Not all car shampoo is created equally – Wash Plus+ from Meguiar’s proves this. This unique heavy duty, highly concentrated car wash shampoo contains both polishing abrasives and active ingredients. Meguiar’s claim Wash Plus+ is capable of reducing and removing swirl marks and minor abrasions as you wash! In this Meguiars Wash Plus review we put that to the test.
Meguiar’s Wash Plus Car Shampoo Product Description
Meguiars Car Wash Plus is much more than just a regular car shampoo. Meguiar’s claim that Wash Plus+ actively removes contaminants and swirl marks, while you clean your car.
Meguiar’s Wash Plus utilises an active formulation which works in a similar way to a clay bar and polishing compound. The active ingredients in the Wash Plus+ Car Shampoo help to strip the paintwork of dirt and contaminants. Whilst the abrasive elements actually polish swirl marks as you wash your vehicle.
About the Meguiar’s Brand
Founded over a century ago as a furniture polish manufacturer, Meguiar’s is now an internationally renowned car care brand. With the arrival of the first automobiles, Frank Meguiar Jnr, founder of Meguiar’s, turned his attention to the revolutionary horseless carriages. The bottles of furniture polish were quickly repurposed and helped to protect the wooden components of those early cars.
As the automobile developed, so did the Meguiar’s brand and product range. Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze polishes and waxes were initially used by manufacturers, car dealerships and body shops. As car shows became more popular, so did the high-gloss show car shine, and so did Meguiar’s products.
Barry Meguiar, grandson of Frank, describes the Meguiar’s brand in simple terms. “We are car guys who happen to be in the car wax business. The ultimate experience for us comes when our two passions merge in the exhilaration of “Best of Show” winners who regularly use our products.”
How to Use Meguiar’s Wash Plus Heavy Duty Car Shampoo
In this Meguiars wash plus review we take a look at how to use this Meguiars Car Shampoo and what results you can expect to achieve.
Wash Plus+ is a car shampoo with active ingredients and polishing agents. Whenever washing a car, we always recommend you carry out a pre-wash before undertaking a contact wash. For a complete step-by-step guide on how to safely wash your car, check out our PRO Detailer in-depth guide.
PRO TIP
Always read the manufacturer instructions before using any chemical product on your vehicle.
If you follow our PRO Detailer guide, when you get to stage 6 – The Contact Wash, the process will differ slightly. Instead of mixing the Wash Plus car shampoo in a bucket of water, you’ll just need two buckets of clean, warm water.
Dunk your clean microfiber wash mitt in the first bucket to load it with warm water. Then after shaking the bottle of Wash Plus+, apply a ribbon of the yellow shampoo directly to the wet wash mitt.
PRO TIP
If the bottle has been unused for some time, gently shake the bottle before use to ensure the shampoo is properly mixed.
How to wash your car using Meguiar’s Wash Plus+
Starting at the top of the vehicle, gently wash one panel at a time, using straight lines, front to back, applying minimal pressure. Let the soap, warm water and the weight of the shampoo laden wash mitt do the work. There is no need to ‘scrub’ your paintwork.
Once you’ve washed one panel, dunk your wash mitt into the rinse bucket. Agitate the wash mitt in the water to help remove any dirt particles trapped in the fibers of the mitt.
As you remove your freshly rinsed wash mitt from the plain water in the rinse bucket, try to squeeze out as much water as possible. Then dunk your wash mitt in your wash bucket, loading it with clean water, apply a fresh ribbon of Wash Plus+ directly to your mitt, before washing the next panel.
After washing each and every panel on your car, it’s time to rinse away any Wash Plus+ car shampoo residue. Using your pressure washer or garden hose, rinse the car from top to bottom.
PRO TIP
Wash Plus+ strips waxes and paint sealants – so remember to add a layer of protection after use – unless you’re correcting your paintwork with a machine polisher.
Ease of use of Meguiar’s Wash Plus Shampoo
Meguiar’s Wash Plus Car Shampoo is super simple to use. Unlike ordinary car shampoo, you don’t mix this Car Wash Plus shampoo with water in either a bucket or foam cannon. You simply dunk your wash mitt into a bucket of clean, load it with warm water, then apply a ribbon of product directly to your wet wash mitt.
Load your microfiber wash mitt with warm water and a ribbon of product. Wash your car as normal, working around the car from top to bottom, one panel at a time. After washing each individual panel, it’s best practice to rinse your microfiber wash mitt to remove dirt and debris, before loading the mitt with clean water, more Car Wash Plus+, and moving on to the next panel.
Wash Plus+ is a concentrated car shampoo and when worked over a panel, creates rich, thick, high suds foam, which offers excellent cleaning power and super slick lubricity.
Benefits of using Meguiars Wash Plus+ Car Shampoo
The main benefit of using Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ heavy duty car shampoo is its ability to thoroughly cleanse your paintwork and strip it of previously applied protection. The active ingredients help to kick-start the decontamination process. This means it’s a great car shampoo to use before moving on to chemical, then clay bar decontamination.
