Mostly works, but slower than towel-drying
Written: Jul 09 '04 (Updated Jul 09 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Works mostly as advertised
Cons: Unwieldy, still requires some towel drying
The Bottom Line: Although a step in the right direction, I don't recommend the Autodry because it doesn't save time vs. towel-drying.
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| f8ster's Full Review: Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash System |
The Autodry system consists primarily of a large handle/dispenser that screws onto your garden hose. It also comes with special soap (described below) and a water filter cartridge, both of which are good for about 3 washes.
The handle has two controls:
- an on/off switch for the water coming from the hose;
- a knob with 3 settings: rinse water, soapy water, and filtered "final rinse" water.
The Autodry system has two aspects that make it work:
- special polymerized soap that makes the water sheet off instead of beading up;
- a "final rinse" setting that rinses the car with filtered, deionized water. This removes all the minerals from the water that normally cause spotting.
The combination of these two things is what makes it work. And, it mostly does work. However, the system has a few drawbacks that make it less than ideal:
- The "final rinse" setting using the filtered water is SLOW. The filtered water comes out in a slow, fine mist, and it takes a long time to go over the car. In fact, it seems to take longer than just towel-drying, which kind of defeats the purpose of using it in the first place.
- Although the sheeting mostly works, there are still some areas of the car that you have to dry with a towel. I usually wind up going around the car with a towel anyway after it's been drying for a few minutes.
- The handle is big and unwieldy, and is made out of not-too-durable plastic. You can't just drop the handle on the ground like you would a normal hose nozzle or it probably won't last very long.
- The plastic cover that goes over the filter cartridge falls off sometimes when bumped.
Here are some positive observations:
- The fact that I don't have to dry with a towel probably benefits my car's finish from less rubbing.
- I find that driving the car around the block when it's drying really helps the drying process.
- The hose does not leak, and the knobs and switches work well and don't leak.
Replacement soap and filters seem to be available at just about any store that carries car washing supplies, although they're not cheap -- it probably costs more to wash your car this way than using other basic car washing soap. Replacement filters are good for 10 washings.
In summary, the Autodry is OK, but it doesn't really save me any time when washing my car, which is really what I wanted it for in the first place. It does, however, save my paint from some towel rubbing, so that's good.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
f8ster
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Location: Camas, WA, USA
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Consumer electronics enthusiast
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