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Classic or Ultra-Ion?

#1 Question asked by customers:

Question: What's the difference between the Ultra-Ion™ Waterless Car Wash and the 'Classic'?

Answer: The "Classic" is essentially the same formulation that's been around for nearly 30 years (with some small refinements - the biggest change is the smell:  the original "musk" smell is gone in order to reduce cost, as it was a non functioning ingredient of the original formula). The Classic is light green in color, and contains a proprietary 'molecular' formula which contains over 50 ingredients. The "Classic" requires no cure time.

The Ultra-Ion™ is a new formulation introduced in 2004, and is 'ionized'. The ionization does several things: First, it attacks organic material such as bugs, tree sap, and bird droppings better than the 'molecular' formula found in the "Classic". Also, since it's 'ionized', it has a slight positive charge, which tends to repel dust better than the 'Classic'.

The other difference with Ultra-Ion™ is that it requires a small amount of cure time. This means that upon application, the product should be wiped in with a terry towel, then allowed to cure, or dry on the surface before buffing. The amount of cure time required varies depending on conditions, but normally, if you work your way around the vehicle by spraying and wiping in, by the time you get back to the panel you started on, you can then begin buffing. Ultra-Ion™ also give superior results on darker colored cars compared to the "Classic".

So in Summary:

  • There is no advantage of one over the other - they both perform equally. 
  • The only reason you may want to consider using the Ultra-Ion is if the vehicle is of a darker color.  The UI has a longer cure time, which allows you to work the product in equally to get a balanced shine.
  • The Classic has a fast cure time.  If the vehicle is light colored, I would use Classic. 
  • Using Classic will not be an issue on darker colored vehicles either, just some folks prefer it over Ultra-Ion, as the Ultra-Ion requires more elbow grease to buff to a shine.