Zymol VS Swissvax, shampoo show down!

[steelwind101]

Hi Guys,

I recently got hold of Zymol Clear (again, after not using it for a few yrs) and Swissvax Autobathe (which i have never used). The cars were not to dirty so i mixed up the over priced potions and cracked on with a clean, or not. The car i washed had about 50mi over the last week on, i did one side of the car Zymol, one Swissvax.

Here are the guys in question:

So here it is, two expensive shampoos that i have put head to head to see if either are any good, if either is matched by cheaper rivals and if so which is one is best!

So twenty of your hard earned pounds will get you Zymol Clear, this bottle has around 200ml in it. You only need one capful in a 3oz bucket, but Zymol talk of squeezes which is confusing and inaccurate. Surely the more you have the bottle the more you will squeeze out!? Ok! Put in two capfuls if you have a 5 gallon bucket. I put mine in when the warm water is half way filled up the bucket. In essence although this isn’t cheap, you are not actually using a lot of product, the bottle in the picture is what is left after one wash.

You will be instantly hit with the feeling that you just made a huge bucket load of Lemsip. The product is fairly lubie, i slip on the my marigolds () and my gloved hands slide across each other nice and easily. Suds are a few inches deep, nothing amazing.

I pop in a fresh lambs wool mitt to avoid contamination from previous soaps and get to cleaning. The first thing you notice with this shampoo is that the suds do not transfer to the car, they are in the bucket to the end of the wash but really what you have on your car is just a watery liquid. It isn’t overly powerful and cleans nothing like Mothers California Gold or Duragloss 901. This really is a maintenance shampoo for cars that do not see a lot of dirt. Luckily my car has seen less then 50mi over the last few weeks and wasn’t dirty at all. I just gave a pre wash with the hose and cracked on with the wash.

This certainly isn’t something you could use on a daily driver but wasn’t that bad of shampoo if you want something to spoil yourself with. Its all natural ingredients, which rinse pretty easily (nothing like Autoglym Shampoo though). The car was left looking pretty glossy by the end, I sparingly qd’d the car as i dried it and stood back to admire the looks. Nice, not as good as the Swissvax, but you could be happy to walk away and do nothing else.

At £20 your almost on your way to buying a gallon of quality shampoo that will work well on dirty or clean cars.

On next to the Swissvax autobathe, this retails at about £13 for 250ml. The bottle looks like it probably contains some gents cologne, and as soon as you mix the one capful with 5 gallons of water you are again reminded of the mens aftershave flavour; some where between coconut and alcohol. Same procedure as before, new washmitt and a clean bucket, shampoo mixed in half way though the fill. This really wasn’t a lubie shampoo, less so then the Zymol. Suds were again minimal, and what was there stayed in the bucket and were not transferred to the car. Mixing one ounce of your favourite aftershave with 5 gallons of water will probably give the same cleaning power of this Swissvax Autobathe, which is nothing! In fact, you can recreate the Swissvax AutoBathe experience by waiting for it to rain or setting up your sprinkler and then misting the air with your bottle of Armani Code. Rinse and you will see that just about nothing has happened to any dirt on your car.

Swissvax Autobathe did not rinse all that great, but i have to say it did leave the paintwork, esp. The glass looking very clear and shiny. I would probably re name this shampoo as a glossing agent that you dilute with water and wipe on your car with a mitt.

Going in to this i knew it was going to be expensive for the washes, i wasn’t prepared to be as disappointed by the Swissvax as i was. Maybe it will make a nice wash for a garaged car in the summer months. I really think they should put in there descriptions how mild these shampoos are b/c if you were thinking of getting one and using it as a regular shampoo are would be pretty disappointed.

I got the Zymol as part of the Japon kit on Ebay for £48. Swissvax have cut there distribution network and are only selling from there UK importer in the UK so some places have been selling the Swissvax off cheap. I got mine for £12 inc. delivery from Ebay.

Any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise keep your wallets closed and get some Z7 Zaino wash if you want a great premium shampoo!

