Best Rinseless Car Wash to Elevate Your Detailing Game

Choosing the right rinseless car wash solution is crucial to enjoy washing cars. If you’re hand washing your cars you need to try a rinseless car wash. From saving time and water to a safer drying process, the best rinseless car wash will take your car detailing game to the next level. Also check out my top picks for rinseless car wash tools that improve the washing experience. In this guide, I reviewed and ranked my top 3 best rinseless car washes so that you can find your favorite.

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What Is The Best Rinseless Car Wash?

To choose the best rinseless car wash we’re comparing what I believe are the most important subjective metrics for detailing products. There isn’t a lot of objective data that can tell us one things is better than the other. You can judge cleaning power by the way dirt and buildup fall off a car during rinsing. You evaluate the lubricity of a product based on the feel while wiping the car down. Lastly, for me, smell is an important part of a good detailing product. Smell doesn’t improve the outcome of how clean your car is, but it improves the process that gets you there which is just as important.

The best rinseless wash should be able to loosen dirt from the surface of your car. This prevents the need for unnecessary high pressure during rinsing or wiping the panels. It should provide the right level of lubricity so your sponge, wash pad or microfiber towel can glide across the surface of your car. Finally, because we’re hand washing our car to improve our experience, the smell should add a fresh, lightness to the moment.

In the end, we’re all here to have a good time. Pick the one that gives you the experience you’re chasing and not the outcome someone else got.

1. Optimum No Rinse (ONR)

Best Overall

Currently my favorite. ONR gets the dirt built up on your car moving quickly. As soon as it’s sprayed on you can see a difference.

Like:

• Smell: Best smelling of any solution on this list
• Cleaning Power: Immediately starts loosening whatever is on the surface of the car
• Slick: Great lubrication while wiping the panel with The Rag Company Ultra Black Sponge which prevents scratching

Dislike:

• Protection: This has added protection which I’m not a fan of in cleaners

2. McKee’s N-914 Rinseless Wash

Best Cleaner Only

Similar to ONR. I really like the simplicity in only being a cleaner; no protection added.

Like:

• No Added Protection: I like my cleaners to just clean; I’ll add dedicated protection later
• Cleaning Power: Did a good job loosening dirt; similar to Absolute
• Slick: Decent lubrication while cleaning

Dislike:

• Smell: Not a great smell straight from the bottle or when diluted

3. P&S Absolute Rinseless Wash

Most Versatile

This is different than both ONR and McKee’s in that it’s more like a rinseless lotion because of its thicker consistency. This does not dissolve in water due to the way it’s made, but it will disperse well in your bucket with stirring. You may see some small globs of Absolute still floating around and that’s ok. This is like a hybrid between a traditional car shampoo and a rinseless wash. Because of this you’re able to use this as a normal bucket wash or rinseless wash.

Like:

• Cleaning Power: Did a good job loosing dirt; simliar to McKee’s
• Slick: Good slickness; between ONR (best) and McKee’s

Dislike:

• Smell: Smells like lotion; once sprayed and wiped on a dirty car it smells like a public bathroom

Summary

In the world of car detailing, finding the right rinseless car wash can make all the difference in the quality of your work and the enjoyment of the process. We’ve explored the top 3 options, each with its unique strengths, from Optimum No Rinse’s powerful cleaning to McKee’s N-914 Rinseless Wash’s no-frills approach and P&S Absolute’s versatility. Ultimately, the choice is yours, as it should be when it comes to enhancing your car detailing experience. So, pick the one that suits your needs and fits within the overall system of products you’re after.