#75 ·
Usually cost ratio should be considered when using in that dilution ratio what manufacturers recommended. If you give them 9,5/10 what would you give when you would use BH Autowash when you need only 5ml (teaspoon) in real world wash. 1:2000 dilution ratio.

IMHO obviously...
 
#76 ·
In that case it would be the same as Garry Deans.

I do realise that not everyone will/is going to agree with what I write, hence why I said these are my thoughts on them. If everyone did agree with me I'd call that a small miricle as everyone has their favourites.

What I would also point out is that if I think the ratings are not accurate when I use that shampoo again then the ratings are adjusted as a few of them have been already. As with the other shampoos at the top they will be getting used a good few times to make sure I'm happy with what I have given them.

However I am glad that you're picking up on things, if nothing else it stops me from giving an unfair rating should I make an error and as this is a forum I'm happy to disscuss any of my reviews :)
 
#79 · (Edited)
Despite the neighbours probably thinking I'm nuts with amount of washing this week that's it updated with CG Mr Pink and Wolf's Chemicals White Satin.

Holding off reviewing CarPro until the Zaino sample arrives.

Also had a chance to use a few of the previously used shampoo's this week and was able to revise some of the marks.
 
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