The Perfect Eco Car Wash?

Yes, from time to time I am forced to drive to places. I choose to do so in a very low-emission car and only drive when there is no other option… I would rather use a bike or walk any day! That being said, sometimes there is no option. A few days ago I drove to the mountains to see a friend and on my return I noticed the car looked a total mess. There was dry mud from my friend’s driveway, there were countless bugs from going along the rural roads plus a weird film left behind from the drizzle of rain I caught on the way back. Safe to say it needed a wash!

So I decided to approach this in the most environmentally responsible way possible, in the hope others will do the same. I used rainwater collected in my garden cistern and I bought a Green Earth Technologies ‘5-Pack Car Care Kit’.

The care kit came complete with: 4oz. G-Wash Heavy-Duty Hydrophobic Car Wash, 4oz. G-Glass Organic Glass Cleaner, 4oz. G-Wheel Brake Dust Removing Wheel Cleaner, 4oz. G-Tire Ultimate Tire Shine, 4oz. G-Wheel Brake Dust Shield and a Green Earth Technologies license plate . I felt that I had all the bases covered so I got to work.

At first I found myself a little confused, the GET products look like normal car cleaning fluids, sure it may not be as foamy as the stuff I have used in the past but it had that chemical look about it. I had to stop a couple of times to re-read the information on the pack just to make sure it really is an eco-friendly product. I guess it should be read as a measure of success that GET products look like any other car washing fluid.

According to the literature, all of the “G”-Branded appearance products are produced from American-grown plant base oils, making it safe for the environment, including ground water. The material explains that they use the power of ‘nanotechnology’ (the field of applied science at the molecular scale) and continues to explain how it is designed to help you not only get the car clean, but also to keep it that way as long as possible. And it certainly worked for me.

After the first wash the Hydrophobic car wash was doing its thing, repelling water into little droplets, the organic glass cleaner was shining nicely and the tire shine worked a treat. The little bugs were hard to remove - though it might have been more of question of how many there were rather than how successful the cleaning product is - it definitely did a decent job in the end.

My favorite product in the pack had to be the 'Brake Dust Removing Wheel Cleaner', the wheels came out perfect and should remain so for longer than usual thanks to the Wheel Brake Dust Shield. In the end, I found myself with a pretty clean car and happy that the products washing away on my drive were ecologically safe, which is an amazing achievement I think. Now to wash my bicycle with it!

Green Earth Technologies ‘5-Pack Car Care Kit’ is available on www.amazon.com for $15.88

For more information see: www.getg.com

Test results at a glance

Pros: Pretty effective and very gentle on the environment. The kit is well priced and comprehensive

Cons: The license plate in the pack is a fairly superfluous addition.