pH Neutral car shampoo or alkaline car shampoo?

A question we often get is which pH neutral shampoo is best. In the first instance, we always ask why the customer specifically wants a pH neutral shampoo. Usually we get the answer: "I don't know, everyone is always talking about a pH neutral shampoo so I think this is the best?". Before we can decide which shampoo is best for you and whether you even have a pH neutral shampoo needs, it is important to first know what pH neutral actually means.

What is pH?

pH Is an acidity of aqueous solutions, including car shampoo. The lower the number, the more acidic the shampoo is. The opposite of acid is alkaline and so the higher the number, the more alkaline the shampoo is. The pH scale goes from 0 which is very acidic to 14 which is alkaline. pH 7 to pH 7,9 is neither acidic nor alkaline and hence is seen as pH neutral as they say. Alkaline shampoo and often wheel cleaners are also called pH "balanced". Make no mistake with pH neutral as balanced is not the same as pH neutral!

What is a pH neutral shampoo?

So now that we know what pH neutral means, when is this important when choosing a shampoo? Well, actually not. You might think you wouldn't want to get acidic or alkaline shampoo on your car because you think it will damage your car. But this is not the case with almost any shampoo. Certainly the shampoos that are available for private individuals are often not harmful to the car. What people often talk about is that pH neutral shampoos do not strip paint protection from the car, as this would be the case with alkaline shampoos. Well, unfortunately this isn't quite true either.

pH Neutral shampoos are in general indeed "softer" for the paint protection such as wax, sealant and coating. But this is certainly not always the case. In the past there were only 2 options in shampoos namely pH neutral and alkaline. pH Neutral shampoos were only put on the car as a "lubricant" during the wash and had virtually no cleaning properties. And the alkaline shampoos were so aggressive that a wax or sealant wouldn't survive a single wash and professional detailers would feel it on their hands too if they washed cars every day with the alkaline shampoo without protective gloves. Today, however, so much has changed and we have learned a lot about chemicals that this is no longer the case.

As an example we take isopropyl alcohol, which is also known as disinfectant alcohol or degreaser. If we were to measure the pH value of "IPA" it would be exactly 7,5, which is pH neutral. If we followed the logic of many people, does this mean that it is safe for paint protection such as waxes and sealants? And as many of you already know, this is anything but the case. From the moment that IPA comes into contact with wax or sealant, it will immediately dissolve and remove the protection. So this is the same with many other chemicals. There are car polish and detailing brands that advertise their shampoos as pH neutral, which makes the customer think it is safe for their protection like their wax and sealant, but that they contain chemicals that dissolve them, so you have to reapply wax or sealant faster and in this way buy more of their products and they earn more from you! That is why it is important that you buy your shampoo from a sensible store that you can guarantee when you buy a pH neutral shampoo that it is really neutral without other wax or sealant dissolving agents. We extensively test all our shampoos and can guarantee that the shampoos that we offer are of good quality without strings attached!

What is an alkaline shampoo?

Now that we know what a pH neutral shampoo is or should be, namely a shampoo that should mainly slide well over the paint and not affect the protection. What exactly does this mean for alkaline shampoos? Well, don't be put off by the fact that in the past professional detailers had to wear protective gloves when using alkaline shampoos because they would otherwise hurt their hands. Although we still do this as it is a small effort and never hurts. For someone who washes his car only once a week, it generally does not hurt to wash your car with an alkaline shampoo without protective gloves. However, if it is indicated on the packaging, we do of course recommend that you do this.

Does an alkaline shampoo also mean that it will remove the wax, sealant or coating? Or maybe even the paint itself or the plastic parts? Well, not really no. Alkaline shampoos are mainly made for really good cleaning. Like pH neutral shampoos are generally made to glide especially well over the paint. The alkaline shampoo does not necessarily look at paint protection, but mainly at the dirt. Alkaline shampoo wants to get all the dirt off the car as well as possible, preferably with as little contact as possible. The alkaline cleaners are often much better at removing dirt than the pH neutral shampoos. But this does not necessarily mean that it also removes the wax, sealant or coating during the wash.

Is an alkaline shampoo safe for my wax, sealant or coating?

In general, the coating can tolerate the most compared to a wax and sealant. At Gtechniq, for example, one of the world's best manufacturer of coatings in the automotive industry, their Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light coating can accept pH values ​​between pH 2 and 12. All liquids below pH 2 and above pH 12 already go to extreme and you will not easily find it in wheel cleaners, shampoos or other cleansers. Although this also does not mean that if you use a shampoo of pH 14 that the coating is immediately gone. If the shampoo is pH 14, it is still diluted by water, which also lowers the pH value, and the coating is still very strong and does not simply disappear after 1 wash. We are of course also talking about the coatings from Gtechniq for which we guarantee that it is top quality, we can of course not speak about other brands that we do not distribute. That is why it is always important that you choose a professional detailer with knowledge of products!