As a quick comparison between a few other shampoos on the market:

Zymol Clear:

Cleaning: 5

Lube: 6

Rinse: 6

Shine: 8

Swissvax Autobathe:

Cleaning: 3

Lube: 4

Rinse: 5

Shine: 7

Duragloss 901

Cleaning: 9

Lube: 9

Rinse: 8

Shine: 8

Mothers California Gold

Cleaning 8

Lube 8

Rinse 8

Shine 8.

Meguiars Gold Class

Cleaning: 7

Lube: 7

Rinse: 6

Shine: 6

[bpsmith]

Cracking write up, as always Geoff. Good to hear someone being honest with the actual ability of the more expensive products out there, rather than just name dropping and the stuff actually being poor!

So you still rate Duragloss 901 very highly then? I have half a gallon of Hyperwash left to finish, along with some Wolfgang Auto Bathe, and will then move on to try the 901 for sure as heard loads good about it.

Hyperwash goes a long way and good to mix with Snowfoam as a pre-wash and the Wolfgang in 2 bucket mode. Was thinking of getting something to replace the Wolfgang, maybe, as it is quite pricey but well happy with the results.

Was thinking of maybe Shmpoo Plus as a middle ground between the HW and the WG. How does the 901 compare to those mentioned above, assuming you have tried any?

Cheers...

[steelwind101]

Hi!

Im glad you liked the right up, i would go back and use the Zymol in the summer, im not sure about the Swissvax, do i hear you wanting to make a trade? OH GO ON! LOL.

With regard shampoo plus etc. Shampoo plus is very much like an industrial container of Gold Class, as with all the of Megs Gallons stuff they offer good value for money and you cant go wrong with any of them. I often feel if budget is not your main concern you can have a nicer time with different products.

The DG (Duragloss) stuff is extremely well priced and 901 is probably the "best" car wash i ever used. Problems with getting enough of it are my issues, 64oz is what most places stock. According to suppliers the gallon containers are weak and they break in transit to the UK. They are not bothering to bring them over any more, as a result Mothers cut me a decent deal on Cali. Gold. so here i am with "the smell of America". LOL.

901 goes above any beyond any other soap except Zaino Z7 which is a dead even match. Against Shampoo Plus 901 cleans better, is more lubie, leaves a nicer finish and smells of cherries.

I rate Gold Class and Shampoo Plus a 6 for rinsing as sometimes they streak if the car is warm. Other shampoos work fine in warmer conditions so maybe its just me, though others have mentioned this too.

So Shampoo plus:

Cleaning: 7

Lube: 7

Rinse: 6

Shine: 6

The Wolfgang, i have used and i have the Pinnicle version on tap to use. Its a real mixed bag, it works nicely on some finishes and not so well on others. What dilution ratio do you use? I use about 1 oz for 3 gallons of water, and on that ratio its pretty decent value for money. 128 washes for £35. Whilst Shampoo Plus and 901 are going to give you a 1oz per gallon of water mix, so for me thats only 42 washes. Prices vary slightly so work that out on what ever your going pay.

Pinnicle/Wolfgang

Cleaning: 7

Lube: 7

Rinse: 7

Shine: 8

With regard your pre wash etc. I will mention my routine and a product that might help you. My cars are kept, when possible in a good state. Arches are cleaned out at regular intervals as are wheels etc and really although i layer on waxes for pleasure at the weekend its really only maintenance for the rest of the car.

While lots of people use Snowfoam to help soften the dirt on the car and the use wheel cleaners and APC etc etc. I have found a routine that works really well with a foamer and a shampoo called DP Extreme Foam Formula Shampoo. It runs straight 7's in the above comparison system except for one thing. FOAM, clingy foam! Unlike snow foam which just softens the dirt, then with safe use of the pressure washer you can get alot of dirt off the DP Extreme Foam acutally is shampoo and cleans the car. Its really good if you dont have a pressure washer as it goes that little further by offering real cleaning action. Much like spraying your car with a mix of normal car wash but it has more staying power.