Wash Plus+ Car Shampoo is also a great product to use in the depths of winter when your tired, battered paintwork needs rejuvenating and resetting, prior to a fresh application of your chosen paint protection or paint sealant.
Does Wash Plus+ remove swirls?
Meguiar’s claim that the abrasives contained within Wash Plus+ can remove swirl marks and light abrasions. This is surely a bold claim – so does Wash Plus+ remove swirl marks? It’s fair to say that the product definitely helps to lessen swirl marks – but remove them completely – in our experience, that’s not happened.
We’ve seen swirl marks become less noticeable, reduced in depth after using Wash Plus, but never completely removed. The only way we’d expect to be able to remove swirl marks would be with hand or machine polishing using a dedicated abrasive polish or compound.
Can you use Meguiars Wash Plus on glass?
You can use Meguiar’s Wash Plus on glass. In fact the active ingredients and polishing agents make it an ideal shampoo to use on glass, particularly windshields and headlight glass which may be subject to heavy contamination.
Apply a strip of Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ to a clean, wet microfiber wash mitt and clean the glass using a tight, overlapping circular motion. Don’t be afraid to repeat this pattern two or three times on heavily contaminated areas. The polishing abrasives will make light work of baked on bug guts, tree sap, plant pollen, industrial fallout, road salt and general traffic film.
PRO TIP
Use Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ on your windshield every other wash to cut through and remove road grime build up.
Can you use Wash Plus+ on a ceramic coated car?
You could use Wash Plus+ on a ceramic coated car but we wouldn’t advise it. The polishing abrasives in the Wash Plus+ car shampoo will degrade the ceramic coating, reducing its hydrophobicity, integrity and life-span. When washing a ceramic coated car, you should only use a pure pH neutral car shampoo.
PRO TIP
DO NOT use Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ ceramic coated paintwork, glass, alloy wheels or any other ceramic coated surface.
Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ packaging
The Meguiar’s brand supplies its products in great quality packaging, with clear, consistent labelling. Each individual product range is distinctive and easily identifiable. Their current line-up of products often utilises vibrant colors, which reflect the equally vibrant color of the liquid or crème product contained within.
Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ heavy duty car shampoo is supplied in a soft, supple, 709ml bottle, with a dispensing cap. This combination allows you to easily squeeze the bottle to dispense a ribbon of product directly onto your wash mitt.
Value for money of Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ Car Shampoo
A 709ml bottle of Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ heavy duty car shampoo can be purchased for around $20. Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ is a concentrated car shampoo. A single 709ml bottle can easily wash twenty average sized cars (based on 35ml per car). That works out at roughly $1 per wash. Great value considering its unique formulation and unrivalled position in the car detailing market.
Unfortunately, Meguiar’s do not offer any other sizes of Wash Plus+ bottle. Nor do they offer bulk containers of Wash Plus+ heavy duty car shampoo.
Has Wash Plus+ been discontinued?
Is Meguiar’s Wash Plus discontinued? Nobody is quite sure what happened to Wash Plus Meguiars. In some countries and territories Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ does appear to have been discontinued. Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ seems to have been discontinued in the USA and Canada, yet it is still on sale in the UK and Europe.
The exact reason why Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ has been discontinued is unknown. There has been speculation that Meguiars Wash Plus discontinued due to poor sales. If this is the case, it’s likely slow sales were due to the fact that it’s not the type of product that most customers use regularly.
Despite not being available in certain areas, some stockists may still have inventory on their shelves. Whilst you may not be able to order the product from Meguiar’s in the USA, some independent retailers may still have some bottles in stock. We highly recommend grabbing a bottle or two if you can find where to buy Meguiar’s Wash Plus. With any luck, some stores will have discounted Meguiar’s Wash Plus+ so you might be able to bag a bargain.
There has been no word from Meguiar’s about any possible Meguiar’s Wash Plus replacement. If a replacement for Wash Plus is announced, PRO Detailer Tips will test it and review it.
Meguiars Wash Plus alternative
At the time of writing this Meguiar’s Wash Plus Shampoo product review, there is no direct alternative product in any other car care brand’s product range. No other shampoo on the market contains the unique mix of polishing abrasives and active ingredients found in Wash Plus.
There are some decent alternatives for strong, alkaline pH, decontamination car shampoos. These products aim to strip both contaminants and protection from your car’s paintwork. Our current favourite decon-shampoo is /ZERO: Decon Shampoo by Garage Therapy.
Conclusion
In certain circumstances, Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ car shampoo is a ‘Go-To’ product for us at PRO Detailer Tips.
If we’re prepping a car for paint correction, Wash Plus+ is an ideal car shampoo. It acts as the first stage of the decontamination process. The polishing abrasives and active ingredients help to safely remove more bonded contaminants than any normal shampoo, or high pH car shampoo. Its ability to strip the paintwork of previously applied polishes, waxes, paint sealants and other LSP products also helps when cleansing the paint before any correction or machine polishing.
Meguiar’s Car Wash Plus+ car shampoo is not a product that we typically use week in – week out, as part of our regular maintenance wash routine. But when we want to remove previously applied protection products and reset our paintwork, Wash Plus+ is the perfect product.