So using an alkaline shampoo on a coating is not a problem, but what about sealants and wax? These often have a lower tolerance for pH values, does this mean that they are removed after washing with an alkaline shampoo? This is not necessarily the case no. If we assume that we select an "honest" detailing brand that has both a pH neutral and an alkaline shampoo, you can usually say that this will indeed strip the wax or sealant. This is because if you want to keep your wax or sealant it's best to just go for the pH neutral shampoo, and if you really want to clean it's best to just go for the alkaline shampoo that doesn't take the wax or sealant into account and just removes as much dirt as possible . But there are also many alkaline shampoos that hardly remove any wax or sealant during washing.

Why a pH neutral car shampoo?

Usually if you want a safe shampoo, you choose a pH neutral shampoo so that the wax or sealant remains on the car. As we already know, if we have a good coating and shampoo, we don't have to worry about coatings. The wax and sealant ensure that there is a small protective layer between the paint and the dirt, so that the car is usually less dirty and the dirt also dissolves better and faster. With a good wax and sealant, it is often the case that if the car is dirty and is sprayed with water, the paint is immediately quite clean, so there is less chance of making scratches during washing.

The small protective layer of wax or sealant also ensures that these scratches are also made less deep. The most important thing in this case is that the shampoo glides well, which reduces the chance of scratches even more since the paint will still be clean if you lightly go over it with a microfibre wash mitt. The shampoo doesn't really clean the dirt, it's the wash mitt that takes the dirt off. The shampoo is basically only there as a lubricant. And when we have a good wax and a good shampoo, then after the wash we see the clean paint again with a radiant shine of the wax and sealant with water-repellent properties and tight beadings. That way you don't have to reapply your wax every time you wash your car. If you have the impression that your wax or sealant disappears quickly, this may be due to the shampoo and it is time to switch to one of the shampoos that we offer.

Why an alkaline shampoo?

We mainly choose an alkaline shampoo when we need a strong shampoo that removes as much dirt as possible. We ourselves have a preference for alkaline shampoos that do not take wax or sealant into account and simply work the best of all shampoos to remove dirt. There is in fact still a significant difference between alkaline shampoos that remove dirt and retain the wax and sealant properly compared to alkaline shampoos that remove dirt without taking wax or sealant into account. The shampoo that has to take nothing into account than dirt can therefore of course contain the best chemicals to remove dirt, which are often not proportional to wax and sealant, so that they work just that little bit better.

When it comes to dirty cars, we always prefer an alkaline shampoo that removes the dirt well over a pH neutral shampoo that then glides better over the paint. Especially if a car is going to be treated with clay or needs to be polished or needs a wax or sealant, it is also important that the previous wax and sealant is gone and in this case too, an alkaline shampoo that does not take a wax or sealant into account so the best choice. If your car has been treated with a wax or sealant and is still quite dirty, it may be more interesting to use an alkaline shampoo that takes the wax and sealant into account. This is all best judged by the person who is going to wash the car, of course.

When to choose a pH neutral car shampoo and an alkaline car shampoo?

To list everything, we can therefore make a distinction between the amount of dirt on the car, any protection and whether you want to keep it or not.

• Your car has a wax, sealant or coating protection and is still in good condition and is still quite clean. You also want to keep the wax or sealant and certainly not take it off. Then go for the safe pH neutral car shampoo in both the foam lance and the bucket.
• Your car has a wax, sealant or coating protection and has already been used a bit. The car is also quite dirty, but you want to keep the wax or sealant as good as possible. Then go for an alkaline car shampoo that can still retain the wax and sealant in the foam lance and use a safe pH neutral shampoo in the bucket.
• Your car has a wax, sealant or coating protection and has already been considerably used. The car is also extremely dirty and at the moment you want to protect the paint as much as possible against scratches. Then go for an alkaline shampoo that does not take into account wax and sealant in the foam lance. After the pre wash and you have hosed off all the dirt, inspect whether the car is still very dirty or not. If it is still quite dirty, choose the alkaline car shampoo that does not take wax or sealant into account in the bucket. If the car is quite clean now you can opt for the safe pH neutral shampoo for extra lubricant in the bucket.
• Your car has no wax or sealant. Whether your car is protected with a good coating. At this point it doesn't matter if the cart is unprotected or has a good coating for the pre wash. It does not matter whether the car is still as good as clean or extremely dirty. In this case, we always opt for an alkaline shampoo in the pre wash that does not take wax or sealant into account. We just want to remove as much dirt as possible before we even touch the car. In this case, go for the alkaline pre wash car shampoo that does not take into account wax or shampoo in the foam lance. If the car is as good as clean after this, you can wash it with a safe pH neutral shampoo for maximum lubricant. If the car is still dirty, you can use an alkaline shampoo again in the bucket.

Conclusion about car shampoo

As you can now see, choosing the right shampoo is not always easy, especially with the tricks that some brands use to make extra sales. Choosing the wrong shampoo can therefore cause you to make more scratches in the paint in comparison with a correct shampoo, you spend longer than you should washing your car, you spend more money on shampoos than you should and that you have to give your car a wax or sealant treatment faster and more.

There is much more to a car shampoo than most people think. A lot of professional detailers and shops do not have this knowledge or worse, sometimes give the wrong shampoo so that you buy more products than you have to. That is why it is important that you buy from a store that is open and honest about the products they offer, guarantees the quality and features and also gives correct advice. We at Custom Car Care are always ready to give you correct advice about our car shampoo and are happy to help you with the right choice in our large range!