IN my routine i dont need get various bottles out to wash the car. I just foam the car with the DP stuff. Rinse the arches with water first then hit the wheels (covered in wheel wax or IW) and the arches with the foam. Walk off and get my cheapo bucket, pop in my needed soft bristle wheel brushes. Come back, clean my arches with a brush and ONLY the DP foam shampoo. Rinse my wheels and refoam, and clean.

The DP foam is lubie and it has cleaning power so its totally safe to do this. I give my tyres a quick scrub and rinse the car. You may wish to fill the bucket with a cheapo car wash if you want/feel you need to.

B/c this is a real shampoo, that wont strip wax but is foamie and clingly i have some options. In the summer, i dont need to start a two bucked wash method and use MORE products. I simply get a grit guard and bucket and fill with water. After and inital pre soak and rinse i just foam the car and as i foam i wipe with the mitt. After each panel or when needed i rinse out my mitt. When the whole car is done, i rinse and im finished.

In the winter, i dont advise the above method as there is often more dirt on the car, esp. the lower panels then you can see. In this case i would head to my two bucked method and wash. You can go ahead and use the DP Xtreme Foam to wash with as its just a normal shampoo.

It cuts time off of washing, i dont need to get lots of products to carry out wheel and arches maintence. You dont have go around mixing two products together either. 2 OZ of Xtreme foam go in the standard Foam master/glimour container with about 6 oz of water. Sometimes, on our smaller cars that will last me a couple of washes. I just leave it sitting in the bottle and reshake before foaming again on the next wash.

I think you can get a 32oz bottle for £12, gallons also avalible. Not as cheap as Snow Foam, probably not good for bulk users. It just depends if you place "value" solely on price etc.

Just some ideas! I hope the helps with the other shampoos you mentioned.

Geoff

PS. The Duragloss product number for shampoo changes depending on the amounts in the bottle. 901, 902, 903 etc.

[sleepyhead]

Great write-ups. This will really help people in here.

______________________________

Caution, Blind Man Driving

what about Saab news and Chevrolet blog?

[alexc]

Geoff,

Have you tried Bilt Hamber Autowash?

If not let me know and I'll send you a sample!

Alex

[NeilScarrott]

Nice review Geoff, Duragloss 901 is my favourite shampoo. I find it very marginally better than Zaino Z7 due to the extra gloss it adds to the finish.

I will defo be stocking up on Zaino Z7 in future though.

[bpsmith]

Cheers again Geoff.

In the Summer I tend to do exactly the same thing, with regards to the foaming up. I just foam, rinse, foam again and use the mitt to clean and rinse in bucket with grit guard as I go along. Works a treat when the car is not that dirty but would not do so in Winter either fella.

May well try out some DG at some point and very nearly bought some of the DP stuff before getting the WG last time.

I have loads of snowfoam now as I got it in bulk for a mate and he has been off work sick for a few months so just sitting waiting for me to use up in his absence!

Got a few bottles of misc other wash like Gold Class and the Hyper Wash, along with a new bottle of WG, so will continue with what I have and then go with the DG quite probably and mix with the foam first off.

[steelwind101]

Hi!

NP Neil and sleepyhead, i like to do the reviews so everyone knows what there getting! Neil, if you ever get stateside or know anyone who is going they have good deal on right now on 3xZ7 and 2xZ6 in a bundle!

BPSmith, watch out for the normal DP car shampoo, i cant remeber what its called but it comes in the larger 32oz bottle. Its really not that great, it has almost non existant suds (Tuff Suds II like in the Wolfgang) and it smells of sickly bananas. It that it doesnt clean, have great lubie or shine very good. The Xtreme Foam is much better! The DP range is a bit hit and miss, some of its good, some not so good, MaxWax is a good product though, atleast in terms of looks.

Geoff

[johnss8]

I'm with you on the Swissvax Geoff but the Audi is protected with Best of Show and the shine after washing is as though you've just waxed it.

So I would say the Swissvax works well with Swissvax waxes.